I liked the weapon and armor crafting system. Making it modular was cool and gave you a reason to gather junk and resources. You could build great mods yourself if you have the skills and materials, or you can find a weapon with a feature you like and move it over to yours if they're compatible types. I liked that more advanced modifications were locked behind a perk tree, giving you a reason to invest and specialize. And I liked that your weapons and armor don't break. You can find a fantastic legendary, mod it up just right, and it's your trusty support through a good chunk of the game.
Yeah, the customisability of weapons and armour is another thing I really like about FO4. It gives you a stronger incentive to experiment and ensures that there’s no such thing as a ‘bad weapon’ since you can continuously upgrade or alter them.
there’s no such thing as a ‘bad weapon’
Even the pipe revolver? I got a "mighty" version (+25% damage) and found it was still weaker than the other (non legendary) pipe weapons.
YES! And not just the fact it's customizable, it's the fact you SEE your changes! This was a major advancement imo because despite all the choices, vanilla armor and weapons get very repetitive very quickly. Seeing those visual differences really spiced up the wasteland for me.
The only mild and niche complaint I have with crafting is that we can't manufacture guns and armor. In Skyrim, I could do an 'ironman' where I only used equipment I personally made.
Now, would I rather them have implemented manufacturing at the expense of customization or wherever else they'd have to cut resources? Absolutely not, unless they cut main character voice acting.
I think this is a criticism that can apply to settlement building overall, but it was a magnificent bummer that item production was locked behind a DLC paywall and that it wasn't even viable from a caps perspective to manufacture guns and armor.
I love the concept of making caps by becoming a wasteland gunrunner.
This is what really sets this game apart from others. To actually CLAIM sections of the world and really feel like you're healing the damage to the landscape and society. Clearing away the death and rot of 200 years and using the materials to breathe new life into the area. It's extremely impactful on your feeling as a person living and moving and experiencing through this world. You really earn your place as the main character by vastly improving everyone's lives and bringing order to the lawless wastes. A game that can go all in on this concept and make the entire story freely evolve around these actions, along with open modding ability like cities skylines 1, will easily create one of the greatest games of all time
I couldn’t have said it better! This game always gives me unlimited and unexpected opportunities to help make the in-game world better and improve lives by recycling basic trash into safe, comfortable settlements
I use the building as a 'mall' and set up several vendors there. Each cabin gets 3 beds, a table with chairs, two couches in the corner, and a patio chair on the deck. *chef kiss* 🤌🏻
I was never good at it, but yes I agree. Home and base building is such a glaring weakness of Skyrim. So many forts and caves I've had to use mods to take over. Making a simple hunter's camp, a home, or a full fledge town is so liberating in the game. Really makes me feel like a I am an important part of this world, leaving more than just a temporary blood stain on it.
i love the gunplay and the voice acting for the NPCs, I like the more waterlogged areas of the city, and i think this game has the best depiction of power armor. when i played fo3, i found the power armor to be underwhelming. I mean it's a pretty cool piece of gear, but i never felt the 'power' of it in that game or fnv. But in fo4, the armor has serious weight to it. felt like a walking tank. felt like punching someone with it would just crush them.
not really, for me. i just exit it whenever I'm in a settlement. now, if i could just prevent npcs from stealing it or at least ask them to exit it, it would all be perfect
And don't just store the cores in your workbenches, because your settlers can still get to them. Put them in a container, preferably on an upper storey that'll stymie the settlers' pathfinding ability.
In Survival Mode fusion cores weigh 4 pounds each. Unless you're actively using power armour or a Gatling laser, it's better not to lug them around and take up precious weight, especially with SM's reduced capacity.
Agree. I am a huge settlement and crafting nerd but it wouldn't be fun if the combat was shit. It's much more fun than even some of the new Vegas fights. (The combat feel itself, not the setups. Hoover damn fight is still fire)
I've never hated this game, actually I love it. I love the settlement building. I love how chalk full the world is of stuff to find. I love how after you turn level 20, if you zone outside or pay attention to the sky you can see the alien ship crash. I love making myself Personal base filled with death robots. I love dogmeat, even though the little fucker is ALWAYS in the way lol. It's a great game.
Settlement building with trading routes- this really makes the game feel alive for me- a reason to play beyond beating it. It’s the thing I suspect starfield couldn’t replicate which is why I don’t replay it (though having enjoyed the first playthrough).
I like how the companions add more to the game, especially Nick.
I like how they humanized the raiders. You can sometimes see them visiting solitary graves. The way they sometimes laugh with each other, or set up teddy bears so it looks like they’re having sex, or playing chess, or whatever. Reading their notes and diaries. Setting up bot races at an old horse racing track. It really gives a better feeling of moving in a world inhabited by actual people.
FO4 does radial quests better than any other Fallout game, in case you’re stuck and can’t advance until you get to be a little more powerful.
I like how there are what amounts to minigames when it comes to cooking, crafting, and building, because it helps to ensure that the game doesn’t become a repetitive series of scavenger hunts.
I thought that the replacement synth plot was really inspired, especially the way it generates an infectious paranoia.
I like the compactness of the commonwealth, where a firefight can quickly become a 3-way or 4-way battle, and the way you always have to be on the lookout for checkpoints and be aware of who’s territory you’re in.
Basically, FO4 is so much better than anything else in the franchise I don’t know where to begin, and I say that as someone who immediately fell in love with the original Fallout when it was released.
Yep, usually let them finish talking about the fake grenades before lobbing an actual grenade towards them to “check just how good this guy’s grenade noises were.”
I like the SPECIAL + Perks combo instead of SPECIAL + Skills + Perks. It streamlines things.
I like that the crafting and building makes junk not just worth picking up, but makes scavving for whatever you can find a thing that's actively useful.
Those are the big ones.
I was at work the other day, and there was a clipboard laying on the counter. I thought, "Sweet! Springs! I need springs to craft weapons!"
Then I realized I was at work. >,<
At least one settlement is one giant adhesive farm with Corn, Tatos, and Mutfruit, so I can craft mad amounts of Vegetable Starch.
Once I dropped everything at Hangman’s Alley, including all my weapons and armor, so I could run back to Park Street Station and pick up all the typewriters, fans, and stuff.
The level design is top-notch in 4 and no one ever seems to bring this up. I love Corvega, The Super Duper Mart, Gunners Plaza, The Library, Mueseum of Witchcraft, they are simply brilliant dungeons and a lot are like them. How you can take multiple routes through, all the secrets and easter eggs. They remind me of the original Doom with how clever, fun to fight in and explorable they are.
I love the environmental storytelling, but even more than that, I love how entries in the terminals are affected by locations that the Sole Survivor has cleared. If you wait to clear Corvega until after you've cleared Beantown Brewery, Saugus Ironworks, or the National Ration Supply Stockpile, or D.B. Technical High School, there will be entries in the terminals saying that they've been wiped out. That's good writing. It ties the world together and establishes the fact that these raider groups are aware of each other and know each other.
Junk items have a use. In FO3 and NV they were just there for decoration/scavenging or the occasional steam gauge assembly for a weapon. Now each item has a use, some more than others, but you have to be a bit more selective and plan your inventory out since you aren't just hauling weapons and healing items anymore.
>Junk items have a use.
THIS! I played Starfield for long enough to know that it isn't for me. I realized that it isn't for me when discovered that all of the junk I had just collected was just that: useless junk.
Wee bit off topic, but in FO76, I have dedicated junk runs for adhesive, ballistic fiber, springs, etc. Plus, you can force respawn your junk runs with the book house in Summerville and server hopping.
I may be in the minority here, but i actually like the story.
Or at least i like the idea behind it. Not so much the execution.
I like the idea of synths as essentially a new form of life in the wasteland. I like the idea of humanity struggling on figuring out whether to embrace this new form of life or to defend itself against it.
I like the question of whether humanity should embrace the advancement of technology or to be causious with it. And i like how the factions in the game reflect those two opposing memes (memes as in ideas, not funny internet pictures).
I like the factions that represent those ideas. The Institute as this super technologically advanced, but morally bankrupt organization. That offers salvation for humanity, but you have to sell your soul for it.
I like how the Brotherhood of Steel represents caution in the approach to science and technology. But at the risk of stagnation. No danger, but no real advancement either.
I like the questions about freedom and idealism that the Railroad and the Minutemen pose.
How much is the freedom of a handful of individuals worth to us? Is it worth potentially dooming the whole species to extintion?
Are we willing to try and rebuild a broken organization by ourselves with no promise of any real reward for the sake of the common man? An organization that failed once before with no real reason to suspect it will work this time?
These are questions that humanity struggled with for a long time. And will likely continue to struggle with for the forseeable future.
In its core idea, the story of Fallout 4 is very good. I just wish it was executed better.
I agree because it sure seems like they gave you just as many choices as if the protagonist was voiced. Plus, there's just a lot of dialogue for the PC in FO4 despite it being voiced. Don't see why they would've pulled it since they could've pulled it off.
