Far Cry 5 (2018)

Far Cry 5 is probably my favorite Far Cry to date, and I wasn't expecting that at all. The setting for this game is awesome and it really feels appropriate for what is going on in the story. I absolutely loved exploring the game world wreaking havoc on ATVs, semi trucks, cars, on foot, whatever -- also there's hunting, fishing, etc -- it's a damn good looking environment. You will hit parts where the game will force you down main parts of the storyline, but all-in-all that didn't bother me all that much.

The story in this game is nothing short of awesome, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Just know that they do a damn good job.

I completed this game's main story (maybe 60%'d it in total -- died 75 times, had 2,453 kills) and just tooled around in the game world wreaking havoc in about 48 hours total played on Xbox Series X on a 4K TV.

Ok so I feel like this is going to generate some buzz here on Grouvee, but I kind of enjoyed fishing in Far Cry 5. Mechanically it’s simple but mimics a bit of the feeling of actual fishing. It was the same mechanics in Far Cry 6 except in that game I needed to waste gun powder on upgrades and since I was prioritizing other things like weapons and gear I didn’t upgrade the rod, reel and bait until endgame when I had no interesting in fishing post game. But in Far Cry 5 give you don’t have to waist time unlocking upgrades, you just get better rods with bait options built in. No wasting precious resources, and fishing is actually quite relaxing as a result.

So the verdict is in from your resident fishing mini-game hater: Far Cry 5 may be a bad game but it has the best fishing mini-game!

This is a very bad game. I truly underestimated how bad it would be. I was also gravely mistaken that this was mechanically better than Far Cry 6. It's unbelievable how broken this game is. I've fallen through the world multiple times, I've spontaneously exploded multiple times for no discernable reason, and much of the physics of the game seem off. One time I was participating in a shooting range challenge and the NPCs would freak out after every gun shot sounded, despite the fact that I was in a scripted mission. Not to mention that enemies can't hear you fire a silenced rifle, but allies will scream to high heaven if you fire one silenced round near them. NPC companions have about three lines each and they repeat them ad infinitum. Did you know you can kill a Caribou with one or two arrows but if you try to hit it with a truck, you'll probably need to hit it three or four times? I only know this because this game has some of the worst side missions I've ever played.

Terrible game.

I honestly can't figure out if Far Cry 5 is just worse Days Gone, or better Days Gone.

Also I take a lot of what I said earlier when I compared Far Cry 6 and Far Cry 5. Once you've made it to the mid-point of Far Cry 6 and you have a solid amount of gear, it feels phenomenal to play. Far Cry 5 now only has two things going for it that I prefer (so far): 1) The bow actually feels like a Far Cry bow because it feels like the best silent takedown weapon in the game. The bow feels like it was nerfed in Far Cry 6, and sniper rifles and scoped rifles with silencers feel much more powerful, with greater utility, than the bow, something I've never once felt in any previous entry in the game. So maybe bows are overpowered, but I kind of enjoy that; and 2) I can't remember. I started this with two things in mind, and now I can't remember what the second is. Lol, I'm getting too old.

This game feels considerably meaner than Far Cry 6. While the latter is certainly graphic, it has a hopefulness that's tied to a people's revolution regardless of the game's other faults. But Far Cry 5 just feels like horrible people killing other horrible people. Now while arguably that is what the series has always been about, I can't help but feel coming fresh off Far Cry 6, where it's actually possible to like characters for the first time in a Far Cry game, it's hard to like Far Cry 5.

I also despise Jess. I thought I'd like her at first. She can take enemies down silently, and if she huts animals for me I get 2x pelts because she uses a bow. But I can't stand everything that comes out of her mouth. Whether she's spouting what sounds like conspiracy nonsense, or babbling about weird gun rights adjacent ideology (even though she thinks guns are for babies compared to bows) I just can't stand her. There's no doubt in my mind that the real incarnation of her would be a rightwing racist and a racist with delusions of grandeur that is one second away from an act of domestic terrorism. At one point she said she hates small talk and I wish that meant she's stop talking. I hope I can find an animal companion that doesn't talk and is just a good friend.