Fallout 4: delusion or great game?

[vyvexthorne]

The way to really see is simply wait until the next game comes out. Each new game has been bemoaned, whined about, faced vitriol and compared to the last game. When Oblivion came out everyone bitched and moaned, when Fallout 3 came out, everyone bitched and moaned. Over the years those voices get louder and louder mainly due the simple fact that more and more people play games every generation. But the posts remain the same for every new game.

 

The delusions happen later.. after the game has been out for awhile. Some that started with older titles are way too far into their delusions to be able to even see them. Clouded by nostalgia.. Lots of people who started their gaming lives with more recent titles can't stomach the earlier titles. Can't get through them, can't find the fun.. don't understand the "hype" of those older games. Everyone has a "first" game.. The game that popped their cherry so to speak. Lots of people seem to have a hard time moving on from their first.

 

My delusions come more monetarily.. "I paid for this game, I'm going to enjoy it damnit!"

[lelcat]

It is a great game. All of us, everyone, we spent at least 50 hours in it before we got bored. And it is acceptable for a game to get boring after this amount of time. It fully delivered on being a great Fallout game and it went beyond expectation on the settlement and weapon modding.

[CyrusAmell]

As the first Fallout RPG with a voiced protagonist I think this game succeeded well enough. Granted, we did see improvement in the voiced choice formula in the DLC especially so in Far Harbor where the possible resolutions become more varied and interesting. The Settlement System was okay for what it was, but it can certainly be fine-tuned to be less of a hassle. While I like that the weapon and armor "enchantments" were not as easy to get in this game as back in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I would certainly appreciate a system that reached a middling compromise between being very difficult to acquire and ridiculously easy to become a god with.

 

For my part I enjoyed setting up settlements when I had the resources but did not enjoy waiting for new settlers to move in at a trickle. I can set up a concrete tower in a day but I can't drag some homeless person there to live and must instead wait for my terrible recruitment beacon to pique their interest. The Legendary Merchants are also ridiculously under utilized and could have liven the system, and I hated having to hunt down the guy who sells dogs (Gene) whenever I wanted a new guard dog at a settlement. The whole Happiness system is also as redundant as it is unexplained beyond the fact that if it hits zero Settlers will attack you.

 

The combat was not as easy as in Skyrim or Fallout 3, which was good, although the VATS system still made it far too simple. I also did not like how limited the array of weapons available was. We must have had less than half the selection of guns we saw in Fallout: New Vegas and a few franchise favorites somehow did not make it into the final product.

 

All in all, a good game despite not hitting a few high marks. I hope Elder Scrolls VI learns from the mistakes and the successes of Fallout 4 - I really do.

Edited July 8, 2016 by CyrusAmell

[cossayos]

 

All in all, a good game despite not hitting a few high marks.

 

Not an RPG though. Which is glaringly obvious in dialogue choices. Be a dick all you like and the ones you're talking to, still come back with the same old lines. Bethesda style, the world simply doesn't react top what you're doing. Hence not a RPG, since all the role playing is in your head without the world taking note. The settlers you saved the other day come back with calling you Synth or robber. Same as with Skyrim or any previous game, where you were called all sorts, even if you headed their particular guild.

 

Which, all in all, is my major gripe with Bethesda. Not being willing or able to provide a reactive world. FO3 with it's karma system showed a slight move in the right direction. I'm all the more disappointed, since they didn't build on that, but left it out entirely with Skyrim and FO4.

 

In general, FO4 is still "I work for Bellaphor at the general goods store".

Edited July 8, 2016 by cossayos

[void666]

 

I've known bethesda since oblivion. And i know what to expect from them.

Fallout 4 is a mediocre rpg and a good open world fps. The shooting mechanics are solid.

Bethesda's games are usually shallow, the writing and quests are s***. And i doubt this will ever change.

 

There's some potential that can only be unlocked by mods.

 

Since I'm with them since Morrowind - 14 years by now - I'm sure, this will never change. Their games are fun, but not something to remember. If it wasn't for the excellent modding community, I doubt I would bother at all. As i said, no disappointment here, since I knew what to expect

 

They don't have to change. They don't even try and still make millions. Which is a shame. With the amount of cash they profit with each title they could afford better writers, quest designers.

I wish they would leave fallout to people that understand the franchise. Obsidian did a great job with new vegas. NV didn't feel like a rehash.

 

I'm having fun with fallout 4. I've been playing it for over 300 hours. But that's thanks to mods. And i always have this bitter feeling about all the wasted potential. Mods can only do so much to fix the game.