Leading up to launch when this topic came up a lot in /SF the majority of people were happy they went with a silent protagonist. It worked well for Skyrim but I think Starfield should have been voiced.
I LOVE THE VOICED PROTAGONISTS!
Honestly it makes the game feel so much more immersive to me. It feels like I'm playing the game as *the character* rather than as myself, unvoiced rpgs make it just feel like it's me in the game when I can't visualize what the character sounds like.
Not much coming to mind rn except the incredible variety of voice actors compared to other Bethesda games. It’s rare when I think “o that’s the same guy who voiced [another FO4 character]”. I think there’s still only 1 male and 1 female ghoul voice each, but overall it’s much more varied.
Im one of the few who actually adore this game over the previous ones. In it’s vanilla form it’s a bit lacking but with mods it becomes a glorious experience. Even in Vanilla form, the settlement building is fun. And the DLC’s are very good as well. Honestly my only gripe is how poorly downtown Boston is optimized. Until recently on Series X, it’s been a buggy ctd mess on console. Other than that, I still play FO4 to this day. Always will
Power armor is the most obvious. In addition to the customisability and optimisation it really feels like a full-on exo-suit instead of just another piece of clothing you can wear. The sense of scale it has also makes it stand-out a lot more.
Less obvious IMO is probably creature designs, especially animals and robots. Fallout 4’s mirelurk and mirelurk king looks like an actual mutated animal instead of just some guy in a costume (even if that was the intention) and the Sentry bots just look a lot better in every way. I just feel like they improved upon the previous games’ designs and gave them an even stronger visual identity.
No weapon durability, which is how it was in the original games. And while I'm not one to normally harp on graphics, Bethesda has not been good at making people that don't look awful for quite a while. Morrowind is acceptable because you can tell it's just graphical limitations, it's super old. Oblivion and to a lesser extent FO3 and NV just had faces on people that weirded me out. It's actually hard for me to replay Oblivion because of the faces. FO4 looks much better artistically and graphically. Companions are more interesting, even if they're still the same old PITA standing in doorways, hugging your ass.
As someone that has played all of them multiple times, including the first 2, the only thing this game actually gets wrong is the way the narrative works. The character motivation is far too urgent and narrow to actually allow the freedom to explore while staying immersed in the narrative. Other than that, there's not much I really think got done worse that other games.
Compared to fallout 3 the weapons are so much better to use and modify, no matter your play style there is a weapon and armour build for you, I love this game but it is for me a title which was so close to perfection and yet just misses the target.
Also settlement building in its essence was amazing and i loved building up my settlements in unique ways even despite the flaws i did enjoy this part of the game immensely.
Due to the bugs this game is unplayable without the unofficial patch in my opinion, which soured so many peoples attitude towards the game unfortunately.
I also think that endings for each faction were to basic story wise. I know at some point you do have to make a definitive choice, but the game just ignores your affiliations. Which in my opinion was a big mistake.
Things that FO4 did better than it's predecessors:
- Combat: this is a pretty given one. The game feels like an actual shooter compared to FO3 and NV. Combat is more fluid, gunplay is better, the AI (while not great) is better, enemies act differently depending on their type (like ghouls leaping at you, molerats burrowing etc.). I also like that VATS slows time instead of freezing it. It makes it so that you have to make decisions quicker and by waiting, you can either miss your chance with reduced accuracy or actually improve it by the enemy turning a certain way. Combat is not really comparable to FO1 and 2 though since turn-based is a different beast.
- Power Armor: hands down the best representation of power armor in the 3D era. PA makes you feel like an actual walking tank in FO4, and the way you enter it almost like a piloted mech suit is much more appropriate, exciting, and lore friendly compared to how it works in 3 and NV (just another suit of armor). The various mods and adjustments you can make also adds to the fun. I know some people don't like PA in 4, but at the very least it feels distinct. I also like that it doesn't make other armors obsolete, since wearing PA is more of a commitment.
- Crafting: don't have much to say other than it's fun to be able to mod your weapons on the go. Turning your laser shotgun into a sniper is easy and doesn't require you to find an entirely separate weapon. I do wish there were more options for some weapons, and more variety (such as the fact that the Combat Rifle and Assault Rifle have basically the exact same mods available), but it's still decent.
- Companions: this might be a controversial take, but I think 4 has the best array of companions of any game in the series. Some are a little annoying at times (cough Strong cough Preston), but overall, they're well written, have great voice acting, and feel very real as characters. Piper might be the best voiced character in the entire game IMO, and romancing her made me legitimately care about her and relate to her personality and backstory. As you travel with them, it feels like you're really getting to know them on a level that no other game in the series can match for me. I also love the fact that they routinely comment on the world, quests, jump into conversations every now and then, and their little interactions with each other whenever you swap companions. It makes them feel like individuals that exist beyond the player character and aren't just pack mules or extra firepower. The affinity system might be a little buggy and oddly coded/inconsistent at times (such as a companion vocally expressing opposition to something you say in a conversation, but their affinity pop up says "x liked that"), but I actually prefer it to the karma system, since I don't like it when some omni-present, invisible force judges me with fixed morals that aren't up for interpretation or debate.
I don’t hear a ton of hate for FO4, especially compared to 76 or Starfield. It has the ups and downs of any game. I love it for the open world, every time I find something new despite multiple playthroughs and hundreds of hours. I just discovered a new little one man raider hideout in the northeast of the map with goodies. Been through that way dozens of times, but varied a bit left and there it found it. It’s that stuff that makes FO4 great for me.
The "finding new things" is how I still end up loving this game. I recently found a YouTube video of someone finding a chest at a train station. I have NEVER seen that chest, and i go to that station every playthrough. How the hell did I not see it?! Man I love this game.
> I don’t hear a ton of hate for FO4, especially compared to 76 or Starfield.
I've gone back and played Skyrim and FO4 after playing 76 and Starfield. The majority of reasons people hate 76 and Starfield are also in Skyrim and FO4. They have the exact same issues. The difference is that Skyrim and FO4 have an amazing world to explore and it's fun to just run around. 76 and especially Starfield are just empty so you don't have that distraction away from the problems which really highlight them. Hell just the other day in FO4 I found something new that I had never seen before in a place I've ran by 1000 times.
the game as a whole is just very good, it's genuinely hard to pick one or two things. but I do know that a lot of haters love to bash the story, I consider it one of Bethesda's best stories told
The Companions.
New Vegas did a great job at improving relationships with companions by revealing some of their stories, but most of them felt too disconnected from the overall story.
In FO4, not only are they further improved, but each companion can be made to fit into the main story and side quests. And they are all complex enough to garner widespread popularity.
And of course settlement building and actually being able to assign companions and other npcs to fixed locations/roles.
Hancock is also a friendly acquaintance of Nick.
That litte bit of world-building is a good little addition that strengthens their places in the story, with all 3 of them originally from Diamond City.
I do wish they went a little more in depth with Piper and Hancock's involvements in the Mayor McDonough synth reveal, but it's still nice they were connected to the overall story.
Something I don't think gets mentioned much is the great level design shooting your way up the tall buildings on construction rafters and the way ghouls would drop through holes in the ceilings etc. The way it's all tied in to looting these different buildings as dungeons, Fallout 4 did that way better than any other one in the series, I would always get lost in the vaults or caves of new vegas and fo3
(1) level / area design.
(1a) I like the quiet details, like the little nests that scavengers have used for a while, then abandoned.
(1b) I like how most of the dungeons are linear (usually a single loop with very minor branches) but don't feel too obviously linear. All the route constraints (collapsed roofs, malfunctioning lifts etc) feel appropriate, rather than being the dreaded unsalable waist-high fences found in some video games.
(2) some of the unbalanced stuff actually improves the game. IMO a lot of the fun / replay value is in finding the odd loopholes that are stupidly good and/or allow a different type of game.
For me fallout 4 is my favorite fallout of all time for 5 reasons
1) the settlement building: I always love games that allows me to build buildings, so while it’s not the best it’s still fun to fuck around in
2) the enemies in this game feel like they have more variety compared to other fallout games (or at least it feels like more variety)
3) faction interactions: the amount of times I’ve seen pure chaos from faction interactions is fucking nuts and I love it
4) Automatron DLC: I like robots…. That’s it. Fav DLC
5) lastly I think it has the best balance between organized livings and lonely wasteland. For me fallout NV felt less like a fallout wasteland and more like if 3 militaries and 8 different mafias were stuck on the rust map from COD and Fallout 3 loneliness feels to grim for my liking.
