Yeah I really liked the first one in Farcry 3, but I never made it to the other ones, just watched them in videos. Shangri-la is much different, a journey rather, gameplay focused based on a historic legend in Kyrat.
"While Far Cry 4 will follow the present-day story of a man named Ajay Ghale who runs afoul of the charismatic but dangerous ruler of a fictional Himalayan country, the game will have a secondary component that lets players assume the role of a noble warrior named Kalinag, fighting to liberate Shangri-La from a demon’s grip.
The Shangri-La levels (5 of them) will be opened up as Ajay locates pieces of a lost painting and meditates on their meaning. I went hands-on with one of the chapters at a recent preview event in Montreal, sneaking around a surreal world presented in shades of orange and red and firing arrows at enemies with a bow that slows down time when drawn – very handy when taking on masked demons who can phase in/out of existence, or a fire-flinging demon called a Scorcher.
The Shangri-La levels pair the player with the Protector, a white tiger who will attack enemies on command. But the true nature of the Protector, the demon Rakshasa and Shangri-La’s thematic connection to Ajay’s reality will be revealed over time."
GT has a impressions vid up that explains a bit more and shows more of the Gamescom demos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8AswIbpb90