Anyone on Xbox who recently booted up Far Cry 6 may have been met with a surprise—new achievements. Although Far Cry 6’s Pagan Min: Control DLC doesn’t release until January (and likely later in the month, if it follows the Vaas DLC approach), it seems Ubisoft has already added them to the game, intentionally or otherwise.
Looking over achievements can, of course, give someone a general glimpse into what any DLC or game, for that matter, will include. Unfortunately, looking over the achievements for Far Cry 6’s Pagan Min: Control DLC doesn’t exactly invite confidence in it. It’s worth mentioning that Far Cry 6’s Vaas DLC knocked it out of the park, thanks to the way that the roguelike genre really compliments Vaas’ own brand of insanity. The problem is, it's Vaas’ brand. Pagan Min is not Vaas, but these achievements show Far Cry 6 is treating him like he is. MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.
Far Cry 6 Pagan Min: Control DLC Achievements Appear on Xbox
The problem with the achievements is that…they are all Vaas’ achievements. There is only one that differs from Vaas’ and, at first glance, it just seems they are the exact same. The Far Cy 6 achievement list for Pagan Min follows:
- True End(ing) – Escape Pagan’s Mind
- Mind Monarch – Escape Pagan’s Mind with a score of at least 25,000
- Pocket Money – Carry at least 8,000 Respect at once
- Enlightened Monarch – Discover every location in Pagan’s Mind
- Accessorizing – Unlock all weapons in Pagan’s armory (Solo Game Only)
- Early Drafts – Collect all of Pagan’s Diary Pages
- Vanity Project – Collect all of the Pagan Chibis
- Radio is More My Thing – Collect all of the Visions in Pagan’s Mind
- Min-Maxed – Have 8 Powers equipped at one time.
- What’s a King to a God – Escape Pagan’s mind at Mind Level 5
While one could argue that visions occurring across Vaas and Pagan’s DLC (and presumable Joseph’s) make sense, the inclusion of chibis, diary pages, and all of that make it seem just like a carbon copy in a new sandbox with a new character. Looking at these, the only notable difference is that it seems money is replaced with Respect, which is likely just a simple name change to thematically fit Pagan’s “Control” but also likely functionally similar.
“Min-Maxed” is the only new achievement not seen in Vaas’ and it replaces Self-Help, where Vaas had to upgrade all of his Far Cry 6 weapons. This likely focuses on Pagan’s more control-oriented, authoritarian emphasis on Power, but again, it’s a thematic and maybe slightly functional change to the DLC.
Far Cry 6’s Pagan Min DLC Signals the Same Treatment for Joseph Seed
Ideally, each of the Far Cry 6 DLCs could let players take on Villains in a genre that befits their madness. Roguelike works so well with Vaas thanks to his emphasis on the “definition of insanity” and constant internal conflict, with himself, Jason, and Citra. That’s not Pagan Min though. Pagan Min’s need for control and respect could be better represented another way, but roguelikes are fun and it’s understandable. However, with how varied the roguelike genre has become in recent years, there are no two roguelikes that are exactly the same.
Except for the fact that this achievement list makes it seem that Pagan Min could just be the Vaas DLC all over again, meeting the same roguelike with another. Vaas’ DLC was great…for Vaas, but it doesn’t correlate that Vaas’ DLC would be great for Pagan Min. That’s exactly what it seems like, though. It may be a slightly different sandbox, it may be slightly different story elements, but it seems like a carbon copy based on what’s known so far. This is a problem because, as great as they all are, no two Far Cry villains are genuinely alike.
And, for Far Cry 6’s Season Pass, it likely means Joseph Seed will follow suit and that each DLC is the same thing repeated over and over again, with three different characters.
Far Cry 6 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.