So, Fallout 4

Off-Topic
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Anyone playing already? I bought this one for PC, wanted to play this one with mouse and keyboard. Spent 400 upgrading my rig.

For the moment, unimpressed. The game looks so 2012. Animations are horrible, character models are ugly, writing is dumb. Menus and interfaces are so console oriented (yet the consoles report heavy frame drops) It’s like playing F3 but worse. I play on ultra and for the moment it’s a big meh. Only the classic fallout retro style stands out from a generic sandbox look.

I don’t know, I guess I’ll have to immerse myself more. Only played 3 hours. Got my T45 power armor and got killed by the deathclaw, so gave it a rest. Tomorrow more.

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I’ll be running off to get it in a few hours once the shop opens back up.
So far the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but I’ll deserve hype as best I can.
Made the mistake of browsing social media before bed and finally had the game’s ending spoiled for me (some clever asshat decided to disguise it as a news headline about some political debate or some such nonsense) which is a bummer. :confused:
Will update when I get my hands on it. Got the Xbone version since my PC isn’t exactly up to snuff and I’m a bit low on cash. Plus, will be interesting to test out using mods on console.

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It’s a friggen Bethesda game, what did you expect?

Sometimes I get the impression that people think Skyrim levels of content quantity in a game that isn’t busted is actually possible. Gamers are impossible these days.

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I’m enjoying it so far… just got to L4. I don’t mind the graphics, because it’s Fallout / Bethesda, and they never really push on that front. It’s Fallout + Skyrim’s upgrades. Can’t hate on that.

Certainly there’s minor annoyances, but nothing stopping me up to now.

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I haven’t played Fallout, but I have brushed up on the lore behind it. In your Opinion, do you feel Fallout 4 is a good jumping point for a new player to pickup and understand right away? Or will they be at a loss due to not understanding key points and plots from the other games? Like an example would be jumping straight into a game like Mass Effect 2 (which I did, caught up later), and being lost for not understanding certain points in the story and the reason why?

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Skyrim was beautiful when it first came out. Is it bad to expect it here?

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Yes and no.

Yes, because it’s a game you can understand right off the bat. You are selected to populate the vault, when the nuclear bombs drop, you hide inside, get into cryostasis for 200 years and when you wake up, ■■■■ happens. You have to leave the vault because reasons. Don’t need to know anything about fallout to understand that.

And no, because the game heavily abuses player knowledge. They know we know our stuff. They know we want to use power armor, we want to explore the wasteland and we want to join the brotherhood / enclave / ncr / caesars / whatevs. So they waste no time explaining who the factions are or why you would want to join them. They know you want it and they get to the point.

Somebody who knows nothing about Fallout will play this game and roll his eyes and say “okay quest giver, I’ll pretend I reaaaally like you, so I’ll do this quest for you risking my life, I have wanted to join the brotherhood of…aluminium? all my life. Yep, indeed.”.

I mean, it feels like we are playing the reincarnations of the courier, the chosen one, and the lost wanderer all in one. You leave the vault after 200 years in cryostasis and in less 20 minutes you are modding laser muskets and punching deathclaws to uh, death.

Yet still, it’s Fallout. I played 4 hours yesterday, 5 today. I wasted a KI xp booster for nothing lol.

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Was it? (Not entirely a rhetorical question.)

I mean, my first console was an Atari 2600, and some part of my heart is still locked away inside the Nintendo 64 that dominated my formative gaming years, so I don’t think I will ever sympathize with someone who thinks Fallout 4 doesn’t look good.

But even if Skyrim was a visual spectacle at launch, you have to realize that the stupidly huge scope of a Bethesda game, combined with the realities of game production, means you can’t reasonably expect the sort of polish that other AAA products get these days. And despite my lamentations about entitled gamers these days, I think you’ll also find that a lot of people are going to be okay with that, and so Fallout 4 is going to sell extremely well regardless. So if the graphics are a dealbreaker, then there’s not a lot that can (or will) be done about it.

