Fallout 4. No Joke. It's coming.

[Mr.Votaw]

I'm stoked.
Though I hope they don't go the whole hyper morality path like they did with 3 and make it the beautiful gray that NV was.
I'll be very annoyed if they force me to work for the "good" guys for the main quest again.

 

[Phil]

Pretty sure they said that the game is done, but they are just further testing it so it's not a broken mess on launch, though I won't be surprised if there is a day one patch.

 

[JollySailorBold]

I'm stoked.
Though I hope they don't go the whole hyper morality path like they did with 3 and make it the beautiful gray that NV was.
I'll be very annoyed if they force me to work for the "good" guys for the main quest again.

Wasn't NV made by Obsidian?

 

[Mr.Votaw]

Wasn't NV made by Obsidian?

Ja

 

[Phil]

So far, this is one of the most glitch free, very rarely freeze Bethesda game I've played, and I'm loving it. Anyone else get it?

Level 20, and I still got a whole lot of the Commonwealth to explore.

 

[Algarus]

So far, this is one of the most glitch free, very rarely freeze Bethesda game I've played, and I'm loving it. Anyone else get it?

Level 20, and I still got a whole lot of the Commonwealth to explore.

i plan on it, trying so hard not to spoil it for myself, but I really want to know how events played out from Fallout 3, and want to see all the new locations in this one.

 

[Andrewza]

just installed it

 

[Johnnysaurus Rex]

Playing it via Steam Library sharing and I really can't get into it. Making the dialogue system more like Mass Effect's makes the conversations feel really shallow to me and most conversations feel like your four options are either variations of the same thing or just a simple "yes, no, maybe" split. That and a lot of other simplified features just sort of make me feel like I am playing Fallout-lite.

That being said I do like how the game finally made the power armor feel like power armor and the ability to put some pads over clothing for many variable looks is a pretty neat addition though it'd be nice if all the outfits could do it.

Don't get me wrong, I will not sit here and tell you the game is bad. I personally am just not getting anything terribly enjoyable from the game as compared to the last few titles or anything else Bethesda has produced in their open world games.

 

[Andrewza]

I actually dont mind the dialog sytem. It get the job done and in a Bethesda game thats all i care about since the world and environment is what sets Bethesda games apart from the rest. It is finding that house with skeletons of lovers in bed. Or in FO3 a under ground toliet with a guy that tried to climb a wall with a lader of plungers.

I still get that from FO4 along with good combat and goodvif slow to get going story.

 

[Phil]

Squatters moved into my old neighborhood... so now I'm living in the Gas Station down the street with Codsworth, Dogmeat and a few other people who tend it for me while I am away. I picked the Lone Wanderer perk(Which does not effect Dogmeat) and it's benefits are great for traveling alone.

Dialogue did not mind me, for a game like this and it's story, I'm glad it's all spoken and there aren't a whole lot of options that are so out of character or just pointless. They clearly went through a lot of work and voice work to pull this off, though I wish some more of the characters would call you by your name other then just Codsworth on occasion, at least your spouse and companions. That said, I feel this is one of the saddest stories Bethesda has done.

I love the combat, a huge improvement from Fallout 3 and New Vegas, as well as being able to mod, customize weapons and armor, though like Johnny said, I wish you could put armor pieces over more clothing. The two pictures I have below could not have any armored pieces on.

Here are my outfits, from what I started out in, and what I normally wear now.

 

[Ser Gregor]

My opinion mirrors Johnny. It's... fine, but it's nothing special. I'm struggling to find something about it to keep me playing.

 

[Phil]

It's a Bethesda game, you usually go in one direction until you find something. Though I'm wondering, do you feel overwhelmed? Because I felt like that with The Witcher 3 and it's what stopped me from finishing that.

I like the story in this one, despite how sad it is, and I like how Bethesda took after New Vegas with all crafting, weapon modding and faction branching. A little bummed that there is no Independent route, but I can see how it wouldn't work in this.

 

[Ser Gregor]

No, I don't feel overwhelmed. In all honesty I'm underwhelmed. I've played for ~15 hours so far and I've yet to encounter a conversation that I found entertaining or engaging (which is nearly impossible with the gimped conversation wheel). That is by far the biggest mistake they've made and I hope to God they get rid of it for ES:VI. Every dialogue option is "more info, yes, no, maybe". It's incredibly lackluster and spits in the face of one of the greatest things about the Fallout franchise.

The story I couldn't care less about, so far. I'm not far in to it but the initial story-hook was weak and unimaginative. I really don't care about Shaun. Also, it seems obvious to me that Shaun was taken years ago. You're shown re-freezing after they shoot your wife/husband and take your son. I've not encountered any evidence to that but I will be downright shocked if that doesn't turn out to be the case.

Combat is certainly well-designed. I was afraid that I'd face little challenge with the new combat system but I've died a number of times/had to run the fuck away to save my hide. The companions are more useless than they were in Skyrim, though, and I've sent Dogmeat home until a mod to fix the retarded Companion AI is released. I've had it with my companions waltzing down hallways of tripwires, running up to enemies while I'm sneaking, and blocking the only exit.

All in all; it's pretty, mechanically it works fairly well (certainly much better than previous Fallout games), but the story is boring, the conversation system is boring, and every character I've encountered so far has been, you guessed it, boring.

