Fallout 4 First Impressions [no spoilers]

He looks VERY tough. The building looks great

Cool Building Cara. And I like your character! Looks like he had some radiation problems with his face...

So how much freedom do you have with building a community? How many buildings can you build? Can you recruit specific people to your community or do they just show up? Or are you completely alone?

Thanks. I've grown fond of his looks. I didn't want to play a pretty boy but I didn't want a monster either so an older looking guy with some tissue scarring seemed like the right idea. Once I'm done with him I'll try an evil run with a female character. It's going to be challenging because the goody two shoes approach is clearly the default option (at least most of the time) so playing a bastard will take some foreknowledge and a little creativity.

As for the building, I'm just messing around but it's fun.

I'm confident Skorp will come up with some really nice things.

To answer your questions each settlement comes with a certain radius and inside that area you can choose where to put up structures.

The game comes with a certain number of templates (blocks if you will) and you can stack them. Getting the hang of it may take a little practice and patience (which I only have in short supply) but I'm sure that someone who is into this kind of thing can come up with some great looking bases.

You still have to amass the necessary components in order to craft all the things you want (and I haven't mentioned the appropriate perks i.e. skills to unlock specific buildings and improvements).

You can set up radio towers so people in the wasteland can find out about your settlement and join in exchange of work. My biggest settlement has more than 12 persons and I have at least 5 other settlements (some of them with 10 people). You can direct NPCs so they focus on different tasks.

You can tell your followers to go to one of your settlements when they're not travelling with you and I've met at least one NPC that you can recruit and send to one of your settlements.

But in theory you could choose to be alone in which case you would have to set up some improvements that don't require to be worked by some NPC to bring extra resources (like for instance an industrial grade water purifier).

The whole system is really flexible. What strikes me is that Fallout 4 takes up many features and ideas that used to be part of some mods. Having these features in the vanilla game is just great.

During the last 4 hours I didn't fight, I didn't go on a quest, I just spent my time building things and looking for components and materials. Building gives you XP so it would be possible to imagine a non violent character gaining levels this way (going through quests without fighting may not be a possibility though).

I really wish the story would live up to the standards set by FNV and I wish that Bethesda wouldn't always go down the same road and put stuff that look good on paper but don't make any sense in game... Still, after more than 40 hours in game I'm enjoying it even more than when I started. In fact I'm having way more fun with this game than I had expected.

I've played a little more and I've found out that (at least) some quests are time sensitive. It feels like ages since I've had a quest failing because I thought I could take my time getting there.

This is actually pretty cool.

Guess I'll have to start doing FalloutCraft videos as well now

Here's my own dude

Spoiler:

Not related to F4 but I saw the funniest thing on YT the other day -- a Fallout 3 apologist.

Quote :

The BoS are still better than those Enclave bastards. But if you don't want them 'shoved down your throat' then play a different game. These games try to have a relatively player-driven plotline, and that's why the plots are a bit crap, but they have to maintain some sense of story.

This amused me. "A bit crap" is probably the biggest understatement of the millenium. And the BoS, better than the Enclave? Granted, the Enclave ARE bastards (but I still like those bastards) but this guy obviously has never seen the BoS outside Lyons' bastard splinter.

I'm starting to feel quite excited about this game. It's on my wishlist, but I'll probably wait until the first year is out to a. let the price drop b. let them sort out problems which surface. c. see what mods become available.

I play FNV with no mods, Skyrim and Oblivion with just a few. I like to explore a vanilla game first then see what I'd like to add.

I did get told by one consultant not to expect anything from Santa this year as my transplant was all my pressies in one go. But who knows? I might get lucky

I get a Riddick vibe from your guy Skorp. I almost went for the bald look myself, pretty cool.

And I can't wait to see what wicked stuff you'll be able to come up with thanks to your building skills.

As for random statements from random fools on the internet those keep coming up no matter what.

The worst thing to me is the smug idiots who think that they are elite players and look down on F4 because it is according to them dumbed down. That crap gets even more ironic when you realize their favourite game is F3.

