a gritty, stylish, post-apocalyptic Americana vision board
March 28, 2023 6:11 AM Subscribe
‘Fallout 4’ has aged beautifully. You should play it again. [Washington Post][Launcher] “In early 2022, I revisited “Fallout 4.” It had been seven years since I played a Fallout game, and I had a hankering for that lone-wanderer roving that the series so gorgeously enables. I am a wasteland weeb. What I discovered was that 2015’s “Fallout 4” might be the best game in the franchise, and even one of the best open-world role-playing games ever made. It is time to give it its flowers. [...] “Fallout 4” is consistently Fallout at its best — a gritty, stylish, post-apocalyptic Americana vision board so rich you can get lost for hours. You’ll melt into the wasteland as you surf curious character arcs and grim quest lines. And what “Fallout 4” nails — perhaps more so than its two predecessors, 2008’s “Fallout 3” and 2010’s “Fallout: New Vegas” — is exploration.”
I used to live in Boston and I feel the same way about it, even pre-apocalypse.
posted by saturday_morning at 6:50 AM on March 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by saturday_morning at 6:50 AM on March 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
I don't know where Fallout goes from here or if they even will (Starfield is coming out later this year), but if Bethesda has any interest and anyone on that team is paying attention. Let's go outside of the US for the next game. It'd be awesome to see Fallout: China or Fallout: Japan or Fallout: India. Let's see how the bombs going off impacted these other places and people.
posted by Fizz at 6:53 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 6:53 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
So the problem I think I had with Fallout (and sort of all Bethesda games in the same vein) is that given the slightest chance I will completely turn into a loot goblin at the first sight of a workbench full of individually rendered thingums to stuff into my pack, and Bethesda always made that into a frustrating *point here, click to pick up gubbin 1* *point there, click to pick up gubbin 2* pain in the ass on consoles. I guess it isn't so bad on PCs since it's easier to twitch a mouse through a bunch of targets in a way that analog sticks kind of aren't great at.
Do I need to loot everything that isn't nailed down, or can you basically get by with whatever ends up in your pack from more "normal" gameplay?
(I mean, I was also always too impatient to deal with waiting half a minute for the next zone to load every time I crossed a threshold, but the PS5 might make that more tolerable? The GOTY version is $9.99 on the Playstation store so uh maybe? Not that I have any free gaming time until next fall...)
posted by Kyol at 6:59 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Do I need to loot everything that isn't nailed down, or can you basically get by with whatever ends up in your pack from more "normal" gameplay?
(I mean, I was also always too impatient to deal with waiting half a minute for the next zone to load every time I crossed a threshold, but the PS5 might make that more tolerable? The GOTY version is $9.99 on the Playstation store so uh maybe? Not that I have any free gaming time until next fall...)
posted by Kyol at 6:59 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I love Fallout 4 and have been considering replaying on the PS5 with some mods, which I just found out exist. I've been playing Skirim with weather/graphics mods forever. I don't know why I never even thought that there would be mods for Fallout.
posted by HumanComplex at 7:10 AM on March 28, 2023
posted by HumanComplex at 7:10 AM on March 28, 2023
Yeah, I was so incredibly excited for Fallout 4 but it ended up not grabbing me as much as Fallout 3. In part I'm sure it was just timing - Fallout 3 was before I had kids - but I also just thought the game in 3 had a lot more fun with the setting. And a lot of that was probably due to the dialogue changes. Which the article waves away with, like, "you'll like it better now because you don't remember Fallout 3 and New Vegas as well now as you did in 2015"? Faint praise!
I get the love for the idea of an overseas Fallout game, but it would have to be made by locals. Both because part of the joy of Fallout is seeing local landmarks lovingly rendered post-apocalyptic by people who know them well and because, like, it will never NOT be too soon for Americans to make jokey games about locations outside America being turned into post apocalyptic zombie wastelands.
posted by potrzebie at 7:13 AM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
I get the love for the idea of an overseas Fallout game, but it would have to be made by locals. Both because part of the joy of Fallout is seeing local landmarks lovingly rendered post-apocalyptic by people who know them well and because, like, it will never NOT be too soon for Americans to make jokey games about locations outside America being turned into post apocalyptic zombie wastelands.
posted by potrzebie at 7:13 AM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
The thing that fallouts from 3-onward have been missing for me is a plot that I'm particularly interested in seeing through. (New Vegas is definitely the best of the recents, although on a recent replay I was less interested).
FO3 has the infamous but-thou-must-die ending that got immediately retconned for DLC; FO4's factions area all pretty annoying and I twice got 85% through the plot before saying "eh, why bother? I don't care who wins here."
I realize that the designers are more going for vibes and open world and exploration, but idk. Didn't work for me.
posted by dismas at 7:14 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
FO3 has the infamous but-thou-must-die ending that got immediately retconned for DLC; FO4's factions area all pretty annoying and I twice got 85% through the plot before saying "eh, why bother? I don't care who wins here."
I realize that the designers are more going for vibes and open world and exploration, but idk. Didn't work for me.
posted by dismas at 7:14 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I really enjoyed it, but I'm a guy who has lived in greater Boston forever and doesn't mind seeing it exploded. I feel biased, because I love New Vegas and understand how wonderful that world is, but also have to recognize the geographical shrinkage they had to go thru to make that world tenable and walkable. The area in F4 is so tight that they could only cover it by putting a ton of stuff underground and, oh, they found a few ways to work that in thematically.
My only real piece of proper criticism is this:
I think the focus on synths as the in-game most oppressed is a good story. It's also a clever way of explaining the limitations of the tech (a nod to how robotically people are acting because: robots are an unseen but viable class). The use of the Underground Railroad stumbles a lot as a political metaphor. But it's not terrible and it's not wholly bad. When folks write a book with bad representation of human experience, it's on them. When folks take up a legacy game with technological constraints and a defined setting, they do what they can. I think the moral idea of a marginalized class gaining traction and the distrust that creates within people with good intentions is pretty damn good for a big open-world shooter with crafting element and power-armor. This may be the mode of broad science fiction.
posted by es_de_bah at 7:18 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
My only real piece of proper criticism is this:
I think the focus on synths as the in-game most oppressed is a good story. It's also a clever way of explaining the limitations of the tech (a nod to how robotically people are acting because: robots are an unseen but viable class). The use of the Underground Railroad stumbles a lot as a political metaphor. But it's not terrible and it's not wholly bad. When folks write a book with bad representation of human experience, it's on them. When folks take up a legacy game with technological constraints and a defined setting, they do what they can. I think the moral idea of a marginalized class gaining traction and the distrust that creates within people with good intentions is pretty damn good for a big open-world shooter with crafting element and power-armor. This may be the mode of broad science fiction.
posted by es_de_bah at 7:18 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
I love Fallout 4 and have been considering replaying on the PS5 with some mods, which I just found out exist. I've been playing Skirim with weather/graphics mods forever. I don't know why I never even thought that there would be mods for Fallout.
