Narrative director Mark Thompson was one of the team members who explored Nepal for reference, and has spoken quite candidly about the series’ faults in the past. And in a recent interview, Thompson explained to us that while concerns over representations of Nepal are to be expected (and justified), Far Cry 4’s Kyrat is fictional for a reason. And if the people of Nepal had their history told in a video game, it wouldn’t be Far Cry.
Cultural and racial sensitivity is higher than ever when it comes to AAA games, but after his work on Far Cry 3 (as lead level designer) Thompson conceded that the theme of a “white savior” was one that would have to be addressed for the sequel. After considering other locations for potential games, the team decided to take a fictional version of Nepal - a country embroiled in a civil war from 1996 to 2006 - and inject some Far Cry action and adventure.
Thanks to a series of developer diaries, fans (or skeptics) can see parts of Thompson and co.’s journey through Nepal as part of a VICE travel documentary team. The narrative director has previously touched on the fact that seeing Nepal up close showed just how unrealistic their early designs and concepts of the region had been:
Although the larger world may have come to define the region by its recent Communist uprising, the Ubisoft team realized that shaping Far Cry 4 around those same assumptions would be a missed opportunity:
It’s interesting to point out the lack of political motivations in the armed conflict between Nepal’s Maoists and the country’s royal family; while western military games may find it simple to tell grand adventures of political madmen or fanatic soldiers, those tropes don’t always hold up when placed into the real world. So when the team members returned home, the challenge of blending Far Cry’s chaotic gameplay with the villagers who had joined an army at the age of fourteen became obvious.
Add the realization that many residents of the rural region were totally divorced from the political story that history may remember, and it was clear that using Nepal as inspiration would be more complex than expected. Therefore, the decision to fictionalize the country into the nation of Kyrat, Thompson explains, was as much out of respect for the game’s limitations as it was to protect themselves from controversy:
In the case of Far Cry 4, Thompson explains, applying the kind of message the game is built to send to the history of Nepal and its people was simply not possible:
Players will be able to interact with that history and mythology thanks to the game’s Shangri-La missions, but as far as we’re concerned, Thompson’s team made the right choice. While it might be nice to see the people of Nepal done justice on a global, it’s more important to know what kinds of stories your game is capable of telling.
“Honestly, before we went there it was. That’s what we were trying to do a little more. But I came back with the idea that it’s about interesting characters, and it’s about a land full of a rich history despite its conflict. Despite what’s happening, there is hundreds and thousands of years of history that’s relevant, and pressing, and important to people.”
Some might see that as making excuses for picking and choosing from one’s inspiration, but Thompson and his team have no delusions of grandeur when it comes to game narrative:
What do you think of Thompson’s statement? Are you eager to see just how well the details and character of Nepal has been preserved in Kyrat, or do you wish Far Cry 4 had committed to a more realistic adaptation? Sound off in the comments.
Far Cry 4 will be available for PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 and PS4 on November 18, 2014.
Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.
