I am an RPG fan.I love the genre because it takes itself seriously. World building and lore are immensely important to an RPG, which in turn makes it the most immersive experience in my mind. I love reading about the world, running into hidden little secrets, and learning about the world, other than what the main quest has to offer. It just feels more natural and immerses you that much more into the world.
That is why I was so intrigued by the way conversations are implemented in Far Cry 5.
So Far Cry 5 has this mechanic where you can choose 2 companions (called Guns For Hire) to help you on your missions. Once you have assigned them to your team, they would follow you along as you raise hell in Montana. But that’s not all they do. They also talk, and not just with you (when you press the talk button). They also talk among themselves. When I arrive at a mad scientists house, Grace mentions how this place gives her the creeps. When I arrive at Nick Rye’s house, Jess quips how Nick is a good guy but is too loud for her sensibilities. The 2 girls will also discuss their future when you are resting in a bunker.
By this time I think it’s clear who my preferred Guns For Hire are.
Now I have seen this feature before. Noticeably in Mass Effect Andromeda, when your companions talked among themselves without you having to intervene. But unlike the characters in Andromeda, these characters know each other. They have seen each other around and probably have had a chat or two. They talk about past events, days before the cult took over, catch up on gossip and talk about each other’s families.
And as expected the conversations change when you change the group. Hurk and Sharky come across as long-term friends and go along splendidly with each other, but match them with one of the girls, and they are awkward, while the girls tend to reply in single monosyllabic words.
It just makes you feel more immersed in the world of Far Cry. Makes you care about them and rush to revive him when they fall in the heat of the battle. Even makes you feel that you are indeed working with well thought out characters and not just NPCs.
Talking about NPCs. I think its common knowledge that in Far Cry 5, talking to different NPCs will reveal various locations, and missions on the world map. But what is probably not known as widely, is the fact that if the conversation is interrupted by an enemy attack (or otherwise),
NPC would continue the conversation using prefixes, such as..”So I was saying…” or “Anyways..” or carry on where they left off.
Instead of starting from the very beginning like a standard NPC.
Another small effort made to make the characters look more fleshed out, the world more real and the game more immersive.
Gameplay Diaries is a weekly column at IndianNoob, where our various editors discuss the small quirks of the games they have been playing.
