As an FYI someone on reddit did some testing and crunched some numbers, they found that the perk 'Idiot Savant' in the luck tree is worth putting two stars into no matter what your intelligence is for optimal xp gain. So for anyone looking to level faster get that perk asap.
Gaming Fallout 4
- Thread starter Shane88
- Start date
This game has taught me that I'll never make an architect. Can't build houses/settlements for shit.
One of the perks lets you set up trade routes meaning supplies are shared between settlements
I'll just have a go on Fallout, said no one ever.
To think I bought the components for a new PC a month before this was released and booked annual leave off for the 9th and 10th and I still don't know when I'm gonna play this. cnuts x1000.
I read that this was getting lots of negative user reviews on metacritic. It's at 5.9 and for comparison other big releases have Witcher 3 (8.9), Metal Gear Solid 5 (8.0), Bloodbourne (8.6). I thought it would be all troll posts but theres quite a lot of good reviews from fans who just hate how Bethesda have pretty much given up on the RPG side of the game.
This is a good outline of a lot of the stuff that they have messed up
This one made me laugh although you can't argue with the points
This is a good outline of a lot of the stuff that they have messed up
A quick summary for any of you page scrollers: If you're a fan of fallout (particularly NV), you're going to be majorly disappointed. If you're someone whos a big RPG fan, you're going to be disappointed. If you're neither of those you might have a good time with the game but if you do i strongly advise you whip out the last gen systems and play FO3/NV (Especially NV).
Now for a more in depth look at this game. First of im going to list what was improved upon, because though the game is bad i feel like for this to be a fair review these FEW things have to be acknowledge.
1. The gun play is the improvement every Fallout player was hoping for. Its still not a perfect system, but its leaps and bounds from the last iterations of the franchise.
2. The character creation is pretty fantastic, though the graphics dont allow this to shine as much as a graphically more impressive game would.
3. The settlement feature is fun and adds quite a bit whilst being completely optional.
4. Voice acting is much improved in terms of voice variations. Some of it still sounds poorly read.
5. Animations all round are better (but again, not perfect or anywhere near) which leads to more interesting fights, different enemies have much more varied attacks than before.
Those are what i believe to be the improvements. Now the important stuff. What did Bethesda do to absolutely ruin this game. Here goes:
1. Dialog wheel, dialog wheel, dialog wheel. When. Will. RPG Devs. Learn. I dont understand how this idea got past in a meeting. There have been numerous RPG's which have implemented this along with voice acting from a more traditional system and precisely ZERO have gotten better because of it. Did no one learn from the travesty which is now the Dragon age series? It limits what you are able to say/ask. You get limited information on what you're going to say which can lead to ridiculous encounters where you're blurting out stuff that is completely different to what you thought. And to implement it into a game the WHOLE dialog system has to be dumbed down, no skill related conversation options - what replaced it is pitiful and not fit for purpose.
2. The environment is very boring from my experience. The major city in this game is ludicrously small and the map is not much better. There are a lot of side quests and encounters but im talking just the general environment, it all looks very similar and dull to the eye. Boston is the weakest setting so far.
3. You dont appear to have much of an impact on the world, much like Skyrim. This is no Witcher 3 ladies and gents, Bethesda got this completely wrong and makes major decisions seem trivial.
4. A very black or white morality with no reputation system or karma. IMO a step backwards for the series as it could have been improved upon from that last games and been made into a really enjoyable and in depth mechanic. Bethesda decided to scrap it instead.
5. The perks...lord, the perks are terrible. Not that what they offer is bad, or even that there isnt variety. Just that without a skill system it all seems rather empty and shallow. Again, instead of improving upon a mechanic that people liked that just scrapped it to make it simpler.
6. Your companions are just as dumb as the were before if not more this time. I swear dog meat spends more time in front of me in doorways than he does following. Again, you cant switch them from ranged to melee anymore, you can change how they fight. Another mechanic which could of been improved upon and made brilliant but instead was scrapped for a simpler less satisfying and frankly annoying system.
7. The story has MAJOR pacing issues. Its all over the place, gets good after a few hours in but Bethesda needs to hire some better writers because it doesnt hold up with other game of the same genre. Not even close.
8. New legendary monsters. This one might be just me because what they've chosen to do is a creative choice rather than just a bad decision. But basically its like borderlands. You get random really strong monsters on side quests or when you're exploring and they drop better loot. But calling them legendary really waters down the experience of fighting them. After fighting 'legendary' mongrels that are less than two feet tall and somehow take twenty bullets on normal difficulty the system just seems really stupid and arcadey. It doesnt suit fallout at all. I hope to god they take it out i feel like im playing some god awful MMO. In other Fallouts named raiders etc would be exciting, because they're characters, and they might have a story behind them. But now they just fade into the abyss of endless slain legendary enemies who sponge bullets. It waters it down.
