Far Cry New Dawn, pre-release thoughts

In less than two weeks (February the 15th) the new Far Cry will be relaesed. As for Blood Dragon and Primal, this is the "alternative sequel" that does not have number in the title and it is basically a reskin of the previous map (as BD was for FC3 and Primal was for FC4).

The first trailer was a bit "meh", but then many content creators on YouTube showed some of the first moments of the game (like the new edition of the Edens Gate sect).
Looking at comments at the videos and listening to the youtubers opinions, it is apparent that the game looks fun and the new changes are for the good.
In particular a lot of fuss has been made with regard to the "RPGsation" of the game, that has now weapons of different rank and rarity. Moreover the base ofthe protagonist can be expanded, there are scraps and materials to collect and in general there is a sense of progression in the game.

Honestly I am not surpised at all by this new introduction, since it follow the Ubisoft trend with other IP's, like for Assassin's Creed. But there is another reason that I will discuss later.
Secondly, a lot has been said about the post-apocalyptic setting. This choice also can be ascribed to Ubisoft's need to follow trends, especially this year after the groundbreaking announcement of Cyberpunk 2077 and before the release of Rage 2 and Metro Exodus (not to mention after the catastrophe that was Fallout 76). Again, yes, there is partially a precise choice to ride the trend of the moment which is the futuristic/post apocalyptic setting but also colorful and "crazy" (Mad Max and also Fortnite style).

Nevertheless, I was somewhat expecting an evolution of this kind, a less "military and realistic" take on the Far Cry series. How could I know this, you may ask? Well, it is not me, but the developers themselves that gave me this idea. Watch the linked video ("E3 Roundtable: Far Cry, Dishonored, and System Shock"). The video is actually amazing, because the three developers involved (especially Warren Spector) are among the founders of modern action/FPS/RPG/stroy-driven games. Think at Deus Ex, for example.

The first time I watched the video I thought "wtf does Far Cry have in common with Dishonored and System Shock?".
System Shock was the perfect mix of sci-fi, FPS, RPG and horror game, so far ahead for its times. Dishonored, while not a perfect game, belongs to the same indefinable mix of FPS and RPG, with many endings and many ways to complete missions.
If you watch the video you will start understanding that Far Cry aims at the same objective, but from the other direction.
Let's say that the evolution for Dishonored/Deus Ex is to keep the shooting and RPG while increasing the world size (~open world) while Far Cry aims to keep the shooting and the open world while deepening the RPG/choices side.
The post-apocalyptic setting totally helps a supposed realistic game, to dive into the fantasy side, something that Far Cry has always tried to reach with the implementation of sections where the protagonist is under the effect of drugs.  With the cyberpunky setting this transition to the "fantasy RPG" is much easier.

Conclusions:
On one hand it is possible that Ubisoft is pressing for some changes and trend-following  but on the other hand I really feel that the developers are totally on board with these choices, maybe they have been almost limited to not push it too much.
Far Cry 5 was honestly a good game, I liked it and I finished it. But I would not rate it more than 7/10, it played well and all, but was something like an incomplete attempt. This is something to be expected from Ubisoft: a publisher always scared to push it too much and so eager to copy-paste the same mechanics game after game with very slight innovations, only if the market already proved them successfull (like Assassin's Creed Origins that started the RPGsation of AC, then improved in AC: Odyssey, only because of the gigantic success of The Witcher 3).

Still waiting for Splinter Cell -
 Assassin's Creed crossover.

Will Far Cry New Dawn be good? I think it will be better than Far Cry 5, but only slightly better.
New Dawn is the convergence of the yearly release and trend following by Ubisoft and the desire of the developer (or some of them) to push harder toward the next step for "Deus Ex"-like games.

Still I am afraid, especially after the half disappointment of Far Cry 5 and its ugly 3 dlc's. I may be buying and playing New Dawn, but only after some months when I will find it discounted at least of 50%.

Preview score.... 7/10: not bad, but come on Ubisoft! Let's see if New Dawn can prove me wrong.