Although Far Cry 6 is a standalone title, there are a few mentions in the game that relate it to the previous installments in the series. There is also one big event, the Collapse, that seems to be missing from the game completely. This points to the notion that Far Cry 6 either takes place after the walk-away ending of Far Cry 5, or it is simply in an alternate universe.
[Warning: Spoilers for Far Cry games are below.]
To understand the connections in Far Cry 6, players must first understand the canon stories of each Far Cry installment and how they shape the universe in which each game takes place. Far Cry games are full of choices, heinous villains, and a variety of landscapes to explore. The narratives in each game immerse players in the dangerous and heart-wrenching worlds of the characters they follow.
Each installment in the Far Cry series offers a new area to traverse and unique characters. The villains in the series are some of the most unsettling characters in any video game, and they may be making appearances in the Far Cry 6 DLC. Characters like Pagan Min, Vaas, and Joseph Seed could be playable with the release of the Far Cry 6 season pass. To fully appreciate these characters and the stories that could be released, players need to revisit their respective games and reacclimate themselves with the narratives. The easiest way to comprehend the massive Far Cry universe is to go through the games in chronological order.
What to Know Before Playing Far Cry 6: Far Cry Primal
Far Cry Primal takes place in the Stone Age and is, chronologically, the first title in the series. The game follows Takkar, a surviving member of a Wenja tribe group of hunters that were attacked by a sabertooth tiger. He finds a Wenja village, meets Sayla, and is tasked with finding others to help rebuild the village. Throughout his journey, Takkar fights off and defends the village against attacks from the Izila and Udam tribes. In the end, Takkar will defeat the leaders of both tribes using his Beast Master abilities and rebuild the Wenja village. This installment is important because it shows that from the very beginning of humanity, there were supernatural forces, which are present in other games, that enhanced or mutated human abilities.
What to Know Before Playing Far Cry 6: Far Cry 3 - Blood Dragon
Although Blood Dragon is set apart from the rest of the series in a dystopian, futuristic version of 2007, the game is worth mentioning because it will be part of Far Cry 6's DLC. The game focuses on Rex, a cybernetic super-soldier, who, with the help of his companion Spider, infiltrates an enemy bunker to gather intel. The pair are captured, and Spider is immediately executed, but Rex is able to find a new ally in Dr. Elizabeth Darling. She works for Colonel Sloan but secretly despises him. Sloan plans to use rockets containing the blood of prehistoric beasts known as Blood Dragons to modify Earth's inhabitants. Rex fights to stop Sloan and save Dr. Darling. There will be gear and weapons from Blood Dragon available for Dani to use as part of the DLC for Far Cry 6.
What to Know Before Playing Far Cry 6: Far Cry 2 & Jackal
In 2008, a mercenary is sent to Africa to kill an arms dealer known as the Jackal, who was later confirmed to be the main protagonist in Far Cry, Jack Carver. Unfortunately, the character contracts Malaria, and he is left to die, only to awaken in the middle of a firefight between two opposing factions. Throughout the game, players make choices regarding the two factions, but one will inevitably betray the mercenary. He will end up needing to work with the Jackal, who flips between fueling the war and wanting to stop it.
Far Cry 2's Jackal connects to Far Cry, but as an enemy, he isn't nearly as disturbing as the villains in future titles. This game is connected to Far Cry 6 through the mention of Longinus, who is potentially called over the radio in the mission "The Deported." Longinus hails from the same country where the Jackal operates, and he also makes a physical appearance in Far Cry 4.
What to Know Before Playing Far Cry 6: Far Cry 3 & Vaas
Four years after the events in Far Cry 2, Jason Brody takes a seemingly harmless trip to the Rook Islands in the pacific with a group of friends. The trip quickly turns into a nightmare when the group skydives right into a pirate stronghold where they meet a horrifying villain, Far Cry 3's Vaas. Sadistic and insane, Vaas finds entertainment in torturing and taunting Jason, who runs from Vaas after his brother is shot in front of him. Jason spends the game taking on Vaas, and his boss Hoyt, while trying to find his friends.
Jason meets Willis Huntley of the CIA while taking on the pirates. Huntley is a reoccurring character that appears in Far Cry 4 and Far Cry 5, and he is heard in Far Cry 6 over the radio. While finding his friends and fighting the pirates, Jason also meets Citra and the Rakyat tribe. He later finds out that Vaas is Citra's brother, and he was led astray by Hoyt, but by then it's too late because Jason has already fought and killed Vaas. He turns his attention toward Hoyt and ends up rescuing all of his friends, but in the end, he has to choose between them and the Rakyat tribe.
Far Cry 6 has teased the possibility of including Vaas as a playable character in the DLC. There is a chance that Vaas is still alive, even though he was seemingly killed in Far Cry 3. Throughout the game, Jason is killed by being stabbed, shot, and thrown off a cliff, but he canonically survives each attempt on his life. Jason is also given tatau, tattoos that grant power, at the beginning of the game, and since Vaas is a former member of the Rakyat, it stands to reason he would also have these powers. The other possibility is that this part of Far Cry 6 takes place sometime before the events of Far Cry 3, and Vaas is starting out as a smuggler still being influenced by Hoyt. Either way, Vaas is clearly going to be a part of the DLC in Far Cry 6.
What to Know Before Playing Far Cry 6: Far Cry 4 & Pagan Min
Far Cry 4 follows Ajay Ghale as he travels to Kyrat, the place of his birth, in order to bring his mother's ashes to Lakshmana. Upon arrival, he meets Pagan Min, the self-proclaimed King of Kyrat, who had a romantic relationship with Ajay's mother. After Ajay leaves his palace, he's introduced to the leaders of the Golden Path, a faction that stands against Min's royal army. Ajay helps the Golden Path, and they agree to try and help him find Lakshmana so he can complete his task.