The whole game just feels watered down. For every step forward they took two steps backward. Fallout 4 is an average game whilst being a TERRIBLE RPG and an even worse sequel. I hope these reviews get noticed by someone in Bethesda.
Now for a more in depth look at this game. First of im going to list what was improved upon, because though the game is bad i feel like for this to be a fair review these FEW things have to be acknowledge.
1. The gun play is the improvement every Fallout player was hoping for. Its still not a perfect system, but its leaps and bounds from the last iterations of the franchise.
2. The character creation is pretty fantastic, though the graphics dont allow this to shine as much as a graphically more impressive game would.
3. The settlement feature is fun and adds quite a bit whilst being completely optional.
4. Voice acting is much improved in terms of voice variations. Some of it still sounds poorly read.
5. Animations all round are better (but again, not perfect or anywhere near) which leads to more interesting fights, different enemies have much more varied attacks than before.
Those are what i believe to be the improvements. Now the important stuff. What did Bethesda do to absolutely ruin this game. Here goes:
1. Dialog wheel, dialog wheel, dialog wheel. When. Will. RPG Devs. Learn. I dont understand how this idea got past in a meeting. There have been numerous RPG's which have implemented this along with voice acting from a more traditional system and precisely ZERO have gotten better because of it. Did no one learn from the travesty which is now the Dragon age series? It limits what you are able to say/ask. You get limited information on what you're going to say which can lead to ridiculous encounters where you're blurting out stuff that is completely different to what you thought. And to implement it into a game the WHOLE dialog system has to be dumbed down, no skill related conversation options - what replaced it is pitiful and not fit for purpose.
2. The environment is very boring from my experience. The major city in this game is ludicrously small and the map is not much better. There are a lot of side quests and encounters but im talking just the general environment, it all looks very similar and dull to the eye. Boston is the weakest setting so far.
3. You dont appear to have much of an impact on the world, much like Skyrim. This is no Witcher 3 ladies and gents, Bethesda got this completely wrong and makes major decisions seem trivial.
4. A very black or white morality with no reputation system or karma. IMO a step backwards for the series as it could have been improved upon from that last games and been made into a really enjoyable and in depth mechanic. Bethesda decided to scrap it instead.
5. The perks...lord, the perks are terrible. Not that what they offer is bad, or even that there isnt variety. Just that without a skill system it all seems rather empty and shallow. Again, instead of improving upon a mechanic that people liked that just scrapped it to make it simpler.
6. Your companions are just as dumb as the were before if not more this time. I swear dog meat spends more time in front of me in doorways than he does following. Again, you cant switch them from ranged to melee anymore, you can change how they fight. Another mechanic which could of been improved upon and made brilliant but instead was scrapped for a simpler less satisfying and frankly annoying system.
7. The story has MAJOR pacing issues. Its all over the place, gets good after a few hours in but Bethesda needs to hire some better writers because it doesnt hold up with other game of the same genre. Not even close.
8. New legendary monsters. This one might be just me because what they've chosen to do is a creative choice rather than just a bad decision. But basically its like borderlands. You get random really strong monsters on side quests or when you're exploring and they drop better loot. But calling them legendary really waters down the experience of fighting them. After fighting 'legendary' mongrels that are less than two feet tall and somehow take twenty bullets on normal difficulty the system just seems really stupid and arcadey. It doesnt suit fallout at all. I hope to god they take it out i feel like im playing some god awful MMO. In other Fallouts named raiders etc would be exciting, because they're characters, and they might have a story behind them. But now they just fade into the abyss of endless slain legendary enemies who sponge bullets. It waters it down.
The whole game just feels watered down. For every step forward they took two steps backward. Fallout 4 is an average game whilst being a TERRIBLE RPG and an even worse sequel. I hope these reviews get noticed by someone in Bethesda.
This one made me laugh although you can't argue with the points
You may have fooled me this time, Bethesda, but I assure you it will be the last time you ever do!
Let's start with the dialogue system, which is nothing other than an abomination. Not only is it a literal cut and paste of the Mass Effect wheel, Bethesda have spectacularly managed to make this system even WORSE than it is in Mass Effect games.. There is no choice, there is no ability to roleplay, you are absolutely a set character with 4 dialog choices, two of which basically amount to "yes" and "no". What's even worse is that these characters are as typically bland and grating as any a character Bethesda has ever written, and the voices themselves incredibly irritating (and you will be hearing them a lot!). In fact the writing itself is just cringeworthy for the vast majority of the game, I found my eyes rolling into the back of my skull within the opening 5 minutes.
