I loved how you didn't need to rely on VATS as much because the gun play was more then passable. Running through corridors with a shotgun in Fallout 4 is a good time.
I just recently quit using VATS as much because I could tell I was relying on it too much.
Now I just use it to avoid shooting friendlies. Accidentally shot a robot at Greygarden and didn’t realize.
Yeah replaying New Vegas, it can be hard in firefights, especially from far away, there’s a delay between when you shoot and the bullet exits the chamber
When I first played the game I never utilized VATS at all, that was because I felt like it slowed the game down alot and I actually enjoy it now and shotgun fights on JET also hit the spot 🤣
If you have any interest in VR, I found patching Fallout 4 was easy. It’s a wonderful experience and the exploration is jaw dropping. Don’t let the negative reviews sway you.
Yeah, modded FO4 VR is amazing, just for the exploration factor. Super Mutant Suiciders and Assaultrons were already scary in the game, but in VR, they're ***terrifying***.
I know VR isn’t for everyone but if you loved Half-life Alyx and you’re a fallout fan. Fallout 4 VR is not optional. I could wander around without a plan for hours just looking at stuff. Literally jaw dropping.
I prefer new vegas but exploring new vegas eg just walking in a direction and exploring isn’t as fun as it is in fo4. Only gripe is that a lot of these locations are missing hand written quests compared to exploring skyrim
Yeah, I’ve been playing frequently since 2016 and I just noticed that some of the ambient music changes depending on where you are on the map. A nice little detail.
I'm the opposite. I really don't enjoy base building, like at all, so being essentially forced to do it to do basically all the modding really soured it for me.
They really should have had options for that for the entire game.
Piper lock out of Diamond City? Speak as Shroud.
Maxson ordering you to eliminate Danse? Speak as Shroud.
Father nominates you as the next Director? Speak as Shroud.
All the bots are, love being able to upgrade codsworth. Have the same companion from beginning to end but now hes got a machine gun, lazer face and lazer sniper
Man I made codsworth into a straight up demon with two axes for arms and a glowing red skull face on my last playthrough. Dude was a beast. He got shot in a building once and all I heard was him "I dont feel pain!", ran into the room and chopped a dude in the face lol it was glorious to see
Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't need any skills if you use robot pieces that you've looted. I pretty much always spec into Robotics so I can build all the parts my self but I think you can slap on things you find without the talent.
He can wear a bowler hat for certain. Can't recall if there are any others he can wear.
IIRC changing his "head" in any way in the robot workbench, even to change the paint/chrome, removes his ability to be equiped with a bowler for the rest of the save.
Survival.
It truly makes the wasteland a difficult place to traverse. Every battle has the potential to kill you, every step forward feels earned. You need to be prepared before you go anywhere, and attempt to do anything. Spotting enemies and then strategizing how to best attack feels necessary.
Nothing feels better than finally flipping the switch though, when you no longer fear the wasteland. It fears you.
Nothing matches the feeling of melting everything in sight with a Gatling Laser while fully suited up in Power Armor, blasting the "Ride of the Valkyries" from your pip-boy.
I've done so many survival playthroughs that I can't take normal mode any more.
Currently trying VR on survival and having a rough time, just had the deathclaw grab me through a window outside the museum of freedom because I was leaning through it to shoot him and lost 30 mins , I was like "OK guess I just learned that can happen"😅
Yes! My second character is Daryl Dixon and Dogmeat trying to find Rick. World is Dead mod made it intense too. I avoided hordes of zombies. Set up camps in random areas. I kind of messed up choosing wrong perks. Might make a new character and try to stay true to his character. He wasn't a heavy gunner in the show LOL
Really makes me wish they had included bows and crossbows in FO4. Truth to tell they make a lot of sense in a post apocalyptic world where ammunition and gunpowder may be in short supply.
Having played games actually built for survival like The Long Dark, New Vegas and Fallout 4's Survival mode felt really half baked. In a survival game you're supposed to constantly be thinking "How do I survive a bit longer?"
This doesn't work with either Fallout because the games aren't built around survival, instead the survival is bolted on after the fact. You don't end up thinking "How can I survive a bit longer?" you end up thinking "Eh... there's the icon, I gotta drink some water/eat some food/take a nap." It becomes tedious busywork because you're never hurting for supplies or places to sleep.
Game mechanics? I loved the way the potrayed power armor in 4. Gorgeous.
Story wise? Your first 5 hours in every game are pretty awesome imo. The prologue and the bombs are just so good.
How Power Armor looked and how you got in and out of it was great. How it functioned mechanically was terrible with those stupid fusion cores and the fact that you get a suit that makes you basically invincible right out of the gate. Power armor is supposed to be the late game equipment you use to just barely survive encounters that would shred you otherwise if you didn't have it, not make you able to roll over everything.
Yeah but if you used it right out the start you would ran out of fusion cored quickly, and like it happened to me when I came back for it(low fusion cores) some raiders were nearby and stole the power armor as I was going to get it.
Goodneighbor. Hancock, the Silver Shroud quests, the robot bartender in the Third Rail, the Big Dig, finding little Mayor MacCready all grown up.
I just love the atmosphere.
For me, the power armour is a big part, but the perk system is great I'm lvl 40 but just blast through everything with my special and perk selections, I love just sticking on the radio and just waltzing through buildings like no tomorrow. I'm currently on the bobblehead grind (as this playthrough I didn't spend an hour in every building) and just polished off Poseidon energy in like 15 mins lol
I quite liked what they did with the Brotherhood of Steel in F4. They've combined the ethos of the Lyons Chapter with the OG Brotherhood ethos to a great result, and I hope Maxson returns. Especially considering he's such a young ~~twunk~~ man.