A next-gen edition of the game is going to be released for Fallout 4, pretty soon. Upgraded graphics and patches, etc. I'm still playing on an old PS4 Pro but it runs perfectly and the mods are great (though there are fewer of them as opposed to PC). But still great that we do have access to some mods that improve the overall quality of the game and reduce its friction.
posted by Fizz at 7:22 AM on March 28, 2023
A next-gen edition of the game is going to be released for Fallout 4, pretty soon. Upgraded graphics and patches, etc. I'm still playing on an old PS4 Pro but it runs perfectly and the mods are great (though there are fewer of them as opposed to PC). But still great that we do have access to some mods that improve the overall quality of the game and reduce its friction.
posted by Fizz at 7:22 AM on March 28, 2023
Fallout 4 had the absolute worst mess of a storyline, and I've played every one of these games since it was called Wasteland on the Commodore64. After slogging through areas for ages and then getting to the 'reveal' after being taken to the Institute, my immediate reaction was the world's largest groan at this completely terrible and simultaneously predictable and nonsensical 'twist', and then blasting every single moving entity in the building before closing the game and uninstalling. That is the ending that game deserved.
posted by FatherDagon at 7:37 AM on March 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by FatherDagon at 7:37 AM on March 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
Also the basebuilding was frustratingly jank as hell, on top of being mostly pointless.
posted by FatherDagon at 7:38 AM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by FatherDagon at 7:38 AM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
The mainline quest/story in FO4 is pretty dog, there's no getting around that. But the world is filled with so many other stories and places to explore and wander that it doesn't really bother me. Very similar to Skyrim in that regard, you can largely ignore the main quest and just do as you please and thats where the game truly shines.
posted by Fizz at 7:41 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 7:41 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
If I had access to a large polling team with a lot of free time, I have always wanted to see how many people who find 2/NV to be the best Fallout find DS9 to be the best Star Trek. That’s my camp. The rest of that analogy would be 1/3/TNG and 4 with Voyager.
I have tried to play 4 recently, and the main story is still lazy and boring, and makes me out to be a moron (I know I was re-frozen, but my son must still be an infant?). I have not found a mod that really adds to the story, and of course there are a dozen for NV. I actually like the story for 76 much more than for 4, and it’s a MMO!
Worst of all is you can see the missed opportunities. There should be much more commentary from the Pre-War point of view (not all of it good! They were some bad people back then), and if you are going to build around Revolutionary War imagery, you need a Great Britain and a George III to contrast your revolution. No one really questions the plan to free the synths, even though it amounts to murdering them to save them. The villain has no vision, which really stands out when compared to House.
I don’t like building settlements either, but at least Sim Settlements fixes that part.
posted by BeeDo at 7:45 AM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
I have tried to play 4 recently, and the main story is still lazy and boring, and makes me out to be a moron (I know I was re-frozen, but my son must still be an infant?). I have not found a mod that really adds to the story, and of course there are a dozen for NV. I actually like the story for 76 much more than for 4, and it’s a MMO!
Worst of all is you can see the missed opportunities. There should be much more commentary from the Pre-War point of view (not all of it good! They were some bad people back then), and if you are going to build around Revolutionary War imagery, you need a Great Britain and a George III to contrast your revolution. No one really questions the plan to free the synths, even though it amounts to murdering them to save them. The villain has no vision, which really stands out when compared to House.
I don’t like building settlements either, but at least Sim Settlements fixes that part.
posted by BeeDo at 7:45 AM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Fizz -- Yeah, I guess that's just not what I want! which is fine, not every game has to be for me.
It's funny though because it's not like FO1 or 2 had the most detailed main plot. Maybe the writing was better because the voice acting was much more limited. Or maybe my tastes are out of tune with what Bethesda wants to put out.
posted by dismas at 7:45 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's funny though because it's not like FO1 or 2 had the most detailed main plot. Maybe the writing was better because the voice acting was much more limited. Or maybe my tastes are out of tune with what Bethesda wants to put out.
posted by dismas at 7:45 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I discovered the Sim Settlements mod when my playthrough was mostly complete, so I couldn’t take full advantage of the content.
It was incredibly impressive, though; you slap down SimCity-like building tiles and the mod constructs the actual building - which develops further over time. It also varied the residents’ appearances much more, making the Commonwealth feel much more lived in.
Looks like Sim Settlements 2 is now a thing, and includes a quest line. Might be time to save the Commonwealth all over again.
posted by FallibleHuman at 7:48 AM on March 28, 2023
It was incredibly impressive, though; you slap down SimCity-like building tiles and the mod constructs the actual building - which develops further over time. It also varied the residents’ appearances much more, making the Commonwealth feel much more lived in.
Looks like Sim Settlements 2 is now a thing, and includes a quest line. Might be time to save the Commonwealth all over again.
posted by FallibleHuman at 7:48 AM on March 28, 2023
I have never cared less about a main storyline. It actively harmed my enjoyment of the game.
That said, I think the built-in survival mode was one of the best I've ever played. Being so fragile, with actual (mostly time) penalties for death upped the game tension so much. And, I'm sure unlike many people, I loved the "walk everywhere" mechanic. It made for a great way to unwind after a long day, to just say, let's go over here and do something.
posted by SunSnork at 7:49 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
That said, I think the built-in survival mode was one of the best I've ever played. Being so fragile, with actual (mostly time) penalties for death upped the game tension so much. And, I'm sure unlike many people, I loved the "walk everywhere" mechanic. It made for a great way to unwind after a long day, to just say, let's go over here and do something.
posted by SunSnork at 7:49 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
it will never NOT be too soon for Americans to make jokey games about locations outside America being turned into post apocalyptic zombie wastelands
yeah, as a Chinese-American who has seen nothing but very shitty representations of my culture (including Stray with its heavy Orientalism) I'm super good on any western studio creating a game about any culture that isn't its own especially for a series that relies so heavily on tropes and stereotypes as Fallout
now if the devs of Sleeping Dogs want to come back and do a Fallout:HK then that might be an exception
posted by paimapi at 7:50 AM on March 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
yeah, as a Chinese-American who has seen nothing but very shitty representations of my culture (including Stray with its heavy Orientalism) I'm super good on any western studio creating a game about any culture that isn't its own especially for a series that relies so heavily on tropes and stereotypes as Fallout
now if the devs of Sleeping Dogs want to come back and do a Fallout:HK then that might be an exception
posted by paimapi at 7:50 AM on March 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
Do I need to loot everything that isn't nailed down, or can you basically get by with whatever ends up in your pack from more "normal" gameplay?
Outside of settlement building you really only need junk to upgrade your weapons and armor, a problem that can be easily solved by remembering "oh hey I need some leather and adhesive to upgrade my armor" and picking-up stuff with leather and adhesive. Exactly one quest requires junk to progress the story — you don't need to constantly expand your collection of pre-war desk fans and typewriters unless that's your thing. Ammo, most aid items, chems, etc. are weightless unless you're playing survival mode.