In Far Cry 4, recently boosted for Xbox Series X/S, Ajay slowly uncovers the truth about his family with the help of CIA agent Willis Huntley. He later finds out that Lakshmana is actually his half-sister: the child of Pagan Min and his mother, Ishwari Ghale. Ajay's father, Mohan Ghale, shot the child because, to him, she represented Ishwari's betrayal. He also attempted to kill Ishwari, but she escaped Kyrat with Ajay. At the end of the game, Ajay reunites Ishawari with his sister by placing the ashes at Lakshmana's shrine.
Ajay must make choices that lead to a final confrontation with Min and his forces. In the end, Ajay decides whether Min dies or escapes Kyrat, but it seems that the canon ending has him escaping the country. Min is to be included in the Far Cry 6 DLC. Pagan Min already appears in Far Cry 6 via his face magazine covers throughout the game, and he has been teased as an upcoming playable character.
What to Know Before Playing Far Cry 6: Far Cry 5 & Joseph Seed
Joseph Seed, a radical religious fanatic, takes on the antagonist role in Far Cry 5. The main character is a rookie junior deputy for the US Marshals, but he's separated from his superiors after attempting to arrest Seed. The rookie spends his time searching for his companions and liberating each region from Seed's family members, his younger and older brothers, and adopted sister: John, Jacob, and Faith.
Joseph Seed is a dangerous villain that truly believes in the righteousness of his cause. He predicts the Collapse, a global nuclear event that will leave the world in ruins, and he promises to bring his people through to New Eden following the fallout. He uses a drug called bliss to control the minds of his followers and uses the drug repeatedly on the rookie and his friends. At the end of the game, the rookie can leave Joseph to his ways, or take him on. When the rookie leaves, his brainwashed conditioning takes over, and he blacks out. If he stays, he will fight Seed and arrest him, but their truck crashes when they try to escape a nuclear blast, and the rookie ends up underground with Seed while everyone else perishes.
It was originally believed that the canon ending for Far Cry 5 was the nuclear fallout with Seed taking the rookie to a bunker. This ending leads into Far Cry: New Dawn. However, the world of Far Cry 6 seems to be unaffected by the Collapse, so it may be that this new installment assumes the alternate ending of Far Cry 5. In either ending, Joseph is alive, so Seed's inclusion in the Far Cry 6 DLC may shed more light on what happened between Far Cry 5 and New Dawn.
What to Know Before Playing Far Cry 6: The First Far Cry Game
Far Cry was rereleased as Far Cry Instincts, and the plot is slightly different, but the newer version is considered canon in the series. The first Far Cry game actually takes place in 2025, after the events in every game except for the Far Cry 5 sequel, New Dawn. Jack Carver, who was the Jackal from Far Cry 2, is hired by Valerie Cortez, but she ditches him when they approach their destination. He is attacked and forced to flee, then Carver is contacted by CIA agent Doyle.
He learns of Dr. Krieger, a mad scientist running experiments on humans to enhance their abilities through mutation. He eventually stops Kreiger after being injected with his enhancement serum. Later, Carver comes back to work with Kade to fight the rebels that sabotage a deal between the pirates and governor. Carver fights Semeru, the leader of the rebels, who has the same powers as Carver. He learns that Kade was double-crossing him the whole time and leaves her his reward money to appease her human-like selfishness.
There doesn't seem to be much of a tie in between Far Cry and Far Cry 6 other than the main character being the Jackal, whose body was never found at the end of Far Cry 2. Although the timeline doesn't exactly add up, it was confirmed by Ubisoft this year that Jack Carver and the Jackal are one and the same. It's unclear at this point if he will return either in Far Cry 6 DLC or in a future installment of the series.
What to Know Before Playing Far Cry 6: New Dawn
New Dawn takes place seventeen years after the events of Far Cry 5 and the Collapse. Citizens reemerge from underground and build Prosperity, a new settlement in Hope County, which is swiftly attacked by the Highwaymen. This group of bandits continuously causes strife for the survivors of the fallout throughout the game. In order to defeat them, the main character, referred to as The Captain, must enlist the help of New Eden residents.
The Judge in New Dawn, who turns out to be the rookie from Far Cry 5, leads the captain on a spiritual journey. The captain is revealed to be the chosen one, and the leader of New Eden as predicted by Joseph Seed. Seed's son, Ethan, is furious by this realization, so he helps the Highwaymen to attack New Eden, but ultimately falls after the captain takes out the Highwaymen leaders. At the end of the game, Seed realizes he's caused nothing but pain and suffering and that he has no chance for redemption, so he takes his own life.
New Dawn confirms that Joseph Seed survives the Collapse and lives to realize his vision of creating New Eden. His involvement in Far Cry 6 and the events that took place over the seventeen years between this game and his last appearance remains unclear for now. However, Joseph Seed will be included in the DLC for Far Cry 6 and players may get some answers as to what ending this game follows and how the Collapse has or has not affected Yara.
How Far Cry 6's Story Sets Up The Game
Far Cry 6 has players traversing the country Yara as Dani, who fights against the forces of a new villain, Antón Castillo. Players will explore the tropical paradise frozen in time as Castillo tries to revive Yara by any means necessary. His oppression and cruelty spark a revolution that Dani will become heavily involved in. As with each Far Cry game, players' focus will be taking out the main antagonist by dismantling his forces and building up their own. The latest installment ties in other Far Cry titles through Easter eggs and the game's DLC, which will feature stories about previous villains.