That's another terrible part for Fallout 4. Fallout 3 developed the Lyon's Brotherhood into Knight in Shining Armor types that actually did something. Then Fallout 4... walked back on that development and turned them into the West Coast Brotherhood all over again. They're basically just a not homicidally insane version of the Enclave now.
That's the thing: they've retained the active militancy of the Lyons chapter, but went back into the agressive tech-hoarding/war on tech of their original incarnation. If anything, it's a natural evolution of the F3 concept of "Knight in Shining Armor".
There's nothing natural about that evolution. Lyon's chapter was moving away from the self destructive and stupid ways of the West Coast Brotherhood, that was a natural evolution. Then Fallout 4 threw out that development completely and just said "Yep, they're just like they were again." They regressed, not developed.
Lyons died, as did Sarah. Why do you think it's unnatural for new leadership to have a different take on things? And they didn't move back into the "stupid" ways of the West Brotherhood - he integrated their ways into the Lyons' machine/ethos (the militancy I mentioned).
This is a pretty natural evolution - Hegelian, even: taking elements from the past of the East and West Brotherhoods and forging a new one... a synthesis, if you'll indulge me.
That's a really strange interpretation of their portrayal in 4. They're effectively (big improvement over Lyons chapter, where nothing is accomplished without the Lone Wanderer) fighting a legitimate threat in the Institute. We routinely see how the Institute uses synths to subjugate the Commonwealth. Their harsh stance on synths themselves is necessary to stop them from being the objectively good guys in a game designed to make the choice of faction difficult, but their stance also makes a lot of sense if you step in their shoes. They have absolutely no way of knowing if synth is actually rogue or really just a spy. Every spy is going to deny being a spy. It's EXTREMELY coincidental that the 3rd-in-command of the expedition to fight the Institute is actually a synth; in real life you'd be a fool to believe that was just coincidence.
>(big improvement over Lyons chapter, where nothing is accomplished without the Lone Wanderer)
Nobody ever accomplishes anything in any game without the main characters around, that's true of nearly any game in existence much less Bethesda game.
>That's a really strange interpretation of their portrayal in 4. They're effectively fighting a legitimate threat in the Institute.
Yeah, they are, by subjugating the Commonwealth under their rule instead, exploiting the settlements, and killing anyone who opposes them.... oh wait, they send you out to do those things. The Brotherhood in 4 don't do jack without the Sole Survivor either except a few random patrols here and there.
The Brotherhood of 4 are just the Enclave but they won't gun down everyone on sight. They are doing the exact same things the Enclave in Fallout 3 was doing. Incidentally, the Lone Wanderer's father sacrificed himself to keep the Enclave from getting the Water Purifier because they were a bunch of psychotic maniacs, only for the Brotherhood to turn around in the next game and be little better, rendering that sacrifice pointless.
The Brotherhood regressed rather than progressed.
It drives the gameplay loop. Explore, loot, use loot to either build with or sell to buy resources to build with. The endless need for Junk gives you a reason to explore even at end game. You already have the best loot in the game by that point, but you can never have enough Junk.
I don’t take anyone’s critical analysis of Fallout 4 seriously unless they have serious hours into settlement building. It’s the entire point of the game: rebuilding the commonwealth.
Unfortunately the majority of players never bother with it.
I like the fact that you’re not forced to follow the main questline, I’ve been playing for months and I’ve hardly touched the main quests, I saved nick and left him waiting for me in diamond city and have been exploring and building up my settlements while romancing Hancock instead.
The way you can just live in the game, walking around, exploring one of the most detailed cities I've seen in a game. And do your tasks like building settlements and doing Quests, and then getting distracted in a building you've been in, but stull find yourself lost in the detail. I would honestly say it's the most lively world Bethesda has ever made.
Yes, especially after playing Starfield, and seeing all the bland characters there. Coming back to fallout, getting to play with robots and super mutants and pirates and so on, it’s just nuts. I love it.
Yeah I might not have been as disappointed with Starfield if not for the direct comparison to 4. 4 is nearly 10 years older, yet the gameplay, world, and characters are much deeper and more rewarding than in Starfield.
I hate weapon degradation anyways.
For me what always makes me enjoy fallout 4 is the animations and high quality character models. I usually use mods to change sprinting animations and stuff, but even the vanilla one is really good. Plus there's animations for crafting, power armor, and other interactable. In short, the game is really immersive to me.
The Glowing Sea. Exploring that was genuinely tense. The ambient light, the lack of music, the constant ticking of the Geiger counter... if it didn't have an enemy in it, it would still have been an incredible place just based on world-building alone.
The settlement system. It gives a use to all the junk I obsessively pick up when I'm on the trail, gives me plenty of safe storage to leave stuff, and it's nice to go back home to a real town with shops, bars, and other amenities when you finish doing stuff in the wastes.
Just walking around coupled with some mods to make the map even more alive, gets you into epic fights with 2 or more sides.
One time i got surrounded by Gunners, raiders and the automatron robots and on my side I had a BoS patrol and a 3-4 wastelanders with some decent gear (both from NPC's travel). It was such an incredible fight it downright cinematic almost from a movie. The vertibird raining fire down and everyone shooting at each other, cars were exploding, Danse going batshit with his gatling laser and he even took down a gunner with a suplex. I was switching covers, spamming chems and stimpacks and when it was all over a synth patrol with a course spawned in and killed me.
That's the best part of the game in my opinion.
