Fallout 4: Game review
Summary
It is not often that I find myself playing Western RPGs. Even so, in the latest few years, I've found the quality of Japanese RPGs to be lacking. Mobile is rapidly eating away at AAA devs over in Japan, meaning only true juggernauts like Final Fantasy or startups like Scalebound have weathered the decadence. Others, like Monster Hunter and the Tales series, have declined steadily since reaching their all time highs around 2008 when games like the original iteration of Tales of Vesperia was released. As the number of high-quality Japanese role-playing games wane, I find I might have actually done the right thing by putting some distance between me and them and buying an Xbox One rather than a PS4 (and not only because Sony pissed me off by blocking the localization of galge games and prioritizing the release of otome games on the Vita, in which I wound up wasting all of my precious money, time and Gamerscore trying to salvage. It's a corpse now though, so there are fewer reasons to regret buying that useless piece of plastic now, even if some are still there).
This brings me to today's review. As quality moves Westwards, I find myself drawn to western RPGs. I was someone who played Fallout 3 on the Xbox 360, enjoyed tinkering with Gothic a bit and found Skyrim mildly amusing, but rarely can I develop an attachment to a game like I did with Fallout 4. Even though the shortcomings of the game are huge (the lack of decent female love interests compared to a plethora of guys to choose from didn't go unnoticed) and performance on either platform left much to be desired, but boy, does fan content make the game a different beast! Bethesda's decision to allow for modding of the Xbox One version of the game was the best choice they could ever make. If Microsoft wises up, updates will in the future allow for console commands, if not on the original Xbox One, then at least on the more resilient and capable Xbox One Scorpio model to be released in the near future.
Setting
Fallout 4 starts in an unusual high note. The game takes us back to pre-War America teetering on the edge of a nuclear holocaust. We get to choose to play as a bisexual American Military Veteran or a law graduate, even though game files show both have military backgrounds to some extent. The rich color palette might have warded off many a Fallout fan who have learned to associate Fallout with grittiness. But just like in Halo 5, I found myself no longer bracing for the bath of grayscale stony scenery I had expected and the new, colorful approach of the game made me feel I could play the game without needing to be fully awake, something that used to be the reason I preferred non-western media. Now that western devs have finally been illuminated by the gorgeous, eye soothing beauty of colorful game worlds, I feel their future is brighter. At least in the short term.
As I am pretty sure they noticed, the same holds true for our heroes, who are thrust into a vault as the luminosity of a nuclear blast proceeds to wipe out all life in Boston and they barely run away with their souls in their throats, and I am pretty sure your partner was only able to keep it from escaping the damned security grate by holding on to Shaun.
Shaun, the small, perfect and adorable infant boy you have is someone who takes after you, he's in the loving arms of your partner, but since this is a Fallout game and Vault-Tec has already become involved, it's obvious this won't last.
Plot
In a Bethesda game? No, seriously.
While this is no Skyrim, it is still better than New Vegas. Vault-Tec stuffs you in a fridge, expecting you to calm down and relax in cryostasis for the next five or so years, but a mutiny means you chill out for a lot longer. You don't know how long though... Until someone takes your baby away and murders your husband or well, wife and take away everything you held dear. It's a wonder how the Sole Survivor can fight anything after the event. Most would've prayed for their deaths right then and there.
Bethesda made the game though, so you'll act like everything's chill since your character has no personality of its own.
Once you leave the vault, kill radroaches that for some reason freak you out and eventually see the Commonwealth as it is, you finally get a feeling this is a real Fallout game with all the despair, grittiness, and depression involved. The only difference is the gravel is colorful, so no strain on the spoiled orbs of JRPG lovers used to colorful world maps and towns.
Good news, your robot buddy Codsworth survived! Apparently, you were what kept him from going insane like most other wasteland Mr. Handies, Gutsies, and... Assaultrons?
