The longest review (and arguably THE BEST) of Fallout 4

[Goral]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=10267

Some fragments:

...it's perfectly logical that a decent, functional dialogue system would allow for a variable number of possible dialogue choices. That's how most RPGs have implemented their dialogues, and that's a perfectly sensible way to do it. Unfortunately, Bethesda chose a different path in Fallout 4 – here, you are always presented with exactly four dialogue options, no matter what situation you are in. This kind of strict formal requirement straightjackets the entire dialogue system; every single conversation node has been twisted into a neat “pick one out of four” pattern. Like so many things about Fallout 4, it's completely unclear to me why the designers have made this choice; maybe it's because controllers have four primary action buttons. Whatever the reasoning, the end result is a broken and unnatural dialogue system that is bloated with pointless choices.[/quote]

...As it is, I got the feeling that Bethesda were more concerned with making the game look fun and visceral and exciting and “Whoa!” instead of actually doing the hard work of making it play that way.

...Intelligence gives 3% bonus experience per level and reduces the number of possible solutions shown in the hacking minigame. And that's it. That's what being intelligent means in the sequel to Fallout 1 and 2. Why couldn't they just remove the damn stat altogether? To be perfectly fair, Intelligence is also used for the three only (!) proper stat checks that I found in the entire game world, but that's not exactly a reason to rejoice and praise the Incline.

...It's no hyperbole to say that the writers at Bethesda are some of the worst storytellers in the AAA gaming segment. They are fatally attached to the idea of making a cartoon world full of cartoon characters living through Very Serious Stories. Unfortunately, this combination of narrative elements clashes rather badly, and results in a bunch of utterly idiotic stories that positively dare the player to find any sort of intelligent design behind them. 

And tl;dr

Fallout 4 is a serious game full of caricatures; it's a comedy game without any funny parts; it's a 100+ hour single player shooter; it's a treadmill of linear fetch and kill quests coupled with atrocious writing. It's a shallow and simplistic game that struggles to create an illusion of depth and variety. It is a lazy, nonsensical, and fundamentally dumb piece of design that offers nothing of interest to the discerning cRPG player. I regret every minute I wasted playing this game. There is nothing more to say.

[Ruin]

Thanks for sharing, but the review is wrong... Just my opinion - just like the review is nothing but opinion...

[Rainmaker]

Perhaps the game designers will release a patch or update and fix these problems with Dialog and Inteligence. Not that I intend to hold my breath, mind you. But, I do agree that these issues should Never have made it to the final realse of FO4. They really do need to be fixed!! Bo

[PolecatEZ]

I fully agree it is all that, and more. Yet something continues to compel me to play...5 times through, with almost 700 hours spent when I gave up on far better games with much less time.

Figure that out.

[dogg]

The review isn't wrong.. just the conclusion.

No matter what you dislike about Fallout 4 (and there is much to note), it is STILL FUN!

It isn't for everyone's taste but the rest is just opinion/conjecture.

[Taiwan Number One]

I agree. Of course, F4 is aimed at COD, Minecraft, and Skyrim fans so I doubt most here will care that much about the lost features or the review.

[Pareidolia]

"There is nothing more to say." Took you awhile to get that out. "I don't like the game" Is that so hard? I don't like the Witcher games, do I go on the witcher forums and try to explain to them why they are making the wrong decision?

No, because i'm not a troglodite.

[Goral]

@PolecatEZ

Commie from RPG Codex has summed up Bethesda fans well: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/13-shocking-facts-about-fallout-4-that-will-forever-change-the-way-you-think-about-rpgs.108098/page-4#post-4479629

After reading the review and these responses it finally struck me as to why this formula is so popular against all rational sense: the Bethesda game is basically a clicker game underneath the veneer of 'RPG'. The fact that it looks to be more meaty than H&S types of games which mechanically are just as simple if not more so, also tends to make Bethtards believe they are somehow playing something substantial, something on another level. Yet basically the game is a timesink where you do the same basic things over and over, most things are disconnected from the next with no real consequence, you can't really make a 'wrong' choice..it all propels you forward, but also gives you alternate things to click on(those recurring side quests)in order to keep raising stats...this is why it's successful like those piece of ♥♥♥♥ facebook timewasters masquerading as games.

To me this game is a complete waste of time, as any Bethesda game (the only exception is Fallout New Vegas but Obsidian made it, not Bethesda).

[Mr Groovy]

Great read. He is very honest and is correct about it (my opinion). What really made me node and say "so true" was his point about fans and the teddies part.

And I'm really sick and tired of the "wait for mods to fix it" nosense. No excuse for what they dished.

[Sugam]

So, Op would rather just waste in in the FO4 steam forums? OK. There is a lot of things in the game they could have done better. Even a more up to date game engine would have been more smart in the long run but meh. I dont get hung up on just a game or anything. I play it tell it served its use and I move on to somthing else.