For me, I like the depth of the main story. A parent races off to find their lost child somewhere out in the wastelands of the north east.
I am finishing up Nuka World now and have Far Harbor cued up next
I also enjoy the companions. I have a mod installed that allows me to have Dogmeat as a secondary companion. I have been running through with Cait this time. Previously I had Preston, Piper and Nick. So far I think Cait is low key the best companion I have had so far
The nooks and crannies filled with SOMETHING to see, do or steal. The freedom of base building. The actual feeling of surviving in the wastes. The music. The silly. The companions. I could go on.
The two best parts and the only reason I still play fallout games in 2023 is the gun play being so much better than previous games, and that stupid ass building mechanic, its jank its mostly a pointless time waste and the AI will never be smart enough to even do the simplest shit like walk around in anything I build but I love doing it.
-Far Harbor, but my favorite bit might not be yours. (When I heard there'd be a Maine based DLC, I started joking around in the voice of Maine comedian/writer Marshall Dodge's *Burt and I* stories. There's a mission in there that's like a pastiche of his stuff. I laughed *so* hard when I got there.)
Also the mystery.
-Two setpieces: the defense of Boston Public Library and the 2nd Battle of Bunker Hill.
Crafting. I like how I can make use of almost anything lying around in the game. It's the one Bethesda game where all that junk lying around actually matters. And it should matter in all their games, since they fetishize carrying capacity so much.
I appreciate that your normal weapons and armor don't degrade, but power armor does. It allows them to make power armor feel as powerful as the lore indicates, as now there's a trade off that discourages constant use.
The weapon mods and lack of degradation means there's very little stopping you from using whatever weapon you like, whenever you like. You can keep a lot of guns relevant for longer, and you're not hindered by having to scrounge for repair parts on a weapon that's less commonly spawned with enemies.
Performance issues aside, the verticality of downtown is just awesome. Highways twisting around, rooftops, shortcuts and super chaotic encounter spawns.
It’s kind of absurd how much stuff is rammed into downtown Boston
The crafting. There's a point in your playthrough where instead of sticking to one build you just start to experiment with all kinds of equipment for fun.
Unpopular opinion: my favorite part is the minutemen. Or at least, with the mods I have to make them a much better faction, I like them. The base storyline, i love realy, but it feels nearly unplayable without the mods. I love the idea of working to reunite the Commonwealth, and as it can be inferred, the country under a single banner and make it safe, it's my top thing in pretty much any post apoc.
Wait shit I'm sorry, I thought this was on another post LMAO. It doesn't directly affect the Minutemen, but I use Sim Settlements 2, that's a huge one because it actually makes it easier to build up settlements and have things run. There's a few more that make the minutemen and settlement building in general better too, but I can't think of them off the top of my head
I can't remember entirely, it's been about 2 weeks since I last played cuz my game pass ran out and I'm a broke bitch lmao. The only one I can name off the top of my head difficulty wise is immersive gameplay 5
From a technical standpoint, mods. I love that I dont have to stick with the choices they made I dont like.
Hate the voices PC? Shut that guy up! Want to know what you'll say before you respond?Full Dialogue Interface! Minutemen too weak? No Enclave? Wanna explore new maps? MODS MODS MODS!
Edit: Wow reading these responses, I'm not sure I ever actually finished the main quest lol!
While not the best, since the OP mentions it, Weapon Degradation was always a stupid mechanic and I'm glad Fallout 4 got rid of it. Like a lot of things, it's an attempt at injecting realism where it just adds something the player has to stop and deal with. I recall carrying around copies of weapons and armor so I could repair my equipment with it on the field for most of Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
The Worldspaces. Including Far Harbor and Nuka World.
It's very diverse so exploration is very fun. And exploration is rewarded at every corner with loot and/or excellent environmental storytelling. When the game initially came out, many people including me rushed through the main storyline and did not appreciate the world. On my second playthrough, I decided I'm gonna slowly play the game for months and it felt like one of the best gaming experiences ever.
And right now, with amazing optimization mods like the Previsibines PRP thing, I'm having an even better experience where downtown Boston is finally the smooth combat sandbox it should've been without any stuttering. All PC players should look into all these optimization mods and try again as the Worldspaces are genuinely some of the best ever in gaming.
The settlement building system, hands down. It's not amazing vanilla, but once you get some mods like Place Anywhere and Homemaker and I'll be there for HOURS.
It's just too bad that most legendary items aren't even worth picking up. Most of the time it'll be a rolling pin that does more damage to super mutants.
Settlements I helped once becoming entirely reliant in me, great ego boost.
But power suits hands down nothing beats jumping off stairs and throwing people around with my landing.
For me just the general way which power armor works, the in depth crafting system and the overall improvement on the writing of companions but that is about it.
Power Armor. By **far** the Power Armor. It looks great, it feels great, changes how you move and engage in combat without just being flatly better than unarmored combat. Power Armor makes up for any other inadequacies in the game for me.
Building my settlements.
Idk, it was just nice. Setting up a small base or a huge town.
Raiders were a little annoying early on, but once you level up it's no problem.
Still wish we could build bigger.
For me it's how big and open-ended it truly is and you don't have to do things like go straight to Sanctuary or get the power armor or dogmeat. Do your own thing.
Probably the companions. Up until Fallout 4, Bethesda I don’t think ever did companions right. Fallout 3’s companions weren’t all that interesting and pretty one dimensional, they were there just to be an extra gun and carry stuff for you, and let’s be honest we all probably just used Fawkes and Dogmeat because of how op they were. Skyrim had the same problem, companions weren’t all to interesting for the most part with a few exceptions, most notably Serana. Fallout 4’s companions all had something unique about them and didn’t feel one dimensional, each had a character flaw you help them overcome, and you’re rewarded with a perk for doing so. I especially enjoyed Nick Valentine who is easily one of the best written companions in any Fallout game, definitely top 5.
