For a long time I've been a huge Bethesda fan. From my first time tripping through Vvardenfall in Morrowind, to most recently, playing around the Commonwealth, I can say that the trajectory has been somewhat downward. And I dont mean in terms of the creation club, which is it's own bundle of problems.

I enjoyed Fallout 3, though New Vegas was much more what I expected out of a Fallout game. Fallout 4 is a disappointment. It's very pretty, but it seems to get more things wrong than it should. Power Armor is a godmode should you have fusion cells, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, except that it hands you a suit 20 minutes into the game, and makes a gratuitious display of power with it by allowing you to dispatch a dreaded Deathclaw with ease and simplicity, and stockpiling fusion cells is surprisingly easy, making the game very easy.

Instead of being thrust into a horrific world that the few survivors fight over, Fallout 4's world is surprisingly pleasant for the most part. The tone of the game is completely wrong. The story removes player agency, because you cannot really choose to be a lunatic who doesn't care about your missing son. Your character will always act as if the lost son is the first, primary, and only priority on their mind, even as you just slum around, sleeping with whatever follower you decide to, and always avoide looking for Shaun.

The focus on this game was torn between telling a very personal story that was wanting to rush you headlong through the plot, and being a high poly minecraft clone as you are supposed to spend much of your time building and customizing safe haven settlements instead of roaming the hostile wasteland. It produced an unhealthy dichotomy in tone, and neither was really what most players wanted it to be when it came out. Previous games thrust you into the wasteland with some things you can do, if you choose, but there was always the option to not care at all about the main plot. The best part about New Vegas was that you could go find Benny and kill him, or you could spare him, or whatever. The game gives you circumstances, you choose the events and outcomes, writing your story.

This is not to say that the game doesn't have it's high points. Many of the sidequests are incredibly good, the crafting and settlement building systems are robust, and most of the textures are fantastic. Humans look weird, still. But the game feels shallow. Mechanics across the board have been toned way down from previous installments, especially in terms of dialogue.
Skill checks used in dialogue are no longer a hard skill check, they are all chance based, which somewhat invalidates the necessity of skills being raised beyond a certain point.

One of the major downsides to the game is the decision by Bethesda that eveyrthing the main character says is voice acted, which inherently isn't a bad thing, but there is no difference in dialogue options between different players. In each previous fallout game, having an incredibly low intelligence score meant that you were barely able to communicate, or talk. For F4, Bethesda decided that wasn't something they were willing to explore, as it would have significantly increased the amount of work put into the dialogue system. It would have undermined the seriousness of the main story's drive to find Shaun, as the protagonist becomes somewhat farsical. But that's the fun of previous Fallouts.

Ultimately, I don't suggest Fallout 4 because it's a mile wide, and an inch deep. It's pretty, and 3rd party modding is amazing (don't bother with the Creation Club, it's mostly things that you can buy that are already free elsewhere), but Fallout New Vegas is a better "Fallout" experience.

The worst thing about Fallout 4 is that it makes me actively wary about Bethesda's future. Skyrim was fun, albeit watered down RPG. Now with Bethesda's focus on re-releasing Skyrim every few months to a new platform, and the creation club, and the puddle deep gameplay of Fallout 4, I'm worried that their following games will be half hearted projects to fuel creation club purchases.

For a long time I've been a huge Bethesda fan. From my first time tripping through Vvardenfall in Morrowind, to most recently, playing around the Commonwealth, I can say that the trajectory has been somewhat downward. And I dont mean in terms of the creation club, which is it's own bundle of problems. I enjoyed Fallout 3, though New Vegas was much more what I expected out of a Fallout game. Fallout 4 is a disappointment. It's very pretty, but it seems to get more things wrong than it should. Power Armor is a godmode should you have fusion cells, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, except that it hands you a suit 20 minutes into the game, and makes a gratuitious display of power with it by allowing you to dispatch a dreaded Deathclaw with ease and simplicity, and stockpiling fusion cells is surprisingly easy, making the game very easy. Instead of being thrust into a horrific world that the few survivors fight over, Fallout 4's world is surprisingly pleasant for the most part. The tone of the game is completely wrong. The story removes player agency, because you cannot really choose to be a lunatic who doesn't care about your missing son. Your character will always act as if the lost son is the first, primary, and only priority on their mind, even as you just slum around, sleeping with whatever follower you decide to, and always avoide looking for Shaun. The focus on this game was torn between telling a very personal story that was wanting to rush you headlong through the plot, and being a high poly minecraft clone as you are supposed to spend much of your time building and customizing safe haven settlements instead of roaming the hostile wasteland. It produced an unhealthy dichotomy in tone, and neither was really what most players wanted it to be when it came out. Previous games thrust you into the wasteland with some things you can do, if you choose, but there was always the option to not care at all about the main plot. The best part about New Vegas was that you could go find Benny and kill him, or you could spare him, or whatever. The game gives you circumstances, you choose the events and outcomes, writing your story. This is not to say that the game doesn't have it's high points. Many of the sidequests are incredibly good, the crafting and settlement building systems are robust, and most of the textures are fantastic. Humans look weird, still. But the game feels shallow. Mechanics across the board have been toned way down from previous installments, especially in terms of dialogue. Skill checks used in dialogue are no longer a hard skill check, they are all chance based, which somewhat invalidates the necessity of skills being raised beyond a certain point. One of the major downsides to the game is the decision by Bethesda that eveyrthing the main character says is voice acted, which inherently isn't a bad thing, but there is no difference in dialogue options between different players. In each previous fallout game, having an incredibly low intelligence score meant that you were barely able to communicate, or talk. For F4, Bethesda decided that wasn't something they were willing to explore, as it would have significantly increased the amount of work put into the dialogue system. It would have undermined the seriousness of the main story's drive to find Shaun, as the protagonist becomes somewhat farsical. But that's the fun of previous Fallouts. Ultimately, I don't suggest Fallout 4 because it's a mile wide, and an inch deep. It's pretty, and 3rd party modding is amazing (don't bother with the Creation Club, it's mostly things that you can buy that are already free elsewhere), but Fallout New Vegas is a better "Fallout" experience. The worst thing about Fallout 4 is that it makes me actively wary about Bethesda's future. Skyrim was fun, albeit watered down RPG. Now with Bethesda's focus on re-releasing Skyrim every few months to a new platform, and the creation club, and the puddle deep gameplay of Fallout 4, I'm worried that their following games will be half hearted projects to fuel creation club purchases.