In this Loco Mag blog, I’m going to convince readers that Far Cry 3 is in fact a cozy game…
I’m not actually going to start the blog this way, but this is a bit of an argumentative piece. I’ve played my fair share of “actual” cozy games (and by that I mean I’ve played The Sims 4), but I’ve realized that Far Cry 3 has become my favorite cozy game to return to.
First, I want to define what a cozy game is. After some extensive research over about thirty minutes during my work break, I put together some qualifications for what makes a game cozy:
● Non-violence and relaxation
● Repetitive activities
● Open-ended goals
● Story isn’t always the central focus
● Interactions with NPCs and your environment
● No pressure from a time constraint
● Immersive world/escapism
Let’s rip the bandaid off real quickly: I know the first qualification focuses on the emphasis of non-violence, but cozy games can have low-level combat, like in Stardew Valley and Legend of Zelda. I wouldn’t call the combat in Far Cry 3 low-level, since it’s a first person shooter and violence is a staple of the game. However, Far Cry 3 does check off all of the other boxes if you play it as an open world game. There is a central story, but as soon as the game gives you free rein over the open world, you only have to return to the story when you want to.
As a quick intro, Far Cry 3 is a 2012 FPS (first-person shooter) by Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment that focuses on a group of friends that get stranded on a series of islands overrun with pirates. The group is captured and separated, with only Jason Brody– the protagonist and “your” character– escaping. It is now your job to train with the island’s native warriors to gain the skills you need to rescue your friends. And that’s the extent of the story part of the game; however, there is so much more to explore and accomplish before you achieve this goal.
The game has many repetitive activities, similar to other cozy games, that give the player a sense of purpose and accomplishment when partaking in them. There may be a bit more violence involved in said repetitive activities, but it still scratches that cozy game itch. Far Cry 3 has four main repetitive activities that encourage the player to interact with their environment and explore the island for benefits: radio towers, outposts, hunting and crafting, and the skill tree.
Radio Towers
There are 18 radio towers in total across the islands, and the goal of taking these towers is to sabotage enemy communication and unlock more information about your surroundings. At the beginning of the game you are presented with a mostly blank map that only shows randomly spread out icons that represent where towers and outposts are located. It’s only when you take over radio towers that you start to fill out the map, and the jungle, roads, and other elements of the islands become clear. The towers also require you to climb them to sabotage communication, and each tower becomes increasingly difficult to navigate, which offers a puzzle aspect to the task. And if all of that isn’t enough, you also gain access to more weapons, with each radio tower making at least one weapon free in the shop.
Outposts
Similar to the radio towers, there are a finite number of enemy outposts across the islands. The goal of capturing these outposts is to take out all enemies stationed there, along with any more called as backup if the alarms go off. Once you do this, the outpost, along with a red circle covering a portion of the map will be cleared. A feature of the outposts that make them an even more repetitive activity is that they can be reset, so once you capture all 34 the first time you can reset them so they’re active again. Along with giving you freedom to figure out which weapons you like the best and find your preferred combat style, capturing outposts also makes traveling safer since a cleared outpost eliminates all of the enemy territory in the red areas. Each outpost captured also unlocks a new fast travel location, making it easier and more efficient to travel across the map later in the game.
Hunting and Crafting
Another activity that the game encourages you to do is hunt the various animals present on the islands in order to craft better and more effective equipment. Upgrading these items will benefit you in the long run, since they include things like ammo pouches, weapon holsters, wallets, syringe kits, and inventory space. You’ll be able to carry more, do more damage, and heal more often. Crafting each improved item also becomes more challenging, as the types of hunting go from free range to more specific and rare animals in the Path of the Hunter quests. For example, in order to craft the Extended Ammunition Pouch you need to hunt and kill the Golden Tiger with a compound bow. These challenges make it more rewarding when you finally craft the most upgraded version of each item.
Skills and the Skill Tree
Finally, the last repetitive activity is the skill tree. You gain skill points by earning an increasing amount of XP (experience points), which you can then use to buy skills on the skill tree. The skill tree is organized into three sections: the Heron, the Shark, and the Spider. Each of these relates to a different style of combat, the Heron being focused on long-range attacks, the Shark on heavy melee, and the Spider on stealth. Similar to the benefits of hunting and crafting, each skill gives you new abilities or benefits. And better yet, you can track the progress of these skill trees by the visible tattoos on Jason’s arms throughout the game, so the more tattoos you have the more skills are represented by them.
I hope that this infodump doesn’t make me seem like a violence-obsessed freak who takes joy out of killing countless groups of people. Your goals aren’t all based in violence (though most of them are). You can interact with a number of NPCs who will send you on optional side-quests, and you can participate in other challenges like the driving-based Supply Drops. Or if you want to slow down and enjoy being part of the community you can lose your money in a game of poker or a knife throwing contest. I would genuinely recommend this game to anyone looking for a first-person shooter, or for a non-traditional cozy game experience. Happy cozy gaming!
Featured image by Roman Heuvel on Unsplash.
