Best watched while eating crab rangoon.
Edited by Playstayshaun
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- Chapters -
Intro: 0:00
Kyrat: 3:13
Liberation: 10:46
Excuses: 25:08
10 Years Later: 38:01
Post Script: 40:26
No Far Cry 4 video or even discussion can escape the success of Far Cry 3. After all, according to fans, remaking Far Cry 3 is all the series has done for over a decade now. But is that really true? If you’ve played the games, then the answer is no, but it’s interesting to see both how wildly different yet familiar Far Cry 4 is compared to its predecessor. Far Cry 4 overhauls a lot of systems, introduces a far more vibrant and interesting location, and yet, mechanically, remains the same. When creating a sequel it’s important to make the game feel new, and to feel iterative, but why would the game stray too far from what previously garnered so much praise and success. It’s true, there are many moments here that feel as though Ubisoft said, “hey, remember that awesome scene from Far Cry 3, here, do it again”. But I think looking at Ubisoft through a modern lens shows us that while some may mock the series for not changing enough, is that so bad when Far Cry’s sibling has been in a decade long identity crisis, with it’s two fanbases divorced and desperately arguing for custody of the term “real assassin’s creed game”? Hard to say, but what is less so is to sing the praises and admittedly mumble the criticisms of Far Cry 4. It’s a great game, with some minor issues holding it back from being perfect. Some might even say it’s better than Far Cry 3, but I don’t wanna get too crazy, hermano, at least not yet.
As far as a new Far Cry game goes, it may not feel exactly new. We play a quiet, stoic protagonist, travelling to a foreign land, encountering the main villain who captures us, and once escaping we team up with the rebels to take back the region. It’s par for the course, but it’s not exactly as I described. Kyrat, a fictional country in India is not just home to Aajis and Aajas, but to Ajays too. A large theme I covered in my Far Cry 3 video is the idea of the Rook Islands being a foreign land being something to be conquered by Jason. Kyrat, has already been colonised, and while it’s an unknown land to us, to Ajay, it’s home, making it immediately different from the previous game. Functionally, this still results in radio towers, outposts, and fighting the power, but the context is different. This time, it’s morally justified. In the Far Cry 3, because Jason and the Player had a greater overlap, the game could create an insightful critique of the player by critiquing Jason. Far Cry 4 doesn’t have the same luxury, but as quickly as I make that claim, our villain is introduced, our Vaas 2.0. Except, he’s not. Looking to Pagan as a fill-in for Vaas is natural, he’s on the cover of the game, just like Vaas was, but I think in reality, Pagan is more of a Hoyte figure, the man at the head of the operations. He’s evil, but not Vaas evil, he doesn’t completely revel in the horror, rather, he sees it as a necessity to maintain a life of luxury. Who am I kidding? He enjoys it a little, but he maintains some humanity, a humanity that was all but lost in Hoyte.
Far Cry is a series that has supposedly repeated itself over and over. Far Cry 4 is an inheritor of that criticism, and this Far Cry 4 critique aims to be a, post Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4 analysis. This Far Cry 4 review is pat of my larger Far Cry retrospective. Far Cry 4 10 years later is still amazing, and I don't think we will ever need a Far Cry 4 remake. The game is even better when compared to Far Cry 5, Far Cry 6, and Far Cry Primal, as this game, along with Pagan Min, clear the rest of the series for me. This Far Cry 4 retrospective however will try to argue that this is far from Far Cry 3 again, and instead, use it as a basis for a series wide Far Cry review and Far Cry critique. Far Cry years later, has changed a lot, but I believe the series has retained it's identity so far, outside of the new Far Cry game. For now, this is the best Far Cry game, though the Far Cry 4 ending, and Far Cry 4 DLC, leaves a lot to be desired and this certainly doesn't have the best Far Cry villain, it's miles above the worst Far Cry game, and will likely clear the next Far Cry, but I suppose we will have to wait for the next Far Cry trailer to confirm that.