There's a lot to dislike about the FC5 missions and story, although they are considerably more tolerable when you complete and go back with your full loadout accessible (ca$h, guns, ammo, everything except some skill points pertaining to GFH), you just have to get to a store or peddlar, and then you're off to the races.

But I like it best in post-missions mode, where if you are careful not to kill the last dude, you will have access to 2 fiefdoms fully populated with peggies, their trucks and helicopters (all but in Faith's region on account of you are forced to kill her, and it's bye bye Peggies there) and there's also the arcade which has some amazing user-made maps that can be way tougher than any of the missions (search on AKAFootloose).

I did really enjoy FC4 for it's exoticness, and I mean to continue playing it, but didn't find the NPCs notably more interesting, but kind of stupid and irritating. I've got mine with an 'arrows and bolts' mod on it (basically one-shot kills), making those weapons way more fun.

My preference may be down to familiarity with USian mores and scenery (which I think FC5 totally nails, having spent no time in Montana) and, well, I have an axe to grind, unfortunately there are no axes in FC5, so I have to make do with the panoply of firearms on offer in every corner of that benighted land ... The bows and arrows are awesome too. Pretty sure there's no such animal as an incendiary shotgun shell, but fuck me if they don't take down a chopper with the pilot screaming.

Are you planning to do New Dawn?

I normally favour a stealthy approach in games like this but have found it really easy not to mention fun to rock up to an outpost with an armoured jeep, start firing rockets to get the Peggies attention, then let rip with the roof mounted machine gun. It's only failed to work the once when an RPG heavy took me out before I spotted him. Yes, it lacks finesse, but it gets the job done.

I'm not planning on New Dawn at the moment, got far too many other things to be working through in my unplayed Steam list. :|

 

New Dawn is one of my favourite Far Cry games, second only to Four.

Is it a full game? I've read it's a quasi-sequel to FC5, but not sure if it's DLC or self contained game.

It's a full game, actually quite different from FC5. I got about 1/3 of the way through it a while ago and plan to finish it some time, whenever my FC5 monomania wears off. If you like freaky, trippy stuff like Manthorp ...

I'm not a fan of the trippy boss battles in FC4, but the trippy Reggie and Yogi missions were a big highlight. If there's more of that sort of thing, then it's definitely gonna be worth a look. 

I've got a small collection of large RPGs to get through in my Steam library that I want to look at after I finish FC5. They've been lingering around for quite a while. I started Skyrim waaaay back, but got far too distracted with side quests and was 50 hours in before I saw my first dragon. If I start playing that again I'm likely to never need another game. 

That said I've started looking at the free F1 game (2018?!) you posted about the other week, there's a surprising amount to it, an in depth career mode which, depending on the team you choose, gives you a set level of expectation that's not necessarily about winning. 

One thing I can definitely recommend for FC4 is the Yeti DLC.

C'est moi...

I kind of liked the shroomy stuff in FC3. It reminded me of a) actual shrooms and b) some wonderful passages in Robert Stones' Dog Soldiers.

I also liked the shootout in the hallucinogen factory in FC4, all to the sound of Panjabi MC.

Yeah. I prefer drug-induced over digital, but whatever.

With the notable exception of the now deceased, Dead Island and L4D franchises, I have always been disappointed by zombie-themed FPS. I took a run at Dying Light (DI's supposed successor), and may return to it in future. Its zombies are dangerous, but not scary and loathsome. The parkour thing is sort of fun until it turns into a puzzle-solving thing which is often. I played through Wolfenstein TOB, and while its set-designs were fantastic, the creatures were meh, and the zombies even moar meh (I got TNO as a twofer deal, haven't installed it. Maybe I will, maybe I won't).

Last night I drunk-bought Dead Living Zombies (DLC for FC5) for the princely sum of $Can. 3 and spun it up for a minute of gameplay before retiring. It appears to be be, more or less, worth the price of admission -- I'm seeing retread concepts stolen from L4D and TOB both (alas, none from DI). One original thing is the comical graphic novel storyline about a scriptwriter pitching these preposterous scenarios to skeptical studio heads. So that at least is different. I love trashy and stupid graphic novels, so long as they deliver on graphics and outre storylines.