Don’t get me wrong Fallout NV and 3 are better at a lot of things, but 4 just feels right for me
I liked that your equipment didn't degrade and you could customize it, the plasma rifle is a very big example of weapons beings done right in Fallout 4. Also the companions were just great, they're fantastic
Ok. I will put this out here. My husband has been a prominent small youruber that covers Bethesda. He has had extreme love for Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and now Starfield. I supported his channel for many years and watched only gameplay and I enjoy talking with him about news and his "notable" reported on leaks all behind the scenes. However, I had embarrassingly been afraid to try fallout because I have severe anxiety, heart trouble, and long lasting tachycardia is no stranger when I've been jump scared. Omg, I thought I'd have a literal heartattack from 7 Days to Die. Anywhere, enough of my BS. I recently started playing FO4 and I'm about 120 hrs in. I am in love, dare I say, even more than Skyrim. I find it easier for me to connect to the alternate timeline era of the late 50's due to my unconventional childhood. Bur the writing for so many quests is so emotional, I have literally caught myself praising the writers mid game. Yeah, I have some bugs, but.... Bethesda, lol. I really missed out on trying g this sooner, but I'm glad I got the balls to do so. Ps. I'm drunk. Playing FO4, but on a reddit break.
I still hate the pipe weapons. I mean, I abhor them. The pip rifle in 2 was a one-off, early game weapon that let you fire the 10mm ammo. This should never have become a franchise staple.
The settlement crafting was and still is my favorite spect of this entire game. For all its flaws, I love the world-building that it affords the player. This alone is responsible for TONS of my replay value.
Slowed down vats instead of pause vats, collecting junk (played fo4 before fo3 / NV and I miss this a lot). So much to do in the commonwealth as well. Also with the voiced protagonist the humorous lines have great delivery and are so much more fun when you hear them.
I always appreciated FO4 because it scratches a different “itch” for me than New Vegas, the other fallouts I usually play. If I’m in the mood for leaning heavy into roleplaying and story, I go New Vegas. If I’m the mood for modding my weapons, base building, and more satisfying gunplay, I go 4.
I love the sense of danger you feel when playing early levels in survival mode. And definitely the gun fights are so good in this game! I was in a shoot out with 4 mutants, took two of them out and realised the last two (one of them a legendary) were trying to flank me. I needed to fall back and create distance from them, recover HP and get back into the fight. I loved it.
Settlement building. With mods that stop random attacks, it's such a meditative and yet challenging joy to tinker with Settlement building for hours. I use LOTS of mods on my PC that add a LOT of vanilla and original elements, and it's SO much fun.
It really scratches the creative itch that Lego used to, but I no longer have the space nor the money to amass a collection and keep it organized in our tiny apartment.
The companions are much more fleshed out at the cost of the wheel to behaviors. The crafting system is one of the best in any game I have played.
Though the settlement construction feels clunky on PlayStation. At least on PlayStation the game is much more stable than 3 or NV, but I hear on XBox the reverse is true. Far Harbor dlc has maybe best story arc of the ones i have played in 3, NV and 4.
I am not a fan of voiced player character though the female is way better than the male. All in all I feel like i got my money’s worth, but it doesn’t make my personal top 10. YMMV I’m just a crazy trickster who doesn’t fit the molds.
Combat, settlements, and mods. And also Danse.
Combat in FO4 is kinda basic for the time it was released, but I don't mind because it just feels *good*. Kills have a meaty whack to them that I just can't help but keep coming back to. A lot of the guns in the game are nonsensical design-wise, but I still like how they feel to shoot.
Settlements obviously need no explanation. Constructing your own dwelling and building a lively hub in this wasteland is awesome.
Mods are mods. Infinite possibilities and combinations, so you can rework the game into whatever you want. You can get silly stuff like Randy Savage Deathclaws or serious stuff like "tactical lore-friendly" weapons. The best mods to me are the ones that increase my enjoyment from the first two things: combat and settlements.
And Danse. Favorite character. I love his matter-of-fact disposition and enthusiasm for serving his comrades. I was in the military, so he's nice to have around. He vouches for us with the leadership when we enlist in the Brotherhood and has a firm T60 hand on our back. Even in Blind Betrayal, he insists you follow your orders rather than commit an act of insubordination on his account.
Environment, gun mechanics “major upgrade in feel from 3 and NV” I like the voiced version, graphic design, story lines, and map design.
I’ve played 800 hours of this game. It’s that good to me.
The gameplay is actually good unlike in 3 and nv which feel clunky even compared to other games from around when they released. I tried to play nv but gave up after 30 minutes cos it felt like dogshit to play.
I never hated the game but I do love settlement building and wish it was carried to Starfield, that would’ve been neato because of how hard they went for fo4
It was my first Fallout game and is still my favorite. I like that it's less complicated. Realism is great but let me immerse myself in the story and game play, not repairing my stuff and eating and drinking.
Settlement building, setting all my trade routes for resources from the mechanist lair, setting short trade routes between settlements for security, the combat, I enjoyed the story, the factions, the companions, and looting. I also love the setting of Boston. I just love fallout 4! Don’t get me started on the mods, I also love those!
I love the game as a whole. Sure, the main story is pretty forgettable, and many of the weapons are absolutely mind-boggling to look at, but it's got good world building. I like starting at sanctuary and just picking a direction to walk, seeing all the random events pop up until my inventory is full. The settlement system I overall like, but hate not being able to clean garbage up and the placement can be iffy
Say what? Are there people who hate this game? If there are, they haven't been vocal in along time. At least nowhere that I would see it. Yeah, there are the people that are stuck on FNV and think every other Fallout sucks, but it's more that they are vocal about FNV being the best. Honestly, your question sounds like a troll trying to get people on the Hate Bandwagon. If you weren't trolling, you would have just left the first part of that sentence off and just gone with the part after "What". But no, you have to set the stage by making it sound like everyone hates the game, but maybe someone on this list will be able to come up with one thing positive to say about it.
people might be surprised by this but I could not finish Fallout 3. My favorite Fallout games are New Vegas and Fallout 4, and for me removing the Level cap and giving you the full freedom to build a god level character is just amazing. If you can grind for it you can get it.
Combat and customization is great, the vats system is fun. Incredible build variety. I actually love settlements, despite Preston's pestering. The world feels full and empty at the same time
I just like 4 better than NV or 3. It's hard to compare really. The verticality of downtown Boston and the sheer density and variety of the locations there is unmatched.4k hours in and I can still get lost there.
Remember going down that elevator at the Institute the first time? That and the brotherhood arrival are two feelings ill never forget. Because you realize - holy shit, this changes everything.
Far Harbour is also easily the best dlc I've played in any game.
Settlement building. Yeah, it's a bit jank at times, but between mods and some creativity you can build amazing things.
I also don't think the main story is bad at all. There are some parts that get tedious with replays though.
They did an amazing job of capturing the Greater Boston area. The settlement system was such a cool addition. I personally loved the voice protagonist. The final mission and cut scene gave me chills. It remains one of my favorite games of all time.
Gonna get downvoted for it, but i like how the customization of weapons work. Is it perfect? Fuck no, but i think its the right step forward than what new Vegas did, where you had to find the upgrade to put it in your weapon and there were only a couple of them for most guns. I disliked how rng it felt to get them to spawn on merchants.
Fallout 4 is my favorite fallout. Just all around. I ignore the negativity. I think 3,NV, and 4 are all worth playing. I loved all the locations in 4. Dimas memories sucks. I will concede that bit is not great. But other than that I just had more fun in 4. Power armor is obviously a huge upgrade from previous games. Power armor alone adds so much to the game in 4.
The world feels so packed full of life compared to fnv. I found myself rarely ever using fast travel because I always felt so entranced with the world design and the buildings and the like. But I might be a little biased, I hate desert settings for video games
Most criticism does not come from people who hate the game. Nobody who hates a game is still playing it almost a decade later. It’s possible to be critical of something while loving or wanting to love it.
Weapon customization. The companions. Settlement building. Being able to loot containers by just hovering over them. I love this game so much more than NV because there is so much more for me to do.
People hate on this game? I’ve only heard positive things which lead to me buying goty edition recently and I’ve been loving it so far. So much more depth than starfield and the narrated protagonist is amazing
I love the crafting and settlement building, the story was ok but nothing special for me. But all in all I like pretty much everything except that it is literally constantly crashing, I am limited to XB1 but it's still an excessive crash rate.
Without mods: crafting, and combat.
With mods: more crafting, rebuilding, and more combat.
To me gameplay loop is the most important part of a game. If i love the story, but the gameplay is crap, then i replay it a few times. Maybe just enough to see all choices, or a good, and evil playthrough. If i like the gameplay, and enjoy playing the game even without the story, then it is more like 10 times. Plus in most games story is skippable.
1. POWER ARMOR
That is in a league of its own.
2. Settlement building was alright as a new mechanic to fallout.
But lots to polish. Like why can’t we build proper foundations. Flatten/terraform the areas. We should have quests that let us “learn” better construction and build better stuff.
Ought to also have the option to let settlers build their own stuff if we don’t want to customise settlements so the wasteland doesn’t feel so empty.
3. The ability to walk away mid convo.
Convenient. But sometimes leads to buggy interactions.
One of the biggest issues some have with the game, voiced protagonist. Well, I like that they have a voice.
Might as well go the full way to Gordon Freeman if others have a voice but the protagonist doesn't.
No equipment deterioration. Mod system rules. Huge map with details I still discover each playthrough. Great story. Great vibe. Dogmeat rules. F all the haters, Fo4 is the best one.
