Ubisoft's flagship shooter franchise has come a long way in the last decade or so. After a significant overhaul with the second and third entry, Far Cry has made significant strides into the iconic shooter series it's known as today. Various gameplay refinements, open world design improvements, and the iconic villain infrastructure that's become essential to the series have all made Far Cry games that much better. Now, with another entry on the horizon with Far Cry 6, players are expecting similar refinements and improvements to be made. However, much like Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 5, the upcoming Far Cry 6 should also be informed by past entries as well.
At first glance, based on the reveal trailer alone, it's clear Far Cry 6 is making a sort-of return to roots for the series. Especially after Far Cry 5, which was surprisingly different compared to Far Cry 3 in many ways, it's clear the next game is looking back to what made the franchise so iconic. Far Cry 5 took things in a less linear direction, with several sub-villains and a main antagonist, a nameless protagonist to emphasize character customization, and a stricter focus on gameplay over story. Emphasizing the opposite in Far Cry 3 was exactly what made that game so iconic to the series. Far Cry 6 appears to be taking pages out of the third game's book, not Far Cry 5.
Emphasizing An Impactful Narrative and Characters Like Far Cry 3
Because of Far Cry 5's largely non-linear approach to characters and storytelling, the game's narrative pairing with gameplay was disjointed. Arguably, exploring the different regions of Hope County had no bearing on the others, and as a result made characters and missions unimportant. It was as if each member of the Seed family had no conception of their brethren's actions or fates outside of their own, like each region was a completely different world. Joseph Seed was depicted as the only one reacting to the protagonist's efforts against the Seed family, which led to the game's disconnected story being bereft of any emotional impact or intensity.
Returning to an identifiable and personified protagonist in Far Cry 6 is undoubtedly a response to Far Cry 5's lackluster storytelling. It's also similar in that way to Far Cry 3, despite how many players considered protagonist Jason Brody to be a stereotypical video game "dude-bro" with a white savior complex. At bare minimum, at least Jason was able to naturally react and emote to things happening around him, compared to the silent protagonist in Far Cry 5 who had nothing to say at all. Far Cry 6's Dani Rojas, based on information from interviews surrounding Far Cry 6, already seems like a clear improvement based on that exact criticism of Far Cry 5.
Improving the Adaptable World From the Lackluster Far Cry 5
One particular area gameplay-wise that Far Cry 6 should improve on is the game's open world systems and design. Far Cry 5 still had a very familiar open-world setting, albeit with a different coat of paint compared to the jungles and beaches of Far Cry 3's tropical Rook Islands. However, for as beautiful as Hope County was, the open world itself wasn't nearly as interactive and manipulative compared to Far Cry 3. While areas like Faith Seed's region in Far Cry 5 nailed the atmospheric angle, much of the supernatural effects were set-dressing compared to Far Cry 3, which had tons of different events both dynamic and scripted that made the game better to explore.
To be fair, both games are comparably expansive as open world games, but it's in the details where Far Cry 3 shines a lot more. There are various underground temples full of collectibles, enemies are far more reactive to world stimuli, among other systems and aspects in Far Cry 3 that made exploration interesting. Far Cry 6 should lean more into the reactiveness of its world, something Far Cry 5 subtly struggled with in comparison. Enemy AI basically ignored any outside stimulus other than "What was that noise?" in Far Cry 5, with NPCs unintelligently investigating an area or hastily rushing into a firefight with no regard for their safety or challenge to the player.
Time Will Tell What's Truly Changed in Far Cry 6
That's not to say Far Cry 5 didn't enhance or refine other aspects of gameplay, but in terms of narrative and world design, it was lacking compared to Far Cry 3. With Far Cry 6 on the way this year, the game should hone in on what made exploring the Rook Islands in Far Cry 3 so special. Already, it seems Far Cry 6 is making great strides towards some of Far Cry 5's biggest problems with narrative and characters. The central antagonist Anton and protagonist Dani could be a similar dynamic to Far Cry 3's Jason and Vaas, albeit with an added variable of Diego. Once gameplay of Far Cry 6 is shown, perhaps criticisms of Far Cry 5 will have influenced the next entry's world.
Most of this is speculation until the game actually gets a proper gameplay reveal, which likely won't be until the spring/summer. Considering Ubisoft had to push back several games due to the pandemic, one of them being Far Cry 6, a gameplay reveal would have to come relatively soon. That's especially true if the game's set to release on May 25 or April 30, as rumored by leaked storefront release dates. That being said, Far Cry fans are eagerly awaiting some kind of additional reveal for Far Cry 6, which has been silent since its teaser reveal last summer.
Far Cry 6 is in development.