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I finally got to play today. Picked up my copy at Gamestop, went to class and did a presentation, came home at about 4:30. It finished installing around 5, and I got up off the couch at about 1 am.
Needless to say, I’m having a ball with it. Even having the story spoiled for me so early on thanks to the internet, I’ve come to the realization that I’ve done about 2 story quests in my entire time playing and have been dicking around with side missions and crafting for the rest of it.
Then it hit me; I remembered why I loved Fallout. It wasn’t about the story the developers wrote up, its about the stories I make for myself. It’s odd, this is the first game I’ve ever made my character a caricature of myself (having Codsworth actually say my name helped fuel that decision), and it’s great being able to do things that I think are awesome. “My minigun is also a chainsaw” or “I can make an automatic radioactive laser shotgun that sets people on fire” spring to mind.
Also for the record, I think the game looks freakin great. It’s probably the best looking game I own. Maybe that’s because I haven’t had the most experience with ultra high tier gwaphics, and I think the original Doom still holds up, but damn this game is pretty.
I will say that for all the bells and whistles though, the game seems… Harder than Fallout 3 or New Vegas. I mean, you start out with fewer SPECIAL points (though the lack of level cap and the fact that you can upgrade SPECIAL’s alleviate this later I think), enemies hit harder and move faster, your health pool seems relatively tiny…
But at the same time, weapons feel much better and kill much faster, and there’s a wealth of customization options. Granted, all the ideas for customization often leave me over encumbered…

Man, I’m getting pretty talkative tonight/ this morning…

TL;DR- I’m having fun with it. Lots of features I like, gameplay is an improvement. Very pretty. Having trouble getting used to the system, but having fun learning.

Also, @TheNinjaOstrich
I agree with @Filemoncio that it could go either way. I say get it because I think its a fun game, but it wouldn’t hurt to browse around the series if you’re unsure.

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Bethesda has and will always focus on the vast world, player choices, and of course the story. The animations are fine, a bit clunky at times but that’s to be expected until we receive the patch. A lot of your complaints stem from pre-patch, as any returning Fallout player should have come to terms with by now is that the patches are NECESSARY and for the most part fix what issues surround the game, this includes interface and frame rate - etc. etc. Also, the writing is absolutely fine, the story is deep and the dialogue is great - it can be corny but that is the point of Fallout! I think perhaps you invested too much time wanting more than can be offered from a game, in retrospect these guys aren’t the size of Rockstar but do a great job of delivering the goods. Perhaps you rushed it your experience or just went into it being a critic and not a gamer.

I’ll tell you this much, this game is MUCH harder than any Fallout experience, this includes Hardcode Mode on hard difficulty in Fallout NV. I mean, the feral ghouls… anyway, conserve your greater supplies.

Point is, this game is phenomenal and is well deserving of the praise it gets. Yes, there are some bugs and issues surrounding the game. I am anxious to find the gamebreaker since I am accustomed to exploring and trying out all there is to the game. Still, we are in Day 2, Bethesda will get the feedback and they will fix it as they always do. Regarding story… I’m not sure what your gripe may be but I have enjoyed it albeit can be corny at times but that is a norm in the Fallout franchise. There is suppose to be irony, sarcasm, and corny occurrences and dialogue. To say it’s “dumb” without supporting the claim just seems overly-critical.

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I’m ~L12 now after two very late nights playing.

They don’t do a good job walking you through building your town (protip: you can destroy ruined buildings, trees, and junk for resource), but after some adventuring and questing, I’m back and starting to tinker with wiring and control systems for defenses, lights, alarms…

…oh and on gun building, since they don’t tell you this either - if there’s a component of a gun you really like, swap it for a cheap one before you dismantle the weapon, or you won’t get it.

So for example, if you found a night vision scope, but the gun it’s attached to is crap, put a new scope on the gun before you scrap it, so you keep the NV scope intact, then put the scope on one of your good weapons.

/very happy they got rid of repair from FE3/NV, although I liked scrapping things in the field to save weight.

/don’t know how to feel about needing energy for power armor now, although sniping out the power core immediately shuts down the armor - VERY USEFUL

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Okay… so. (Spoiler-free)

I will say it because this needs to be said, Fallout 4 is harder than any Fallout experience I have ever had and I have played them almost-all with the exception of Tactics. Fallout New Vegas had a Hardcore Mode that made your character thirsty, hungry, sleepy etc. Which meant you had to tend to those needs on top of surviving. I completed it on hard difficulty to get the most of harshness of the scorched world.

In Fallout 4, I was slightly disappointed that the Hardcore feature was not included… but, five hours into it and I can see why it is not (mods will surely add it). The enemies hit harder and are faster, they also come in numbers so you have to deal with a group making it necessary to find cover and pick them off. This is not a run and gun, well at least not at first. I personally LOVE IT! For once in a great while I have felt like I was truly surviving in my endeavors and was desperately scavenging for ammunition and stimpacs.