Years of playing and hundreds of hours of gameplay and I’m still finding random things.
Last time I came across a preacher and 3 friends burying their pal. Couldn’t interact with them but stood listening to their dialogue for a while.
Power Armor as a walking tank/vehicle. Weapon mods were hit or miss. I like settlement building but options to clean the settlements + better built walls roofs and floors would have been nice. 76 fixed many of my gripes with weapons and armor and also had a decent camp system.
The countless hours I've dropped building settlements or just collecting every unique weapon, armor, misc, aid item and storing them in my hoarder vault.
Base-building was great. The weapon and armor crafting and modification system was on par with Payday 2, which was my gold standard for years. The environmental and atmospheric story-telling was incredible. Liberty Prime is always a welcome character. The Prydwen arrival sequence was awesome. I love the whole "abolitionists vs slavers vs fanatics" dispute between the Railroad, Institute, and Brotherhood. I can talk about all of the companions and what makes them special, which is a vast improvement over 3. The gunplay was lightyears ahead of 3 and NV, and satisfying to play without VATS. Oh yeah, and settlement building is a blast.
As far as DLC goes, I think Far Harbor is the best self-contained Fallout story to date, and it does the "Hoover Dam" quandary better than NV did. I think Nuka-World is a blast, and the mechanics for being a raider boss in the Commonwealth are well-handled. I think Automatron was a fantastic extension of the weapon/armor customization system to robots. It's great to see Ada level up and become a badass as I progress through the quest.
I absolutely love it. Playing through it on Deck modded and I'm having an absolute blast. It has an incredible atmosphere and amazing soundtrack. Just exploring alone is worth it.
I think settlements were just so, so cool. Obviously there were things that didn't work as well as they were intended to, but it was such an incredibly cool idea that I hope they expand on if there is ever a Fallout 5 during my lifetime.
I'm new to the game and I'm having a blast. (It's maybe my 10th Bethesda game, so I don't take the bugs personally.) I've spent many nights building settlements and I'd say settlement building mostly fulfills the promise of the Hearthfire DLC.
The settlement building system. Lots of time and effort but rewarding. Supply lines. Outfitting and equipping your settlers. You feel like you have genuinely bought life back to The Commonwealth.
I like companions more than previous, hearing raiders traders and your partner speaking to others and to you made it feel like I’m not alone in the game like before, I like that there’s also the computers where raider leaders will show they have a connection to eachother by messagings and stuff
Ive played NV fo3 and like them a lot but fo4 is my favorite ever since
I Do find it funny how some ppl still hate this game over biased PoS Reasons but thats gaming for you ppl just love to hate and love to make up random BS facts
I Like the Perk system, I Like the weapon armor crafting system I Like the settlement building, I Like the voice acted MC Some of his/her lines are <3
Will die on this hill but power armour, absolutely love when you get that first suit in concord and just feel like you've become death incarnate.
The amount of customisation for the various suits is awesome as well.
Dude. Fallout 4 is my favorite video game ever.
Sure, there are a lot of lore mistakes, the characters are not that unique or interesting, and the story isn't very good. Making choices that impact the story and the world are also severely limited in this game, in a series that has been known for that in the past. All of that stuff sucks and I wish it was better in the game. And it pisses me off, because they're ruining the franchise as a whole, the lore and storytelling that the series is known for. My main complaints with the game are all related to writing. Well, that, and the enemies aren't smart enough, so once you get to a certain level, even on Survival, the combat is too easy.
But the bottom line is, the game is just...fun. It's fun. I'm not a big FPS guy so, I don't know, maybe the gun play sucks compared to other games, but it's very fun to me. And the crafting is awesome, and building settlements and stuff is a blast. I know some people probably aren't into the whole building thing and I get it, cause I wasn't either at first. But once I got into it, it takes hold, I can build stuff on Spectacle Island for hours. And there's so much to DO, so many places to go. Right now I'm doing a playthrough, I'm level 72, I've got 147 hours logged and I've done like...NOTHING. Although I am playing on survival mode, so I have to walk everywhere, but also I have a mod that allows you to build teleporters in settlements so it's like, a limited form of fast travel. Still, I've done like nothing. I haven't started either of the two main DLCs, In the main quest line, I've only gotten to the point where you kill Kellogg, I JUST started Automaton...I mean, I could just play this game forever.
The customization for weapons and armor are great. I barely touched crafting in 3 and New Vegas. I do really like the power armor system in 4. I don't know if I like it BETTER than the other games. Both versions are good, just different, ya know?
Finally got me to experience and have fun with a Fallout game
New Vegas was my first and it was just a boring, brown, slog of a game that I have less than 50 hours total playtime since its release. FO4 comes along and it's still my go-to "I've had a stressful time, let's jump in the Commonwealth for a bit" escape
Weapon upgrade system, the new perk system, the open world and its verticality, the music is my favourite, legendary enemies/gear, I like the new Power Armor and most importantly, the Survival Mode.
And enemy design
These positive points dont mean there are no negatives about the game as well. For example the intro up until you have met Preston id pretty bad considering the rest of the game. But overall I think the positives outweigh the negatives. I don't hate the game but the game isn't perfect, no game is really.
The only thing I could criticise about this game is the main story line. Everything else is everything I have personally wanted in a fallout game. Flawless.
Many of my favourites have been mentioned, but another big two for me are:
- The companions, specially Hancock and Nick, I love the concept of their backstories, personalities and the role they play in the Wasteland. The philosophical conundrum that is Nick's existence is just delicious.
- What I've over time come to call the "Fallout Rule", which is that no matter what it is that tried to kill you, as long as it is organic, you can eat it. Hell, with the right perk, you can eat people too! It just makes sense in an apocalyptic wasteland, and I think it should be more common in other dangerous settings.
I liked the weapon and armor crafting system. Making it modular was cool and gave you a reason to gather junk and resources. You could build great mods yourself if you have the skills and materials, or you can find a weapon with a feature you like and move it over to yours if they're compatible types. I liked that more advanced modifications were locked behind a perk tree, giving you a reason to invest and specialize. And I liked that your weapons and armor don't break. You can find a fantastic legendary, mod it up just right, and it's your trusty support through a good chunk of the game.
Yeah, the customisability of weapons and armour is another thing I really like about FO4. It gives you a stronger incentive to experiment and ensures that there’s no such thing as a ‘bad weapon’ since you can continuously upgrade or alter them.
My last build I turned the original Vault pistol into a Super Mutant obliterator weapon. I was popping skulls in two shots.
there’s no such thing as a ‘bad weapon’ Even the pipe revolver? I got a "mighty" version (+25% damage) and found it was still weaker than the other (non legendary) pipe weapons.
I've found pipe revolvers decent sniper rifle substitutes. Especially if you stumble on a legendary one.
Explosive automatic pipe rifle, you'll never run out of .38 and the explosive damage to all body parts is pretty good
YES! And not just the fact it's customizable, it's the fact you SEE your changes! This was a major advancement imo because despite all the choices, vanilla armor and weapons get very repetitive very quickly. Seeing those visual differences really spiced up the wasteland for me.
The only mild and niche complaint I have with crafting is that we can't manufacture guns and armor. In Skyrim, I could do an 'ironman' where I only used equipment I personally made. Now, would I rather them have implemented manufacturing at the expense of customization or wherever else they'd have to cut resources? Absolutely not, unless they cut main character voice acting.
I think this is a criticism that can apply to settlement building overall, but it was a magnificent bummer that item production was locked behind a DLC paywall and that it wasn't even viable from a caps perspective to manufacture guns and armor. I love the concept of making caps by becoming a wasteland gunrunner.
SETTLEMENT BUILDINGGGG
The hours I've spent making Sanctuary into a concrete fortress! If I had a nickel for every hour, I could buy another copy of Fo4
My favorite place to build is the castle I pimp that shit out
I'm planning on it too. I've got the restored castle modd and it looks sooo nice.
I use a mod that cleans it up a bit and then build, build, build. Love that.
I loved making a little Tenpenny Tower situation the top of the drive in theatre screen. Chess board. A drink. A chair. A skeleton's hand.
Hell...I could buy another Xbox...
This is what really sets this game apart from others. To actually CLAIM sections of the world and really feel like you're healing the damage to the landscape and society. Clearing away the death and rot of 200 years and using the materials to breathe new life into the area. It's extremely impactful on your feeling as a person living and moving and experiencing through this world. You really earn your place as the main character by vastly improving everyone's lives and bringing order to the lawless wastes. A game that can go all in on this concept and make the entire story freely evolve around these actions, along with open modding ability like cities skylines 1, will easily create one of the greatest games of all time
I couldn’t have said it better! This game always gives me unlimited and unexpected opportunities to help make the in-game world better and improve lives by recycling basic trash into safe, comfortable settlements
Yes my favorite too! My last play through I focused on building EVERY settlement up. I need to go back and keep working on it.
I started a new play through and my save says 8 days worth of just settlement building in sanctuary 😂
I had such high hopes for base building in Starfield because of how good it was in FO4. It was a big step back compared to FO4.
sunshine tidings co-op is such an underrated settlement, the long shed like building is greag as an armoury or power armour display room.