The settlement building mechanic exists a means to farm caps and as a material sink. In survival mode, they can also provide basic foodstuffs and a safe place to sleep/save. But if you want to build cool stuff in settlement mode cheat in the materials instead and go to town.
For built-up, fully-functional settlements without needing to build all the things yourself boy howdy download SimSettlements 2(PC and Xbox only). SS2 lets your settlers build settlements on their own, but it also has a lengthy main quest about Rebuilding the Commonwealth and scores of sidequests. Its story and mechanics are significantly more ambitious than most of the official DLC and the voice acting is top-notch.
posted by nathan_teske at 7:52 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Outside of settlement building you really only need junk to upgrade your weapons and armor, a problem that can be easily solved by remembering "oh hey I need some leather and adhesive to upgrade my armor" and picking-up stuff with leather and adhesive. Exactly one quest requires junk to progress the story — you don't need to constantly expand your collection of pre-war desk fans and typewriters unless that's your thing. Ammo, most aid items, chems, etc. are weightless unless you're playing survival mode.
The settlement building mechanic exists a means to farm caps and as a material sink. In survival mode, they can also provide basic foodstuffs and a safe place to sleep/save. But if you want to build cool stuff in settlement mode cheat in the materials instead and go to town.
For built-up, fully-functional settlements without needing to build all the things yourself boy howdy download SimSettlements 2(PC and Xbox only). SS2 lets your settlers build settlements on their own, but it also has a lengthy main quest about Rebuilding the Commonwealth and scores of sidequests. Its story and mechanics are significantly more ambitious than most of the official DLC and the voice acting is top-notch.
posted by nathan_teske at 7:52 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
now if the devs of Sleeping Dogs want to come back and do a Fallout:HK then that might be an exception
Take all my money now!! And I agree, if they ever did venture outside of the USA, they would need to have a local team of developers who actually live and understand those spaces/places make the game otherwise its going to be super othering. Just wish we had better story-telling and locations.
posted by Fizz at 7:53 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
Take all my money now!! And I agree, if they ever did venture outside of the USA, they would need to have a local team of developers who actually live and understand those spaces/places make the game otherwise its going to be super othering. Just wish we had better story-telling and locations.
posted by Fizz at 7:53 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think I'm in the majority here in that I think:
- the world itself was great to explore, genuinely beautiful and eerie
- the main questline was dogshit
- some of the sidequests were rad as hell
- the combat was mediocre
- Dogmeat was an A+ companion
- I would love to see another game in the series
posted by saladin at 8:30 AM on March 28, 2023 [10 favorites]
- the world itself was great to explore, genuinely beautiful and eerie
- the main questline was dogshit
- some of the sidequests were rad as hell
- the combat was mediocre
- Dogmeat was an A+ companion
- I would love to see another game in the series
posted by saladin at 8:30 AM on March 28, 2023 [10 favorites]
I've tried it on both the PS4 and PC, and could never get past the first big monster fight in the power armor.
posted by Spike Glee at 8:43 AM on March 28, 2023
posted by Spike Glee at 8:43 AM on March 28, 2023
The crafting stuff killed it for me. I know I'm in the minority here but I just hate the crafting sub-games that are now put front and center of most FPS-style/open world games. I want to explore and fight things and advance the plot. I don't want to spend my time fretting over what I should pick up and carry around and I sure as heck don't want to worry about maintaining and defending an entire town that I had to build from scratch. For me, it turns what should be an enjoyable experience into something unpleasantly stressful and anxiety-provoking. I don't want to fire up a game and feel like I'm at work
posted by treepour at 8:50 AM on March 28, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by treepour at 8:50 AM on March 28, 2023 [10 favorites]
The crafting stuff killed it for me.
My beef with the crafting was two-fold:
1. It doesn't explain the crafting system in a way that is approachable for a beginner.
2. It doesn't lean into crafting enough. It should have gone full in on it and made an entire crafting mode version of the game, similar to Minecraft.
The crafting also really helps with your character and leveling up but I also think thats not made explicit enough and many players just pass on it entirely.
My first few playthroughs, I just skipped it out right but I've given it a chance on my current character and its fucking awesome. It is also nice to take a break from the murder-simulation that the rest of the game funnels you towards and to go back and help some NPCs by building up the defenses, etc.
posted by Fizz at 8:59 AM on March 28, 2023
My beef with the crafting was two-fold:
1. It doesn't explain the crafting system in a way that is approachable for a beginner.
2. It doesn't lean into crafting enough. It should have gone full in on it and made an entire crafting mode version of the game, similar to Minecraft.
The crafting also really helps with your character and leveling up but I also think thats not made explicit enough and many players just pass on it entirely.
My first few playthroughs, I just skipped it out right but I've given it a chance on my current character and its fucking awesome. It is also nice to take a break from the murder-simulation that the rest of the game funnels you towards and to go back and help some NPCs by building up the defenses, etc.
posted by Fizz at 8:59 AM on March 28, 2023
I enjoyed both the combat and setting in Fallout 4. Settlement building was annoying -- construction tile placement was either too fiddly or the snapping would get in the way. It also needed better settlement management UI. At the very least, there should have been some interface for assigning jobs.
I feel like the Revolutionary War could have been used thematically to build conflict between the Minutemen and the Brotherhood, instead of the final "and now we've got to take out that last faction". I actually kind of liked the Minutemen as a neutral faction with the goal of building a mutual defense network between the settlements. Their implementation was awful, however -- particularly the constant cries of settlements under attack from Preston Garvey and the one unaligned settlement that bugs out and refuses to have an emergency so my only option is to murder the residents I guess.
Also I found the problem of "Congrats! You're in charge! Now go do these things:" a bit glaring in this game, especially with being put in charge of the Minutemen basically immediately after meeting them. And being in charge of the Institute while having no say over their plans or policies was pretty weak and disappointing.
The main story was bad, but I didn't dislike it as much as Fallout 3. (The Brotherhood are the good guys, 'cause they're trying to help purify the water to distribute it to the region! The Enclave are the bad guys, 'cause they're trying to take over the water purification project ... so they can purify the water to distribute it to the region! Gah!)
Anyway, I like FO4 just fine. Some of it is awful, some of it is annoying, some of it is buggy. Having no idea which note is which in my inventory. Just remembered that one. Eesh.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:03 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I feel like the Revolutionary War could have been used thematically to build conflict between the Minutemen and the Brotherhood, instead of the final "and now we've got to take out that last faction". I actually kind of liked the Minutemen as a neutral faction with the goal of building a mutual defense network between the settlements. Their implementation was awful, however -- particularly the constant cries of settlements under attack from Preston Garvey and the one unaligned settlement that bugs out and refuses to have an emergency so my only option is to murder the residents I guess.
Also I found the problem of "Congrats! You're in charge! Now go do these things:" a bit glaring in this game, especially with being put in charge of the Minutemen basically immediately after meeting them. And being in charge of the Institute while having no say over their plans or policies was pretty weak and disappointing.
