I've been watching a lets play by a known fallout LPer.
It seems that...
1 - Things are more focused on combat, and less focused on storyline based "world building"
2 - Things seem a bit more "rail-roadey" in such that Fallout 3 was this way, as opposed to New Vegas, which was far more "open"
3 - The way Power Armour is introduced and used, and the way crafting works, indicates a significant shift towards combat and away from RPG elements.
IMO all of these are bad things.
However.
1 - The game is radically different when it comes to physical "world building" and is beyond compare to others, with Skyrim's HearthFires being the only one that could possibly come close
2 - Watching the exploring of the world is extremely entertaining. I may be missing something, due to watching and not playing, but exploration seems top notch, and this is either the best, or tied for the best in Bethesda's games when ranked for exploring the world
3 - Radiation has changed from counting rads, and suddenly giving you X or Y if you pass from 199 to 200, to a system that effectively "caps" your "max HP" for a time.
IMO all of these are great things.
Based on what I've seen so far; if New Vegas is a 10, Fallout 3 is a 6 and Fallout 4 game is a 9.
Compare to Skyrim which would be a 9.75, and Oblivion which would be a 7.5
IMO of course.
I own the game and have been a massive Fallout fan for years, starting with 3 and working my way back and forward. I really anticipated FO4 and I can say that I'm not at all disappointed yet with the 10 hours I've put in.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that there is definitely some shifts in the gameplay as compared to the previous games, but just as FO3 was radically different from 1 & 2, and even how New Vegas was different in many ways from FO3, the changes are necessary to keep up with new popular trends, new technology, and storytelling methods. They make these games to ensure a profit, so you can't expect things to stay the same when the majority of consumers have moved on to other modes of gaming; but the key is to ensure you don't sell out the soul of your game in the process.
I don't think FO4 has done that. The storytelling is engaging and the characters suck me right in. It gave me a reason to care about what was going on in the game aside from simple exploration; its been as engaging, if not more so than FO3, and way way way more engaging than New Vegas or Skyrim, which left you with a goal but little real reason to pursue it. I actually care about what's going on and I want to see where it goes, even though I'm not bounded by it.
And my God, the characters! The companions aren't as in-depth as Bioware makes them, but they're interesting and personable and wonderfully voice acted. I get their motivations in a way that many characters in previous FO games couldn't be articulated, not just through exposition but the personality of the characters as well. Even Skyrim didn't have that, with very few exceptions (Serana comes to mind).
That Bioware mention is important too, by the way - because their games, along with Telltale's, rely sometimes exclusively on the characters they create and the storyline they develop. That Bethesda could match that level of sophistication in a game not necessarily designed around it, yet still have great combat mechanics, is amazing. A feat, honestly, similar to GTA 4 & 5 which did the same things. I couldn't have asked for more with this game.