Our memories are one of the most useful tools available to human beings, not only for remembering where you have kept your Christmas presents or for knowing where you have put your cell phone; but to relive the best moments of our life, those moments when time stops for a moment to experience the here and now. However, this curious device in our head can turn around and even change memories and create realities that never existed. It happens to our beloved villain Pagan Min from Far Cry 4.
Pagan: Control is the second of three expansions belonging to Far Cry 6, where in each of them we will learn about the past of three villains and their troubled minds. On this occasion, Pagan: Control once again touches on the genre roguelite -not roguelike-, showing us memories of the iconic character as they try to bring us closer to him. Making a quick comparison with the previous Vaas: Insanity, we see some improvements in its open world and mission system, although it sins to make the same mistakes in some sections.
Technical section
Graphically, it keeps the same level as the main game –Far Cry 6–, since it was developed with this same base, obviously, but before continuing with this section, I would like to clarify that I carried out the analysis on PC, with an AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card with 16 GB, an AMD Ryzen 7 3700x processor and 64 GB of RAM. Having said that, let’s move on. Its performance, well … Let’s say while I was analyzing it I had other issues with cracking and the like, though; maintains a more or less stable frame rate. Even so, these problems maybe already solved with the typical patch from the first day. Keep in mind that I analyzed it before its official launch.
Like the previous one, this expansion is based on the world to which our protagonist, Far Cry 4 belongs; this time, taking place in an area clearly inspired by the kingdom of Kyrat. A remarkable artistic design with an overload of colors, very striking to the eye. Best of all, however, is how they fashioned the environment Pagan Min, a lord who proclaimed himself King of Kyrat and became the Dragon Leader of the Triad Empire. Someone who had everything, but at the same time aspired more and more, a man with an air of grandeur, narcissistic and, even if he thought he cared about his own; he loved himself only with a supernatural narcissism. All of this is reflected by the world with small details and others not so small.
As usual in Ubisoft games, the DLC is localized in Spanish, the interface and voices in Spanish which, in general, leave a very good taste in the mouth. Unfortunately, here we are repeating one of Vaas's mistakes: madness, less exaggerated, yes, but notable. Once again we see how they pay repeat the same sentences over and over againWhile it is true that he now has a larger repertoire, a few more sentences are still missing.
Gameplay
Pagan: Control is a roguelite, if you die absolutely everything starts again: but with the difference that here we save a timid progress, like the weapons we get in challenges or the skill points we gain through the looking glass with prestige. In essence, this is how roguelites are, much like Hades or Risk of Rain. The gameplay and the shooter both have several improvements, a greater number of interactions and places to visit, an increase in missions while we go to the main objective and an improvement in the weapons. However, some of these "side" missions are often unnecessary, although they are strongly recommended in order to improve our attributes in the next turn and to know our protagonist a little more. I recommend that you improve your attributes a little and get yourself a good weapon before heading towards the three fragments of the mask -to unlock the end-, the secondaries are also staggered according to the zone; so you won't have any problems.
On the other hand, weapons are still obtained through small challenges distributed around the world, depending on the statistics of said item; it will cost us more or less. These "challenges" are always the same, face a wave of enemies and kill them all to unlock a reward. They haven't changed much here since Vaas: Insanity. However, where if we see any differences is in the design of the levels for the three main missions, adding an additional attraction and that it is not only and exclusively about killing the usual three guys. As I said at the start, the Pagan expansion continues to make the same mistakes in some aspects, some that I have already mentioned and are supported, but others like the artificial intelligence of normal enemies. You can stand in front of them and they pull you to the side On the contrary, it is not very common; but it is quite regrettable. Of course, boses don't have this problem.
Duration
If the only thing we're looking for is to complete a lap with the ending included, the estimated time is around 7/8 hours, which isn't bad at all. Here we cover various side missions, the main three and the challenges to get certain weapons. If we do this route, we will leave some secrets along the way and if we are full; the duration can be approximately 12/15 hours approximately. As always, times may vary depending on the player and the difficulty setting. I do not recommend you to put him in story mode - difficult easy - because he loses his grace and a little more and they kill each other so that we have nothing to do.
conclusion
Pagan: Control is an essential DLC for any Far Cry 4 enthusiast, you will deepen your knowledge of the game's antagonist while battling his fears and psychological problems. This second DLC for Far Cry 6 significantly improves its gameplay, but on the other hand we find optimization bugs and little elaborate side missions; eye, not all. The first is resolved with an update, the second is hopeless, like the AI of common enemies. Regarding the graphic, sound and artistic part, maintains an almost excellent level, with a very attractive and striking universe from the first minute.
Again, leaving the roguelite genre behind, this is a great addition to the base game, as well as the perfect way to explore a miniature version of the kingdom of Kyrat; although somewhat changed. This is maybe what I liked the most, the how they captured the character and his essence throughout the map. You could say that the card adopted his personality, the personality of Pagan Min.