And Bethesda had the AUDACITY to market this game still as a "be whoever you want/do whatever you want", it is bordering on fraudulent.
Now we move onto the technical issues, which STILL plague this game. Despite the visuals being clearly sub-par, despite the game not being any larger or denser than even Skyrim (arguably less so in both fields), despite the massive leap in available memory and other hardware, IT CANNOT EVEN MAINTAIN 30FPS FOR HUGE SECTIONS OF THIS GAME!!! This is almost unbelievable..
These things could all be overlooked in the past, when Bethesda was a big fish in a small pond, but this is no longer the case and what Bethesda is offering in Fallout 4 pales in almost every aspect to several big competitors out there, which remarkably have far smoother and more stable games to boot.
This game is like some mutant offspring from an unholy union of Minecraft and Destiny, it's insulting to Fallout fans, it's insulting to Bethesda fans. This game is a PURE CASH GRAB and it's absolutely disgusting.
The reason it gains even 4 points is because AT TIMES (few and far) there are still glimmers of that old Bethesda in there, there are some tiny things for the RPG fans, but any brief joy at the inclusion of these is soon crushed by the unforgiveable butchering of almost all depth and RPG elements in this game. I'm honestly so angry I can't even form it into a coherent review on this game, I just **** hate this piece of **** and I am **** done with AAA gaming..
**** you, Bethesda, you **** pieces of **** Go shove Fallout 4 up your **** asses you mother****ers!
Let's start with the dialogue system, which is nothing other than an abomination. Not only is it a literal cut and paste of the Mass Effect wheel, Bethesda have spectacularly managed to make this system even WORSE than it is in Mass Effect games.. There is no choice, there is no ability to roleplay, you are absolutely a set character with 4 dialog choices, two of which basically amount to "yes" and "no". What's even worse is that these characters are as typically bland and grating as any a character Bethesda has ever written, and the voices themselves incredibly irritating (and you will be hearing them a lot!). In fact the writing itself is just cringeworthy for the vast majority of the game, I found my eyes rolling into the back of my skull within the opening 5 minutes.
And Bethesda had the AUDACITY to market this game still as a "be whoever you want/do whatever you want", it is bordering on fraudulent.
Now we move onto the technical issues, which STILL plague this game. Despite the visuals being clearly sub-par, despite the game not being any larger or denser than even Skyrim (arguably less so in both fields), despite the massive leap in available memory and other hardware, IT CANNOT EVEN MAINTAIN 30FPS FOR HUGE SECTIONS OF THIS GAME!!! This is almost unbelievable..
These things could all be overlooked in the past, when Bethesda was a big fish in a small pond, but this is no longer the case and what Bethesda is offering in Fallout 4 pales in almost every aspect to several big competitors out there, which remarkably have far smoother and more stable games to boot.
This game is like some mutant offspring from an unholy union of Minecraft and Destiny, it's insulting to Fallout fans, it's insulting to Bethesda fans. This game is a PURE CASH GRAB and it's absolutely disgusting.
The reason it gains even 4 points is because AT TIMES (few and far) there are still glimmers of that old Bethesda in there, there are some tiny things for the RPG fans, but any brief joy at the inclusion of these is soon crushed by the unforgiveable butchering of almost all depth and RPG elements in this game. I'm honestly so angry I can't even form it into a coherent review on this game, I just **** hate this piece of **** and I am **** done with AAA gaming..
**** you, Bethesda, you **** pieces of **** Go shove Fallout 4 up your **** asses you mother****ers!
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feck this.
Destiny, Borderlands, MMO, black & white morality, pacing issues. Sounds awful.
Ugh, I should really give this a pass.
How do I drop dogmeat as a companion?
Well, Bethesda certainly have shifted more towards the action side of action-rpgs with this one.
I'm not surprised RPG fans are kicking off.
In terms of the levelling systems for their games though- elder scrolls directed your play style because of the attribute system and it wasn't missed. Fallout 3 and NV skills were almost pointless apart from restricting perks and forcing most players to go for high intelligence builds. Not missed them so far.
Only played a few hours and really enjoying it. Dialogue system seems oversimplified but I've not really tried the persuade options. Not had any performance issues yet.
I'm not surprised RPG fans are kicking off.
In terms of the levelling systems for their games though- elder scrolls directed your play style because of the attribute system and it wasn't missed. Fallout 3 and NV skills were almost pointless apart from restricting perks and forcing most players to go for high intelligence builds. Not missed them so far.
