Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3 was a strong entry in the Far Cry franchise. The game was an overall success but the game’s story has been widely criticized for racism and colonialism. The writer, Jeffrey Yohalem, has always opposed the criticism, stating that players are missing some key points.
In a past interview, Yohalem has talked about the game’s ending. At the end of Far Cry 3, players can either save Jason Brody’s friends or join Citra to become the tribe’s leader. The choice to join the tribe as a White man was a controversial topic back in the day, but Yohalem believes that it was “a satire of popularity” as players realize at the end of the game that the tribe was actually manipulating them all this time.
Far Cry 3 Writer Explains The Meaning Behind One of The Game’s Ending
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One of the two choices that players can pick at the end of Far Cry 3 is to kill his friends with the ritual knife and join Citra to become a leader of the tribe, however, Citra kills Jason Brody with the ritual knife. This ending has been criticized over the years for the depiction of the tribe, however, the game’s writer, Jeffrey Yohalem, once said in an interview with RockPaperShotgun that the point of it was to be “a satire of popularity.” He said,
I’m playing with all of that! The game is about playing. I was just reading an article this morning about the conceptual artist who did Lose/Lose, the space invaders game that deleted your files, created by Zach Gage. He did a piece where you’d come in a museum, and stand in front of the piece, and when you stand in front of it, it tallies that you stood in front of it.
The point was to be a satire of popularity. – So what I was hoping for with this game is that people would say, ‘Maybe there’s something more interesting and different going on here that I can examine?’ That videogames can be more than what they’ve been before. Which is covering up potholes in meaning instead of conveying it.
On many occasions, Yohalem has defended the story of Far Cry 3, calling it “the opposite of Avatar” as the local indigenous people did not need Jason Brody’s help and he was being manipulated.
Jeffrey Yohalem Still Believes That Players Are Missing The Point
In 2018, Yohalem explained that Far Cry 3‘s story is like a riddle and many players are still missing the point. He told Penny Arcade Report (via Eurogamer),
The story is itself something that can be solved, like a riddle – What makes me sad is that people don’t engage with playing the riddle, trying to solve the riddle. It’s like a scavenger hunt where people aren’t collecting the first clue.
He further added that expects people to half-listen, adding that playing halfway or two-thirds of the game and forming an opinion is not valid as players half-listening to the story made it seem like “it’s reinforcing tropes that I disagree with.“
Far Cry 3 was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in November 2012. Six years later, it was re-released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Despite the controversies, it was nominated for multiple year-end accolades including Game of the Year.
Do you think Far Cry 3 players are missing the point as Jeffrey Yohalem stated? Share your views in the comments!
