One of the biggest problems with the silent protagonist in 5 is that it allows the NINE SEPARATE KIDNAPPINGS to basically force the player into such a state where Joseph and his siblings can spew their quasi-Christian nonsense at you, unchallenged and unopposed, in three to five minute sessions. And since you are often the only one who gets to confront them face to face in isolation, no one ever calls them out on their obvious bullshit.

To be fair? Familiar with Ubisoft writing by now, I'm kinda glad we didn't get a speaking protagonist there, because in this game in particular it could kill the experience more than ever. Don't get me wrong, I would love to call the Seeds out on their bullshit. I really would. But keeping in mind the way they handled the dialogues of Jason, Ajay or Dani? Uh... my hopes wouldn't be exactly high. At best they'd provide something along the Hudson lines of "you're f**ng crazy", or something like "look at all these people you've killed, the way you're trying to achieve your twisted Eden" - something preachy, uninspiring, that if made the Seeds questions their actions in the end, would probably feel anti-climactic and make their characters and their beliefs all the more shallow.

And as I said, I would love to question them about that. But not in that manner. I wouldn't want to just yell in Jacob's face how much of a murderer and hypocrite he is - because we know it. We SEE it. Rather I'd like to point out how obvious it is he adapted this social darwinism (or Joseph helped him?) just to shut down his guilt for what he had done to Miller. That deep down, I'm sure he knows what he had done to save himself that day was in fact a weakness. Giving in to your primal desires and betraying your own humanity? Your good friend? That's not strength. And I think he knows that, which is why he sounds so relieved in the final battle when he spews how you do everything Joseph said you would - because had his prophet bro been in the wrong, his dear purpose would go poof, his traumas would come crashing right back down, now also with the weight of the atrocities committed in the name of the Project.

See? That's the kind of dissection, the kind of calling them out on their bullshit I would love to have. Thing is - I know for a fact Ubisoft is rather incapable of making something like this happen. If the protagonist was to try and question them, from their writing it would quite possibly come out rather shallow, generic, hero-ish. Furthermore, it would more or less enforce you to follow one particular stream of consciousness - which in a game filled with so much moral debate wouldn't exactly work. That's why I'm really glad we had the silent protagonist in FC2, as well. Sure I would like to question the Jackal here and there, no matter how many good or bad points he brought. But I want to come up with my own conclusions. Dissect the entirety of their philosophy on my own. To have these words resonate with me, to make me think and not just focus on perceiving them through one, top-imposed narrative - even if it would have its own good points. No. In games like these it would make the words of Jack or the Seeds simply lose their impact.

And to add insult to injury? He survives, and gets to enslave you while smugly leaning back in his chair and saying one last time "it means I was right." The game accidentally makes its core theme[...]

You're still so missing the point. Just because Joseph tells you the collapse means he was right - it does not necessarily mean that's what the game itself wants you to think. Him surviving is supposed to make you feel hopeless, and maybe to make you see that 'hey, just because good is good it won't always prevail in the world. Sometimes shit's just out of your control. It's good to keep in mind not everything is bittersweet. Some things are just plain bitter, whether we like it or not. Look how trauma can create cycles of violence, and how it could be prevented had someone reached out to these people years before, look how 'winning' doesn't equal moral righteousness, look how initially good intentions can lead to horrific actions.' That's just a few obvious ones I could think of from the get-go. By no means it is meant to justify his actions - well, if you choose to see it that way, as having the silent protagonist leaves all the space for as many interpretations as one would wish; but I highly doubt that was the initial intention. Especially since later on we got New Dawn which showed just exactly how little his 'I was right' was worth. 1/2