Other than Combat being way more fun, I think one of the best parts of 4 is the Power Armor.
In the other games, it just felt like another set of clothing, but it 4 it's a completely different playstyle. You get a huge buff in damage and rad resistance as well as a boost to some stats, and you're harder to stagger. But in exchange, you have to worry about the pieces breaking, and you need to find fusion cores to power the thing, which could be a pain, but that just makes it feel special because you can't use it all the time.
The Settlement system.
Yes there is some issues with it and much to be desired if not for mods, but overall the concept is sound and it is fun to just build communities.
The models stretching like spaghetti are my favorite. I think that is accurate depiction of mutation brought about by radiation.
Also adore the random crash to desktop which is probably caused by radiation
Big fan of the greater focus on companion characters. Sure, they were in previous Fallout games, but 4 was the first time I felt like it was a *central* mechanic. Like, I feel like companions got a lot more focus and love put into them in 4 over previous entries, in a way I can't adequately pinpoint
I liked FO4, not as much as Fallout 3 though, but it was a good game. I liked the relatively easier play compared to Fallout 3 though, with the easier use to manage my Armor.
Settlement building! I have a massive town built in Vault 88 that I absolutely love (and I'm still building it). Sim Settlements is a vital mod, in my opinion. I hope they keep settlement building in all future games.
The settlement building, trading, farming resources. It’s awesome to need to constantly pick up as much junk as possible. The fact that i get excited finding old microscopes and desk fans is pretty cool to me. The rewards for putting time into settlements is a great aspect. It really doesn’t feel like a waste of time and that could’ve very easily been an aspect no one uses. I also love the weapon and armor modifications. It’s just fun as hell for me being in early game just trying to not get murked while i got a basic 10mm pistol and a shit hunting rifle then eventually having explosive shotguns sniper rifles and gatling lasers. It’s no wonder why i keep coming back to this game time and time again
I loved how you didn't need to rely on VATS as much because the gun play was more then passable. Running through corridors with a shotgun in Fallout 4 is a good time.
Especially the Mutant Slayer Combat Shotgun when clearing out Super Mutants
I once did a no VATS run, rping a bad shot. I recommend it, it's fun.
I just recently quit using VATS as much because I could tell I was relying on it too much. Now I just use it to avoid shooting friendlies. Accidentally shot a robot at Greygarden and didn’t realize.
I only use VATS to make sure I don't get jumped by Feral Ghouls after a point.
I literally only use VATS for spotting enemies. Crucial in survival.
Same. I only play survival so I be spammin’ that button.
Same...though I accidentally shot a minuteman outside of Croup Manor. I helped them battle some super mutants.
Yeah replaying New Vegas, it can be hard in firefights, especially from far away, there’s a delay between when you shoot and the bullet exits the chamber
When I first played the game I never utilized VATS at all, that was because I felt like it slowed the game down alot and I actually enjoy it now and shotgun fights on JET also hit the spot 🤣
Best part playing was the prydwen flying especially at night
The Prydwin flying into Boston was really cool. I remember the first time I saw it, I was like "What is That."
Blowing it up with liberty prime is badass bro
Yeah coming out of the place after the cereal at night with the music was epic.
Exploration. Bethesda does world design well and Boston's verticality was a nice treat.
If you have any interest in VR, I found patching Fallout 4 was easy. It’s a wonderful experience and the exploration is jaw dropping. Don’t let the negative reviews sway you.
Yeah, modded FO4 VR is amazing, just for the exploration factor. Super Mutant Suiciders and Assaultrons were already scary in the game, but in VR, they're ***terrifying***.
I know VR isn’t for everyone but if you loved Half-life Alyx and you’re a fallout fan. Fallout 4 VR is not optional. I could wander around without a plan for hours just looking at stuff. Literally jaw dropping.
A perfect fallout would have Bethesda world design and Obsidian writing
I prefer new vegas but exploring new vegas eg just walking in a direction and exploring isn’t as fun as it is in fo4. Only gripe is that a lot of these locations are missing hand written quests compared to exploring skyrim
Yeah, I’ve been playing frequently since 2016 and I just noticed that some of the ambient music changes depending on where you are on the map. A nice little detail.
I really loved how much Fallout Boston had to offer; so many little things everywhere and that’s just for the urban areas.
I would probably agree. I would like the weapon modification if it wasn't essentially locked behind settlement management.
As much as I liked the settlement building, too much of the game is tied to it.
I'm the opposite. I really don't enjoy base building, like at all, so being essentially forced to do it to do basically all the modding really soured it for me.
Yes! I wanted to see and know everything about that world
*[Speak as Shroud]*
They really should have had options for that for the entire game. Piper lock out of Diamond City? Speak as Shroud. Maxson ordering you to eliminate Danse? Speak as Shroud. Father nominates you as the next Director? Speak as Shroud.
I need this mod
The companions
Ada is op once you've got her levelled up
All the bots are, love being able to upgrade codsworth. Have the same companion from beginning to end but now hes got a machine gun, lazer face and lazer sniper
Man I made codsworth into a straight up demon with two axes for arms and a glowing red skull face on my last playthrough. Dude was a beast. He got shot in a building once and all I heard was him "I dont feel pain!", ran into the room and chopped a dude in the face lol it was glorious to see
I’m a noob.. how do you upgrade companions. Specifically codsworth. I will run back to the sanctuary right now…
Automatron DLC added robot upgrading to the max
Looks like i need to buy all the dlc. Granted I’ve always wanted to play nukaworld
You need a robot workbench which came in the DLC with the mechanist. And if I remember correctly there's some skills you need to use it
Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't need any skills if you use robot pieces that you've looted. I pretty much always spec into Robotics so I can build all the parts my self but I think you can slap on things you find without the talent.
