Far Cry 4

Far Cry 4 took players to the fictional Himalayan country of Kyrat, ruled by the flamboyant and unpredictable dictator Pagan Min. Playing as Ajay Ghale, the player arrives to scatter his mother's ashes, but is quickly drawn into a civil war between the government army and the rebel Golden Path movement, with Pagan Min himself remaining one of the most compellingly written characters in the entire series thanks to his unpredictable, almost affable malice.

The gameplay built on the series' proven open-world formula full of towers to unlock the map, outposts to capture, and wildlife that could intervene in battles just as dangerously as human enemies - tigers, elephants, and other animals introduced unpredictability into every firefight and forced the player to improvise. On Xbox One, the game offered sprawling mountain scenery, caves, Buddhist temples, and villages with vivid coloring, complemented by a varied soundtrack drawing on local folklore alongside electronic elements that heightened the tension of assaulting enemy bases. The new option to ride an elephant or glide with a wingsuit gave movement across Kyrat its own distinctive character, different from the series' previous tropical entries.

Far Cry 4 was praised at release especially for its world and its villain, although critics noted the similarity of its game structure to the previous entry and the repetitive nature of its map activities. Nevertheless, it became one of the most successful Far Cry entries and cemented the formula the series would follow in the years that followed. It is still praised today as a title with one of the best-written main villains in open-world gaming and as a solid, well-polished action experience that still plays well even with today's hindsight, with the dialogue exchanges with Pagan Min remaining among the most quoted moments in the entire Far Cry series. An optional two-player co-op mode and a rich map editor also gave the game a long lifespan even after finishing the main storyline.

Why play it: Thanks to one of the best-written villains in open-world gaming and optional two-player co-op, it still plays solidly and well even with the passage of years.