The main story was bad, but I didn't dislike it as much as Fallout 3. (The Brotherhood are the good guys, 'cause they're trying to help purify the water to distribute it to the region! The Enclave are the bad guys, 'cause they're trying to take over the water purification project ... so they can purify the water to distribute it to the region! Gah!)
Anyway, I like FO4 just fine. Some of it is awful, some of it is annoying, some of it is buggy. Having no idea which note is which in my inventory. Just remembered that one. Eesh.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:03 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
The first Fallout will always be “my Fallout” and I bounced so hard off 3 that I never gave any of its sequels a chance, though I bough New Vegas once when it was on sale for something stupid, so I’ll probably play that one day.
That said, when I found out that Fallout 4 was set in Boston, I fully expected there to be a cosmic horror themed expansion set in Providence, and I’m kinda bitter that it never seems to have been given any thought. Is that a ridiculous reason to feel bitter? Yes.
posted by Kattullus at 10:05 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
That said, when I found out that Fallout 4 was set in Boston, I fully expected there to be a cosmic horror themed expansion set in Providence, and I’m kinda bitter that it never seems to have been given any thought. Is that a ridiculous reason to feel bitter? Yes.
posted by Kattullus at 10:05 AM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I fully expected there to be a cosmic horror themed expansion set in Providence,
Nuka-World is basically this. A kind of nightmare-disney-adjacent coke-themed wonderland with robots and ghouls and ravagers. Just like in real life. ;-)
posted by Fizz at 10:08 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
Nuka-World is basically this. A kind of nightmare-disney-adjacent coke-themed wonderland with robots and ghouls and ravagers. Just like in real life. ;-)
posted by Fizz at 10:08 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
I just played through FO4 for the first time late last year with my new steam deck. (haven't had a gaming pc in forever and I'm not a console guy). The game was fine, it was fun. The story was ok. The world was vast. Would I have made different choices? Sure!
They clearly ran out of time because the Salem area was setup to be the horror show piece that Kattullus wanted. (Dunwich Borers was creepy as hell). Quincy appears like it was supposed to be a big Gunners vs. MM showdown (I know theres a mod for that). Nuka-World irritated me for not have a good guy path through it except murder all the Raiders, but that was also satisfying to drop 90ish homicidal jerks after getting their hopes up by clearing the parks. (Plus Quantum X-01!)
Glad to see the brotherhood back to being genocidal assholes, but sad that the Lyons' effort at reforms failed. Should have shot Maxon back in FO3.
Just finished playing through FO3 and forgot how fast the main story is - I convinced Eden to blow himself up and had the purifier up and running by level 14. I'd be annoyed if I didn't have Fawkes with me and that was game end. I didn't even get to the DLCs except Broken Steel. Totally forgot that 4 really does build on 3 with the Synths, the institute, the commonwealth, etc. Totally forgot that whoever designed the shooting mechanics has apparently never fired a gun.
Onto NV since I haven't played that in forever - looking forward to popping Caesar, that cosplaying slaving asshole.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:12 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
They clearly ran out of time because the Salem area was setup to be the horror show piece that Kattullus wanted. (Dunwich Borers was creepy as hell). Quincy appears like it was supposed to be a big Gunners vs. MM showdown (I know theres a mod for that). Nuka-World irritated me for not have a good guy path through it except murder all the Raiders, but that was also satisfying to drop 90ish homicidal jerks after getting their hopes up by clearing the parks. (Plus Quantum X-01!)
Glad to see the brotherhood back to being genocidal assholes, but sad that the Lyons' effort at reforms failed. Should have shot Maxon back in FO3.
Just finished playing through FO3 and forgot how fast the main story is - I convinced Eden to blow himself up and had the purifier up and running by level 14. I'd be annoyed if I didn't have Fawkes with me and that was game end. I didn't even get to the DLCs except Broken Steel. Totally forgot that 4 really does build on 3 with the Synths, the institute, the commonwealth, etc. Totally forgot that whoever designed the shooting mechanics has apparently never fired a gun.
Onto NV since I haven't played that in forever - looking forward to popping Caesar, that cosplaying slaving asshole.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:12 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
Hey! This thread brought me in from a long lurking period to sign up. We’re a “One console gen behind” family so I just started playing 4 this year on a PS4 pro. I knew the plot was lacking so I‘be been just zipping around and doing random stuff eschewing power armor whenever possible. I’m like a bad landlord with the settlements, I’ll make a random improvement if the game forces me to swing by.
I’m just glad the game seldom crashes, and the load screens are short. New Vegas was excruciating in that respect for me.
Fallout 3 was my first fallout, that feeling of not knowing what to expect walking out that vault probably makes it my favorite.
posted by Sticks and Rocks at 10:31 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
I’m just glad the game seldom crashes, and the load screens are short. New Vegas was excruciating in that respect for me.
Fallout 3 was my first fallout, that feeling of not knowing what to expect walking out that vault probably makes it my favorite.
posted by Sticks and Rocks at 10:31 AM on March 28, 2023 [3 favorites]
I‘be been just zipping around and doing random stuff eschewing power armor whenever possible.
I am always fascinated by how other people approach open-world games like Fallout or Skyrim. Not using power-armor is melting my brain. I love the power-armor so much and its so useful, especially for areas that have high radiation and/or enemies with a lot of energy weapons. Really good armor and defense will make the end-game so much more bearable.
But your avoiding use is kind of like another version of hard-mode that is layered on the default difficulty. My first play-throughs of this game, I did the same thing, but now its something I refuse to give up b/c its so helpful and it just feels awesome to be in a mech-suit/tank.
Play your way though. :) There's no wrong way as long as you're having fun.
posted by Fizz at 10:51 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am always fascinated by how other people approach open-world games like Fallout or Skyrim. Not using power-armor is melting my brain. I love the power-armor so much and its so useful, especially for areas that have high radiation and/or enemies with a lot of energy weapons. Really good armor and defense will make the end-game so much more bearable.
But your avoiding use is kind of like another version of hard-mode that is layered on the default difficulty. My first play-throughs of this game, I did the same thing, but now its something I refuse to give up b/c its so helpful and it just feels awesome to be in a mech-suit/tank.
Play your way though. :) There's no wrong way as long as you're having fun.
posted by Fizz at 10:51 AM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Loved the weapon crafting from the get-go, and the settlement building was what I wish being a level designer was like. I made maybe 4-5 sprawling, fleshed out custom settlement builds, then for the other 24~25 settlements in the base game I built a two story template bunker: lower floor was power, food, water, and enough beds for the per-settlement population cap of 22 in a minimum possible footprint that was still fully pathable by the AI. Full set of shops and services on the upper floor plus a few decorative bits (separate bathroom with sink and tub), and on the roof enough turrets to instagib spawnkill *any* attacking squad of super mutants/androids/deathclaws. Solid concrete wall boxlike exterior. Soviet aesthetics, certainly, but secure and comfortable.