Some of the old players are clueless as well (I mean players who played the original Fallout games) and fail to understand that the streamlining is actually a very good thing.

The first Fallout has been my favourite game since its release back in 1997 (after playing the demo that I got from a magazine my only goal was to put aside enough money to buy it as soon as possible) but even I will agree that it had a few flaws. The SPECIAL rules were based on a pen and paper RPG called GURPS and after failing to reach an agreement Interplay decided to ditch the GURPS subtitle altogether.

What I'm trying to say is that back then the good people responsible for the first Fallout wanted to use a deep set of rules from a real RPG but they also wanted their computer RPG to be fun. In the vision statement for Fallout 1 they did underline the words the game comes first.

It wasn't just about making fans of a pen and paper ruleset happy.

Almost 12 years later Bethesda come up with their F3 and despite the fact that they actually believed they were following the original vision for Fallout they failed to understand the first thing about the SPECIAL system. They took it and turned it into Oblivion. F3 didn't have different builds like F1 or F2. F3 was never about making a character who would specialize in one field (or three skills like in the original Fallout games), it was all about the Oblivion approach of eventually maxing out everything (Oblivion did come with cumbersome number crunching but in the end it was all about setting priorities). In F3 all you had to do was put enough points in intelligence to get enough skillpoints and make sure the stupid bobbleheads would stack up with your stats. That was what building a character meant.

With FNV Obsidian went one step further (which is ironic) by negating the steep advantages that higher scores yielded in F3. In FNV maxing out intelligence didn't make such a huge difference in terms of skill points so a more well rounded approach could end up being more rewarding. In the end stats had become almost irrelevant as long as you reached the minimum to unlock the best perks (which mostly only required 6 points in most stats).

Now with Fallout 4 we have a very streamlined system and although the game comes first (and the number crunching comes last) it's ironic to note that this system is bringing back stats to the fore. What I mean is that it's more significant to invest in a SPECIAL stat in Fallout 4 because not only does the stat come with some direct bonuses (like more melee damage and carry weight for strength) but it is also tied up with skills (that are now governed by the score in the SPECIAL stat). Sure, the game allows players to max out everything (it's a Bethesda game after all) but without cheating it will take a very long time and it means that we have to prioritize and as a result builds are back in the game.

The good thing is that by balancing perks out the game gives each SPECIAL stat some value, even charisma which has always been a dumping stat in the entire series. The only reason to max out charisma was to get the maximum number of followers in Fallout 2 but apart from that you could just pump points into the speech skill and simply ignore charisma.

Now in Fallout 4 by equating charisma and speech it means that you will be losing out should you decide to just ignore it. Plus considering the mostly inane dialogues in F4 being able to manipulate and convince people makes this apsect a lot more satisfying (and the reason I did start over with my current guy).

I'm not saying F4 is perfect (although my complaints are more story related) but I'm saying there is a logic behind the streamlining. It's certainly not dumbing down especially when you consider that in F3 and FNV it was all about reaching certain % ranks (think about lockpicking and science for instance) which easily translate as perk ranks in F4.

F4 has a much better system than F3 and FNV and the people who say otherwise have not thought things through or never paused to consider the implications of a pen and paper RPG ruleset (some level of abstraction is required but a more complicated approach does not make for a necessarily better roleplaying experience). Going back to the vision statement for the first Fallout I can say that Bethesda eventually got one thing right by following the guiding principle that the game should come first.

I modeled my dude after myself -- I do have that scar, although shorter and faded, over my right eye, and my own goatee is significantely longer. But, I to have to admit, with the welding goggles, he DOES look like a bearded version of Riddick

I'm still getting the hang of the building system, and being still pretty low-level I don't have access to everything I can build, but I'll turn Sanctuary into a massive fortress of doom by the time I am finished. Looks like I will put MC videos in the backburner and do some F4Craft instead fine with me, Raptr plays nice with F4 and the autotune settings are now available, so I am tinkering with Raptr's version of "Quality" graphics.