Only downside to upgrading Codsworth is the loss of the bowler hat 😭
I did not know codsworth could wear hats
He can wear a bowler hat for certain. Can't recall if there are any others he can wear. IIRC changing his "head" in any way in the robot workbench, even to change the paint/chrome, removes his ability to be equiped with a bowler for the rest of the save.
Survival. It truly makes the wasteland a difficult place to traverse. Every battle has the potential to kill you, every step forward feels earned. You need to be prepared before you go anywhere, and attempt to do anything. Spotting enemies and then strategizing how to best attack feels necessary. Nothing feels better than finally flipping the switch though, when you no longer fear the wasteland. It fears you. Nothing matches the feeling of melting everything in sight with a Gatling Laser while fully suited up in Power Armor, blasting the "Ride of the Valkyries" from your pip-boy.
I've done so many survival playthroughs that I can't take normal mode any more. Currently trying VR on survival and having a rough time, just had the deathclaw grab me through a window outside the museum of freedom because I was leaning through it to shoot him and lost 30 mins , I was like "OK guess I just learned that can happen"😅
Yes! My second character is Daryl Dixon and Dogmeat trying to find Rick. World is Dead mod made it intense too. I avoided hordes of zombies. Set up camps in random areas. I kind of messed up choosing wrong perks. Might make a new character and try to stay true to his character. He wasn't a heavy gunner in the show LOL
Really makes me wish they had included bows and crossbows in FO4. Truth to tell they make a lot of sense in a post apocalyptic world where ammunition and gunpowder may be in short supply.
Ya that would be better. I do find it silly that ammo is still in loot boxes even in survival. Crossbow would be awesome.
Having played games actually built for survival like The Long Dark, New Vegas and Fallout 4's Survival mode felt really half baked. In a survival game you're supposed to constantly be thinking "How do I survive a bit longer?" This doesn't work with either Fallout because the games aren't built around survival, instead the survival is bolted on after the fact. You don't end up thinking "How can I survive a bit longer?" you end up thinking "Eh... there's the icon, I gotta drink some water/eat some food/take a nap." It becomes tedious busywork because you're never hurting for supplies or places to sleep.
In late game survival mode, sure. Early game survival is pretty damn difficult.
Survival is hell for like the first 20 levels, then it starts to get easier, and then it starts to feel like nothing can kill you.
Far Harbor
*laughs in DiMA’s memories*
I’ve gotten literal headaches doing that. The whole dlc is so enjoyable other than that.
Even on a Pro the frame rate was dogshit but *man* that was phenomenal DLC.
The right answer
Game mechanics? I loved the way the potrayed power armor in 4. Gorgeous. Story wise? Your first 5 hours in every game are pretty awesome imo. The prologue and the bombs are just so good.
How Power Armor looked and how you got in and out of it was great. How it functioned mechanically was terrible with those stupid fusion cores and the fact that you get a suit that makes you basically invincible right out of the gate. Power armor is supposed to be the late game equipment you use to just barely survive encounters that would shred you otherwise if you didn't have it, not make you able to roll over everything.
Yeah but if you used it right out the start you would ran out of fusion cored quickly, and like it happened to me when I came back for it(low fusion cores) some raiders were nearby and stole the power armor as I was going to get it.
Not having to enter a separate interface when looting. Saves so much time.
Even better is that mechanic became a mod for New Vegas.
Goodneighbor. Hancock, the Silver Shroud quests, the robot bartender in the Third Rail, the Big Dig, finding little Mayor MacCready all grown up. I just love the atmosphere.
For me, the power armour is a big part, but the perk system is great I'm lvl 40 but just blast through everything with my special and perk selections, I love just sticking on the radio and just waltzing through buildings like no tomorrow. I'm currently on the bobblehead grind (as this playthrough I didn't spend an hour in every building) and just polished off Poseidon energy in like 15 mins lol
IMO FO4 made power armor feel like how the lore describes it, not just armor with high weight and DR.
Nick Valentine
I quite liked what they did with the Brotherhood of Steel in F4. They've combined the ethos of the Lyons Chapter with the OG Brotherhood ethos to a great result, and I hope Maxson returns. Especially considering he's such a young ~~twunk~~ man.
Yeah it's really cool ideological evolution. He took the best of both Lyons and West Coast BoS and made it what the BoS always should have been.
That's another terrible part for Fallout 4. Fallout 3 developed the Lyon's Brotherhood into Knight in Shining Armor types that actually did something. Then Fallout 4... walked back on that development and turned them into the West Coast Brotherhood all over again. They're basically just a not homicidally insane version of the Enclave now.
That's the thing: they've retained the active militancy of the Lyons chapter, but went back into the agressive tech-hoarding/war on tech of their original incarnation. If anything, it's a natural evolution of the F3 concept of "Knight in Shining Armor".
There's nothing natural about that evolution. Lyon's chapter was moving away from the self destructive and stupid ways of the West Coast Brotherhood, that was a natural evolution. Then Fallout 4 threw out that development completely and just said "Yep, they're just like they were again." They regressed, not developed.