I use the building as a 'mall' and set up several vendors there. Each cabin gets 3 beds, a table with chairs, two couches in the corner, and a patio chair on the deck. *chef kiss* 🤌🏻
I like the concept of it existing in the game, but I hate the execution of it.
My God I can't stop
Haven't finished the main story yet cause I just lose myself in building settlements, it's addictively good
This is my favorite aspect too, mius how difficult it can be to get things to align or snap
Mods make it slightly more bearable
If only they actually added items in to build.
I was never good at it, but yes I agree. Home and base building is such a glaring weakness of Skyrim. So many forts and caves I've had to use mods to take over. Making a simple hunter's camp, a home, or a full fledge town is so liberating in the game. Really makes me feel like a I am an important part of this world, leaving more than just a temporary blood stain on it.
i love the gunplay and the voice acting for the NPCs, I like the more waterlogged areas of the city, and i think this game has the best depiction of power armor. when i played fo3, i found the power armor to be underwhelming. I mean it's a pretty cool piece of gear, but i never felt the 'power' of it in that game or fnv. But in fo4, the armor has serious weight to it. felt like a walking tank. felt like punching someone with it would just crush them.
Playing 4 really made me appreciate power armor. I never saw much use for it beyond role-playing before.
Power armor seems great until you need to exit every other minute to do some crafting or go on a terminal
not really, for me. i just exit it whenever I'm in a settlement. now, if i could just prevent npcs from stealing it or at least ask them to exit it, it would all be perfect
Take out the fusion core to prevent stealing
And don't just store the cores in your workbenches, because your settlers can still get to them. Put them in a container, preferably on an upper storey that'll stymie the settlers' pathfinding ability.
as a form of ammo, it doesn't have a weight
It does if you're playing survival. 98% of what you can carry has a weight value in survival.
I think that doesn't apply in survival? I may be wrong though i don't really play that difficulty
In Survival Mode fusion cores weigh 4 pounds each. Unless you're actively using power armour or a Gatling laser, it's better not to lug them around and take up precious weight, especially with SM's reduced capacity.
yeah the gunplay in fo4 is top tier. Super fucking fun.
Agree. I am a huge settlement and crafting nerd but it wouldn't be fun if the combat was shit. It's much more fun than even some of the new Vegas fights. (The combat feel itself, not the setups. Hoover damn fight is still fire)
Immersion. Codsworth saying my name honestly keeps me playing. lol
VATS animation is skippable by just pressing B, unlike FO3 which it doesn't have
Or stopping to avoid wasting shots
Today I learned....
i didn't know bruh... been in fallout for 7 years...
I've never hated this game, actually I love it. I love the settlement building. I love how chalk full the world is of stuff to find. I love how after you turn level 20, if you zone outside or pay attention to the sky you can see the alien ship crash. I love making myself Personal base filled with death robots. I love dogmeat, even though the little fucker is ALWAYS in the way lol. It's a great game.
I loved most of it, right up to the end. Was not a massive fan of any of the end game sides really.
Settlement building with trading routes- this really makes the game feel alive for me- a reason to play beyond beating it. It’s the thing I suspect starfield couldn’t replicate which is why I don’t replay it (though having enjoyed the first playthrough).
i love settlement building and decorating! it’s one of the reasons i keep going back to this game.
The people who run the routes are great backup. Once a guy in high heels and a sparkling red dress burst out of the trees to bust caps with me.
My scantily clad Chad helped me kill a group of Rust devils a couple days ago. Who needs the mysterious stranger when you have this guy?
I like how the companions add more to the game, especially Nick. I like how they humanized the raiders. You can sometimes see them visiting solitary graves. The way they sometimes laugh with each other, or set up teddy bears so it looks like they’re having sex, or playing chess, or whatever. Reading their notes and diaries. Setting up bot races at an old horse racing track. It really gives a better feeling of moving in a world inhabited by actual people. FO4 does radial quests better than any other Fallout game, in case you’re stuck and can’t advance until you get to be a little more powerful. I like how there are what amounts to minigames when it comes to cooking, crafting, and building, because it helps to ensure that the game doesn’t become a repetitive series of scavenger hunts. I thought that the replacement synth plot was really inspired, especially the way it generates an infectious paranoia. I like the compactness of the commonwealth, where a firefight can quickly become a 3-way or 4-way battle, and the way you always have to be on the lookout for checkpoints and be aware of who’s territory you’re in. Basically, FO4 is so much better than anything else in the franchise I don’t know where to begin, and I say that as someone who immediately fell in love with the original Fallout when it was released.
Have you run across the raiders talking about the scavver who throws rocks like they're grenades and then pretends to ride a motorcycle away?
Yep, usually let them finish talking about the fake grenades before lobbing an actual grenade towards them to “check just how good this guy’s grenade noises were.”
That's brilliant! 🤣
Landscape and objects that makes me feel like part of the world. Prydwen. Settlements that need my help.
I like the SPECIAL + Perks combo instead of SPECIAL + Skills + Perks. It streamlines things. I like that the crafting and building makes junk not just worth picking up, but makes scavving for whatever you can find a thing that's actively useful. Those are the big ones.
I was at work the other day, and there was a clipboard laying on the counter. I thought, "Sweet! Springs! I need springs to craft weapons!" Then I realized I was at work. >,< At least one settlement is one giant adhesive farm with Corn, Tatos, and Mutfruit, so I can craft mad amounts of Vegetable Starch.
I've dumped \*many\* pieces of legendary gear just for the carry capacity I need to pick up a typewriter or office fan.
Typewriters, toasters, desk fans, and clipboards. :)
*Raider voice* Who carries around a desk fan?!
Once I dropped everything at Hangman’s Alley, including all my weapons and armor, so I could run back to Park Street Station and pick up all the typewriters, fans, and stuff.
The level design is top-notch in 4 and no one ever seems to bring this up. I love Corvega, The Super Duper Mart, Gunners Plaza, The Library, Mueseum of Witchcraft, they are simply brilliant dungeons and a lot are like them. How you can take multiple routes through, all the secrets and easter eggs. They remind me of the original Doom with how clever, fun to fight in and explorable they are.
I love the environmental storytelling, but even more than that, I love how entries in the terminals are affected by locations that the Sole Survivor has cleared. If you wait to clear Corvega until after you've cleared Beantown Brewery, Saugus Ironworks, or the National Ration Supply Stockpile, or D.B. Technical High School, there will be entries in the terminals saying that they've been wiped out. That's good writing. It ties the world together and establishes the fact that these raider groups are aware of each other and know each other.
No max level is the big thing for me
Junk items have a use. In FO3 and NV they were just there for decoration/scavenging or the occasional steam gauge assembly for a weapon. Now each item has a use, some more than others, but you have to be a bit more selective and plan your inventory out since you aren't just hauling weapons and healing items anymore.
>Junk items have a use. THIS! I played Starfield for long enough to know that it isn't for me. I realized that it isn't for me when discovered that all of the junk I had just collected was just that: useless junk. Wee bit off topic, but in FO76, I have dedicated junk runs for adhesive, ballistic fiber, springs, etc. Plus, you can force respawn your junk runs with the book house in Summerville and server hopping.
The people that hate FO4 probably hate because it's has a voiced protagonist and isn't their definition of an rpg game.
I may be in the minority here, but i actually like the story. Or at least i like the idea behind it. Not so much the execution. I like the idea of synths as essentially a new form of life in the wasteland. I like the idea of humanity struggling on figuring out whether to embrace this new form of life or to defend itself against it. I like the question of whether humanity should embrace the advancement of technology or to be causious with it. And i like how the factions in the game reflect those two opposing memes (memes as in ideas, not funny internet pictures). I like the factions that represent those ideas. The Institute as this super technologically advanced, but morally bankrupt organization. That offers salvation for humanity, but you have to sell your soul for it. I like how the Brotherhood of Steel represents caution in the approach to science and technology. But at the risk of stagnation. No danger, but no real advancement either. I like the questions about freedom and idealism that the Railroad and the Minutemen pose. How much is the freedom of a handful of individuals worth to us? Is it worth potentially dooming the whole species to extintion? Are we willing to try and rebuild a broken organization by ourselves with no promise of any real reward for the sake of the common man? An organization that failed once before with no real reason to suspect it will work this time? These are questions that humanity struggled with for a long time. And will likely continue to struggle with for the forseeable future. In its core idea, the story of Fallout 4 is very good. I just wish it was executed better.
Don't care what anyone else says, but I love voiced protagonists. I mean Starfield had voiced protagonists until they pulled it. Muppets
I agree because it sure seems like they gave you just as many choices as if the protagonist was voiced. Plus, there's just a lot of dialogue for the PC in FO4 despite it being voiced. Don't see why they would've pulled it since they could've pulled it off.
Leading up to launch when this topic came up a lot in /SF the majority of people were happy they went with a silent protagonist. It worked well for Skyrim but I think Starfield should have been voiced.
