Introducing players to Yara earlier this year, the next entry in the Far Cry series is bringing players to a Cuban Revolution-inspired setting this time around. While Far Cry 6 will once again star a tyrant in the form of Anton Castillo, the dynamic between him and his son brings an interesting twist to the usual Far Cry villain design. Unfortunately the game did get delayed from its original February release date, but as the franchise’s first foray on the next console generation, many are expecting big things. From the trailer alone, it’s clear this Far Cry is building off its tried-and-true formula whilst also trying to kick things up a notch.
As Far Cry 6 brings the franchise to next-gen first, there’s already a lot announced about what’s different in the sixth entry. A new character dynamic for the villain, a new protagonist design, and how the setting of Yara differs from previous Far Cry games. However, there’s quite a bit still unknown about Far Cry 6 that will likely be confirmed with a gameplay reveal next year. Things like how co-op might work with a centralized protagonist, or perhaps how the buddy/guns for hire system is different from Far Cry 5, these are all things expected to change. If Far Cry 6 intends to innovate the franchise’s formula, these are a few examples of what should evolve.
A defining portion of Far Cry 5‘s gameplay loop was the ability to utilize drop-in, drop-out co-op. Since the game featured a silent protagonist compared to Far Cry 4, co-op was a bit restricted in the game. Players could only have one friend join for world activities, never main story missions. Far Cry 5, however, featured co-op play for any and all activities in the game (tutorial aside). Since Far Cry 6 is returning to a non-silent main character with Dani Rojas, the campaign may return to a strictly singleplayer experience. Either that, or the campaign would need to find a way to implement buddies as a playable character for co-op play.
Buddies or “guns for hire” have been integral parts of previous Far Cry narratives, but recently they’ve been relegated to optional companions. Far Cry 5‘s buddies had their own respective questlines, but once they’re recruited, they’re largely just the NPC form of hired help. Buddies in Far Cry 2 used to assist and provide alternative methods to completing main story missions, with different consequences based on the choices players made. While Chorizo may not exactly be the most compelling Far Cry 6 companion, story-centric buddies should make a return in the next game in some way. Plus, buddies could help thematically incorporate co-op into the game.
One interesting thing about Far Cry 6 shown off in the trailer is Esperanza, the capital city of Yara. Previous Far Cry games have never had any kind of a metro area location before, but there’s always been that potential. Back in the day, fans used to design makeshift skyscrapers and cities out of random objects and manipulation in the old Far Cry map editors. This is the first time a true-to-form city is showing up in a Far Cry game, and it appears to be a pivotal area related to the main story of Far Cry 6. Players will eventually lead the revolution to the Yaran capital city, as they attempt to overthrow Anton Castillo’s dictatorship.
There’s obviously great potential in Far Cry‘s first city, but Far Cry 6 should take things a step further. Rather than making Esperanza a last-stop for the game’s campaign, the city should become an integral part of the game’s story. Players should spend a lot of time there, working to slowly derail the totalitarian government and military through various forms of sabotage or strategic offensives. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be satisfying to have the climax of the story fighting through the streets of Esperanza, but hopefully the city would become a recurring setting. Doing quests in and around Esperanza would be interesting, rather than reserving it for the ending sequence.
Of course, a Far Cry game isn’t worth its salt without a compelling villain, or at least an entertaining one. Far Cry 6 could be setting up the greatest villain the series has seen thus far, with Giancarlo Esposito’s portrayal of Anton Castillo. As far as the “tyrannical villain” stereotype for Far Cry goes, Anton Castillo would normally be considered standard fare in that archetype if not for the added variable of his son, Diego. Anton’s son is just a teenager, and growing up under a dictator during his formative years means he could grow up to support or oppose his father over time. Far Cry definitely needs a villain we can love to hate again, and Anton seems up to it.
The last few villains in Far Cry 5 and Far Cry: New Dawn have been generally good, but not exceptional or iconic like Far Cry 3‘s Vaas or Far Cry 4‘s Pagan Min. The Seed family split apart the villainy between four different antagonists, rather than one main villain. While each of their performances were commendable, diverting the player’s attention like that inherently made each of them less impactful on their own. A similar situation happened with Lou and Mickey in New Dawn. Since Far Cry 6‘s character dynamic is much more intimate, and Anton’s Giancarlo Esposito is an award-winning, the sixth game’s villain may reinvigorate that iconic villain role.
Hopefully fans will get a better idea what playing Far Cry 6 is like in the coming months. Even if the game is no longer releasing in February, perhaps a gameplay reveal may come sooner rather than later.
Far Cry 6 is planned to release in 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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