I had *most* of the settlements outfitted with two power armor guards with gatling lasers, and one fully upgraded combat armor guard with a mini nuke launcher. Never quite finished before losing interest. Every other guard had a full set of unmodified combat armor and a sniper rifle or energy weapon, and the majority of the rest of the 638 possible settlers had a combat armor vest.
There’s that one scene early in the Brotherhood questline - which I did last because I can’t stand them - when Maxon is chewing you out on a bit of a power trip, and it’s like… motherfucker I have out-Brotherhood of Steeled the Brotherhood of Steel, here. I *am* the dominant civilization of this wasteland, a nuclear power 29 times over. Don’t get shitty with me.
Honestly my biggest complaint was the game not recognizing when the Minutemen had reached a point of wildly surpassing every other ingame faction. My second biggest complaint is Preston Garvey and the writers clearly not knowing what to do with a black male character once they’d decided to avoid racial tropes.
Main story was not great but I hated it less than Fallout New Vegas (for someone above: mildly prefer TNG to DS9 but recognize the latter is a better show overall). I never felt the slightest connection to my character in New Vegas and consistently wanted every single person except Cassidy and Boone to stop talking and/or just die. Fallout 4 gave us a host of great characters - Cait, Nick, Piper, Cait, Codsworth, Hancock, Cait… and if you’re seeing some repetition in that list it’s because Fallout 4 is the only time I’ve had a crush on a game character other than paragon femshep (though Cait is a distinctly “I can fix her!” flavor of Terrible Idea).
At any rate, never got as deep into this game as I did with Skyrim - not even close - but having played every Fallout game at least twice (one and a half for Vegas) I’d rate Fallout 4 behind Fallout 2 and slightly above the original game.
posted by Ryvar at 10:53 AM on March 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
I had *most* of the settlements outfitted with two power armor guards with gatling lasers, and one fully upgraded combat armor guard with a mini nuke launcher. Never quite finished before losing interest. Every other guard had a full set of unmodified combat armor and a sniper rifle or energy weapon, and the majority of the rest of the 638 possible settlers had a combat armor vest.
There’s that one scene early in the Brotherhood questline - which I did last because I can’t stand them - when Maxon is chewing you out on a bit of a power trip, and it’s like… motherfucker I have out-Brotherhood of Steeled the Brotherhood of Steel, here. I *am* the dominant civilization of this wasteland, a nuclear power 29 times over. Don’t get shitty with me.
Honestly my biggest complaint was the game not recognizing when the Minutemen had reached a point of wildly surpassing every other ingame faction. My second biggest complaint is Preston Garvey and the writers clearly not knowing what to do with a black male character once they’d decided to avoid racial tropes.
Main story was not great but I hated it less than Fallout New Vegas (for someone above: mildly prefer TNG to DS9 but recognize the latter is a better show overall). I never felt the slightest connection to my character in New Vegas and consistently wanted every single person except Cassidy and Boone to stop talking and/or just die. Fallout 4 gave us a host of great characters - Cait, Nick, Piper, Cait, Codsworth, Hancock, Cait… and if you’re seeing some repetition in that list it’s because Fallout 4 is the only time I’ve had a crush on a game character other than paragon femshep (though Cait is a distinctly “I can fix her!” flavor of Terrible Idea).
At any rate, never got as deep into this game as I did with Skyrim - not even close - but having played every Fallout game at least twice (one and a half for Vegas) I’d rate Fallout 4 behind Fallout 2 and slightly above the original game.
posted by Ryvar at 10:53 AM on March 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
My whole family are big Fallout 3 fans. After playing it for a few years we moved to the DC area, so that was fun.
The kids (now adults) adore New Vegas. I haven't had the time to play it yet.
They did not like Fallout 4. They found it too fiddly and uninteresting.
posted by doctornemo at 10:58 AM on March 28, 2023
The kids (now adults) adore New Vegas. I haven't had the time to play it yet.
They did not like Fallout 4. They found it too fiddly and uninteresting.
posted by doctornemo at 10:58 AM on March 28, 2023
Quincy appears like it was supposed to be a big Gunners vs. MM showdown (I know theres a mod for that).
Quincy in real life is such a giant ball of banal suckage (having lived there five years), I honestly think it’s represented about as well as it possibly could be and/or deserves. It would be impossible to do Dorchester justice without a full-on The Pitt level of Human Misery Circus, but I wish they’d made the effort (my mom once got lost driving to visit before every phone had GPS, my dad called to ask if I could help her navigate “I can try, where is she?” “Uh, some place called Dorchester I think?” “…okay, so, I hate to be the one to tell you this but we’re never gonna hear from her again.”)
posted by Ryvar at 11:12 AM on March 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
Quincy in real life is such a giant ball of banal suckage (having lived there five years), I honestly think it’s represented about as well as it possibly could be and/or deserves. It would be impossible to do Dorchester justice without a full-on The Pitt level of Human Misery Circus, but I wish they’d made the effort (my mom once got lost driving to visit before every phone had GPS, my dad called to ask if I could help her navigate “I can try, where is she?” “Uh, some place called Dorchester I think?” “…okay, so, I hate to be the one to tell you this but we’re never gonna hear from her again.”)
posted by Ryvar at 11:12 AM on March 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
now if the devs of Sleeping Dogs want to come back and do a Fallout:HK then that might be an exception
SHUT_UP_AND_TAKE_MY_MONEY.GIF If someone would take Sleeping Dogs' martial arts combat and aesthetics and set it in an "Into the Badlands"-style video game/wuxia movie/fashion show, I would burn out my XBox playing the thing.
Also, I'm glad it's not just me who's noted just how shallow Fallout 4's story and characters are, especially compared to New Vegas.
"You have done two main quests and a small number of randomly-generated quests for our group. You are now our sworn brother/sister."
"Great!"
"Those other factions you've been working with, and whose sworn sibling you also are, though? We don't like two of them for reasons, so go betray them by shooting everyone in their headquarters in the face. This will have all the emotional impact of going to Tesco."
Your only responses take the form of:
1.) "Yes."
2.) "Yes. I cannot wait to do some face-shooting."
3.) "Yes, I will shoot faces, but I feel sad about it."
4.) "No. (But really yes.)"
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:42 PM on March 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
SHUT_UP_AND_TAKE_MY_MONEY.GIF If someone would take Sleeping Dogs' martial arts combat and aesthetics and set it in an "Into the Badlands"-style video game/wuxia movie/fashion show, I would burn out my XBox playing the thing.
Also, I'm glad it's not just me who's noted just how shallow Fallout 4's story and characters are, especially compared to New Vegas.
"You have done two main quests and a small number of randomly-generated quests for our group. You are now our sworn brother/sister."
"Great!"
"Those other factions you've been working with, and whose sworn sibling you also are, though? We don't like two of them for reasons, so go betray them by shooting everyone in their headquarters in the face. This will have all the emotional impact of going to Tesco."