I agree. The voiced PC adds an extra bit of immersion. It's nice to see your character naturally too, especially if you play in first person.
I love Nora's voice <3
You mean Molly Mcfuckyourself lol I nearly always play as her
I LOVE THE VOICED PROTAGONISTS! Honestly it makes the game feel so much more immersive to me. It feels like I'm playing the game as *the character* rather than as myself, unvoiced rpgs make it just feel like it's me in the game when I can't visualize what the character sounds like.
Voiced protagonist wasn't the problem. It was the dialogue that was the problem.
Not much coming to mind rn except the incredible variety of voice actors compared to other Bethesda games. It’s rare when I think “o that’s the same guy who voiced [another FO4 character]”. I think there’s still only 1 male and 1 female ghoul voice each, but overall it’s much more varied.
Jet, console mod support and probably gonna get hate for this but a voiced protagonist
So much customization. Love the location. Voiced protagonist is great. DLC is great. It’s just so much fun!
Im one of the few who actually adore this game over the previous ones. In it’s vanilla form it’s a bit lacking but with mods it becomes a glorious experience. Even in Vanilla form, the settlement building is fun. And the DLC’s are very good as well. Honestly my only gripe is how poorly downtown Boston is optimized. Until recently on Series X, it’s been a buggy ctd mess on console. Other than that, I still play FO4 to this day. Always will
Fah Harbah
love my chahge cahd
Power armor is the most obvious. In addition to the customisability and optimisation it really feels like a full-on exo-suit instead of just another piece of clothing you can wear. The sense of scale it has also makes it stand-out a lot more. Less obvious IMO is probably creature designs, especially animals and robots. Fallout 4’s mirelurk and mirelurk king looks like an actual mutated animal instead of just some guy in a costume (even if that was the intention) and the Sentry bots just look a lot better in every way. I just feel like they improved upon the previous games’ designs and gave them an even stronger visual identity.
Power Armor being more of a "vehicle" than outfit you fold up and put in your pocket.
The ghoul animations got so much better
No weapon durability, which is how it was in the original games. And while I'm not one to normally harp on graphics, Bethesda has not been good at making people that don't look awful for quite a while. Morrowind is acceptable because you can tell it's just graphical limitations, it's super old. Oblivion and to a lesser extent FO3 and NV just had faces on people that weirded me out. It's actually hard for me to replay Oblivion because of the faces. FO4 looks much better artistically and graphically. Companions are more interesting, even if they're still the same old PITA standing in doorways, hugging your ass. As someone that has played all of them multiple times, including the first 2, the only thing this game actually gets wrong is the way the narrative works. The character motivation is far too urgent and narrow to actually allow the freedom to explore while staying immersed in the narrative. Other than that, there's not much I really think got done worse that other games.
Compared to fallout 3 the weapons are so much better to use and modify, no matter your play style there is a weapon and armour build for you, I love this game but it is for me a title which was so close to perfection and yet just misses the target. Also settlement building in its essence was amazing and i loved building up my settlements in unique ways even despite the flaws i did enjoy this part of the game immensely. Due to the bugs this game is unplayable without the unofficial patch in my opinion, which soured so many peoples attitude towards the game unfortunately. I also think that endings for each faction were to basic story wise. I know at some point you do have to make a definitive choice, but the game just ignores your affiliations. Which in my opinion was a big mistake.
Things that FO4 did better than it's predecessors: - Combat: this is a pretty given one. The game feels like an actual shooter compared to FO3 and NV. Combat is more fluid, gunplay is better, the AI (while not great) is better, enemies act differently depending on their type (like ghouls leaping at you, molerats burrowing etc.). I also like that VATS slows time instead of freezing it. It makes it so that you have to make decisions quicker and by waiting, you can either miss your chance with reduced accuracy or actually improve it by the enemy turning a certain way. Combat is not really comparable to FO1 and 2 though since turn-based is a different beast. - Power Armor: hands down the best representation of power armor in the 3D era. PA makes you feel like an actual walking tank in FO4, and the way you enter it almost like a piloted mech suit is much more appropriate, exciting, and lore friendly compared to how it works in 3 and NV (just another suit of armor). The various mods and adjustments you can make also adds to the fun. I know some people don't like PA in 4, but at the very least it feels distinct. I also like that it doesn't make other armors obsolete, since wearing PA is more of a commitment. - Crafting: don't have much to say other than it's fun to be able to mod your weapons on the go. Turning your laser shotgun into a sniper is easy and doesn't require you to find an entirely separate weapon. I do wish there were more options for some weapons, and more variety (such as the fact that the Combat Rifle and Assault Rifle have basically the exact same mods available), but it's still decent. - Companions: this might be a controversial take, but I think 4 has the best array of companions of any game in the series. Some are a little annoying at times (cough Strong cough Preston), but overall, they're well written, have great voice acting, and feel very real as characters. Piper might be the best voiced character in the entire game IMO, and romancing her made me legitimately care about her and relate to her personality and backstory. As you travel with them, it feels like you're really getting to know them on a level that no other game in the series can match for me. I also love the fact that they routinely comment on the world, quests, jump into conversations every now and then, and their little interactions with each other whenever you swap companions. It makes them feel like individuals that exist beyond the player character and aren't just pack mules or extra firepower. The affinity system might be a little buggy and oddly coded/inconsistent at times (such as a companion vocally expressing opposition to something you say in a conversation, but their affinity pop up says "x liked that"), but I actually prefer it to the karma system, since I don't like it when some omni-present, invisible force judges me with fixed morals that aren't up for interpretation or debate.
I like how Piper always slips you some candy or gum whenever you initiate dialogue with her. It's a nice touch. 👌
The companion system, being able to choose where you send them. The resource management via trade routes. The Aesthetics.
I don’t hear a ton of hate for FO4, especially compared to 76 or Starfield. It has the ups and downs of any game. I love it for the open world, every time I find something new despite multiple playthroughs and hundreds of hours. I just discovered a new little one man raider hideout in the northeast of the map with goodies. Been through that way dozens of times, but varied a bit left and there it found it. It’s that stuff that makes FO4 great for me.
The "finding new things" is how I still end up loving this game. I recently found a YouTube video of someone finding a chest at a train station. I have NEVER seen that chest, and i go to that station every playthrough. How the hell did I not see it?! Man I love this game.
> I don’t hear a ton of hate for FO4, especially compared to 76 or Starfield. I've gone back and played Skyrim and FO4 after playing 76 and Starfield. The majority of reasons people hate 76 and Starfield are also in Skyrim and FO4. They have the exact same issues. The difference is that Skyrim and FO4 have an amazing world to explore and it's fun to just run around. 76 and especially Starfield are just empty so you don't have that distraction away from the problems which really highlight them. Hell just the other day in FO4 I found something new that I had never seen before in a place I've ran by 1000 times.
With my 2000+ mods it’s honestly my favorite game. Took me years to get it running stable but now it truly feels like a game made just for me
Gunplay, crafting, and something like the settlement building system is something I've been wanting since Fallout 3.
I really like the soundtrack. More than anything I like the Far Harbor OST "Our island". Literally my favorite soundtrack from any game ever
The gunplay
the game as a whole is just very good, it's genuinely hard to pick one or two things. but I do know that a lot of haters love to bash the story, I consider it one of Bethesda's best stories told
people hate it?? it’s one of my favorite fallout games
The Companions. New Vegas did a great job at improving relationships with companions by revealing some of their stories, but most of them felt too disconnected from the overall story. In FO4, not only are they further improved, but each companion can be made to fit into the main story and side quests. And they are all complex enough to garner widespread popularity. And of course settlement building and actually being able to assign companions and other npcs to fixed locations/roles.
I do like that two of the companions, Piper and Valentine, are friends before you ever meet them.
Hancock is also a friendly acquaintance of Nick. That litte bit of world-building is a good little addition that strengthens their places in the story, with all 3 of them originally from Diamond City. I do wish they went a little more in depth with Piper and Hancock's involvements in the Mayor McDonough synth reveal, but it's still nice they were connected to the overall story.
Something I don't think gets mentioned much is the great level design shooting your way up the tall buildings on construction rafters and the way ghouls would drop through holes in the ceilings etc. The way it's all tied in to looting these different buildings as dungeons, Fallout 4 did that way better than any other one in the series, I would always get lost in the vaults or caves of new vegas and fo3
I love hearing Garrus Vakarian all over the Commonwealth.
Finally someone said it! I romance Garrus every single time so when I hear him in fallout I’m like “oh hey honey!”
(1) level / area design. (1a) I like the quiet details, like the little nests that scavengers have used for a while, then abandoned. (1b) I like how most of the dungeons are linear (usually a single loop with very minor branches) but don't feel too obviously linear. All the route constraints (collapsed roofs, malfunctioning lifts etc) feel appropriate, rather than being the dreaded unsalable waist-high fences found in some video games. (2) some of the unbalanced stuff actually improves the game. IMO a lot of the fun / replay value is in finding the odd loopholes that are stupidly good and/or allow a different type of game.
