Far Cry 5 Spoiler Thread

Games
21

True enough. It seems to me to be pretty clear that the story treats religion as equally futile from the perspective of the “good” guys and the “bad” guys, with the only remotely positive aspect coming in the form of the preacher dude you help out. But even he is more pale rider type than a turn the other cheek type.

As you say, everyone will take what they will from it. To me, neither of your options is better, as they both simply emphasize revenge over any narrative closure. Nearly every game like this ends up in some sort of revenge fantasy, so I’m happy to see this one avoid that pitfall. YMMV.

I think it’s a very, very important distinction, though, that you do not “put a bullet in” any of them in the sense of executing them, which is clearly what most folks seem to want and what the gamer expects. Instead, it appears to me as a deliberate removal of that power from the player’s hands to emphasize the lack of agency at the heart of the protagonist’s actions.

Yeah, I’ve now read that it seems to be buggy, but that you can continue on. No matter; I uninstalled. As much as I really enjoyed much of the open-world shenanigans, the game like most Far Cry games is pretty much a one and done for me. One reason is that the weapons are, after a point, underwhelming in the sense that once I have a set of four I like, I have zero reason to change other than achievements/challenges, which bore me.

22

Here’s the issue I have with the endings - no matter what you do, Joseph lives. It’s a waste of 40 hours, from a story standpoint anyway. I get real life doesn’t always wrap things up nicely, but that’s not what I expect out of games. They’re escapist fantasies in which - even if it’s not a traditional ‘good’ ending - the bad guy(s) don’t win. See ‘Red Dead Redemption’ for how to do that right.

But, as you pointed out, YMMV.

23

Fair enough. But whether Joseph lives or dies is, to me, utterly immaterial, considering the entire fucking world is incinerated in nuclear fire. Sort of, well, who cares about Father Schmuck at that point?

24

I’m writing an article about this ending. This is a fun one.

25

It is certainly good fodder for someone to write about, pro,con, or somewhere in between.

26

I do, because the PC is going to essentially be tortured for the entirety of their time underground (assuming they get to leave), and he gets to ‘make’ the world how he sees fit. Yes, I know it’s a fake world, but it still bothers me.

27

Fair enough, but then your gripe isn’t that Joseph doesn’t die, it’s that the protagonist gets shafted (that bugged me too, not the fact he doesn’t win so much as the implication of torture and stuff, which I thought was a bit gratuitous). But they could have still had Joseph live and the protagonist not be tortured like that; the fulcrum isn’t IMO whether you get to kill Joseph.

Though, naturally, if you did pop a cap in his ass, he sure as hell couldn’t torture you I suppose!

28

Playing some Far Cry 4 again, as I bounced off of it the first time. Liking it much, much more this go round. I do wish 4 had some of the QOL improvements that are in 5, like N to holster your weapon, quick-press E to interact or loot, and what not, but it’s still a great environment with good gun play.

I did start to think, though, about agency, as per the discussion here. It seems to me that Far Cry 4 is about choice. You are some guy who knows zilch about his heritage who is making some hare-brained pilgrimage to the exotic land of his birth to inter his mother’s ashes, and how gets caught up in a revolution.As Ajay, you have a name, you have a history, and you have choices. You have a lot of freedom in how you approach the game story, you have to make meaningful choices among the Golden Path leaders and their plans, and there seems to be a lot fewer situations where the game snatches control away, at least after the initial prologue.

In contrast, Far Cry 5 is about lack of agency. You have no name. You have no past. You are doing a job, something you have no control over, when you are sent to arrest David Koresh, er, Joshua Seed. You have some choice in what you do, at a low level, but it always plays out the same. No matter how you approach it, kill enough cultists or blow up enough stuff and bam, it’s into the cutscenes. There are many loss of control moments, and one of the main game plot points is a total Manchurian Candidate/Clockwork Orange brainwashing. Each encounter with a lieutenant just underlines your lack of ability to change anything, and the ending, well, we’ve talked that to death.

I see Far Cry 5, then, as a deliberate attempt to explore loss of agency, which is especially interesting juxtaposed with the open world game style where the illusion of freedom is a paramount ludic trope. The narrative undermines this, intentionally.

29

I like the idea that this game DOESN’T end in a revenge fantasy. Also, Joseph wasn’t right, he just had good timing.

Reminded me of the end of Resevior Dogs, or 10 Cloverfield Lane, or many other movies without ‘good’ endings. I’m not sure we need revenge as the climax to all our narratives. Most endings bore me and I’m skipping through them, this one was intriguing.