Only played a few hours and really enjoying it. Dialogue system seems oversimplified but I've not really tried the persuade options. Not had any performance issues yet.
When you talk to Dogmeat, one of the options says "Stay".
Not played Borderlands but it is nothing like Destiny apart from some items being rarer than others. So you'll be wanting to look for crystal at a point in the game but they're nowhere near as common as wood.
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Fallout 3 and Oblivion were both already dumbed, but even so at least their systems had a little depth as useless as some of it turned out to be. It added to the feel of you still being in control of your character, and with dialogue options and simple things like having to search, at least the very essence of what an RPG is was still there to some degree.
With Skyrim, and even more now Fallout 4, they've stripped everything back to being basically an ok shooter and little more. People obviously like that, simple and easy games, which is fine of course but it does ruin the original series in terms of wanting more. They should at least have gone the bloodbourne route and make these games spin-offs.
Though Bethseda have no intention of trying to return to what they once was. Simple sells.
I was happy with Sanctuary as my main base but am thinking of converting the drive-in. Its such a great building spot - massive wide open area with good farmland on the side and a spot of water in the middle. Ideal and easy to defend. I already put up one metal building but I am thinking of making it into some huge megastructure.
I've read some great reviews and also some poor ones, so not sure what to think. I've never played any of the Fallout games before, but what I've seen in video reviews of this version looks really good. Is it worth getting? Do I need to have played the previous games for the fourth to make sense?
I'd say most of the bad reviews are from people who have played the ones before, because this is just stripped bare from the last game.
As a stand alone game and first entry to the series though, I so far think it's ok. Nowhere near the 9's it's been getting so far for me (but I haven't played a huge amount so who knows) because it has basically become a shooter and it doesn't exactly do that part brilliantly, but there seems to be enough in this game to recommend it if you like the videos. It's not a shit game by any standard and not playing any of the others first is more likely to make you really like it in fact. You also don't really need to know the story or anything of the last ones, once again that'll probably make it better for you.
I am shocked that Redlambs doesn't like an AAA game. Shocked!
Ah no, I sort of agree, though I think I definitely like it more than you do and I wouldn't call 'basically a shooter' by any stretch as it still has other facets. It's enjoyable, but yeah, all I can say is that I definitely am not enjoying this as much as I enjoyed Fallout 3 when it came out. I think that's probably due to two things, it getting dumbed down a bit too much, and being treated to games like The Witcher 3 in between them.
Ah no, I sort of agree, though I think I definitely like it more than you do and I wouldn't call 'basically a shooter' by any stretch as it still has other facets. It's enjoyable, but yeah, all I can say is that I definitely am not enjoying this as much as I enjoyed Fallout 3 when it came out. I think that's probably due to two things, it getting dumbed down a bit too much, and being treated to games like The Witcher 3 in between them.
In fairness, it has nothing to do with AAA games, I say as I see no matter the budget 
To be clearer, I'm not calling it a basic shooter (which it's clearly not), but more saying it's basically become more focused on the shooting. In fact Bethseda themselves have said that anyway.
To that end, it isn't brilliant. It's not bad, but when the mods for bullet velocity and collisions start appearing, you'll see what I mean when I say it all feels too sluggish for what has become the most essential part. (One could argue FO3 was about the shooting, as obviously it was, but with all the skills and being more VATS orientated it was still within the confines of a planned rpg shooter, this is supposed to be a more free shooter and as such should be judged differently on that aspect).
Oh and I do quite like it. It's Fallout after all, even if it's more aimed for childlike players
@Randall FlaggOh and I do quite like it. It's Fallout after all, even if it's more aimed for childlike players
Didn't realise you were limited to amount of things you could have in settlement, I had built a wall around the rocket place and ran out so had to swap it for a wire fence
This quest from New Vegas was so good. Just look at all the uses the different skills used to have in doing quests in various ways. All of that is gone now and replaced with a sarcastic button. I also remember how there was a quest where someone needed medical help and you could help them if you had a medicine ability of like 50 or you could just lie if you had a speech of 40 or something and just attempt the surgery and kill the person by accident. The skills had quite a lot of use in New Vegas and they should have built upon that.
Well I am thoroughly enjoying the game. To me, its very similar to 3 and NV, so I am more than happy with the game.
BUT: Decisions decisions - This is for people who are potentially quite a way through the story:
BUT: Decisions decisions - This is for people who are potentially quite a way through the story:
Only read if you are at a part where you need to make a faction decision.
Who have you gone with. I really want to choose BoS, simply because in Fallout 3, they where the good guys. In NV, not so much, but I tried to help them out as best as possible.