Your only responses take the form of:
1.) "Yes."
2.) "Yes. I cannot wait to do some face-shooting."
3.) "Yes, I will shoot faces, but I feel sad about it."
4.) "No. (But really yes.)"
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:42 PM on March 28, 2023 [8 favorites]
A part of me wants to be critical of the town building mechanic - it aimed to be a lot more dynamic than it was, and getting calls to drop what you're doing and teleport across the world to defend them really damaged the pretty great mood and pacing the game built elsewhere - but I made this nuclear age shanty town at a bombed-out Drive-In, with a soda shop and a roof garden with a view of the screen and the landscape, and like a hangar situation for fixing up my dope robot armor. I remember it vividly and kind of wished I could live there for real, so I guess it did its job as far as that goes.
I liked Fallout 4 pretty well, on balance. Everything further I have to say sounds a lot like a weird nerd who really just wants to talk about New Vegas, so I'll save the ink. I think the writer is correct, 4 had some good ideas, got bagged on harder than it deserved, and is totally worth a play through. I still look forward to 5, if it ever comes around.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 2:19 PM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
I liked Fallout 4 pretty well, on balance. Everything further I have to say sounds a lot like a weird nerd who really just wants to talk about New Vegas, so I'll save the ink. I think the writer is correct, 4 had some good ideas, got bagged on harder than it deserved, and is totally worth a play through. I still look forward to 5, if it ever comes around.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 2:19 PM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]
Fallout 4 was the first one I played and it hasn’t made me want to play any more, never mind replay it. The highlight of the game was the quest line about the old wooden ship crewed by crazy robots, IMHO. I should have quit after ending up with their ship high on some Boston landmark instead of slogging through to that painfully obvious reveal that oh no you were in cryo much longer than your stolen kid and now he ran the Vaguely Evil Science Institute. I kept slogging through side quests for a while after that but I was completely out of shits to give for the world once that “twist” thumped painfully out onto the stage.
posted by egypturnash at 3:13 PM on March 28, 2023
posted by egypturnash at 3:13 PM on March 28, 2023
As someone who lives outside the US, I feel like core to the Fallout IP is that it's set in a future that had the arrogance of America in the 1950s, and enjoying their hubris. Having America-style colonialism ruin a foreign country would, I think, not be as satirical or as fun for a general audience.
posted by Merus at 5:18 PM on March 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Merus at 5:18 PM on March 28, 2023 [5 favorites]
I should add some nice things about Fallout 4 -- my earlier comment was mostly negative for a game I do actually like. Enjoyable, memorable characters -- Valentine is a favorite, but most of the companions are great. The USS Constitution side quest was fun. I like the weapon/armor/robot crafting system. I thought Far Harbor was mostly pretty good (not just because, y'know, more Valentine). I appreciated that the Brotherhood is not the default faction the player sides with. Of the 3d Fallouts: I enjoy it about as much as 3, not as much as New Vegas. Looking forward to the Fallout: London mod.
I do want to gush a little about the laser musket, because I think they did a good job with it. When the setting was first announced, I had hoped for a musket, and the game certainly delivered (also with the clothing). I love the laser musket. I think it's a great weapon. It feels powerful (the legendary 6-crank variant an be almost game breaking) and the relative (to other weapons) clumsiness of its mechanics increased my immersion. I enjoyed the layer of awkwardness it added to VATS. Since VATS reloads only crank one time, the player can really only use VATS for one shot at a time, no matter how many action points they have. No queuing up shots. Alongside most of the other weapons in the game, this helped the laser musket feel like it was patched together with bits of wood, scrap, and laser rifle parts. To me, at least.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 6:23 PM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I do want to gush a little about the laser musket, because I think they did a good job with it. When the setting was first announced, I had hoped for a musket, and the game certainly delivered (also with the clothing). I love the laser musket. I think it's a great weapon. It feels powerful (the legendary 6-crank variant an be almost game breaking) and the relative (to other weapons) clumsiness of its mechanics increased my immersion. I enjoyed the layer of awkwardness it added to VATS. Since VATS reloads only crank one time, the player can really only use VATS for one shot at a time, no matter how many action points they have. No queuing up shots. Alongside most of the other weapons in the game, this helped the laser musket feel like it was patched together with bits of wood, scrap, and laser rifle parts. To me, at least.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 6:23 PM on March 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
There’s that one scene early in the Brotherhood questline - which I did last because I can’t stand them
I just shoot Danse right in his stupid face when I meet him. As an added bonus this means that you get a bunch of magahats to hunt after you splorch Kellogg.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:16 PM on March 28, 2023 [6 favorites]
I just shoot Danse right in his stupid face when I meet him. As an added bonus this means that you get a bunch of magahats to hunt after you splorch Kellogg.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:16 PM on March 28, 2023 [6 favorites]
Fallout 4 VR, which came out in 2017ish alongside Skyrim VR as a fairly lazy adaptation of the game to a new medium, is a joy to play in 2023 with the incredibly immersive mods fans have developed since then. No other game before or since has given me the feeling of actually existing in its world to that degree, especially in survival mode with no HUD.
posted by bakerybob at 9:59 PM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bakerybob at 9:59 PM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
Timely post. I came late to the PS4, and picked up 4 just a couple weeks ago. I'm trying to enjoy it, but some of the comments here fit with how I feel about the game: I have absolutely no interest in the main story. Wandering around and finding new stuff is fine, but every once in a while, it just stops being fun or compelling, and I put it down.
It's weird to me, though, that a game I don't think I'm actually enjoying all that much is so playable? I killed a couple hours on it this morning, and will probably play more tonight. The only other fallout I'd played before this was the free-to-play Fallout:Shelter on my iPad, which was fine, but then just gets a bit pointless after a while, which maybe that's just the way the games go?
It would be nice if the community building aspect had anything to do with the actual game, or if the crafting mechanic was less blatantly built around "eh, you'll figure it out." I've taken to traveling with Nick Valentine and relying on him to do any of the "hacking" that's needed. Other than that, lot's of fast travel back to sanctuary to repair my power armor. I wasn't using it much, but then the person who I asked about the game pointed out that, after a certain point, you just keep finding more and more power cells. That, and I've gone full pack rat, carrying far more weaponry than I ever need, and picking up everything I can, with the leg mods that let the power armor carry more. Then only thing that sucks is any time I leave the armor (or the legs get blown up), I'm stuck with super slow walking speed.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:07 PM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's weird to me, though, that a game I don't think I'm actually enjoying all that much is so playable? I killed a couple hours on it this morning, and will probably play more tonight. The only other fallout I'd played before this was the free-to-play Fallout:Shelter on my iPad, which was fine, but then just gets a bit pointless after a while, which maybe that's just the way the games go?
