Fallout 4 Day 4 Impressions

[Phage]

So that first thread was made after playing the game before its official launch. Now I've put in more time, and have a clearer picture of what the game is.

The following will be the only review on this entire website that even attempts to be objective about things.


First, I'll put the stuff everyone wants to read so you can get aroused

The Bad:

- Dialogue system is unbelievably bad. It's worse than mass effect's. Unfortunately, this is so deeply ingrained into the game that I don't think mods can fix it. Even if someone were to change it to a list, the dialogues will still play out the same. Since we have this stupid voice acted MC, a mod that adds options will have lots of awkward silences. There aren't even any checks for special/perks. Only thing you can influence is sometimes persuading people with charisma.
- Quest design is awful, worse than Fallout 3's. For the vast majority of quests, there are no multiple solutions (instead of the classic Shoot / Speak / Sneak, it's usually just shoot), and most quests only have 1 outcome (though a couple do offer a choice at the end)
- Main story is pretty nonsensical. It's like they took Fallout 3's hook with all of its logical flaws (Where's muh family member!?) and then added on a heaping of silly.
- Everything is nonsensical. Your character greets people by their first name even if he's never seen them before. There's still tons of full nuka cola bottles to be found (a loading screen justifies this by saying SO MANY WERE MADE THAT THERE'S STILL SOME AROUND ) In general, the world just looks nothing like it should 200 years later.
- Lots of the new stuff added doesn't mesh well with Fallout, in particular, the institute and its related technologies (memory diving and motherfucking teleportation)
- There is little to no actual roleplaying to be had.
- Receiving power armor and killing a deathclaw in the beginning of the game was a terrible design decision. As was giving the second best power armor away FOR FREE after completing a couple BoS quests. They should have made the power armor much rarer. Imagine a scenario where it's easy to scrape together a shitty suit of Raider armor (I dont know why this currently exists since it's worse than the T-45 given to you at the beginning), but getting T-60 requires you to find individual parts throughout the land - similar to getting the Daedric armor in Morrowind.
- Minor thing, but not enough music, both radio and ambient. Getting really repetitive.


The Eh:

- Difficulty is weird. I've been playing on Hard from the start, and for the most part it's a bit too easy. Whenever I try bumping it up to Very Hard or Survival, it seems that the health and damage of enemies flat out doubles between Hard -> Very Hard. As a result, at V Hard the enemies are too spongy for the gameplay to be enjoyable. This is pretty easily modded, but I'm not going to give it a pass due to that.
- Settlement building does finally give a good reason to horde loot, and you can do some sandboxy autistic stuff with it. It does also tie into a couple of quests, but not nearly enough. If the entire main quest was focused around settlement/faction building, then we could've had something great here; unfortunately, it's a feature with depth similar to what you see in a lot of early access steam games.


Now that you're about to climax, I'll tell you the good so you can get butthurt


The Good:

