Short answer: Far Cry 5 is the better game. Far Cry 6 is bigger, prettier and has a brilliant villain, but it drifted towards RPG systems, gear tiers, level-gated enemies, and lost the grounded, focused feel that made Far Cry 5 click. Both are fun. One is a better Far Cry. Here is the honest comparison.
The quick verdict
| Far Cry 5 | Far Cry 6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | Rural Montana (Hope County) | Tropical Yara |
| Feel | Grounded, focused | Bigger, busier, flashier |
| Systems | Clean classic Far Cry loop | RPG-style gear and level tiers |
| Villain | Joseph Seed, iconic | Anton Castillo, excellent |
| Map | Tight and characterful | Large and colourful |
| Co-op | Full campaign co-op | Co-op supported |
| WillyB’s pick | The better Far Cry | Fun, but a step down |
Why Far Cry 5 is the better game
Far Cry 5 is Far Cry at its most focused. Hope County, Montana is a tight, characterful map, the outpost-clearing loop is as clean and satisfying as the series has ever been, and Joseph Seed is one of the most memorable villains Ubisoft has produced. Crucially, it stays grounded. Your skill and your approach are what matter, not what tier of loot you happen to be wearing. That purity is exactly why it holds up, and why I keep going back to it.
What Far Cry 6 changed
Far Cry 6 is a bigger, more ambitious game. Yara is a huge, gorgeous tropical map, and Giancarlo Esposito’s Anton Castillo is a genuinely great antagonist. On paper it is more of everything. But it also changed the recipe: it added gear rarity, weapon and armour tiers, and enemies that scale with your level. Suddenly what you are wearing matters as much as how you play, and the clean, grounded Far Cry loop got tangled up in menus and damage numbers.
Where 6 drifts from what fans loved
This is the honest heart of it, and it is a pattern I have felt across a few of Ubisoft’s newer sequels: they chased scale and systems and lost some of the soul. Far Cry 6 turning towards RPG mechanics pulled it away from the exact thing that made Far Cry 5 so good, that grounded, do-it-your-way freedom where a good plan and a steady aim were all you needed. Yara is bigger, but it does not feel as focused or as satisfying to actually play. It is a good game that is a weaker Far Cry, and a lot of the fanbase felt the same drift. That is not hating on it, it is just being honest about a direction that did not land for the people who loved 5.
Which to play, and co-op
Play Far Cry 5 first. It is the tighter, more grounded, more memorable experience and the better example of the series at its peak. Come to Far Cry 6 afterwards if you want a bigger, flashier map and do not mind the RPG-flavoured systems. One nice bonus for both: they support two-player co-op, and Far Cry 5 in particular lets you run the entire campaign with a mate, which is some of the best fun either game offers.
My take
Far Cry 6 is worth playing and Castillo is worth meeting, but Far Cry 5 is the better game and the better Far Cry. If you only play one, make it 5. The grounded, focused version of this series is the one that lasts.
For the full verdicts, see is Far Cry 5 worth it in 2026 and is Far Cry 6 worth it in 2026. For a tactical crossover, Ghost Recon Wildlands vs Far Cry 5 is a good read, and the whole sandbox lives on the Far Cry 5 hub.
Far Cry 5Far Cry 6Ubisoftopen-worldcomparison
FAQ
Which is better, Far Cry 5 or Far Cry 6?
Far Cry 5, for most people who love what Far Cry traditionally is. It is more focused, more grounded and has a tighter, more memorable feel. Far Cry 6 is bigger and better looking, but it leaned into RPG-style systems like gear tiers and level-gated enemies that pulled it away from the pure, grounded Far Cry loop, and that change is exactly why a lot of fans preferred 5.
Is Far Cry 6 an RPG?
It is more RPG-flavoured than earlier Far Cry games. It added gear rarity, weapon and armour tiers and enemies that scale with level, so what you are wearing and carrying matters more than raw skill in a way it did not before. It is not a full RPG, but that shift in direction is the main reason it feels different from Far Cry 5.
Should I play Far Cry 5 or Far Cry 6 first?
Play Far Cry 5 first. It is the tighter, more grounded experience and the better example of what the series does at its best. Come to Far Cry 6 afterwards if you want a bigger, flashier map and do not mind the more RPG-style systems.
Is Far Cry 6 worth playing?
Yes, it is still a fun open-world shooter with a fantastic villain in Anton Castillo and a big, colourful map in Yara. The criticism is comparative: it is a good game that is a weaker Far Cry, because the RPG systems get in the way of the clean, grounded loop the series is loved for. Worth playing, just not the high point.
Can you play Far Cry 5 and Far Cry 6 co-op?
Yes, both support two-player online co-op. Far Cry 5 famously lets you play the entire campaign in co-op, and Far Cry 6 offers co-op through its story as well. If playing with a friend is the priority, both are strong picks, with Far Cry 5 being the more seamless co-op campaign.
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