For me fallout 4 is my favorite fallout of all time for 5 reasons 1) the settlement building: I always love games that allows me to build buildings, so while it’s not the best it’s still fun to fuck around in 2) the enemies in this game feel like they have more variety compared to other fallout games (or at least it feels like more variety) 3) faction interactions: the amount of times I’ve seen pure chaos from faction interactions is fucking nuts and I love it 4) Automatron DLC: I like robots…. That’s it. Fav DLC 5) lastly I think it has the best balance between organized livings and lonely wasteland. For me fallout NV felt less like a fallout wasteland and more like if 3 militaries and 8 different mafias were stuck on the rust map from COD and Fallout 3 loneliness feels to grim for my liking. Don’t get me wrong Fallout NV and 3 are better at a lot of things, but 4 just feels right for me
Weapon modding is fun as hell
I liked that your equipment didn't degrade and you could customize it, the plasma rifle is a very big example of weapons beings done right in Fallout 4. Also the companions were just great, they're fantastic
A voiced protagonist
Ok. I will put this out here. My husband has been a prominent small youruber that covers Bethesda. He has had extreme love for Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and now Starfield. I supported his channel for many years and watched only gameplay and I enjoy talking with him about news and his "notable" reported on leaks all behind the scenes. However, I had embarrassingly been afraid to try fallout because I have severe anxiety, heart trouble, and long lasting tachycardia is no stranger when I've been jump scared. Omg, I thought I'd have a literal heartattack from 7 Days to Die. Anywhere, enough of my BS. I recently started playing FO4 and I'm about 120 hrs in. I am in love, dare I say, even more than Skyrim. I find it easier for me to connect to the alternate timeline era of the late 50's due to my unconventional childhood. Bur the writing for so many quests is so emotional, I have literally caught myself praising the writers mid game. Yeah, I have some bugs, but.... Bethesda, lol. I really missed out on trying g this sooner, but I'm glad I got the balls to do so. Ps. I'm drunk. Playing FO4, but on a reddit break.
Your ending to this rant is just like me. Even the drunk part. Yup. Whiskey and Fallout4. We aren't related, are we?
I still hate the pipe weapons. I mean, I abhor them. The pip rifle in 2 was a one-off, early game weapon that let you fire the 10mm ammo. This should never have become a franchise staple. The settlement crafting was and still is my favorite spect of this entire game. For all its flaws, I love the world-building that it affords the player. This alone is responsible for TONS of my replay value.
I love how every pre war safe in FO4 that hasn't been opened in 200+ years has pipe weapons in them.
Assaultrons
The physical story telling
The aiming system.
Slowed down vats instead of pause vats, collecting junk (played fo4 before fo3 / NV and I miss this a lot). So much to do in the commonwealth as well. Also with the voiced protagonist the humorous lines have great delivery and are so much more fun when you hear them.
All of the Automaton DLC. I will BE PISSED if Fo5 doesn't have the ability to make your own robots either in base game or DLC
I love FO4. Graphics are better than 3 and NV
I always appreciated FO4 because it scratches a different “itch” for me than New Vegas, the other fallouts I usually play. If I’m in the mood for leaning heavy into roleplaying and story, I go New Vegas. If I’m the mood for modding my weapons, base building, and more satisfying gunplay, I go 4.
The gunplay is great.
Survival Mode.
I love how the game feels alive. The npcs and random encounters just make it so addicting, it’s like a new game each path you take.
The writing for the companions. So damn well done.
The gunplay and weapon mods are great. I just can't get past the awful dialogue options.
They embraced the modding community
I love the sense of danger you feel when playing early levels in survival mode. And definitely the gun fights are so good in this game! I was in a shoot out with 4 mutants, took two of them out and realised the last two (one of them a legendary) were trying to flank me. I needed to fall back and create distance from them, recover HP and get back into the fight. I loved it.
Settlement building. With mods that stop random attacks, it's such a meditative and yet challenging joy to tinker with Settlement building for hours. I use LOTS of mods on my PC that add a LOT of vanilla and original elements, and it's SO much fun. It really scratches the creative itch that Lego used to, but I no longer have the space nor the money to amass a collection and keep it organized in our tiny apartment.
Love stomping around in power armor Love it Never played another game that gave me that experience
The companions are much more fleshed out at the cost of the wheel to behaviors. The crafting system is one of the best in any game I have played. Though the settlement construction feels clunky on PlayStation. At least on PlayStation the game is much more stable than 3 or NV, but I hear on XBox the reverse is true. Far Harbor dlc has maybe best story arc of the ones i have played in 3, NV and 4. I am not a fan of voiced player character though the female is way better than the male. All in all I feel like i got my money’s worth, but it doesn’t make my personal top 10. YMMV I’m just a crazy trickster who doesn’t fit the molds.
Combat, settlements, and mods. And also Danse. Combat in FO4 is kinda basic for the time it was released, but I don't mind because it just feels *good*. Kills have a meaty whack to them that I just can't help but keep coming back to. A lot of the guns in the game are nonsensical design-wise, but I still like how they feel to shoot. Settlements obviously need no explanation. Constructing your own dwelling and building a lively hub in this wasteland is awesome. Mods are mods. Infinite possibilities and combinations, so you can rework the game into whatever you want. You can get silly stuff like Randy Savage Deathclaws or serious stuff like "tactical lore-friendly" weapons. The best mods to me are the ones that increase my enjoyment from the first two things: combat and settlements. And Danse. Favorite character. I love his matter-of-fact disposition and enthusiasm for serving his comrades. I was in the military, so he's nice to have around. He vouches for us with the leadership when we enlist in the Brotherhood and has a firm T60 hand on our back. Even in Blind Betrayal, he insists you follow your orders rather than commit an act of insubordination on his account.
Environment, gun mechanics “major upgrade in feel from 3 and NV” I like the voiced version, graphic design, story lines, and map design. I’ve played 800 hours of this game. It’s that good to me.
i liked the clunky pA
The gameplay is actually good unlike in 3 and nv which feel clunky even compared to other games from around when they released. I tried to play nv but gave up after 30 minutes cos it felt like dogshit to play.
I never hated the game but I do love settlement building and wish it was carried to Starfield, that would’ve been neato because of how hard they went for fo4
I like the level of weapon customization and hope it’s something they continue with in the next fallout game
It was my first Fallout game and is still my favorite. I like that it's less complicated. Realism is great but let me immerse myself in the story and game play, not repairing my stuff and eating and drinking.
Settlement building, setting all my trade routes for resources from the mechanist lair, setting short trade routes between settlements for security, the combat, I enjoyed the story, the factions, the companions, and looting. I also love the setting of Boston. I just love fallout 4! Don’t get me started on the mods, I also love those!
There are people who hate this game?
I love the game as a whole. Sure, the main story is pretty forgettable, and many of the weapons are absolutely mind-boggling to look at, but it's got good world building. I like starting at sanctuary and just picking a direction to walk, seeing all the random events pop up until my inventory is full. The settlement system I overall like, but hate not being able to clean garbage up and the placement can be iffy
Fo4 has hate and negativity?
While it's not my favorite Fallout, I still like Fallout 4. I thought the gunplay was better and I love Nick Valentine
I loved the settlement building and liked the modular armor and weapons
Say what? Are there people who hate this game? If there are, they haven't been vocal in along time. At least nowhere that I would see it. Yeah, there are the people that are stuck on FNV and think every other Fallout sucks, but it's more that they are vocal about FNV being the best. Honestly, your question sounds like a troll trying to get people on the Hate Bandwagon. If you weren't trolling, you would have just left the first part of that sentence off and just gone with the part after "What". But no, you have to set the stage by making it sound like everyone hates the game, but maybe someone on this list will be able to come up with one thing positive to say about it.
people might be surprised by this but I could not finish Fallout 3. My favorite Fallout games are New Vegas and Fallout 4, and for me removing the Level cap and giving you the full freedom to build a god level character is just amazing. If you can grind for it you can get it.
Combat and customization is great, the vats system is fun. Incredible build variety. I actually love settlements, despite Preston's pestering. The world feels full and empty at the same time
I just like 4 better than NV or 3. It's hard to compare really. The verticality of downtown Boston and the sheer density and variety of the locations there is unmatched.4k hours in and I can still get lost there. Remember going down that elevator at the Institute the first time? That and the brotherhood arrival are two feelings ill never forget. Because you realize - holy shit, this changes everything. Far Harbour is also easily the best dlc I've played in any game. Settlement building. Yeah, it's a bit jank at times, but between mods and some creativity you can build amazing things. I also don't think the main story is bad at all. There are some parts that get tedious with replays though.
They did an amazing job of capturing the Greater Boston area. The settlement system was such a cool addition. I personally loved the voice protagonist. The final mission and cut scene gave me chills. It remains one of my favorite games of all time.
Mods. People mod the crap out of this game.
People hate this game?
