I’ve never felt that before but it only reinforced this is Dani’s story, not mine. She has so ingratiated herself with Yara and its politics, she was comfortable talking about its history, humming along to tunes, discussing philosophers, knowing who key players were, despite my complete ignorance. It is the first time in a Far Cry game where there was a disconnect between player and character: It was a foreign locale to me, but not to Dani. Dani, on the other hand, has never travelled beyond Yara. The closest Ubisoft has come to telling this kind of story was the wonderful Far Cry 4, but even there, Ajay was still an outsider “returning” home to scatter his mother’s ashes – but it was a home Ajay knew little about, growing up in the United States. The American Dream doesn’t come in our color.” As Dani’s erstwhile mentor and friend, Clara, who is also the leader of the resistance movement tells Dani: “Yanquis might pay you to park their cars or pick their fruit, but you’ll never be one of them. Dani wants to escape to the United States – with no illusions she’ll make it initially beyond working low wage work. This is part of building the might of Yara’s bloodthirsty, but charismatic, leader Antón Castillo (played with scene-chewing brilliance by Giancarlo Esposito, who was clearly having too much fun playing an utter tyrant).ĭani is thus not only a native Yaran herself, but fought in its army for some time, representing the very man and power she now opposes. Dani is an orphan in the fictional country of Yara, forced as a teen to become a soldier by virtue of a draft. With Far Cry 6, however, Ubisoft tells an extremely personal story, with a very real, rounded and well-written main character in Dani Rojas.
Indeed, the last two games didn’t even feature voiced characters. Using this, main characters in Far Cry games were barely characters, merely avatars for players who would be in a similar position: just like the main characters, you are discovering this land for yourself. The customs of the people are unknown, the landscape a shadowy terrain, the main villains alien but hostile threats. Travelling to exotic locations, disengaged from the comfort of their own home, Far Cry has seen its main characters thrust into new, alien locations. Petty tyrannies under the garb of profit. The ethical dilemma has been profoundly spoken of: do you purchase a product from a company knowing toxic higher-ups benefit from profits or do you purchase knowing those at the bottom worked hard – and under unnecessary conditions? At the end, we all know it is those at the bottom who are worst affected because that is the nature of capitalism and corporations.
I cannot in good conscience speak about this game without bringing readers’ attention to this atmosphere that no one should have to endure. People involved were unnecessarily hurt or targeted. So reviewing a Ubisoft game must come with the caveat that this was not made in a vacuum. It is not their fault that their art and ingenuity was undermined by virtue of horrible men. Worst still, it has upended actual people’s lives – particularly women – who merely wanted to get on with their jobs and produce quality work as a result of their incredible talents. Some toxic executives have been removed, but the ramifications of their sexist choices and hateful mediocrity has tainted the output of otherwise creative and brilliant people. Despite widespread calls and attention being drawn to Ubisoft, the process of reform seems slow. Corporations, which are designed to prioritize profits over people, foster environments of tyrannical control and the undermining of subordinates. Ubisoft is a toxic as hell corporation because of its leadership, which these days is akin to saying Covid sucks.
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