I agree with your assessment -- it's not a perfect game, but looking past the flaws, it's a very satisfying experience. I was 100% expecting to be fully disappointed by the game and at first I bought it only because Christina bugged me to no end to do so, but after spending enough time with it, I am glad I did get the game.

I can't believe I am saying this... but, Beth, you did a... good job.

Then I guess you must be looking like a bearded version of Riddick then.

Bethesda did a good job considering their track record.

I only bought it because I got a pretty good deal (I ended up paying €20 for the preorder) and I'm certainly glad I did. It may not be a true Fallout game but it's loads of fun and I can't stop playing.

The exploration is always an asset when it comes to Bethesda titles and this time the gameplay is actually great. The shooting is incredibly better. Shooting from cover completely changes combat.

I had very low expectations so whenever the game surprises me by taking some of my actions into account I'm really pleased. It seems to me Bethesda is really trying and that's encouraging for what's coming in the future.

You want to know the best part? Once the editor will be available the game will truly bloom.

FNV was good without mods but it became spectacular and truly epic with mods.

Fallout 4 is going to be one hell of a ride once the big mods start coming out.

Does that armor look familiar? it should.

Spoiler:

Good news, the patch is out on Steam.

The patch drastically improved stability -- the game no longer crashes so much. I can actually play it pretty good on my good old X3.

I know it's been said plenty of times, but crafting is bloody awesome. I found a plasma pistol, converted it to a rifle then, bloody awesomely, into a sodding plasma flamethrower! This thing is so much fun and it's not even fully upgraded! I also have a nice incendiary muzzled auto shotgun, and for melee combat I have the sacrificial blade.

The X-01 has been upgraded to MK-IV and I have one piece MK-V.

I also made it far in the main plot, just to get it out of the way, it is Bethesda garbitch but, I like the "evil path".

I haven't played the game since the patch (and a bit before that actually I haven't played the game since November the 23rd) but I didn't have any problem with stability. In my experience it's a lot more stable than Fallout 3.

The crafting is probably one of the highlights of this game. Putting together your own weapon and armour is something that never gets old.

I'm not that far into the main plot. I will have to move this forward so I can focus on the better things.

The one thing I will say about the main plot is that I got my wish of not being a BoS whipping boy. They're on the buisness end of my flamethrower and that's how I like it.

I had stability issues like an eternal load screen, slowdowns sometimes caused complete freezing requiring a physical reset of my PC, and sometimes those slowdowns just crashed the game, period.

TBH, Fallout 3 was more stable. But this is probably related to my underpowered hardware.

I tackled one of the romances, it is clumsily done but I have to say, it's enjoyable watching her become a stuttering mess

Too bad the dog can't be sent to the Home Plate. Had built a doghouse for it. Oh well.

I purchased F 4 during the Winter Sale for USD 50. Took a look at it but because of all the reading need am waiting for more improvement in my eyes before actually playing.

I did a sneak build and I took Gunslinger. With rank 3, Kellogg's revolver (NO it's
NOT a PISTOL!) does over 100 damage... and it's not fully upgraded yet. It hits harder than even my .50 sniper rifle!

Very satisfying to explode heads with a 44 Magnum

You should have fun with it. Don't worry too much about builds it's pretty hard to mess things up. Combat can be a bit more challenging if you don't upgrade your stuff and don't go for combat perks but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

The one thing that Fallout 4 gets right is that Charisma has its uses which means that there is no dump stat although some abilities will be better suited to a player's style (I like to focus on charisma and intelligence to get the most of RPGs).

I haven't played the game since the 23rd of November (I blame Assassin's Creed Syndicate which I've almost completed) but my advice would be to stick to your character, focus on stats and perks that match your character's concept and simply go out there and explore (which is what Bethesda games are really good for).

Building up settlements is like an entire game within the game.

Last but not least here is a list of the names the robotic butler can say in game:

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Codsworth/recognized_names

It's not essential to pick a name from the list but it may be worth a glance nevertheless.