- Shooting is significantly improved over 3/NV (not saying much). Sure, the gunplay isn't as satisfying as Painkiller or FEAR or whatever, but it's mostly up to par for an average FPS.
- Combat scenarios become more interesting as it goes on.
- Enemy AI is vastly improved. Many of the creatures have cool moves, for instance the Synth Striders and AssaultBots will actively sidestep around, ducking and weaving to dodge your attacks. Molerats will burrow under the ground to avoid fire, and tunnel up to ambush you.
- Combat animations are much better, and limb damage is reactive. Great example: You can blow off a robot's legs, and he'll crawl along the ground trying to get to you
- Perk system is BETTER than the FO3/NV skill system. Before you slit your wrists: Fallout 1/2's system is still far superior. That said, the 3/NV system was extremely broken, as it was trivial to max out your character's skills by or before level 20/30 in 3/NV respectively. In FO4, while it is true that eventually you can theoretically max everything out, the absolute 'endgame' seems to be roughly level 40-50, and by then you will not have the majority of perks; you will actually specialize.
- Big World, lots of content. This is a given. The actual size of the map is smaller than Skyrim, but that's frankly a good thing. I could be mistaken, but I think this is the Bethesda game with the most content in it? Won't really know until the autists compile everything onto the wiki.
- "Dungeons" are better designed than in FO3, and frankly, better than even NV. (Let's get real, New Vegas's "dungeons" weren't a high point). That said, they aren't amazing or anything.
- Some factions WILL require you to cut off others once you progress far enough within them (There's 4, I think)
- Brotherhood is better than they were in 3. The introduction to them is retarded ("Oh you helped us fight some ghouls? JOIN US!") but once you're in, you'll find that they're pretty ruthless. In fact, there's a repeatable sidequest where you go to various farms and extort food from them, lol.
- Probably the most BALANCED incarnation of Power Armor yet. Yes, the fusion core system contradicts the game's lore, but it does allow the player to acquire power armor early without breaking the game. Later on (presuming you weren't a retard with your resources) you will be using the power armor for most of the game, as it's very easy to amass a surplus of cores - even on hard.
- Weapon/armor modification requires perks and scrap material, and there's a nice variety of options. Expecting this to grow with mods/DLC, but there's enough as is.
- Companions, kind of. Look, the companions aren't as good as New Vegas's, that's a given. However, they're by far the best set in any Bethesda game. Hell, they're better than what's in Wasteland 2 and Pillars of Plebeternity. Well... some more than others. Nick Valentine in particular is great.
- Some very fun, albeit silly twists.

Spoiler

Paladin Danse being a synth and Curie getting a synth body if you do her quest for example.

So, all in all so far? Frankly, the game, as a GAME is much better than FO3 and Oblivion, by a mile. Anyone saying otherwise likely hasn't touched the game at all and is desperate for brofists. That said, this is not really a true roleplaying game anymore - it's more like The Witcher, you go through a preset story as a preset character and change a few things.

The sheer hate I'm seeing and the ensuing circlejerk are pretty funny. A lot of the people making statements like "Fallout 4 players should've been in Paris at that theater last night" are the same morons who have likely dumped hundreds of hours into shit like Borderlands, despite this being a better experience.

So is this game a legitimate 9 or 10 like FO1 and NV? No, not at all. That said, it's a solid game if you want to turn your brain off, explore a wasteland and shoot dudes.

Things could change after I actually finish the main quest, but I doubt it.

 

[Lord Carlos Wafflebum]

Thanks for this. It's enough to convince me to buy it once it gets down to about $40. Hopefully some bug fix mods will exist by then

 

[Lhynn]

Once a phaget, always a phaget.

 

[Excidium II]

Needs mods urgently.

 

[Doktor Best]

The biggest advantage of the game compared to other Bethesda games is restricted levelscaling, crafting and actually the smaller gameworld. Havent played much of it yet but i can say that if it gets better later on, which most people claim, it will definitely beat Fallout3 and Skyrim. It isnt much, but it is more than i expected. Gonna play it some day to satisfy my need for fps/rpglight trashgames playing in an interesting setting.

 

[Lemming42]

Only two points of contention:

Perk system is BETTER than the FO3/NV skill system.

Putting aside the fact that they completely botched the system by having around 90% of the perks just being "do more damage with X weapon", "do more damage in VATS", "do more damage when below 50% health" etc, I don't see why they couldn't have combined perks and skills like in Skyrim rather than just gutting skills completely. Personally, though, I think the skill system was infinitely better.

- "Dungeons" are better designed than in FO3, and frankly, better than even NV. (Let's get real, New Vegas's "dungeons" weren't a high point). That said, they aren't amazing or anything.

NV's dungeons sucked, but I'm not sure how Fallout 4's could be described as better than Fallout 3's (and 3's sucked as well). Most dungeons I saw were just skyscrapers in the form of room with enemies, stairs, room with enemies, stairs, room with enemies, typically with no variance or items of interest in any of the rooms and no reward or anything worthwhile at the end of the dungeon, if it even had a clear end. They also completely failed to account for stealth in every single dungeon, whereas Fo3 at least occasionally provided side-routes for stealth characters. The dungeons are all boring to the point where after a few hours into the game I didn't bother going into buildings or subways anymore because it was just going to be the same setpieces with the same enemies over and over. It felt like a step down from Fo3 and a massive fall down from Skyrim.