Story wise, you really aren’t missing anything. Most Fallout’s don’t carry from the last. I will note that there are several references behind it that a long-time player will catch note of. Personally, it makes the experience even greater but I wouldn’t say you are missing out. You said you brushed up on the lore, which is a good start. Also, during loading screens there are details of the world of Fallout so you learn more about certain creatures, factions, or even locations that you wouldn’t otherwise know unless you played the original Fallout’s developed by Interplay.

Gameplay, it didn’t take me much to figure out what buttons did what with a quick button check. There isn’t a secret button configuration that props a unique action. The only gimmicks I will note are your third/first person which is the Snap button and your V.A.T.S which is your LB button and your sprint which is LS - click it, that is. I do have an important word of warning, there really isn’t a tutorial. I mean it’s the fourth so I assume they are expecting you to know the fundamentals by now but still that can’t be said about crafting and building which is confusing. I decided to skip it for now and just focus on the quests and adventures. I will try to hunker down on crafting and building later tonight. I will save before hand because I know I will likely ■■■■■ up, but that’s part of the experience though. I do wish they walked you through though.

In conclusion to my long rant of trying to “sell” you the game, I love it. Fallout 3 is my favorite game of all-time and I do not doubt that Fallout 4 will take its place after 50 hours. There is a good reason for that, I love the story - the lore is fantastic and as @Fwufikins said…

He is totally right! You become the lone wander, you immerse yourself in the story and world left in decay. There are so many crazy experiences that you will come across and characters you will deeply feel for. 5 hours in and I have already become attached to my first companion not because the game gave me the story/tools too but because of my personal attachment to k-9s and such. So, for $60, I think this game is well worth the experience and investment. Not to mention it will give you something to do on top of the numerous assignments due (college :unamused: ) until the release of Shago or better yet, Season 3!

Side Note: To be quite honest, I have been very disappointed with this generations line of games. Perhaps I am being very picky or just expect more in comparison to last generation’s games. Few games did it for me: The Witcher 3 (not really my type of game, but good), GTA V (which I already played enough of on last gen), and of course KI (the first fighting game I truly invested my time and effort in). Really, only KI has made me so eager for what was in store and impatient to get back to. All I can say is, it’s good to be back to the wasteland.

Edit: Just saw the length… I do apologize for this extremely long response that could’ve been answered in no less than a few words. I get caught up sometimes.

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I like challenges!

Ok. Well then, I guess reading on the lore did and will help me in a way to understand those secret things.

As long as I can push tons of buttons and have fun.

So you create your own story? :heart_eyes:

LOL

No, I appreciate it. It lets me know why the game is amazing. and trust me, that’s not a long post. I’ve seen longer. lol

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Pro-Tip, guys: Weapon mods are absolutely positively bae. Different receivers can give you more damage (substantially so in the case of receivers that change ammo type, i.e .50 BMG receiver for the hunting/sniper rifle) higher fire rate, or even extra critical bonus and -in the case of energy weapons- burning DoT. Barrels can change range or hip fire accuracy. Different muzzle attachments can reduce recoil or make you a more effective CQC monster. Different magazines can improve clip size or reload speed (sometimes both). Various stocks and grips can effect recoil control, movement speed, and even the behavior of certain scopes. And then of course there’s all the different options for optics, from iron sights to red dots and scopes to night vision and tracker sights…
It’s been my experience that the right set of mods can turn a junk weapon into viable head splitter, and a good weapon into an absolute beast. As such, perks that allow you access to higher tier mods seem quite powerful, and also quite cost efficient. Example: I found a decent looking sniper rifle in a shop for about 275 caps. I took a basic sawn-off/short hunting rifle and a pile of scrap I had back home and made a weapon with better stats in every category as well as bonuses to criticals for less than half the price.

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I think I’m gonna pick up Fallout 4. Sorry if your Activity Feed blows up of how many videos i will post. LOL

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The doubled barreled shotgun is just heavenly :heart_eyes:

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Both the DB and combat shotguns are really good. Combat Shotty is probably better in the long run though simply because of magazine size and rate of fire. I set up mine with Power Receiver, Drum Mag, and Long Barrel and holy cow does it do work!
On a slightly different note, I highly recommend picking up a hunting/sniper rifle. The base .308 model is exceptional, but if you so desire you can re-chamber it for the more common .38 Special and mighty .50 BMG for a variety of ammo types depending in your situation. Slap on long barrel and a sight and fight outside of 30-40 yards just becomes easy mode.

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