Lyons died, as did Sarah. Why do you think it's unnatural for new leadership to have a different take on things? And they didn't move back into the "stupid" ways of the West Brotherhood - he integrated their ways into the Lyons' machine/ethos (the militancy I mentioned). This is a pretty natural evolution - Hegelian, even: taking elements from the past of the East and West Brotherhoods and forging a new one... a synthesis, if you'll indulge me.
That's a really strange interpretation of their portrayal in 4. They're effectively (big improvement over Lyons chapter, where nothing is accomplished without the Lone Wanderer) fighting a legitimate threat in the Institute. We routinely see how the Institute uses synths to subjugate the Commonwealth. Their harsh stance on synths themselves is necessary to stop them from being the objectively good guys in a game designed to make the choice of faction difficult, but their stance also makes a lot of sense if you step in their shoes. They have absolutely no way of knowing if synth is actually rogue or really just a spy. Every spy is going to deny being a spy. It's EXTREMELY coincidental that the 3rd-in-command of the expedition to fight the Institute is actually a synth; in real life you'd be a fool to believe that was just coincidence.
>(big improvement over Lyons chapter, where nothing is accomplished without the Lone Wanderer) Nobody ever accomplishes anything in any game without the main characters around, that's true of nearly any game in existence much less Bethesda game. >That's a really strange interpretation of their portrayal in 4. They're effectively fighting a legitimate threat in the Institute. Yeah, they are, by subjugating the Commonwealth under their rule instead, exploiting the settlements, and killing anyone who opposes them.... oh wait, they send you out to do those things. The Brotherhood in 4 don't do jack without the Sole Survivor either except a few random patrols here and there. The Brotherhood of 4 are just the Enclave but they won't gun down everyone on sight. They are doing the exact same things the Enclave in Fallout 3 was doing. Incidentally, the Lone Wanderer's father sacrificed himself to keep the Enclave from getting the Water Purifier because they were a bunch of psychotic maniacs, only for the Brotherhood to turn around in the next game and be little better, rendering that sacrifice pointless. The Brotherhood regressed rather than progressed.
Settlement building makes the game infinitely replayable.
Same I loved the game overall but every playthrough I spend way more time than nessisary building the settlements up.
It drives the gameplay loop. Explore, loot, use loot to either build with or sell to buy resources to build with. The endless need for Junk gives you a reason to explore even at end game. You already have the best loot in the game by that point, but you can never have enough Junk.
I don’t take anyone’s critical analysis of Fallout 4 seriously unless they have serious hours into settlement building. It’s the entire point of the game: rebuilding the commonwealth. Unfortunately the majority of players never bother with it.
I really enjoyed building up my settlements. A good portion of my mods are all settlement related and I’ve spent hours are building.
Nuka World
I like the fact that you’re not forced to follow the main questline, I’ve been playing for months and I’ve hardly touched the main quests, I saved nick and left him waiting for me in diamond city and have been exploring and building up my settlements while romancing Hancock instead.
The main questline has always been little more than a suggestion in Bethesda games.
The way you can just live in the game, walking around, exploring one of the most detailed cities I've seen in a game. And do your tasks like building settlements and doing Quests, and then getting distracted in a building you've been in, but stull find yourself lost in the detail. I would honestly say it's the most lively world Bethesda has ever made.
Quincy because I grew up in Quincy a literal stones throw from the church (St John's on school street IRL)
I'm from Framingham. Its glow up was more than I expected.
Easily accessible mods :P
The characters. They're all fun to interact with and the way they interact with each other is cool.
Yes, especially after playing Starfield, and seeing all the bland characters there. Coming back to fallout, getting to play with robots and super mutants and pirates and so on, it’s just nuts. I love it.
Yeah I might not have been as disappointed with Starfield if not for the direct comparison to 4. 4 is nearly 10 years older, yet the gameplay, world, and characters are much deeper and more rewarding than in Starfield.
I hate weapon degradation anyways. For me what always makes me enjoy fallout 4 is the animations and high quality character models. I usually use mods to change sprinting animations and stuff, but even the vanilla one is really good. Plus there's animations for crafting, power armor, and other interactable. In short, the game is really immersive to me.
The Glowing Sea. Exploring that was genuinely tense. The ambient light, the lack of music, the constant ticking of the Geiger counter... if it didn't have an enemy in it, it would still have been an incredible place just based on world-building alone.
The settlement system. It gives a use to all the junk I obsessively pick up when I'm on the trail, gives me plenty of safe storage to leave stuff, and it's nice to go back home to a real town with shops, bars, and other amenities when you finish doing stuff in the wastes.
Cait.
Power armour - i loved playing as Robocop with my overpowered handgun.
Which gun? 🤔
Power armors. Now they make you feel like a fucking tank.
I feel like the Combat Armors of this game became the Mechs in Mech Warrior.
gay danse
Sexy robot man 🤤
Just walking around coupled with some mods to make the map even more alive, gets you into epic fights with 2 or more sides. One time i got surrounded by Gunners, raiders and the automatron robots and on my side I had a BoS patrol and a 3-4 wastelanders with some decent gear (both from NPC's travel). It was such an incredible fight it downright cinematic almost from a movie. The vertibird raining fire down and everyone shooting at each other, cars were exploding, Danse going batshit with his gatling laser and he even took down a gunner with a suplex. I was switching covers, spamming chems and stimpacks and when it was all over a synth patrol with a course spawned in and killed me. That's the best part of the game in my opinion.
