Worst story in gaming history. It was so fucking bad. Ajay is a bland, bumbling idiot. Pagan Min is also an idiot, not being able to make up his mind on whether he wants to kill Ajay or not. The mythological aspect was cool but for some reason they tried to tie it into the main story and it didn't make any sense. The characters are all either terribly written, cliche, or annoying. Sabal was the only character I liked in the entire thing, probably because I only picked his missions over Amita. Amita was also fine as a character, I just didn't see much of her. I did like what they did with letting the player choose who they side with in the golden path. I also like how both characters were flawed and the fact that they gave you multiple options on how you want that subplot to end. But the rest of the story was a nonsensical mess. Even some of the story missions were very poorly designed at times. AND THE ENDING. OH MY FUCKING GOD. THIS IS THE WORST ENDING TO A GAME EVER. You get NO ANSWERS and the game basically tells you everything you did was POINTLESS. AND THE WORST PART? THE GAME BLAMES AJAY FOR IT. WHEN IT'S LITERALLY PAGAN'S FAULT FOR BEING A TOTAL DUMBFUCK FOR THE ENTIRE 15 HOUR PLAYTHROUGH. FUCK THIS STORY.
This game is solely redeemed by its gameplay. This is basically Far Cry 3, but better in every imaginable way. The combat is mostly unchanged but still fun. The traversal got a giant facelift, not only with additions like rappelling steep terrains with leftover ropes and stuff, but also LETTING YOU SWITCH BETWEEN WINGSUIT AND PARACHUTE AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT. That alone was a game changer, allowing the player way more freedom and ease with traversing the map. The new vehicles were also cool too, from a flying bike TO A FUCKING ELEPHANT. Some setpieces were also pretty memorable, especially the ones in the Himalayas. Paragliding through an avalanche was really sick. This is also the first game in the series to introduce co-op to the open-world. The amount of stuff to do here is also crazy. I've beaten the story and have somehow only thoroughly explored half the map, which is insane. The random karma events help give the player something to do while going from point A to point B. There's even a feature where you can go rogue if you attack your Golden Path comrades, which is really sick. The overall production and presentation of the game is great and a noticeable upgrade from Far Cry 3, although I did notice the game get really foggy and dark sometimes out of nowhere, which did get a little annoying. I also encountered a good chunk of frame rate dips. I don't usually nitpick graphics, but it was really distracting in this game for some reason. The driving controls were also ass but you can change them to the Far Cry 3 controls in the settings, which was nice. Autodriving was also a cool feature.
In conclusion, I recommend playing Far Cry 3 first, as this game kinda assumes that you played that game first and are familiar with the gameplay loop. As someone who played 4 first, I definitely recommend playing 3 beforehand to know what you're doing. I recommend Far Cry 3 over this game, but if you are itching for more Far Cry 3, this game is a must-buy. It expands and improves on its mechanics and design (albeit with a way worse story) and has a ton of content. It's also the last true Far Cry game before they shit the bed with 5.
This game is solely redeemed by its gameplay. This is basically Far Cry 3, but better in every imaginable way. The combat is mostly unchanged but still fun. The traversal got a giant facelift, not only with additions like rappelling steep terrains with leftover ropes and stuff, but also LETTING YOU SWITCH BETWEEN WINGSUIT AND PARACHUTE AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT. That alone was a game changer, allowing the player way more freedom and ease with traversing the map. The new vehicles were also cool too, from a flying bike TO A FUCKING ELEPHANT. Some setpieces were also pretty memorable, especially the ones in the Himalayas. Paragliding through an avalanche was really sick. This is also the first game in the series to introduce co-op to the open-world. The amount of stuff to do here is also crazy. I've beaten the story and have somehow only thoroughly explored half the map, which is insane. The random karma events help give the player something to do while going from point A to point B. There's even a feature where you can go rogue if you attack your Golden Path comrades, which is really sick. The overall production and presentation of the game is great and a noticeable upgrade from Far Cry 3, although I did notice the game get really foggy and dark sometimes out of nowhere, which did get a little annoying. I also encountered a good chunk of frame rate dips. I don't usually nitpick graphics, but it was really distracting in this game for some reason. The driving controls were also ass but you can change them to the Far Cry 3 controls in the settings, which was nice. Autodriving was also a cool feature.
In conclusion, I recommend playing Far Cry 3 first, as this game kinda assumes that you played that game first and are familiar with the gameplay loop. As someone who played 4 first, I definitely recommend playing 3 beforehand to know what you're doing. I recommend Far Cry 3 over this game, but if you are itching for more Far Cry 3, this game is a must-buy. It expands and improves on its mechanics and design (albeit with a way worse story) and has a ton of content. It's also the last true Far Cry game before they shit the bed with 5.