Far Cry 6 will take place in the fictional Caribbean island nation of Yara. The player will take on the role of revolutionary Dani Rojas as they fight to bring down Yara's president, Anton Castillo.
Neither of these two main elements, the tropical island setting and the revolutionary plotline, are new to the Far Cry franchise. If Ubisoft is going to reintroduce elements from the previous games, however, Far Cry 6 should introduce a BioShock Infinite-style twist that changes everything.
The World of Far Cry 6
Yara is just one of a long line of fictional stand-in countries in the Far Cry series. Far Cry 2 took place in a fictional unnamed African nation, caught in the midst of a bloody civil war. Far Cry 3 took place on the Rook Islands, roughly based on Indonesia. Far Cry 4 took players to Kyrat, a Himalayan country caught in the midst of revolution and based on Nepal.
The island of Yara is a fictionalized stand-in for Cuba, an influence already discussed by Far Cry 6's developers. Anton Castillo likely takes influence from elements of both the government of Fidel Castro, and the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, which the Cuban revolutionaries overthrew in early 1959. The revolutionaries in turn appear to take inspiration from the guerilla fighters of the Cuban Revolution, with the game's Narrative Director directly stating that "when you're talking about guerilla warfare, you go to Cuba."
While Far Cry has never taken players to the Caribbean, many of these elements will already sound familiar. Far Cry 3 took place on a tropical island, while Far Cry 4 saw protagonist Ajay Ghale return to Kyrat and join a revolution against its dictator. Far Cry 4 saw Ajay steer the direction of the revolution itself by choosing between two opposing leaders. The revolution in Far Cry 6 is similarly described as "divided and without unified leadership."
While the performance of Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito as Anton Castillo could bring something fresh to the game, the franchise seems at risk of recycling its past. The dynamic between Anton and his son and heir Diego could also help tell a new kind of story, but Ubisoft will have to tread carefully to avoid retreading the themes of family and inheritance also found in Far Cry 4.
It has been established that there is a relatively consistent Far Cry world. Longinus in Far Cry 4 is from Far Cry 2's fictional African nation. In Far Cry 3, Hurk Drubman Jr. also mentions a region from Far Cry 2 as a source of blood diamonds. Hurk then appears in Far Cry 4's Kyrat and Far Cry 5's fictional Hope County, Montana. This raises the potential for Far Cry 6 to have a huge, BioShock Infinite-style twist.
BioShock Infinite's Twist
When BioShock Infinite released it was assumed by many BioShock fans that it did not take place in the same continuity as the first two games. There were artistic allusions, like the lighthouse at the start of the game, but the story of Infinite seemed completely self-contained.
That changed partway through the game. Elizabeth teleports Booker and herself to Rapture, the setting of the first two BioShock games. It is then revealed that "there's always a lighthouse. There's always a man. There's always a city." In other words, Booker was revealed as an alternate universe version of the first game's protagonist, Columbia being an alternate version of Rapture, and so on.
A multiverse twist in Far Cry 6 seems both unlikely an unsuited to the tone of the series. However, the game is in a similar position when it comes to fan assumptions that it could ignore previous canon. In one of Far Cry 5's endings, the end times predicted by antagonist Joseph Seed really do come to fruition. Nuclear bombs detonate, and Far Cry New Dawn establishes that seventeen years later, people are attempting to rebuild society.
Although there are clear connections that establish the setting of Far Cry as one consistent fictionalized world, many fans will be going into Far Cry 6 assuming that it will ignore the apocalyptic event depicted in the last two games. Instead, that event should take place during Far Cry 6's plot.
Post-Apocalyptic Yara
Yara is isolated from the rest of the world both geographically and politically, and a nuclear war could theoretically take place without bombs being dropped on the island itself. Ubisoft shouldn't abandon the events of the last two games, even if they weren't as well received as some earlier installments in the series.
The exact scope of the apocalypse is left ambiguous in Far Cry 5 and New Dawn, and Far Cry 6 should explore it further. Cuba isn't just known for its guerilla warfare and revolution, but also as the center of an infamous nuclear standoff. Yara surviving the apocalypse could allow Ubisoft to explore another aspect of the island's history while maintaining consistency in its fictional world and delivering a devastating mid-game twist.
The apocalypse depicted at the end of Far Cry 5 shouldn't destroy Yara, but it could hugely complicate Far Cry 6's revolutionary plotline. On the one hand, the disaster could present an opportunity to the revolutionaries. On the other, the iron-fisted Castillo government may be better equipped to deal with the fallout, leading some in the revolution to question their goals during the crisis. New fears and new ambitions could arise that change the course of the story, reflecting some of the sudden shifts and huge questions faced by real revolutions.
The main ingredients of Far Cry 6 are already taken from previous Far Cry games, but if the series is going to continue using elements from previous games, it should use them to deliver something totally unexpected. Twists alone won't help Far Cry 6 find the acclaim of previous Far Cry games, but the inclusion of Far Cry 5's nuclear war in the background of the game's plot could allow the story to explore some unique avenues that force players to make harder choices than ever before.
Far Cry 6Â is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