Turns out everything can happen from this point forward. The standard story will take you to the Museum of Freedom where you will fight some raiders, obtain your first set of T45 Mjolnir armor and even a huge minigun to rain hell down the Raiders and a Deathclaw, thus establishing you as the superior (apparently, they keep getting more overpowered) Fallout protagonist (eat your heart out Courier!)
You'll also meet Mr "I'll mark it on your map" Garvey, the only and also sole survivor of the Minutemen post-Quincy Massacre. While you don't have to rebuild the Minutemen, you might want to, as they are the only faction you can occasionally boss around. Everyone else bosses you around instead.
So naturally, you start scouring the Commonwealth to try and find your son, Shaun, stopping over at Diamond City where you meet WASP intrepid reporter Piper Wright of Publick Occurrences (seriously, who names their paper "Publick"?!)
Turns out she can be a companion for answering a few short questions regarding the Vault (I didn't say anything weird, but you can tell her you were almost eaten alive) and you'll need her for the next mission. Tracking down the local detective Nick Valentine is going to be... well, tough... without more firepower (because let's face it, Codsworth will not be much use to you when dealing with SMGs) and there are no other companions available.
There's Dogmeat. Yeah, the dog from the first two games apparently hasn't died or has a lot of sons roaming about the wasteland. How they keep themselves fed is a mystery best left unanswered.
He's also living proof that anything not armed with bullets is a corpse in the wasteland, though you can heal him and have residents look up to you as their Great Leader. Yeah, yeah, you're full of mercy and all the good shit...
So, once someone has a shottie and their own rifle (and here's hoping you took advantage of the settlement and bought one) you can track down fedora to another Vault (just how many of these things are scattered through the US of A anyway?) and find Nick cupped inside a room held down by mobsters since synths apparently like danger.
Synths are, in essence, the combat cyborgs of Nanoha Strikers with a dash of Terminator, but in Nick Valentine's case, he's more of a walking trash heap than anything else. His sarcasm is great though.
Afterward, Dogmeat decides to become useful and you and Nick track down your wife or husband's murderer (whose name is Kellog, no less) and travel across half of the map to find the dude holed up in a military fortress. He's supported by the Institute, the resident bad guys, and creators of the synths and has an army of those tin men to protect himself.
When you finally find him, turns out the guy had implants to live longer, brought to you by the resident Think Tank crazy scientists, the Institute.
After that point, you'll want to do sidequests and join other factions. Once you leave Fort Hagen, the huge blimp in full Vertibird escort will announce it's presence. It's the BoS! They're back! They're fucking back!
Turns out they are the outcasts. The Lyons Pride was dissolved when Elder Lyons died... Then Sarah died too...
Sure, Arthur Maxson is now Elder and he has a badass coat (I wonder why people like it so much, it's just a fur coat dammit!) and he commands a contingent of Spartans but the Brotherhood are now as bad as the Enclave... Which leaves us with...
Not much to be honest.
You're going to be on the MM's good graces no matter what, but are there no more factions besides the MM and Brotherhood out there?
No, because for all I care, the Failroad is not a faction. The Railroad dedicates themselves to freeing the human looking synths from the Institute, but they couldn't be more idiotic if you asked them to.
After a while, you will infiltrate the place of those who must not be mentioned. Turns out they had no entrance to speak off. The Institute was sealed shut and only teleporting in allowed you to enter the region. Region because they aren't a part of the world map.
They are underground, hence why they aren't really in the phone books.
And once you enter, what you see is not Big MT 2.0. Instead, you're greeted with... Cocoon. Somehow, someone with a sick and twisted sense of humor decided ripping off FF's most infamous installment would be a good idea. Surprisingly, they were for once, right.
The Institute is concerned with mankind's survival, often takes the blame for the bad shit happening above (they're guilty, but not the bad guy) and their slave synths spend their days strolling around the park and eating donuts.
At this point, the story ends. You find Shaun, the now grown up and older than you head of the Institute.
Ratings
| Story | 5 out of 5 |
| Music |
4.3 out of 5 |
| Characters | 3.3 out of 5 |
| Final score | 4.2 out of 5 |