Here is a less boring visual example

Mister Bastard, Mister Fuckface...

Good one Skorp.

Thanks, Cara. Actually I had no intention of buying the game as I haven't forgiven Bethesda for screwing us with Skyrim. Scythe from Dragon Captions, a young man who is rather special to me, says he wants to make a major mod and the game was on sale. I do hope I have some fun with it since I consider even 50 USD overpriced for one of their games.

I am very interested in "Kingdom Come:Deliverance" It looks to be a game I will really have a lot of fun with. It just might be as good and possibly even better than M&B.

I'm a bit wary about kickstarter games that people have been raving about. Kingdom Come:Deliverance looks incredible on paper and they've shown some pretty cool videos but all that doesn't make a game. At least with Mount & Blade we know what to expect and we can assume that gameplay won't be an issue (since it looks like they're going for an upgrade rather than a completely different game). I don't want to sound too pessimistic but I'd hate for you to be disappointed and the higher your expectations the more likely you are to find out that a game doesn't live up to your vision.

Please keep us informed about this mod for Fallout 4. I've started a thread about mods but it's a bit overwhelming so I don't think I'll keep up with all the new mods that are being released.

I'm sorry that you feel that way about Bethesda games. I have to say that I never fully understood why people kept raving about them that much. I get that the exploration is great but all the Elder Scrolls games I've played didn't offer much in the way of enjoyable gameplay and interesting story. I may have enjoyed Morrowind quite a bit but even then it paled in comparison to the sheer amount of possibilities you had in a game like the first Fallout which came out years before.

In all fairness I still think Skyrim is much better than Oblivion with its horrible level scaling and convoluted levelling system. The only redeeming thing about Oblivion was the Shivering Isles DLC which was absolutely fantastic.

Fallout 4 aka Skyrim with guns does bring some much needed improvements in terms of gameplay and it does have a lot going for it but like Skyrim the big problem is that the main story simply gets in the way. It's a shame really because that's a big turn off and it also means that you are restricted when it comes to your character. New Vegas did that right by offering a very loose frame in which we were free to make up our own backstory and I wish Fallout 4 went down that road instead.

If I'm going to play a predetermined character I'd rather play a fully fleshed one like the Witcher (and frankly I don't get why The Witcher 3 gets so much praise, it's basically an Assassin's Creed type of game stuck in a big open world with terrible parkour and average combat marred by mediocre controls) or Lara Croft or an Assassin's Creed protagonist. Especially if choices end up being so pointless that not having any choices doesn't take away from the "story" (and I mean it because the go there, do that, follow the little bread crumbs and eventually make a last minute choice that in the big picture has less relevance than the type of guns you've been using for the last twenty hours doesn't encourage me to see that as a deep roleplaying experience).

I was turned off by the fact that Dragon Age 2 didn't allow us to play non human characters but the irony is that I'm stuck playing a human in Dragon Age Inquisition because the game is forcing us to play a certain type whereas Dragon Age Origins was all about the freedom to pick the origin you wanted. In Inquisition if I want to play an Elf it has to be a Dalish elf (I loved playing Alienage elves in DAO) and if I want a Dwarf I have to play a surface dwarf (the whole caste system was great in DAO simply because it meant we could play the absolute underdog and move from the very bottom of the pile to reach the heights despite all that).

Fallout 4 is forcing us to play a parent (and roleplay an idiot). I wouldn't mind that much but after Fallout 3 forced us to play the part of the spoiled brat that comes across as a bit silly and awkward. I won't go into spoiler territory but the whole thing is a damn nuisance and for every thing Fallout 4 gets right there will always be that bloody elephant in the room.

On Bethesda and their games. Morrowind was my first ES game and I really enjoyed it despite its flaws. Before that my CRPG experience at been Betrayal at Kronder, Return to Krondor and the Infinity Engine games. Oblivion was disappointing and IMO not a good game without some good mods added. Shivering Isles I loved. Skyrim was much better than Oblivion but I did fall for the pre-release hype and Bethesda did IMO lie and make promises that were not fulfilled. The only Fallout game I played was Fallout New Vegas which I enjoyed.