[CiderMuffin]

This is based on my own opinion but

 

Pros: Aesthetic, character creation, outfit and weapons appearance, art style, graphics, environment, weapon mod system, crafting, settlement building, faction design, a good amount of mixed DLC that focuses both on major expansion and expands on the settlement building and companions

 

Mixed: Quests could've been better designed but aren't that bad, main story's plot was alright, faction design is both hit and miss in some areas.

 

Cons: Actual main story fails and feels lackluster same thing with protag being forced to have a voice instead of it being an option between that and silenced, those are my only feeling of a con though.

 

 

Final thought: It's a really good game in a lot of ways, it's really fun and interesting design but does fall short in some areas. I think it's a great game but does have problems but eh, everything has flaws in it.

[Crimsonhawk87]

FO4 is a fairly good game, albeit, with some very Bethesda styled weaknesses. Absolutely hated the dialogue wheel thing and shortened responses that it presented...that was so obviously console orientated that left a bad taste in my mouth until "Full Dialogue Interface" mod came along. The settlement building experience is merely ok and I feel that they missed a good opportunity to fully flesh it out by linking nearby settlements into actual communities....also, why can't I appoint a "sheriff" or something to oversee settlement defense so that I don't have to come back every two days and bail them out of another mess? Settler AI (and NPC AI in general) is just plain bad....even mods are having a hard time getting these clowns to do what they are supposed to do. The voiced PC is a novelty that, by and large, worked, but also probably limited alot of the PC/NPC interactions....which is why many are complaining of the "shallowness" of the interactions. Weapon choices are pretty limited, but mods have taken care of that already, so not really that big of a deal. Combat is fine ( I never use VATS) but doesn't really change much, ie you either "point and shoot" or you "run and bash/stab"...not much strategy involved, but it is what it is. The companions are well done compared to other Beth games and I like that you have to do their own little quest lines to get their unique perk. The main quest/story....that is just plain "meh". It pigeonholes you into one mindset for the entire game, even though you can accomplish so much more once you are free of the Vault. Honestly, if I were looking for my kid, building settlements for the Minutemen, exploring the Commonwealth looking for lost technology for the BoS, or trying to free enslaves synths for the Railroad would be the LAST thing on my mind. It doesn't make sense to do all (or any, really) of these things if you are truly looking for your child.

 

I like FO4, and still play it to some degree, but it is heavily modded and can't really see myself playing this long WITHOUT mods. So, in my opinion, vanilla FO4 was good, but modded FO4 is better. Far Harbor and Automaton were good, the workshop stuff is pretty useless as far as I am concerned and I am hoping Nuka World is going to be along the lines of Far Harbor.

[TheFoxQueen]

In my opinion, Fallout 4 is a great game that can give you, unmodded, at least 30-50 hours of enjoyment. For being labeled a RPG however, it falls really flat; the voiced protagonist, weak main story and lack of dialogue choices being the most prominent problems. To elaborate more on the IMO weak main story, it's the whole 'I have to find my son!' part that bothers me. Personally I think that part is really uninteresting, especially because we spend little time with baby Shaun so I could care less about finding him. The fact that my character has a child in the first place limits roleplaying, and it's not something you can get around because Shaun is mentioned a lot in dialogue.

[TeamBacon]

I like the new dialogue wheel much better than Fallout 3 or New Vegas. The older system felt very clunky, the new system feels more smoothly integrated into the flow of the game.

 

Did they do as well as they could writing for it? Not really. But I hope to see this kind of dialogue wheel in all future games.

[cossayos]

I like the new dialogue wheel much better than Fallout 3 or New Vegas. The older system felt very clunky, the new system feels more smoothly integrated into the flow of the game.

 

Did they do as well as they could writing for it? Not really. But I hope to see this kind of dialogue wheel in all future games.

 

Has it's disadvantages though. Less dialogue options with voiced and wheel. Have you actually tried all the different options in the wheel to get the appropriate replies? Guess not. Even if you outright insult the one you're talking to, they say something like anyway and continue the one and only option they have available. You should try it - all the options. They always come back with the same reply.

 

I'm not a big enough enemy of voiced characters to say it's garbage, but it's obvious that it offers less in terms of diversity.

 

There are of course a few exemptions in scripted events. The ones where you get the yellow, orange or red. But usually the system falls flat compared to previous titles. As had to be expected, since voice acting doesn't come cheap.