It would be nice if the community building aspect had anything to do with the actual game, or if the crafting mechanic was less blatantly built around "eh, you'll figure it out." I've taken to traveling with Nick Valentine and relying on him to do any of the "hacking" that's needed. Other than that, lot's of fast travel back to sanctuary to repair my power armor. I wasn't using it much, but then the person who I asked about the game pointed out that, after a certain point, you just keep finding more and more power cells. That, and I've gone full pack rat, carrying far more weaponry than I ever need, and picking up everything I can, with the leg mods that let the power armor carry more. Then only thing that sucks is any time I leave the armor (or the legs get blown up), I'm stuck with super slow walking speed.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:07 PM on March 28, 2023 [1 favorite]
I just wish the game leaned more into the horror set pieces. The witch museum deathclaw was so fun to experience, but the game introduced deathclaws by having it be almost the first thing you kill, while wearing the most powerful item in the game. It started me off with a bad taste in my mouth.
The game also gave us, indirectly, The Final Pam, so I can never gainsay it entirely.
posted by Scattercat at 12:15 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
The game also gave us, indirectly, The Final Pam, so I can never gainsay it entirely.
posted by Scattercat at 12:15 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Valentine is a favorite
Same here. I loved the whole Philip K. Dick/film noir fusion of the character, and I pretty much traveled with him exclusively. (Except when I was traveling around with my post-apocalyptic girlfriend Piper. I just wish she'd stop calling me "Blue".)
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:49 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Same here. I loved the whole Philip K. Dick/film noir fusion of the character, and I pretty much traveled with him exclusively. (Except when I was traveling around with my post-apocalyptic girlfriend Piper. I just wish she'd stop calling me "Blue".)
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:49 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Memories of Fallout 4:
Conversations are where you say either Yes, Yes, No, or More Info.
Settler: "Some raiders moved in nearby pls halp." Points to raider camp all across the map.
Intriguing quest about figuring out who is a synth. Turns out it's an old lady in a cave one pond over who says "yes it was me". Quest ends (with a limp nothingburger like most of the others).
Already mentioned, but "I was asleep for 200 years I'm looking for my infant child."
Best world to just explore out of all the Fallout games.
Fallout 76 has more intricate, more involved and longer sidequests than Fallout 4.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 5:01 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Conversations are where you say either Yes, Yes, No, or More Info.
Settler: "Some raiders moved in nearby pls halp." Points to raider camp all across the map.
Intriguing quest about figuring out who is a synth. Turns out it's an old lady in a cave one pond over who says "yes it was me". Quest ends (with a limp nothingburger like most of the others).
Already mentioned, but "I was asleep for 200 years I'm looking for my infant child."
Best world to just explore out of all the Fallout games.
Fallout 76 has more intricate, more involved and longer sidequests than Fallout 4.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 5:01 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Quincy in real life is such a giant ball of banal suckage
Mitch, Dan-o, Wootang, Frailbot, Chankton, Mikeus, Ramondi, and Cumston are all seething right now.
posted by saladin at 5:09 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Mitch, Dan-o, Wootang, Frailbot, Chankton, Mikeus, Ramondi, and Cumston are all seething right now.
posted by saladin at 5:09 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well, I tried it again, and I still can't get past the first deathclaw. Use VATS? Once he's close enough to actually reliably hit, it'll eat away maybe 1/5 of his health on his tummy, and then he chews me up while I'm waiting to recover AP.
The best I've done was when a raider suicided on a car blowing both of them up. That did 2/3 of the thing's health, which was more than I've ever done.
Oh well.
posted by Spike Glee at 5:29 AM on March 29, 2023
The best I've done was when a raider suicided on a car blowing both of them up. That did 2/3 of the thing's health, which was more than I've ever done.
Oh well.
posted by Spike Glee at 5:29 AM on March 29, 2023
Stimpaks on a hotkey and just spam that? Just constantly backing away from it seemed to work for me, although it will catch up. VATS is probably a bad idea, it at least seems to me that the damage is much lower with automatic weapons in VATS.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 7:08 AM on March 29, 2023
posted by Pyrogenesis at 7:08 AM on March 29, 2023
Well, I tried it again, and I still can't get past the first deathclaw. Use VATS? Once he's close enough to actually reliably hit, it'll eat away maybe 1/5 of his health on his tummy, and then he chews me up while I'm waiting to recover AP.
You can just cheese it — stay far enough inside any of the ruined buildings and the deathclaw can't get at you. Stick to the back wall of the hardware store and you'll be "safer" and you'll keep the deathclaw in Preston's LOS. (You're only "safer" because this is a Bethesda game and I have seen deathclaws clip through walls before.)
And Pyrogenesis is right on automatic weapons and VATS. The base minigun isn't the greatest weapon (it's more of a RP choice and less OP choice) and using it in VATS, especially for crits, isn't the best. Crank up that laser musket for crits or use a shotgun if you looted one off a raider.
It's funny how your experience is more typical than the people that complain about the game throwing power armor and a minigun at you in the first half hour. For a lot of people FO4 was their first Fallout game; the "oh holy shit wtf is that" moment of the Concord Deathclaw fight is pretty intimidating when you're experiencing the world for the first time. It's clearly designed as a promise of things to come. (Whether the game delivers on that promise is an open question.)
posted by nathan_teske at 8:21 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
You can just cheese it — stay far enough inside any of the ruined buildings and the deathclaw can't get at you. Stick to the back wall of the hardware store and you'll be "safer" and you'll keep the deathclaw in Preston's LOS. (You're only "safer" because this is a Bethesda game and I have seen deathclaws clip through walls before.)
And Pyrogenesis is right on automatic weapons and VATS. The base minigun isn't the greatest weapon (it's more of a RP choice and less OP choice) and using it in VATS, especially for crits, isn't the best. Crank up that laser musket for crits or use a shotgun if you looted one off a raider.
It's funny how your experience is more typical than the people that complain about the game throwing power armor and a minigun at you in the first half hour. For a lot of people FO4 was their first Fallout game; the "oh holy shit wtf is that" moment of the Concord Deathclaw fight is pretty intimidating when you're experiencing the world for the first time. It's clearly designed as a promise of things to come. (Whether the game delivers on that promise is an open question.)
posted by nathan_teske at 8:21 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also, DO ALL THE DRUGS. That is how I got through early game fights that I felt were too challenging.
posted by Fizz at 9:27 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 9:27 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think for the opening deathclaw scene I mostly stayed up high after getting the mini-gun (which the only time I used it was during this scene and the Fort Strong BoS mission). I drained the deathclaw's health from on high as much as I could and then dropped down to finish it off.
The only time I ever used drugs was Rad-X or Med-X and I stopped Med-X after Cait disapproved of my use post her story line. Sorry Caity, my third love of the wasteland (after Dogmeat and Piper)
Reminds me - one of my favorite stupid things in the game - thanks to the Power Armor fall mechanics - was to be up on the flight deck of the Prydwen and jump off the gantry to the airport below.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:01 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
The only time I ever used drugs was Rad-X or Med-X and I stopped Med-X after Cait disapproved of my use post her story line. Sorry Caity, my third love of the wasteland (after Dogmeat and Piper)
Reminds me - one of my favorite stupid things in the game - thanks to the Power Armor fall mechanics - was to be up on the flight deck of the Prydwen and jump off the gantry to the airport below.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:01 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Woot, it's down!