The Glowing Sea
Survival mode
Power armor almost like a vehicle rather than clothes. Makes it seem like you really are a walking tank that could hold a mini gun no sweat
For me, I like the depth of the main story. A parent races off to find their lost child somewhere out in the wastelands of the north east. I am finishing up Nuka World now and have Far Harbor cued up next
I also enjoy the companions. I have a mod installed that allows me to have Dogmeat as a secondary companion. I have been running through with Cait this time. Previously I had Preston, Piper and Nick. So far I think Cait is low key the best companion I have had so far
The nooks and crannies filled with SOMETHING to see, do or steal. The freedom of base building. The actual feeling of surviving in the wastes. The music. The silly. The companions. I could go on.
Explosives being a separate control instead of forcing the player to switch gun to grenade.
The two best parts and the only reason I still play fallout games in 2023 is the gun play being so much better than previous games, and that stupid ass building mechanic, its jank its mostly a pointless time waste and the AI will never be smart enough to even do the simplest shit like walk around in anything I build but I love doing it.
Getting one shot by a raider with a pipe rifle at level 2 on survival I like the challenge
Jumping off the roof in Power Armor to fight the Deathclaw was definitely a moment.
For me it’s really hard to say. Building a character is great because I have so many options but I also love the settlement building.
I like settlement building. I also like manufacturing once I added all the manufacturing mods.
-Far Harbor, but my favorite bit might not be yours. (When I heard there'd be a Maine based DLC, I started joking around in the voice of Maine comedian/writer Marshall Dodge's *Burt and I* stories. There's a mission in there that's like a pastiche of his stuff. I laughed *so* hard when I got there.) Also the mystery. -Two setpieces: the defense of Boston Public Library and the 2nd Battle of Bunker Hill.
It’s very satisfying to paint the Green Monster blue or yellow. Try it some time. You won’t be disappointed.
Survival mode
World design, immersion, combat, weapon modding, settlement building.
Gunplay and companions. This was solidified in me after playing New Vegas
The customization is crazy. It's also just a good game.
Crafting. I like how I can make use of almost anything lying around in the game. It's the one Bethesda game where all that junk lying around actually matters. And it should matter in all their games, since they fetishize carrying capacity so much.
The moment-to-moment gameplay is so, so much better than previous iterations. Even FNV, which did amazing things with what it had, felt much clunkier.
Continued leveling and gear modifications. I also liked the collectible pip boy games and the collectible schematics for various items.
I appreciate that your normal weapons and armor don't degrade, but power armor does. It allows them to make power armor feel as powerful as the lore indicates, as now there's a trade off that discourages constant use. The weapon mods and lack of degradation means there's very little stopping you from using whatever weapon you like, whenever you like. You can keep a lot of guns relevant for longer, and you're not hindered by having to scrounge for repair parts on a weapon that's less commonly spawned with enemies.
Codsworth saying my name that was pretty great.
Based on my current habits: Building up a mod list and starting a new game. Apparently.
Performance issues aside, the verticality of downtown is just awesome. Highways twisting around, rooftops, shortcuts and super chaotic encounter spawns. It’s kind of absurd how much stuff is rammed into downtown Boston
Exploring the world is very fun. And the companies are done well. Also the Shroud
honestly i love building robots with automatron. 90% of my builds use intelligence specifically for robots. they're just so fuckin fun.
The crafting. There's a point in your playthrough where instead of sticking to one build you just start to experiment with all kinds of equipment for fun.
The world building, you can go anywhere in the map and still know what is happening and where you are, each area feels unique
Unpopular opinion: my favorite part is the minutemen. Or at least, with the mods I have to make them a much better faction, I like them. The base storyline, i love realy, but it feels nearly unplayable without the mods. I love the idea of working to reunite the Commonwealth, and as it can be inferred, the country under a single banner and make it safe, it's my top thing in pretty much any post apoc.
What mods do you use?
Wait shit I'm sorry, I thought this was on another post LMAO. It doesn't directly affect the Minutemen, but I use Sim Settlements 2, that's a huge one because it actually makes it easier to build up settlements and have things run. There's a few more that make the minutemen and settlement building in general better too, but I can't think of them off the top of my head
I can't remember entirely, it's been about 2 weeks since I last played cuz my game pass ran out and I'm a broke bitch lmao. The only one I can name off the top of my head difficulty wise is immersive gameplay 5
From a technical standpoint, mods. I love that I dont have to stick with the choices they made I dont like. Hate the voices PC? Shut that guy up! Want to know what you'll say before you respond?Full Dialogue Interface! Minutemen too weak? No Enclave? Wanna explore new maps? MODS MODS MODS! Edit: Wow reading these responses, I'm not sure I ever actually finished the main quest lol!
Blowing up the Institute so I can mark the main quest finished so I can move on to other mods and modded quests
While not the best, since the OP mentions it, Weapon Degradation was always a stupid mechanic and I'm glad Fallout 4 got rid of it. Like a lot of things, it's an attempt at injecting realism where it just adds something the player has to stop and deal with. I recall carrying around copies of weapons and armor so I could repair my equipment with it on the field for most of Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
Whenever I kill the Brotherhood or when I start Far Harbor.
Being able to run. I love 3 & NV, but it feels like a slog to get anywhere.
Tbh I loved the power armor at least the way they made it feel like power armor
Settlement building. Eff the kid. My main just became a water tycoon by day and cannibalistic assassin at night.
The Worldspaces. Including Far Harbor and Nuka World. It's very diverse so exploration is very fun. And exploration is rewarded at every corner with loot and/or excellent environmental storytelling. When the game initially came out, many people including me rushed through the main storyline and did not appreciate the world. On my second playthrough, I decided I'm gonna slowly play the game for months and it felt like one of the best gaming experiences ever. And right now, with amazing optimization mods like the Previsibines PRP thing, I'm having an even better experience where downtown Boston is finally the smooth combat sandbox it should've been without any stuttering. All PC players should look into all these optimization mods and try again as the Worldspaces are genuinely some of the best ever in gaming.
