There are spoilers ahead for Far Cry 5.
Far Cry New Dawn is taking the franchise into an interesting new direction. Not just because of its post apocalyptic setting, and not just because it’s introducing RPG mechanics to the series- but also because it is a direct narrative sequel to one of the endings in Far Cry 5, making it the first time that the series is doing a direct story follow-up. As such, many major characters and storylines from Far Cry 5 will have some sort of a role to play in New Dawn. When the game was revealed in December last year, the trailer ended with a brief glimpse of Joseph Seed, the fanatic cult leader who served as the primary antagonist of the 2018 title- so what role does he have to play in New Dawn?
Well, he isn’t the villain anymore, that’s for sure- that title now rests with the antagonistic twins Mary and Lou. Joseph Seed, in fact, has undergone some great changes as a result of the post-nuclear apocalypse that he himself brought about. Narrative designer Olivia Alexander explains (via US Gamer) that Seed and his followers are “no longer an antagonist force”, and that they’re more of a neutral party now, while they live off the land and keep mostly to themselves.
“The cult is now called New Eden, and they’ve rejected everything from the past world,” said Alexander. “They’ve rejected mechanized weapons, they’ve rejected technology, they’re rejected their behavior from Far Cry 5. They’re no longer an antagonist force to the party, they’re more of a neutral party. They keep to themselves, they work from the land, they have their own sort of fellowship, and that is informed by how how the Father changed from the collapse. But I think for that really in-depth journey, I’ll have to leave that to the player to discover.”
That sounds to me like Seed realized, once the nuclear bombs fell, that he- well, he messed up. That’s definitely the vibe he was giving off from the little we saw of him in the game’s reveal trailer as well. It should be interesting to see how he is portrayed in New Dawn, and what role he plays in its story.
Far Cry New Dawn recently went gold, and releases on February 15 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The game also recently received a couple of new trailers, revealing details about the story, in-game locations, and more. Check them out through here.