30

I don’t think you can definitively say he wasn’t right and just had good timing. But they could have gone that route. In the bunker in the end, he could have said something about not really believing and just following the events of today, and he was using religion to get what he wanted - which would have made an interesting statement in and of itself. But no - he keeps on with the religious angle, and insinuating he was right about everything.

You may see it as ‘good timing’. I don’t. I wish I did - I’d have far less problem with the ending if I did (even if they’ve fucked themselves over from any further sequels at this point without going back in time).

31

Why? Are all the Far Cry games connected? I mean besides having the same name.

32

I think they all take place on a common Earth - one that has theoretically just undergone WWIII. So I’m not sure where they go from here w/o going back in time or trying to do a ‘Fallout’ type setting.

33

Hurk, for instance, comes from Far Cry 4. At least, I think it’s the younger Hurk. So the timeline is, well, at least related in some fashion.

I’m not sure they couldn’t just do Far Cry 6 anyhow, though. It’s not like anyone expects some sort of linearity here. It would, I agree, make it a bit odd in some ways, but, it could be a Far Cry that took place somewhen else, or they could just blow it all off and double down on the idea none of these are related.

In re Joseph, well, yeah, he sure feels he’s right, and he is still a true believer. After all, he thinks God talks to him. People like that rarely just say, :“yeah, you right, this was pretty dumb.” I don’t think the game is implying Joseph is right, other than, sure, he predicted the end of the world. Well, tons of folks been doing that for a long time, and in this case the dice finally came up snake eyes I suppose!

34

Hurk is in Primal as well. I don’t think the Far Cry games are canonically linked. They just share some characters and gameplay.

35

Ok, I am slowly getting on the bandwagon that says Far Cry 4 is the best of the bunch. As much as I like 2, 4 has something I don’t think any of the others do: riding elephants! Not only riding them, but shooting people with flaming arrows from on top of a painted pachyderm while trashing trucks with a prodigious Dumbo-ram!

If Far Cry 5 had let you ride Cheeseburger, now, that might be just as good. Or any bear, really. Bear Cavalry! That alone could save 5 from any criticism of its story!

36

Just finished. Hah the ending is the only thing worth a damn in this game, story-wise. It is dumb as hell, but at least it is somewhat interesting. Or maybe I just like apocalyptic endings.

I usually dislike and disagree with Walker, but this ain’t one of those cases. The game is so bad when it comes to both story structure and actual writing, it is kind of impressive that they released it like this.

The game itself is fun though. Significantly better than FC4 and Blood Dragon. Montana setting saved the day.

37

I’m replaying 4 now. I’m not sure I’d say 5 is significantly better, though the interface, engine, and quality of life stuff is definitely improved in 5. Hope County is better done than pseudo-Nepal or pseudo-Bhutan, but 4’s terrain is pretty good. What I like about 4 is the self-paced aspect of the game, as I wasn’t too fond of the resistance meter in 5 and the “oops, you’ve been too successful, now you’re going to be punished with a cutscene” stuff.

A big thing in 4 that bugs me is the stupidity of the army and the Golden Path folks. The latter don’t loot the enemy, leave supposedly valuable supplies and weapons just laying around, and blithely roam around enemy outposts with impunity, while the former are just dumb as posts. That, and how the hell does this pampered American kid suddenly develop expertise in rappelling, rock climbing, heavy weapons, assassination, and all that? At least in 5 you’re a deputy sheriff with some training, supposedly.

I will say though that I definitely cared more about the (non-Seed type) people in Montana. The locals are a bunch of mostly lovable lugs and it actually got me mad when bad things happened to them. Can’t say the same about anybody else in any of the Far Cry games…

38

Oh look, shit game has shitty ending.

I have 99-100% completion with FC3, 4, and Primal, including multiple play-throughs of Primal. With FC5 I can’t even be bothered to check what my completion percentage is.

Truly, the worst Far Cry. Uninstalled.

39

Wow, I thought it was the best since 2. Replaying it now, just beat the last sibling.

Here is my recommendation for the game state you leave it in for a replay:

Faith:. Her ending is the only one where they loop you directly into a bunker slugfest. Do hers to completion.

Jacob: You can do his all the way up until you kill him. You get his gun when you kill him. Don’t bother with the subsequent bunker rescue mission.

John: Do his all the way until he captures Falls End. The trigger is opening the church door so just don’t do that. Falls End should be a enemy spawn point then. Leave it like that.

I’m having fun doing stashes, side missions, and cleaning up the outposts. I saw the ending once, with all three siblings dead it’s pretty peaceful but you still get the occasional engagement.

40

Your approach…makes sense. About the ONLY way I’d do the game again, period.