Get ready for the end of the main quest, it's awe-inspiringly bad.

 

[Sankarihauta]

What if I gave the synths and Mr/Mrs Handys actual AI? Would you reconsider playing Fallout 4 and giving it high reviews??

 

[Phage]

Only two points of contention:



Putting aside the fact that they completely botched the system by having around 90% of the perks just being "do more damage with X weapon", "do more damage in VATS", "do more damage when below 50% health" etc, I don't see why they couldn't have combined perks and skills like in Skyrim rather than just gutting skills completely. Personally, though, I think the skill system was infinitely better.

The skill system was borked because of how easy it was to max things out. I've played through FO:NV 3 times, one of which was with jsawyer's mod on hard, and still found it was too easy to max out what I need. (Usually I get speech + guns up, while getting lockpicking and science to the breakpoints to open things - pretty sure everyone ever does this). The biggest difference is that by this time in NV/FO3, I've actually maxed out pretty much everything (except for maybe 1 dump skill like unarmed) due to skill books/bobbleheads - in FO4, my character has only accesed a fraction of the perks, and since I'm playing on a high difficulty, is only effective in combat with Rifles since I specced into them (trying to use melee/automatic/big weapons sucks now except against low-level enemies)

All of this said, I really don't know why we can't simply have a FO1/2-like system, as that would be ideal (few skill points, perks are rarer and generally more powerful)

NV's dungeons sucked, but I'm not sure how Fallout 4's could be described as better than Fallout 3's (and 3's sucked as well). Most dungeons I saw were just skyscrapers in the form of room with enemies, stairs, room with enemies, stairs, room with enemies, typically with no variance or items of interest in any of the rooms and no reward or anything worthwhile at the end of the dungeon, if it even had a clear end. They also completely failed to account for stealth in every single dungeon, whereas Fo3 at least occasionally provided side-routes for stealth characters. The dungeons are all boring to the point where after a few hours into the game I didn't bother going into buildings or subways anymore because it was just going to be the same setpieces with the same enemies over and over. It felt like a step down from Fo3 and a massive fall down from Skyrim.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. It's possible that my memory is off - I just recall FO3's dungeons being mostly corridors. Not to claim that FO4's are amazing, just that I find them to be a bit more solid and varied than 3's. (Some of the most interesting dungeons are off in these random side-quests for some reason)

Get ready for the end of the main quest, it's awe-inspiringly bad.

I've already had the end spoiled, so I'm bracing myself for Todd's loving embrace

 

[Phage]

Thanks for this. It's enough to convince me to buy it once it gets down to about $40. Hopefully some bug fix mods will exist by then

No problem men. Like I said in the writeup, don't go into this expecting a roleplaying game, just a derpy exploran' shootan' game where you can turn your brain off.

The biggest advantage of the game compared to other Bethesda games is restricted levelscaling, crafting and actually the smaller gameworld. Havent played much of it yet but i can say that if it gets better later on, which most people claim, it will definitely beat Fallout3 and Skyrim. It isnt much, but it is more than i expected. Gonna play it some day to satisfy my need for fps/rpglight trashgames playing in an interesting setting.

Agreed

What if I gave the synths and Mr/Mrs Handys actual AI? Would you reconsider playing Fallout 4 and giving it high reviews??

Yes

 

[Lemming42]

The skill system was borked because of how easy it was to max things out. I've played through FO:NV 3 times, one of which was with jsawyer's mod on hard, and still found it was too easy to max out what I need. (Usually I get speech + guns up, while getting lockpicking and science to the breakpoints to open things - pretty sure everyone ever does this). The biggest difference is that by this time in NV/FO3, I've actually maxed out pretty much everything (except for maybe 1 dump skill like unarmed) due to skill books/bobbleheads - in FO4, my character has only accesed a fraction of the perks, and since I'm playing on a high difficulty, is only effective in combat with Rifles since I specced into them (trying to use melee/automatic/big weapons sucks now except against low-level enemies)

All of this said, I really don't know why we can't simply have a FO1/2-like system, as that would be ideal (few skill points, perks are rarer and generally more powerful)

Oh yeah, it was totally busted in 3/NV and you became unstoppable by level 8 or sooner, but the perk system in Fo4 feels like a step in the wrong direction to me as well as being quite an artificial way of making S.P.E.C.I.A.L important. An attempt to get it closer to an Fo1/2-like system would have been better, I think.

