Paradise Lost
The plot is the canon of all canons. There is the tropical island of Yara, the evil "El Presidente" Anton Castillo, who tyrannizes this very island, and the main character Dani Rojas, who dreams of escaping from his dysfunctional homeland to the USA. Of course, he does not manage to escape at the first attempt. To get out, Dani has to turn the whole island upside down, make friends with the local guerrillas and declare total impeachment of Castillo.
Ubisoft promoters tried their best, promising players complex moral conflicts, political overtones, a deep plot and an epic villain. They overdid it. Charismatic and memorable antagonists have always been the trump card of the series, but the local El Presidente turned out... a very natural banana dictator. That is to say, a completely unarmed, cold-blooded scumbag who doesn't evoke an ounce of sympathy. And the fact that his role is played by Giancarlo Esposito doesn't change that at all. No matter how great an actor he is, he was assigned to play an angry and arrogant man - that's who Esposito played. No revelations.
However, even such a character could have fit nicely into the story if Ubisoft had kept the whole story in a similar tone. Castillo is certainly a refined scumbag, but he is also a very realistic character - at least in terms of the political demagoguery he rubs off on his constituents. But, alas, this realism does not do justice to the circus that is going on at the Yar. The tame crocodile runs around in his T-shirt, the handicapped dachshund on wheels distracts his enemies, the main character, wearing a wing suit, flies racing against a trained pelican... And in the middle of all this madness, Anton Castillo, in a white coat, stands so important and lectures about how to make Yara great again. As soon as he starts to rant about true patriots and traitors, a yawn creeps in: it's as if someone nearby has turned on the TV program "Time".
And it would have been fine if these serious discussions had raised really difficult, controversial questions that would have been interesting to ponder. But we are faced with a classic patriarchal tyrant, opposing an inclusive team of fighters for everything good. What kind of ambiguity could arise here? Some depth could be seen in the fact that Castillo produces a cure for cancer and dreams of making Yara rich through medical breakthroughs, which means that his intentions are good. But in every scene he tortures, kills or enslaves someone, and in the end he is not even on a par with Darth Vader, but with Emperor Palpatine himself. He also tries to push the good boy to the dark side, like a true Sith overlord.
In the same way, the local "Jedi" are trying to scrape together some ambiguity. Sometimes the rebels make speeches about the bloody consequences of the revolution, saying that after the overthrow of Castillo the blood will flow and the civil war will begin... But then what? Leave everything as it is? And this is the maximum ethical burden of the story.
However, Dany's comrades don't have much time for tongue-twisting: there are a lot of positive characters, and you have to get to know them by galloping across Europe, and only the old revolutionaries are in any way memorable. The young Libertad fighters are all faceless heroes, lacking only halos. The old guys, by virtue of their age and experience, are allowed to be personalities and a little bit of a bastard, and that's what they really pick up on.
By the way, many will probably be pleased that the protagonist is also given a little character. But just a little bit. He or she is now able to talk, but it's too random, not really caring about the consistency of his own opinion. At the very beginning of the game, Dani sort of adamantly declares: "I don't want to, I won't fight for Yara's freedom, I'll go to the USA," and already half an hour later he hums, "Why not stay? It's fun here, we'll kill the dictator!" After another hour, Dani Rojas finally settles into the role of the slightly unstable guy you meet at every party: he's always upbeat, agrees with everyone but the outright stoners, and is always in favor of any movement. And, in fact, considering everything that lies ahead of us, such a protagonist fits the plot perfectly.
You must be logged in to post a comment.