Far Cry 6will take fans to the tropical Caribbean island of Yara, based largely on Cuba. Controlled by the iron-fisted regime of President Anton Castillo, player character Dani Rojas must join a revolution to bring down Anton’s regime and liberate Yara once and for all. The time period in which the game takes place is unclear, however, leading some fans of the franchise to speculate that one fan-favorite character could be returning.
Vaas was the undeniable star ofFar Cry 3. The game’s villain was brought to life with a performance by Michael Mando that shaped the series' relationship with its villains from then on. Although Vaas dies in the third game, some fans have been hoping that a younger version of the character might appear inFar Cry 6. However, there are some key reasons this is unlikely to happen.
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Vaas And Yara
The idea thatVaas could return inFar Cry 6has origins in one ofFar Cry 3’s strangest unexplained mysteries. Vaas is from the Rook Islands, whereFar Cry 3is set. The Rook Islands are based largely on Indonesia, but Vaas' accent suggests he grew up speaking Spanish. This seems particularly strange when comparing him to his sister, Citra, who has a completely different accent from Vaas.
When Yara was announced as thesetting ofFar Cry 6some fans began speculating that the Cuba-inspired nation might lend some insight into where Vaas' voice came from. Citra claims that Vaas abandoned his path as the “Ultimate Warrior” of the Rakyat tribe, leading many to wonder if Vaas had left the Rook Islands at a young age, explaining the difference between his and his sister’s accents.
EvenMichael Mandohas acknowledged the rumors of Vaas' return. Those hoping to see a younger version of Vaas appear inFar Cry 6are likely to be disappointed, however. There are a few reasons that Vaas' return may not make sense in theFar Crytimeline.
The Far Cry Timeline
Vaas was born in 1985, andFar Cry 3takes place in 2012. While working on a model car inFar Cry 6’s cinematic reveal trailer, Anton’s heir Diego is listening to music through what look like modern headphones. It’s unclear when Vaas was absent from the Rook Islands if he ever was, but the inclusion of this technology makes it seem more likely thatFar Cry 6takes place after Vaas' death in 2012. It also makes some fan theories that Diego could be a younger version of Vaas extremely unlikely. Vaas would have been Diego’s age around the year 2000, whileFar Cry 6appears to be set in the modern day.
There are also reasons to believe thatFar Cry 6may not take place in the same continuity as the other games. The apocalyptic ending toFar Cry 5was explored inFar Cry New Dawn, and based on in-game dialogue and recurring characters likeHurk Drubman, Jr, it is clear that there is continuity stretching from at leastFar Cry 2to the events ofNew Dawn. It seems very unlikely thatFar Cry 6will be set in the same timeline as the last two games' nuclear war, however. Fighting for Yara’s freedom would be undermined from the player’s perspective if they knew they were fighting for control of a government soon to be destroyed anyway.
It is possible thatFar Cry 6will be set in a world where the events ofFar Cry 3and4took place, but will ignore the apocalypse fromFar Cry 5. Even still,Far Cry 6may not want to draw too much attention to previous games in the franchise.Far Cry 3is considered the high water mark of the series by many, andFar Cry 6already has a tough legacy to live up to.
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Far Cry’s Future
Far Cry 6already risks drawing negative attention for some of its similarities to past games in theFar Cryfranchise. LikeFar Cry 3,Far Cry 6will be set on a tropical island. LikeFar Cry 4, it will see the player fight in a revolution against a dictator, with Yara’s revolution being described as “divided” in a similar way toFar Cry 4’s Golden Path. Even the slogan ofFar Cry 6’s villain Anton Castillo uses some of the same religious imagery found inFar Cry 5— “reconstruct paradise.”
Including Vaas could make it seem like Ubisoft is trying too hard to recaptureFar Cry’s glory daysinstead of pushing the series and the kind of stories it tells somewhere new. Even including the character in a cameo role would force the storytellers to set the game before 2012, which is a big limitation to place on the plot just for the inclusion of a single fan-favorite character in a minor role.
It has been nearly ten years since the release ofFar Cry 3, but it’s clear that the game and Michael Mando’s performance as Vaas are still considered among the best moments in the series so far. IfFar Cry 6is going to live up to the third game’s legacy it should spend time exploring Anton’s villainy and the things that make him unique as a character, not calling back to major villains from past games.
Vaas' accent might not make much sense inFar Cry 3, but even several years spent in Yara wouldn’t exactly explain how he picked up an accent so strong that it stuck even after returning to the Rook Islands. If anything, Vaas' presence in Yara might confuse theworld ofFar Cryeven more, as well as distracting from what the new game has to offer.
After the lukewarm reception of the last twoFar Crygames,Far Cry 6needs to hit players with the same sense of originality that animatedFar Cry 3had it released nearly a decade ago. With so many elements in common with past games,Ubisoftalready needs to take care to make sureFar Cry 6is not retreading old ground and relying on old character types. Vaas would be the first to point out that, at this point in the series' lifespan, trying to repeat the past would be the definition of insanity.
Far Cry 6is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