As you said though, it's not an RPG and they're not even trying to make one at this point, so I guess the perk system was more suited to their goals.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. It's possible that my memory is off - I just recall FO3's dungeons being mostly corridors. Not to claim that FO4's are amazing, just that I find them to be a bit more solid and varied than 3's. (Some of the most interesting dungeons are off in these random side-quests for some reason)

It's been ages since I've played Fo3 too so I'm probably misremembering it favourably, but I remember being able to ghost through most dungeons in a way that seemed impossible in Fo4. They were still ultimately just corridors though. I've played Skyrim more recently and the dungeons definitely feel weaker compared to that. Outside a couple of Protectrons to activate and gas leaks to explode there didn't seem to be much in the way of traps or ways to manipulate the environment.

I gave up on doing sidequests after it started looking like they were all going to be massive railroaded shootouts, though, and I only went into a couple of subways so I probably missed the best dungeons Fo4 had prepared.

I've already had the end spoiled, so I'm bracing myself for Todd's loving embrace

Spoiler

 

[Aenra]

My own impressions:
(and i haven't even downloaded it yet. See TLDR for my reasoning)

- If you bought it, you are a RETARD.
(keep giving them money, and then come back here to whine about how they never improve)
- If you are a famous Dexer (prior to some shaming incidents) claiming your brother 'friend' bought it and you're playing it on his console in his house, you are twice a RETARD.
(on top of the above, you're also too much of a pussy to own up to it)
- If you torrented it already, you are a RETARD.
(either because you could not even wait for a year or so to elapse (ADHD) at which time it might be 2 times the game it's now, or because you honestly have no issue doing the same thing over and over and over again and as such, feel just fine "trying it now" and yet again later. Despite it's being "shit". Which still leaves you a retard in my book)
- If you honestly do not belong in any of the above categories but, and your personal inexperience regardless, you rage on it, you are still a RETARD.
(if you are so much better than the average gaemz person, you should also have had the wisdom to comprehend why whining takes you nowhere, why approaching a product not meant for you only makes you the retard. Not its intended audience)

TLDR; To be looked at..in about a year. Or more..NV took a full two years prior to becoming worthy of playing. Engine's fault mostly, but that's besides the point. If i exclude the purely personal lament for the of the series, got nothing to mind. One way or the other. Once it's at a point i deem sufficient, i will happily, happily, torrent it and have a look.

 

[Phage]

My own impressions:
(and i haven't even downloaded it yet. See TLDR for my reasoning)

- If you bought it, you are a RETARD.
(keep giving them money, and then come back here to whine about how they never improve)
- If you are a famous Dexer (prior to some shaming incidents) claiming your brother 'friend' bought it and you're playing it on his console in his house, you are twice a RETARD.
(on top of the above, you're also too much of a pussy to own up to it)
- If you torrented it already, you are a RETARD.
(either because you could not even wait for a year or so to elapse (ADHD) at which time it might be 2 times the game it's now, or because you honestly have no issue doing the same thing over and over and over again and as such, feel just fine "trying it now" and yet again later. Despite it's being "shit". Which still leaves you a retard in my book)
- If you honestly do not belong in any of the above categories but, and your personal inexperience regardless, you rage on it, you are still a RETARD.
(if you are so much better than the average gaemz person, you should also have had the wisdom to comprehend why whining takes you nowhere, why approaching a product not meant for you only makes you the retard. Not its intended audience)

TLDR; To be looked at..in about a year. Or more..NV took a full two years prior to becoming worthy of playing. Engine's fault mostly, but that's besides the point. If i exclude the purely personal lament for the of the series, got nothing to mind. One way or the other. Once it's at a point i deem sufficient, i will happily, happily, torrent it and have a look.

Well meme'd my friend. May you find many a brofist for your efforts!