NocturnalWrites

There was a lot about FONV I liked. I've never come across a villain group in a game that I hated as much as I hated the Legion. I went to great lengths to cultivate a vilified reputation with the Legion (and ONLY the Legion) just so I could meet the assassins, kill and mutilate them. I laughed the whole time. I hated the Fiends almost as much and treated them the same way. As a female gamer, I thoroughly enjoyed playing a woman who was ripping apart these abusive rapists and child molesters. *flips the bird to Caesar 'Toss My Salad, You Misogynistic Jerk* OTOH, FONV left a LOT to be desired if you chose to play a female MC. For one, half the Legion content (if you could stoop so low) wasn't available at all because you're female. Okay; I get that's part of the Legion backstory, but understand, it forces me to have to play a male MC, which I just cannot do. I've tried playing male MCs and no matter how good the game supposedly was, I just couldn't get interested. The game designers should have at least provided some other content that's equal. Fair is fair, and at least you could earn the achievements. Also, anyone wishing to play a heterosexual (not bisexual, thanks) female character got screwed over in the content department in other ways as well. (And no, I can't play a bisexual woman any more than I can play a man. Just my preference.) For one, you literally cannot earn the achievement of sleeping with a prostitute because none of the male prostitues sleep with women. At all. (Go figure that one.) Caveat: Apparently, there is one, if you choose him for Francine, but I chose Old Ben because he seemed less slimy. Unfortunately, whether by design or by a bug, Old Ben will not sleep with the PC. Also, it makes hardcore a LOT more difficult because there's no male lovers whose beds you can use for the well rested bonus (or even to rest, period.) Also, there was almost a complete and utter lack of anyone heterosexual or even bisexual and male upon which to use the Black Widow perk. There were many, many more options available for the Confirmed Bachelor or Cherchez la Femme perks. It's like the designers never once entered the 21st century and realized that, duh, women do game and duh, we don't want special treatment, but we would like to be able to play the game to the same depth that every other choice can. So, I'm very interested in seeing if they're going to add more romantic options for players who want to play heterosexual women. Frankly, I found FONV to be damned boring compared to Fallout 4 in that regard. I have a minimal interest in loot, so Lucy at the Thorn, for example, was a great big 'meh' for me. Ditto Sarah, who was good only for increasing my Strip fame. Also (and I can hear people gearing up to give me a rash over this) I found it fairly creepy to have so many women hitting so hard on my character. (Lucy being the worst.) Before people start screaming at me for being a homophobe: nothing could be further from the truth. One thing I DID like about FONV is that it DID provide options for same-sex relationships, which I think are long overdue. However, I think it only fair I hold women to the same standards as men, and I find unsubtle beat-you-over-the-head come-ons to be creepy whether they come from men or women, thanks. Also something that I just found plain disturbing: your one available het encounter is with the guy who blew your brains out, and that doesn't even count for any particular achievement (unless you somehow steal his gun, Maria, which is nearly impossible). (Also: What misogynistic mind thought of THAT disgusting little twist?) Again, I am very glad there are same-sex options in FONV. I just think it's only fair that gameplay should be equal opportunity no matter what gender and sexual preference you want to play. If you lock out one content arc because of an MC's gender, then provide something equal and exclusive, preferably one that allows you to earn equivalent achievements. Fallout 4 did a MUCH better job in that regard, and I enjoyed it far more overall because of that. I didn't have any content locked off because I was female; I didn't have any companions denied to me because I was female, and no NPC or companion did the constant, creepy come-on bit. The constant 'have to go save settlements' was annoying, but I enjoyed the crafting more and I *definitely* enjoyed not being forced to play a gender and sexual orientation that I don't want to play just so I can get certain content.