Well... I really hate to say it, but I'm actually disappointed by Far Cry 4 so far.
About 2 hours of gameplay in since release. I pre-ordered it with high hopes from the trailers.
(given that so far this is my experience in the amount of time I've played so far as shown by the hour count in the top of the review.)
Things that are the same from Far Cry 3:
-Weapons progession the same so far, look the same and sound the same
-The quests to recapture cell towers, complete with rickety and broken sections down to the same ropes to jump-climb to. Even the exact same zip lining to the ground and the zoom to the 3 different areas around each tower.
-Trash looting and selling is the same
-Skinning has the exact same animation
-Collecting plants has the exact same animation
-Healing yourself is the exact same in function and very close to the original animation
-Hang gliders are the exact same in function and model
-Outposts. Right down to the alarms.
-Fire extinguishing animation
Things that are new so far:
-Grappling hook that can only be used in certain places
-Setting destinations on the map shows the roads to take to get there in your minimap as well as on the road itself
-Auto drive so you can shoot while driving (also functions as fast travel, although I hit cars in the road while using it)
-Different skill tree
-Bait to bring wild animals to bear (no pun intended) on enemies
-New mission style at major intersections - "choose your path" which affects your gameplay
-New enemy "hunters" can charm animals and use them to attack you
-Throwing knives and riding elephants into fights
Honestly, I feel like this is more of an expansion than a new game in and of itself. The initial trailer had me excited but now that I've gotten into it...it's more of the same. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I loved Far Cry 3 for the story and the mechanics. I just wish it wasn't so re-hashed so far.
Without really wanting to get into spoilers, you get thrown into the action (once again a tourist in a foreign place with a seemingly insane person) only this time...you're just bringing your mother's ashes to a place. You're not kidnapped and forced to run for your life and survive - everyone knows who you are and you're just a tourist. There's no story motivation to skin animals or collect plants like there was in Far Cry 3 - you're just some random guy who even makes the same noises when doing so. The psychological effect of watching Jason from the last one go from scared and weak to eventually being able to do complicated takedowns and becoming less affected when skinning animals was fantastic. With Far Cry 4...you are a tourist who is trying to deliver his mom's ashes. And incidentally you are a great shot and know exactly what to do with plants (harvesting with the same animation) and taking skins after killing animals (with the same animation). The main character feels bland and un-interesting, down to his voice lines.
The whole basis of the plot (3 or so hours in, this may or may not change) for your character is that you're some guy's son. Really. And for some reason everyone knows it even though you're just coming back to Kyrat. That's the basis of your abilities and your fame.
In FC3 you earned that feeling, people saw you as a skinny white guy until you got the tatau and everyone knew what you had done and how much of a badass you'd become. Vaas even let you go because he didn't think you were a threat. Even your friends realized it later and were frankly scared by it. The sequence in FC3 where you were driving away, telling Liza to serpentine while grenading vehicles behind you and actually laughing out loud - that's the point at which the player realizes he really has changed. That kind of immersion in which you kill the first guy with the knife after he tries stabbing you and going "oh crap, oh crap" then proceeding to run shows the character's flaws and how blatantly unprepared he is for dealing with getting his friends back. He was nervous about even shooting a pistol in the beginning.
In FC4 it's another guy who has no...development? He can shoot guns, he can loot plants, he can skin animals but there's no motivation for it. He's just...there. In the middle of a war, trying to get his mom's ashes to a place. And for some reason isn't shocked there's a war going on, but instead says "i'll help you guys out" and runs around the island probably with his mom in his backpack.
I'll update later as I play through. It's not a terrible thing that it's a lot of the same...but I don't think it's worth 60 bucks as an entirely new game.
Again, this is all -so far- so players can get an idea of the amount of time I've played vs what I've seen. Thanks for reading, feel free to share your ideas. I intend on being active in the review process.