The seven patches for Skyrim where a patch fixed one thing and broke something else and never completely fixed the game also turned me off Bethesda. The flawed editors didn't improve my attitude. Plus the high and mighty Giskard added fuel to my bad reactions. That last is strictly my own personal biasis and not Beth's fault.

Dragon Age Origins I enjoyed but was disappointed and EA's obvious scamming really angered me and so I refused to buy DA II.

Never played any of the Witcher games.

Pillars of Eternity I think did fulfill its promises more or less. I think the problem was that Obsidian bent too far in trying to keep its backers happy.

I have no investment in Kingdom Come:Deliverance and will keep a wary eye on it. From the little I have seen and heard it sounds as if the developers intend to remain true to their own vision but who knows. If it does have a complex and interesting story line I don't mind playing a premade character and to be honest I am rather sick of the generic Bethesda type characters where it doesn't really matter if you are male or female, human or what.

I didn't mention Arcanaum which I really enjoyed. I always played a technician of some sort but I also always ended up being a goody goody of the nth degree. One thing I did like about Beth's games were the ambivalence towards good and evil.

On KC
part will depend on how replayable it is which I suspect may be very low so cost will enter into my decision.

The Funatic's Viking series was a combo of village building and adventure and a lot of fun but flawed.

Arcanum is a game any fan of CRPG should play at least once. I wish it would look better on modern screens (I guess playing Arcanum is a good reason to have a smaller sized laptop or notebook). I liked magic especially the line that allowed for teleportation and necromantic arts. I was also partial to guns but throwing weapons were just too awesome. Playing an evil gnome with a death wish is something worth writing about.

I'm still waiting for Obsidian to pull themselves together. Pillars is a great game but some things really irked me. I wish they made up their minds and stopped turning the game upside down...

Devs shouldn't listen to fans who mostly behave like backseat drivers. That's a recipe for disaster.

As for Dragon Age Origins I do remember that they never fully patched it. We had to thank a modder for making the game bug free which is a real shame considering all the money they charged for DLC and stuff. I'm a sucker and I bought Dragon Age Inquisition when I should have known better. It's a mixed bag but in all fairness I can't think of any big budget game that is flawless despite what the reviews might be saying (reviewers don't bite the hands that feed them but they don't mind crapping all over indie titles for stupid reasons).

I think you will be able to enjoy Fallout 4 despite its flaws and all the things I've been ranting about. IMO it's most certainly the best game made by Bethesda (with Morrowind in second place).

I believe Morrowind was made before ZenMax bought Bethesda. I blame the publishers or finaciers for much of the problems with the big budget games.

I agree that Obsidian is paying too much attention to players which is a big mistake. After all players don't even agree among themselves on things. Each person has his or her own idea of how things should be done. Criticism is fine but it should always be taken with a dollop of skepticism.

Obsidian did a solid job with New Vegas, and it's as close as we'll get to the greatness of the original Fallout games.

Bethesda havd absolutely zero clue what makes a true Fallout game and they never will understand. "Fallout 4" has a lot of flaws and dumb shit, including but not limited to being forced to play a bloody parent, suffer terrible voice acting, the inability to play true evil without breaking the game, and man do those bloody Minutemen quest get repetitive and boring after the first few.

The "romances" are ham-fisted at best and feels like they were tacked on at the last second and there isn't much choice for someone on my side of the moral spectrum -- just that junkie, drunk Irish fuckup. Either that or one of the do-goodies. I tried romancing Curie (even though her accent makes me want to drown kittens) and I pulled out my non-existent hair about half an hour in.

I ditched companions completely on my sneak playthrough, not only are they a liability but being judged pisses me off.

So in short: Meh. Mods will make it palatable. For now it's just a generic Bethesda open world with a "Fallout" coat of paint.

Fuck Bethesda.