Thanks to Fizz, Nathan Teske and Pyrogenesis for the advice.
posted by Spike Glee at 2:53 PM on March 29, 2023 [6 favorites]
Thanks to Fizz, Nathan Teske and Pyrogenesis for the advice.
posted by Spike Glee at 2:53 PM on March 29, 2023 [6 favorites]
Also, DO ALL THE DRUGS.
The importance of this cannot be overstated. Fallout 4 is the most broken the anti-addiction perks have ever been, and they have always been pretty broken.
posted by Ryvar at 5:33 PM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
The importance of this cannot be overstated. Fallout 4 is the most broken the anti-addiction perks have ever been, and they have always been pretty broken.
posted by Ryvar at 5:33 PM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Who wants to talk mods?
I haven't played F4 in a while and am just now installing stuff, but I usually run with
*Modern firearms. Started using this as a bethesda.net mod and mostly just liked (a) having a lot of variety and (b) guns are very killy which undoes a lot of the bullet sponginess of the enemies and also sometimes you're walking around and just get headshotted out of nowhere
*Start me up. Makes you a random wastelander who happened to hear about Shawn being kidnapped. Also I usually start at level 50 or 100 because fuck it I've done this a berjillion times before so let's just start off with everyone being killy
*Sim Settlements or 2, for that whole extra layer of game. Paired with...
*Conquest, to build settlements wherever, or other extra-settlements mods. Generally I use sim settlement city-plans for the vanilla settlements and then manually build up the new/extra ones
*Scrap everything or similar mod
*Eli's armour compendium
*Lowered weapons
This time I'm gonna try the Fens Sheriff Dept. I tried Outcast and Remnants once and eh some of it was good but I noped out as soon as I saw the first pimp.
What are y'all's must-have mods?
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:51 PM on March 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
I haven't played F4 in a while and am just now installing stuff, but I usually run with
*Modern firearms. Started using this as a bethesda.net mod and mostly just liked (a) having a lot of variety and (b) guns are very killy which undoes a lot of the bullet sponginess of the enemies and also sometimes you're walking around and just get headshotted out of nowhere
*Start me up. Makes you a random wastelander who happened to hear about Shawn being kidnapped. Also I usually start at level 50 or 100 because fuck it I've done this a berjillion times before so let's just start off with everyone being killy
*Sim Settlements or 2, for that whole extra layer of game. Paired with...
*Conquest, to build settlements wherever, or other extra-settlements mods. Generally I use sim settlement city-plans for the vanilla settlements and then manually build up the new/extra ones
*Scrap everything or similar mod
*Eli's armour compendium
*Lowered weapons
This time I'm gonna try the Fens Sheriff Dept. I tried Outcast and Remnants once and eh some of it was good but I noped out as soon as I saw the first pimp.
What are y'all's must-have mods?
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:51 PM on March 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
Woot, it's down!
Now the game actually begins, see you in Diamond City!
posted by Fizz at 4:42 AM on March 30, 2023
Now the game actually begins, see you in Diamond City!
posted by Fizz at 4:42 AM on March 30, 2023
Also, this is my first time getting to Nuka World (DLC). Previous saves I've always just skipped this area and while this entire DLC is basically just a variation on settlements but with raiders, the aesthetic and vibe of that entire area is so weird and surreal. I love just walking around an abandoned theme park.
The DLC in general has been pretty good for Fallout 4. Far Harbor is a lot of fun. A shame that the frame-rate goes to die in these areas.
posted by Fizz at 5:02 AM on March 30, 2023
The DLC in general has been pretty good for Fallout 4. Far Harbor is a lot of fun. A shame that the frame-rate goes to die in these areas.
posted by Fizz at 5:02 AM on March 30, 2023
Fallout 4 is by far the worst game I have ever beaten, definitely would've been the worst Fallout game if 3 didn't exist. That still make it technically better than countless games I didn't even try to finish, but this whole article feels like it's out of bizarro world to me. Resisting compulsion to list out all my grief with it, an essay nobody wants to read and I don't want to write again. Wasn't expecting to think about FO4 today or again.
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:59 AM on March 30, 2023
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:59 AM on March 30, 2023
Also, this is my first time getting to Nuka World (DLC).
The game doesn't tell you, but you don't actually have to cooperate with Gage and the raiders at all if you don't want to. As soon as you get out from the bumpem cars arena, you can just start plugging away at the raiders.
Shooting them makes them angry and there are a lot of them, so bring ammo if you want to do this.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:16 AM on March 30, 2023
The game doesn't tell you, but you don't actually have to cooperate with Gage and the raiders at all if you don't want to. As soon as you get out from the bumpem cars arena, you can just start plugging away at the raiders.
Shooting them makes them angry and there are a lot of them, so bring ammo if you want to do this.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:16 AM on March 30, 2023
Shooting them makes them angry and there are a lot of them, so bring ammo if you want to do this.
To be fair, this mantra could apply to most any Bethesda game.
posted by Fizz at 10:19 AM on March 30, 2023
To be fair, this mantra could apply to most any Bethesda game.
posted by Fizz at 10:19 AM on March 30, 2023
The one good thing about Nuka World is getting the Raiders hopes up by clearing the park sections and then shooting them all in the face.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:43 AM on March 30, 2023
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:43 AM on March 30, 2023
Riding the roller coaster is fun
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:03 AM on March 30, 2023
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:03 AM on March 30, 2023
Riding the roller coaster is fun
Did not know this was a thing but I know what I'm doing after work today. Huzzah!!!!!!!!!!
posted by Fizz at 11:17 AM on March 30, 2023
Did not know this was a thing but I know what I'm doing after work today. Huzzah!!!!!!!!!!
posted by Fizz at 11:17 AM on March 30, 2023
I vote for Fallout: Texas. We have everything you need. Giant sprawling metropolises, one of which is a port. Ranches, swamps, mountains, endless empty plains, beaches. The Alamo. Cults, alien landing sites, the Texas Rangers (combining both the police force and baseball) an aircraft carrier and battleship.
posted by Jacen at 6:17 PM on April 5, 2023
posted by Jacen at 6:17 PM on April 5, 2023
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The other games in the series all had better locations/settings in my opinion. Fallout: New Vegas (set in Las Vegas), Fallout 3 (set in D.C.), & Fallout 76 (set in W. Virginia), all of these locations pull me into the old-world in a way that Boston does not.
That being said, having spent so many hours in this world, its still a wonderful place to be inside of and to just walk around and explore. There's just SOO much in this game. So many factions, decisions, & weirdo stories to enjoy.
posted by Fizz at 6:42 AM on March 28, 2023 [4 favorites]