 

[Johnnysaurus Rex]

You forgot "Sarcastic" option! Beyond that I didn't notice any special dialogue for being higher in a certain area and even the held over perks for such things only give you percentage stat boosts (Like Lady Killer of which are now gender locked so men can only gain bonuses against women and vice versa.) There's no level cap with so enough grinding you could just become a demigod of the wastes.
There's also no real option to be cartoonishly evil. The worst thing you can do in 4 is just shades of gray or tell some people no. As opposed to 3 or New Vegas where an option kill someone's entire family, feed it to them, sell them into slavery, and then buy their sex slave services wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. You are not playing your own character, you are basically playing just the character that Bethesda wrote for this specific story with a lack of agency beyond a couple faction choices. Which yeah, a pre-war character thrust into this new crazy world would also be interesting if said character would actually act that way. You get over your significant other's death in seconds and any confusion or reaction to the state of the world isn't really met with any strong voice acting from the characters or dialogue.
One last small disappointment is the inability to do a 1 Intelligence playthrough.

 

[Phil]

I do wonder if the original Fallout team will do another West Coast Fallout game with this engine, just like they did with New Vegas on Fallout 3's engine. Since New Vegas was apparently a more true Fallout game then Fallout 3 was.

Still, I'm having a blast with this game. Already level 43 and clocked in about 3 days worth of time.

 

[Ser Gregor]

NV was much more like F1&F2. The story was built around shades of gray and your character didn't have a pressing specific personal goal to accomplish, which is how I feel open-world games work the best. That's one of the big problems I have with Fallout 4's story; your wife was killed and your son kidnapped, that should be literally your only goal. So why are you going to investigate the supermutants that would have no connection to your son?

Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas' stories were much better set up to explore. Yes, you had a goal but it was broad enough that exploring the world for what it has still made sense. In Fallout 1 it was to get a working water-chip, in Fallout 2 it was to get a GECK for Arroyo, and in New Vegas it was to get revenge on Benny and discover what the hell you inadvertently got yourself into. None of these relied solely on the personal motivation of the character. Yes, New Vegas establishes revenge as part of your motivation, but regardless of the personal stakes it's clear weird things are going on and you're inadvertently in the middle of it.

Fallout 3 and 4? Find your dad/son. Utterly and completely personal motivations which pigeonhole the player. Yes, there's nothing saying you have to actually look for your Dad/Son intensively, but the story establishes the paramount importance of finding them above all else.

 

[Vulpes]

I really enjoy this game so far. I'm not gonna yammer on forever about every pro and con, but I'd honestly still say it's GOTY material. (Granted this is the first 'big' game I can recall buying this year.)

People complain about how 'small' the map is, but it actually feels like a city now, unlike the other FPS fallouts. You can walk a single city block and find two or three locations, and the map is a lot more Vertical, which I really like. Just hopping rooftop to rooftop is fun, and seeing the territorial differences between Ferals, Mutants, Raiders, and the settlements themselves. The Settlements just feel more alive to me too. Diamond City and Goodneighbour are major improvements compared to Megaton and Vegas. They just feel more lively. You can sort of see better why everyone in a settlement banded together there and formed it. Whether it's a trader town, an Outcast town, or whatever have you. Also, their choices of locations is nice, especially since I really like Boston. The subtle nods to the Red Sox and that type of stuff is fun. Along with the Glowing Sea and the 'Lovecraftian'-esque outskirts of the map, I think they did a lot of justice with this area.

The main story missions are hit or miss for me so far. There are definitely memorable ones already, along with memorable side missions. The factions are all at least interesting in some way. I like how they went about with the BoS going back to its roots [I grew up on the original Fallouts, after all] and it just seems more natural of them based on their history. The game references a lot of previous events, both on the East and West coast, whether it's in dialogue or even just going through terminals. It does it enough to satisfy me.

As for graphics, I really enjoy them. There are always the "It looks like shit tho," but I'm humble about graphics. They are immersive and everything just looks better than it used to. I'm playing on PC, on low settings, but when I went to a friend's house to see it on XB1, I won't lie. It does look worse. I'm not one of the "PC master race" type, but they really did poorly port it over. It seems so much buggier on console.

Hmm.... That's all I can really think to say about it. I don't mind the Mass Effect styled dialogue, and I enjoy hearing my character talk. Companions are occasionally buggy, but I like most of them in terms of their stories and abilities.

Also, I do really enjoy the 'Legendary' find mechanic. There's nothing more satisfying than having just a weapon you love, then finding the exact same thing but better in some form.

 

[Ser Gregor]

You need to play The Witcher 3, then. That's what I call GOTY worthy. I've never been more engrossed in a game's story. The choices you make in that game impact the story in astoundingly subtle yet meaningful ways.

It doesn't hold your hand, either. There's no "good choice/bad choice" dichotomy and there's no way of knowing whether you made the "right" decision until the ramifications play out, and that might not happen until half way through the game. Make an innocuous decision to save a merchant in the beginning of the game and, oh, look at that, he's a close friend of the man you're trying to convince to aid you. Isn't it fortunate that you saved him and didn't accept a reward? Conversely, say you didn't save the merchant, and actually sided against him? Well that news gets out and now you're suddenly met with an enemy instead of a possible ally?

Fallout 4 shines in quality of life adjustments since Fallout 3. And as mods begin to crank out I'll enjoy it just like any other Bethesda game. However Bethesda is beginning to become complacent in their success, and that is obvious in the lazy conversation system and hit and miss story.

 

[Algarus]

Fallout 4 is coming out? When was this announced?

 

[Johnnysaurus Rex]