Congrats, Ubisoft on another fun romp through FC. I enjoyed myself quite a bit. And the villains were outstanding as usual. The expiditions were very nice. Now I'd like to take a bit to suggest some things for the next far cry game or ND dlc, whenever that may be, that will help keep the gameplay fresh and not predictable. This will be a long slog, but I hope you will read it through and give it to the devs for consideration.
1.) REALISTIC STORY GAMEPLAY AMD CHOICES THAT CAN CHANGE THE GAME . In FC 3, (can't remember if it hapoens in 4) 5, and now ND, there are some very, let's call them silly story moments. Moments that no person would ever let happen, even when you see them coming a mile away, you can't not do them to progress.
A.) In FC 3, you have Vaas trapped in a building, alone, and you are armed to the teeth. Yet you go in after him and are forced to endure a drug addled shooting gallery and knife fight. Where any rational, strategic thinker would simply pkant their explosives and level the building. Or gather help, take the facility, set up in a good position, and demand that he come out or you level the building, then shoot him when he comes out.
B.) In FC 5, again, armed better than Johns Rambo, Matrix, McClane and Wick, you walk up to the door of a church, held by John Seed, get blasted in the nose and go through the whole deal there instead of you and your gun(s) for hire covering the exits and demanding that the villains release the hostages and surrender or you'll burn the building down with them in it. Then shoot them once they are out. Or arrest them. Again, with Jacob Seed and his hunters, you are taken several times to be brainwashed. I get the story aspect, but are your GFHs so inept that you ALWAYS get caught? Do they not fight back and save you? Faith is a little more forgiveable since that area is so riddled with bliss that you can't help but hallucinate. Finally at the end, Joseph is there, and you have to listen to his crap, where anyone and everyone after going through all that would blast him into bits with their trusty sbs before he opens his mouth and you ride off into the sunset. That as a hidden, best-of-all-endings ending would've been a treat.
C.) Now in ND, there is a mission where you defuse bombs on people and Mickey and Lou are ACTUALLY IN THE BUILDING WITH ZERO ESCAPE ROUTES. Meanwhile, you have guns, bombs and a GFH on hand. But you agree to disarm yourself and be hand cuffed while they kill your pal, whuch we all knew was coming. Your character us a trooper. He/she knows the stakes. They'd never give up their strategic advantage, especially knowing that the conflict could be solved with minimal losses. Then (before the bomb disarming mission, I believe) the twins come to your doorstep and you go out instead of having shooters positioned to take them and their helpers out the minute they step out of their vehicle. Yes there were kids at stake, but the grenade pin hadn't been pulled yet. Story could've changed there. Twins eliminated, and Ethan's story could take a twist and such.
Point being, these are story moments no person would ever walk into. Compare these to another favorite of mine, Ghost Recon Wildlands. You play any way you want to, just like FC, yet if you plan your attack well enough, you can get in, accomish your mission and get out without even being seen. No kidnappings, no walking into obvious traps. You do your recon and then your job. I do the same in FC. I play very strategically. Quietly as much as possible, and then loud if absolutely called for. I know where the exits are and I remove as many targets as possible from long range before setting foot in the objective area. So, if I can do that for 95% of the game, why not the rest of it? Things in a mission can go sideways, sure, but it's better if its not predictable. I've never minded if an Unidad helo showed up while I was swapping lead with Santa Blanca. That feels more organic. If your careful planning or lack of it could change the missions and therefore the game, it'd be fresh and awesome.
2.) NO NATIVE AMERICAN ANYTHING. Why are there never Native Americans or their trappings in the character creator? In GRW, some clothes and face paints were added, which was very nice, but none in Montana? That's a bit ridiculous. In Montana of all places!! Also no missions of the cult violating a Native sacred place, nothing? No Native themed collectibles or side missions? Not a vision quest, like Shambala? Please remedy this. Maybe in a dlc for ND. That would be amazing.
3.) DINOSAURS. FC Blood dragon and Primal were a neat start, but now we need an island or lost valley full of dinosaurs. The apocalypse is the perfect setting. Perhaps, during the bombing, a mountain cracks open, or the ceiling to a hollow earth caves in, releasing the beasts. Now THAT would be dlc worth paying for! Dinos for hunting, riding and all that. Imagine you, in your FC 4 buzzer, going to a mission and BAM! A teradactyl smacks into you! Or, ypu're sneaking up on a highwayman and a raptors head peeks through the bushes, Jurassic Park style. Or, you're chasing a tanker full of ethanol, you're almost to the cab, about to shoot the driver and a stegosaurus fighting with an Allosaurus spills into the road, running the truck into a ditch and now you have to deal with the dinos, the highwayman or both. Genius, if you ask me. I'd love to give you money for that, knowing what you could do with it.
4.) NEW WEAPONS.
A.) Minigun (old painless)
B.) Actual six shooter
C.) Tomahawk (both thrown and melee)
D.) Shield (Captain America style. Light, portable. Can run with it. Repairable. Upgradeable)
E.) Bullwhip (melee and climbing)
F.) Laser guns (either from Lost on Mars or new, Space Force ones, or Star Wars inspired ones)
G.) Chainsaw. 'Nuff said?
5.) NEW ABILITIES, COSTUMES, MOUNTS AND GADGETS.
A.) Night vision, either goggles or via edible.
B.) Buzzer (mini-copter) from FC 4.
C.) Dual wielding handguns.
D.) Beast mastery from FC Primal, especially on dinosaurs.
E.) Horses. For goodness sake, its Mon-friggin-tana. I used to live there. They're quite common. Let's do those, maybe first, please.
F.) The Predator. Both as an enemy and a fully operational costume complete with cloaking device, wrist blades, combistick, smart disc, thermal vision and plasma caster. You did it in GRW, both ways, nearly perfectly (still waiting on that Icon costume with all the bells and whistles. Ghost pack was pretty close. Now I want the real deal.). It'd be pretty fun to hunt highwaymen and dinos like that. You have the license. Use it.
G.) "Explorer" gear. Fedora, leather coat, button down shirt, khakis and satchel. To go with your .44 and bullwhip. Because why not?
H.) Historically accurate Native American garb and craftable weapons in nature.
6.) NEW ENEMIES.
A.) Aliens. The full-on Sigourney Weaver Aliens. Hives, queen, facehuggers and all. Challenge thrown. Will you accept?
B.) Mutated creatures. Use your imagination.
C.) The Predator. See section 5, subsection F.
Those are the things I'd like to see most. I know many others would too. Thank you for your time.
Horses? There were no horses even in a country theme....Do you think they will be anywhere else? We don't need horses in Far Cry! Horses are for Assassin's Creed. We need another horse, modern horse - IRON HORSE! We need good motorbike in the game! Not like in New Dawn. Let ND's bike be only first step, beginning. ND bike has no value (it is good as something new). What is the value of the motorbike in the game? Unlike other vehicles. Bike is a highly maneuverable! It is agile, brisk and nimble. Opens new possibilities for the game. We need a vehicle-friend. For centures it was a horse. In modern-time Far Cry it shouldn't be a horse (animal, past time) - it should be an iron horse!![]()