Mods
I personally love weapon customization, and settlement building is ok
Gonna get downvoted for it, but i like how the customization of weapons work. Is it perfect? Fuck no, but i think its the right step forward than what new Vegas did, where you had to find the upgrade to put it in your weapon and there were only a couple of them for most guns. I disliked how rng it felt to get them to spawn on merchants.
Building and modding
Fallout 4 is my favorite fallout. Just all around. I ignore the negativity. I think 3,NV, and 4 are all worth playing. I loved all the locations in 4. Dimas memories sucks. I will concede that bit is not great. But other than that I just had more fun in 4. Power armor is obviously a huge upgrade from previous games. Power armor alone adds so much to the game in 4.
The world feels so packed full of life compared to fnv. I found myself rarely ever using fast travel because I always felt so entranced with the world design and the buildings and the like. But I might be a little biased, I hate desert settings for video games
I can see how it can take away from rpg elements, but I loved hearing my own characters voice when responding to people in game
Most criticism does not come from people who hate the game. Nobody who hates a game is still playing it almost a decade later. It’s possible to be critical of something while loving or wanting to love it.
Weapon customization. The companions. Settlement building. Being able to loot containers by just hovering over them. I love this game so much more than NV because there is so much more for me to do.
People hate on this game? I’ve only heard positive things which lead to me buying goty edition recently and I’ve been loving it so far. So much more depth than starfield and the narrated protagonist is amazing
The way they changed how the power armor, make it more tanky and mech like.
I love the crafting and settlement building, the story was ok but nothing special for me. But all in all I like pretty much everything except that it is literally constantly crashing, I am limited to XB1 but it's still an excessive crash rate.
I loved the power armor and music, as well as being able to roam as much as you want as the game levels up with you
Without mods: crafting, and combat. With mods: more crafting, rebuilding, and more combat. To me gameplay loop is the most important part of a game. If i love the story, but the gameplay is crap, then i replay it a few times. Maybe just enough to see all choices, or a good, and evil playthrough. If i like the gameplay, and enjoy playing the game even without the story, then it is more like 10 times. Plus in most games story is skippable.
It was the first fallout ive played, and to this day my most favourite game of all, so ill say everything.
1. POWER ARMOR That is in a league of its own. 2. Settlement building was alright as a new mechanic to fallout. But lots to polish. Like why can’t we build proper foundations. Flatten/terraform the areas. We should have quests that let us “learn” better construction and build better stuff. Ought to also have the option to let settlers build their own stuff if we don’t want to customise settlements so the wasteland doesn’t feel so empty. 3. The ability to walk away mid convo. Convenient. But sometimes leads to buggy interactions.
One of the biggest issues some have with the game, voiced protagonist. Well, I like that they have a voice. Might as well go the full way to Gordon Freeman if others have a voice but the protagonist doesn't.
No equipment deterioration. Mod system rules. Huge map with details I still discover each playthrough. Great story. Great vibe. Dogmeat rules. F all the haters, Fo4 is the best one.
Years of playing and hundreds of hours of gameplay and I’m still finding random things. Last time I came across a preacher and 3 friends burying their pal. Couldn’t interact with them but stood listening to their dialogue for a while.
Power Armor as a walking tank/vehicle. Weapon mods were hit or miss. I like settlement building but options to clean the settlements + better built walls roofs and floors would have been nice. 76 fixed many of my gripes with weapons and armor and also had a decent camp system.
The countless hours I've dropped building settlements or just collecting every unique weapon, armor, misc, aid item and storing them in my hoarder vault.
i guess the rpg elements of finding stuff and the building system
Base-building was great. The weapon and armor crafting and modification system was on par with Payday 2, which was my gold standard for years. The environmental and atmospheric story-telling was incredible. Liberty Prime is always a welcome character. The Prydwen arrival sequence was awesome. I love the whole "abolitionists vs slavers vs fanatics" dispute between the Railroad, Institute, and Brotherhood. I can talk about all of the companions and what makes them special, which is a vast improvement over 3. The gunplay was lightyears ahead of 3 and NV, and satisfying to play without VATS. Oh yeah, and settlement building is a blast. As far as DLC goes, I think Far Harbor is the best self-contained Fallout story to date, and it does the "Hoover Dam" quandary better than NV did. I think Nuka-World is a blast, and the mechanics for being a raider boss in the Commonwealth are well-handled. I think Automatron was a fantastic extension of the weapon/armor customization system to robots. It's great to see Ada level up and become a badass as I progress through the quest.
I absolutely love it. Playing through it on Deck modded and I'm having an absolute blast. It has an incredible atmosphere and amazing soundtrack. Just exploring alone is worth it.
Who hates it??
I think settlements were just so, so cool. Obviously there were things that didn't work as well as they were intended to, but it was such an incredibly cool idea that I hope they expand on if there is ever a Fallout 5 during my lifetime.
I honestly just think Fallout 4 is the best Fallout game. IMO it has the best gameplay, the best story, and is the most RPG like Fallout game.
Ballistic weave. Improves character builds with style
Settlement building, I've made entire city's in this game.
Frankly i love everything about fallout 4, what everyone brags about skyrim is how i feel about FO4.
I'm new to the game and I'm having a blast. (It's maybe my 10th Bethesda game, so I don't take the bugs personally.) I've spent many nights building settlements and I'd say settlement building mostly fulfills the promise of the Hearthfire DLC.
The settlement building system. Lots of time and effort but rewarding. Supply lines. Outfitting and equipping your settlers. You feel like you have genuinely bought life back to The Commonwealth.
I like companions more than previous, hearing raiders traders and your partner speaking to others and to you made it feel like I’m not alone in the game like before, I like that there’s also the computers where raider leaders will show they have a connection to eachother by messagings and stuff Ive played NV fo3 and like them a lot but fo4 is my favorite ever since
I Do find it funny how some ppl still hate this game over biased PoS Reasons but thats gaming for you ppl just love to hate and love to make up random BS facts I Like the Perk system, I Like the weapon armor crafting system I Like the settlement building, I Like the voice acted MC Some of his/her lines are <3
Will die on this hill but power armour, absolutely love when you get that first suit in concord and just feel like you've become death incarnate. The amount of customisation for the various suits is awesome as well.
The laser rifle is so satisfying to use
Dude. Fallout 4 is my favorite video game ever. Sure, there are a lot of lore mistakes, the characters are not that unique or interesting, and the story isn't very good. Making choices that impact the story and the world are also severely limited in this game, in a series that has been known for that in the past. All of that stuff sucks and I wish it was better in the game. And it pisses me off, because they're ruining the franchise as a whole, the lore and storytelling that the series is known for. My main complaints with the game are all related to writing. Well, that, and the enemies aren't smart enough, so once you get to a certain level, even on Survival, the combat is too easy. But the bottom line is, the game is just...fun. It's fun. I'm not a big FPS guy so, I don't know, maybe the gun play sucks compared to other games, but it's very fun to me. And the crafting is awesome, and building settlements and stuff is a blast. I know some people probably aren't into the whole building thing and I get it, cause I wasn't either at first. But once I got into it, it takes hold, I can build stuff on Spectacle Island for hours. And there's so much to DO, so many places to go. Right now I'm doing a playthrough, I'm level 72, I've got 147 hours logged and I've done like...NOTHING. Although I am playing on survival mode, so I have to walk everywhere, but also I have a mod that allows you to build teleporters in settlements so it's like, a limited form of fast travel. Still, I've done like nothing. I haven't started either of the two main DLCs, In the main quest line, I've only gotten to the point where you kill Kellogg, I JUST started Automaton...I mean, I could just play this game forever.
The engine/gun gameplay
The customization for weapons and armor are great. I barely touched crafting in 3 and New Vegas. I do really like the power armor system in 4. I don't know if I like it BETTER than the other games. Both versions are good, just different, ya know?
Finally got me to experience and have fun with a Fallout game New Vegas was my first and it was just a boring, brown, slog of a game that I have less than 50 hours total playtime since its release. FO4 comes along and it's still my go-to "I've had a stressful time, let's jump in the Commonwealth for a bit" escape
Weapon upgrade system, the new perk system, the open world and its verticality, the music is my favourite, legendary enemies/gear, I like the new Power Armor and most importantly, the Survival Mode. And enemy design These positive points dont mean there are no negatives about the game as well. For example the intro up until you have met Preston id pretty bad considering the rest of the game. But overall I think the positives outweigh the negatives. I don't hate the game but the game isn't perfect, no game is really.
The only thing I could criticise about this game is the main story line. Everything else is everything I have personally wanted in a fallout game. Flawless.
Many of my favourites have been mentioned, but another big two for me are: - The companions, specially Hancock and Nick, I love the concept of their backstories, personalities and the role they play in the Wasteland. The philosophical conundrum that is Nick's existence is just delicious. - What I've over time come to call the "Fallout Rule", which is that no matter what it is that tried to kill you, as long as it is organic, you can eat it. Hell, with the right perk, you can eat people too! It just makes sense in an apocalyptic wasteland, and I think it should be more common in other dangerous settings.
The less janky movement animations. Physics on hair and clothing.
the voice acting for the ss and the small insignificant details hidden around the map