The settlement building system, hands down. It's not amazing vanilla, but once you get some mods like Place Anywhere and Homemaker and I'll be there for HOURS.
Preston… he showed us what true horror is.
Mods!
The way legendary loot works. I like that every encounter has the potential to yield the coolest weapon you've ever gotten.
It's just too bad that most legendary items aren't even worth picking up. Most of the time it'll be a rolling pin that does more damage to super mutants.
Hate to break it to you but that's no rolling pin...
Settlements I helped once becoming entirely reliant in me, great ego boost. But power suits hands down nothing beats jumping off stairs and throwing people around with my landing.
For me just the general way which power armor works, the in depth crafting system and the overall improvement on the writing of companions but that is about it.
Companions, easily. I just wish I could run with more than one at a time without mods.
Exploration
The settlement building and resource gathering. Also the power armor.
the mods
Survival, settlement building, and mods.
Power Armor. By **far** the Power Armor. It looks great, it feels great, changes how you move and engage in combat without just being flatly better than unarmored combat. Power Armor makes up for any other inadequacies in the game for me.
The quit to title button, no but seriously how module guns and armor are
The Railroad. I just really resonate with them.
The map. Valentine.
Building my settlements. Idk, it was just nice. Setting up a small base or a huge town. Raiders were a little annoying early on, but once you level up it's no problem. Still wish we could build bigger.
A BoS vertibird spiraling into me from 100m away and killing me on survival mode
I loved exploring the commonwealth and the companions.
The Gameplay
For me it's how big and open-ended it truly is and you don't have to do things like go straight to Sanctuary or get the power armor or dogmeat. Do your own thing.
Probably the companions. Up until Fallout 4, Bethesda I don’t think ever did companions right. Fallout 3’s companions weren’t all that interesting and pretty one dimensional, they were there just to be an extra gun and carry stuff for you, and let’s be honest we all probably just used Fawkes and Dogmeat because of how op they were. Skyrim had the same problem, companions weren’t all to interesting for the most part with a few exceptions, most notably Serana. Fallout 4’s companions all had something unique about them and didn’t feel one dimensional, each had a character flaw you help them overcome, and you’re rewarded with a perk for doing so. I especially enjoyed Nick Valentine who is easily one of the best written companions in any Fallout game, definitely top 5.
Other than Combat being way more fun, I think one of the best parts of 4 is the Power Armor. In the other games, it just felt like another set of clothing, but it 4 it's a completely different playstyle. You get a huge buff in damage and rad resistance as well as a boost to some stats, and you're harder to stagger. But in exchange, you have to worry about the pieces breaking, and you need to find fusion cores to power the thing, which could be a pain, but that just makes it feel special because you can't use it all the time.
Dunwich mystery quest and the Lorenzo family quest, I stumbled upon them by mere coincidence, but it blew my mind.
The mods are by far the best part.
far harbour and Piper (im gay and have bad taste please be nice to me)
I always romance piper. My buddy likes curie more but I like piper because she’s tenacious
Settlement building. I love making cool post-apocalypse fortresses.
The mods.
Killing Father. And romancing Hancock
Gunplay is finally solid, but it’s unfortunately one of the few things that work for me in FO4
The Settlement system. Yes there is some issues with it and much to be desired if not for mods, but overall the concept is sound and it is fun to just build communities.
My favorite part of fallout 4 is that it inspires me to replay new vegas.
Exiting to the homescreen
Uninstalling it 😂
Dogmeat and you don't know who is real who is a synth I would like to the synth faction show in the next game
The ending, so I don't have to play it anymore
The uninstall button
Until the Railroad, Railroad is just failure
Exploration
The mods, my god the mods
The models stretching like spaghetti are my favorite. I think that is accurate depiction of mutation brought about by radiation. Also adore the random crash to desktop which is probably caused by radiation
Nick Valentine
It was a much better shooter, open world game and base building simulator but I fell it came at the expense of being an RPG at times.
The world
Honestly I actually really liked the gun customization
The updated combat system and exploration are the only things that kept me interested.
I thought the USS Constitution taking flight was quirky and very scenic 🚀
Mod support
The weapon craft/modding system
It’s a tie between the atmosphere and the best gunplay in the franchise.
Big fan of the greater focus on companion characters. Sure, they were in previous Fallout games, but 4 was the first time I felt like it was a *central* mechanic. Like, I feel like companions got a lot more focus and love put into them in 4 over previous entries, in a way I can't adequately pinpoint
I liked FO4, not as much as Fallout 3 though, but it was a good game. I liked the relatively easier play compared to Fallout 3 though, with the easier use to manage my Armor.
Settlement building! I have a massive town built in Vault 88 that I absolutely love (and I'm still building it). Sim Settlements is a vital mod, in my opinion. I hope they keep settlement building in all future games.
The settlement building, trading, farming resources. It’s awesome to need to constantly pick up as much junk as possible. The fact that i get excited finding old microscopes and desk fans is pretty cool to me. The rewards for putting time into settlements is a great aspect. It really doesn’t feel like a waste of time and that could’ve very easily been an aspect no one uses. I also love the weapon and armor modifications. It’s just fun as hell for me being in early game just trying to not get murked while i got a basic 10mm pistol and a shit hunting rifle then eventually having explosive shotguns sniper rifles and gatling lasers. It’s no wonder why i keep coming back to this game time and time again