In this, they just seem bad. If anybody is quite far in to it, maybe a private chat would be interesting
Who have you gone with. I really want to choose BoS, simply because in Fallout 3, they where the good guys. In NV, not so much, but I tried to help them out as best as possible.
In this, they just seem bad. If anybody is quite far in to it, maybe a private chat would be interesting
So do people actually like the settlement feature? Can you make a settlement anywhere or in a pre defined location?
Pre defined location. There are 30 settlement locations ranging from diners to towns to castles to alleyways
There are five books to collect which give you access to more settlement features like statues and potted plants.
So I've got it today and started my character etc, etc. Then when I speak to my wife (in game) she has the name of my girlfriend. So for 5 minutes I was wondering how she knows my girlfriends name, what an idiot haha.
All jokes aside, this is so overwhelming. I'm picking up everything I can find and have no idea what to do first? Where do I build settlements? What do I need to focus on?
I have no clue
All jokes aside, this is so overwhelming. I'm picking up everything I can find and have no idea what to do first? Where do I build settlements? What do I need to focus on?
I have no clue
k, shame. It'd be fun to build them anywhere. Guess its to do with AI attacks.
Population limit at each location is set to 10 + Charisma, with a max limit of 21. Not experienced it myself but apparently one of the settlers who come in could end up
being a synth and they end up killing off other settlers which could be fun
Just had to look up a solution to one of the missions on Youtube. This game does a piss poor job of explaining stuff.
Yep. I'm sure there'll be mods and stuff that come out that'll lift some of the restrictions
So I've got it today and started my character etc, etc. Then when I speak to my wife (in game) she has the name of my girlfriend. So for 5 minutes I was wondering how she knows my girlfriends name, what an idiot haha.
All jokes aside, this is so overwhelming. I'm picking up everything I can find and have no idea what to do first? Where do I build settlements? What do I need to focus on?
I have no clue
Yeah it's annoying. Sampy, there's 30 locations to build settlements - the first two you'll come across will be Red Rocket and Sanctuary. Use the workbench to build stuff. At first there'll be no people in the settlements but it won't last for too long
I can't decide if I like it as a feature or not. On one hand it's a nice idea, on the other hand I hate the way it kills immersion by simply spawning objects/walls etc from thin air.
I read on reddit or neogaf the other day that you should drop your junk on the floor and scrap it yourself as otherwise you can lose valuable stuff. Like for example if you had a gold watch and the game needed a gear to make something the watch would be broken down for the gear but the gold won't be kept and moved to your workplace. Is that correct?
I'm not sure myself yet. Though I've not done too much with it all right now.
I guess that comes down to how important it is in game, i.e if it's actually a feature used or if the raider attacks are actually any good, or if the whole thing is tacked on. I don't like the UI with it though, like with the companions and (as Damo said) assigning tasks and the shite inventory, I think it could all be far easier to use and laid out far better.
We need a SkyUI mod for this!
Way I see it working which would be much better is if you had like a ghost version of what you intended to build. The NPCs would then get to work building it, it's how those web games work when it comes to base building or task assigning. Gives a bit more immersion in a game which is meant to be immersive. Guess that could also be a feature thats turned on/off depending on how the player wants to play. I know some people don't care about immersion while others like myself have it top of the priority list.
Well it's a weird one because the game is supposed to be immersive, look at the world and the role you play. Yet taking away any real sense of progression through stats, the quick search shite and the building all take away from that immersion. It really seems like it should be a spin-off game so they could have at least focused more on the building and left FO4 for a proper sequel.
But yeah a ghost build like most similar games have would definitely be good.
Enjoying the game but the dialogue system is very disappointing. To say it's a poor man's Mass Effect would be a compliment.
I'm still early in the game so maybe it becomes a bit more complex but so far it seems like there is 3 options for every conversation strand; Pleasant, rude and "huh?". I'm finding myself picking the sarcastic/rude response most of the time just to add some spice to the dialogue.
Speaking of Mass Effect, the voice actor for the female vault dweller is the same voice actress who played Jack in ME2 & 3, so the sarcastic responses kind of seem natural anyway.
I'm still early in the game so maybe it becomes a bit more complex but so far it seems like there is 3 options for every conversation strand; Pleasant, rude and "huh?". I'm finding myself picking the sarcastic/rude response most of the time just to add some spice to the dialogue.
Speaking of Mass Effect, the voice actor for the female vault dweller is the same voice actress who played Jack in ME2 & 3, so the sarcastic responses kind of seem natural anyway.
Aye, it's a strange game in that respect. It's why i'm impressed with the new Tomb Raider, in many respects its actually more of an RPG than Fallout4 which is bizarre.