Far Cry 5 is the better game, and Far Cry 6 is bigger, prettier, and has a brilliant villain, but it drifted towards RPG systems, gear tiers, and level-gated enemies, and lost the grounded, focused feel that made 5 click for me. I still launch Hope County with a bow and a bad idea, and I launch Yara when I want a larger, louder island and I am willing to live with the menus, so both are fun and one of them is a better Far Cry. That is the whole comparison once you stop treating a bigger map as an automatic upgrade, and it is the reason I would send a new player to Montana before I sent them to the wardrobe.
I have spent enough evenings in both maps to be tired of the recast that says bigger is better. An outpost at dusk in Montana, grass sitting wrong, a patrol I can thread if I am patient, and then a cougar or my own grenade ruining the plan, is still the Far Cry I film. Yara is a huge, gorgeous tropical island and Giancarlo Esposito’s Anton Castillo is a genuinely great antagonist, so on paper 6 is more of everything. In the session, what I am wearing starts to matter as much as how I play, and the clean loop I liked in 5 gets tangled up in damage numbers. That comparison is one I would rather you felt in a session than read off a scoreboard, which is why the table underneath is only there so you can see the split without me repeating the island.
How the two of them actually sit
| 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 |
What I thought the sequel was going to keep
Far Cry 5 is Far Cry at its most focused, because 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, since your skill and your approach are what matter rather than what tier of loot you happen to be wearing, and that purity is exactly why it holds up and why I keep going back to it. I already called 5 an easy four and a half in is Far Cry 5 worth it in 2026, and this page is the argument against treating 6 as an upgrade, the bow against the wardrobe.
Far Cry 6 is a bigger, more ambitious game, Yara is a huge, gorgeous tropical map, and Castillo is worth meeting, while Steam will sell you the revolution and the arsenal. What it also added is gear rarity, weapon and armour tiers, and enemies that scale with your level, so suddenly the county I used to poke at with a bow becomes a wardrobe problem. I still had fun in Yara, and I also spent more time in menus than I wanted, which is a sentence I never had to write about Hope County, and that is the drift in one evening.
The two versions of this argument I do not buy
The internet has two versions of this, one that says 6 is the better Far Cry because it is bigger, prettier, and Castillo is a star, and another that says the whole series is homework, towers and icons, so neither is worth launching. People follow people while I try to follow the session, which is a smaller argument than either headline and the one I trust. I have a habit of loving the game in front of me while the room is still calling the last one a template, and then watching that room arrive later with a slightly embarrassed grin, which is the recast Far Cry 5 already got. The current version wants 6 to be the one because scale is easier to sell than feel, and I read all of that, while I also know which map I still drive for no reason.
If 6 is the high point for you, good, and if both are just Ubisoft checklists, that is a fair shrug too, because my take is smaller than either of those headlines and for one more evening I would rather be in Montana. This is a pattern I have felt across a few of Ubisoft’s newer sequels, where 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 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, and it does not feel as focused or as satisfying to actually play, so it is a good game that is a weaker Far Cry, which a lot of the fanbase felt as the same drift. I am being honest about a direction that did not land for the people who loved 5, and I am one of them, rather than having a go at a game I still had fun in.
Which one I would launch tonight
Play Far Cry 5 first, because it is the tighter, more grounded, more memorable experience and the better example of the series at its peak, then 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 is that they support two-player co-op, and Far Cry 5 in particular lets you run the entire campaign with a mate, though only the host keeps the story, which I have already grumbled about in can you play Far Cry 5 co-op. A second idiot in a plane is still some of the best fun either game offers, if you host it correctly, and I still play 5 on my own most nights because the outpost does not need a passenger.
5 is not flawless, because the story yanks you out of free roam with forced set pieces, the leaders are memorable, and the pacing around them is uneven, while 6’s problem is different, repetition, a map full of icons, and systems that keep asking what you are wearing. I said 6 was good rather than essential in is Far Cry 6 worth it in 2026, and that still holds, worth playing and just not the high point. If you only play one, make it 5, because the grounded, focused version of this series is the one that lasts. For a tactical crossover, Ghost Recon Wildlands vs Far Cry 5 is the other comparison I actually use, and the whole sandbox lives on the Far Cry 5 hub.
FAQ
Which is better, Far Cry 5 or Far Cry 6?
Far Cry 5, for me, and for most people who still want what Far Cry traditionally is, because Hope County is tighter and more grounded, and I keep launching it, while Far Cry 6 is bigger and better looking. The gear tiers and level-gated enemies pulled 6 away from the loop I actually like, and both are fun, though one is a better Far Cry.
Is Far Cry 6 an RPG?
It is more RPG-flavoured than earlier Far Cry games, because it added gear rarity, weapon and armour tiers, and enemies that scale with level, so what you are wearing matters more than raw skill in a way it did not in 5. It is not a full RPG, and that shift is still the main reason it feels different to me, the menus getting between the bow and the outpost.
Should I play Far Cry 5 or Far Cry 6 first?
Play Far Cry 5 first, because it is the tighter, more grounded experience and the better example of what the series does at its best, then come to Far Cry 6 afterwards if you want a bigger, flashier map and do not mind the more RPG-style systems. I did it in that order in my own head, even when I played 6 later, and Hope County is still the one I would open tonight.
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, and the criticism is comparative, because it is a good game that is a weaker Far Cry once the RPG systems get in the way of the clean, grounded loop I loved in 5. Worth playing, and just not the high point, which is the same line I would give anyone who already loved Montana.
Can you play Far Cry 5 and Far Cry 6 co-op?
Yes, both support two-player online co-op, and Far Cry 5 lets you play the entire campaign in co-op, with the catch that only the host keeps the story, which I have already grumbled about, while Far Cry 6 offers co-op through its story as well. If a second idiot is the priority, both work, and I still play 5 on my own most nights.
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