[heime2003]

its their direction. todd howard said they make a game fun and enjoyable .
he also said reading a long text in rpg games doesnt make a game fun or interesting
blowing everything up=fun

[Thatdude]

What I am really afraid is CEO(or any high officials at ZeniMax/Bethesda) be like:" Hey although this game has a lot of problem, it became our TOP product! Let's make/advertise all future RPGs in that formula! Fxxk all those whining hardcore fans, I am gonna make more money!" Then all future Bethesda RPGs will become action games with a little bit of RPG, and because of its financial success, every other companies will follow...

[Zero]

Originally posted by Goral:

@PolecatEZ

Commie from RPG Codex has summed up Bethesda fans well: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/13-shocking-facts-about-fallout-4-that-will-forever-change-the-way-you-think-about-rpgs.108098/page-4#post-4479629

After reading the review and these responses it finally struck me as to why this formula is so popular against all rational sense: the Bethesda game is basically a clicker game underneath the veneer of 'RPG'. The fact that it looks to be more meaty than H&S types of games which mechanically are just as simple if not more so, also tends to make Bethtards believe they are somehow playing something substantial, something on another level. Yet basically the game is a timesink where you do the same basic things over and over, most things are disconnected from the next with no real consequence, you can't really make a 'wrong' choice..it all propels you forward, but also gives you alternate things to click on(those recurring side quests)in order to keep raising stats...this is why it's successful like those piece of ♥♥♥♥ facebook timewasters masquerading as games.

To me this game is a complete waste of time, as any Bethesda game (the only exception is Fallout New Vegas but Obsidian made it, not Bethesda).

*facepalms* using that guys logic, ALL FPS games are just clicker games, since you can boil it down to 'clicking on men'. and that reviewer needs to be slapped for oversimplifying the game, JUST so they can get there 'oh i dont like the mechanics' of the game, did they write a game about Mass Effect 1, or 2? did they write a reivew on any other number of games that could be put into his little framework of ♥♥♥♥?

[ComradePreacher]

I don't think "every other companies will follow" Sure it's different and had a lot of cut content and skipped some details from the FO3 system. Honestly i still enjoy this game and believe in it's potential.

Yes Mods is not the answer to make base game great that's the company's responsibility but honestly i think people just had too many expectations and Todd Howard might spoke a bit too much when teasing content in the game. Don't like it. Screw off. Whining ever since december isn't making it better and just another toxic storm that makes me call the Steam Mutilator.

Still hoping for DLCs..and fancy mods perhaps but i guess the DLCs might make up to it aftherall. But seriously why can't we just appreciate we even have the game? It feels spoiled here.

[PolecatEZ]

Originally posted by Goral:

@PolecatEZ

Commie from RPG Codex has summed up Bethesda fans well: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/13-shocking-facts-about-fallout-4-that-will-forever-change-the-way-you-think-about-rpgs.108098/page-4#post-4479629

After reading the review and these responses it finally struck me as to why this formula is so popular against all rational sense: the Bethesda game is basically a clicker game underneath the veneer of 'RPG'. The fact that it looks to be more meaty than H&S types of games which mechanically are just as simple if not more so, also tends to make Bethtards believe they are somehow playing something substantial, something on another level. Yet basically the game is a timesink where you do the same basic things over and over, most things are disconnected from the next with no real consequence, you can't really make a 'wrong' choice..it all propels you forward, but also gives you alternate things to click on(those recurring side quests)in order to keep raising stats...this is why it's successful like those piece of ♥♥♥♥ facebook timewasters masquerading as games.

To me this game is a complete waste of time, as any Bethesda game (the only exception is Fallout New Vegas but Obsidian made it, not Bethesda).

I can agree also...but what about those of us that openly recognize this is a horrible waste of time, yet still play? Its just soothing in a strange way, there's no pressure to do anything, as nothing you do matters via the game design that isn't...pure escapism.

[Goral]

Originally posted by The Error Alien:

Still hoping for DLCs..and fancy mods perhaps but i guess the DLCs might make up to it aftherall. But seriously why can't we just appreciate we even have the game? It feels spoiled here.

IMO that's a very naive and perilous way of thinking. The same thing happened with other Bethesda games, "the vanilla game is bad but mods will fix it" was a very popular thing people said. Now it's the same (plus DLCs). Sorry but if a main product is garbage then mods won't fix it. And even if some things would be improved a reviewer should rate the game on its own merits and not something that was added later.

With thinking such as yours developers like Bethesda have no reason to improve. In fact they go the opposite way and dumb things down to cater to as many fans as they can. And RPG lovers instead of calling out on their bull_shit they still buy it only because it's Fallout or because it's Bethesda game or because they don't know any good RPGs. You want to know which 2015 RPGs were the best? Try:

1) Age of Decadence

- one of the best but also one of the least known RPGs ever released. It is by far the most innovative cRPG since a very, very long time, not only because of unique setting and lore but also because of non-standard approach "from zero to slightly more than zero" instead of "from zero to hero" like in most cRPGs. And even though you won't slay a dragon here the things you can do are way more memorable to me than any fight in Baldur's Gate for example. You can experience it quite early by playing as an assassin - the last mission in Teron is just superb. In Maadoran and Ganezzar there are even more epic things you can do (don't want to spoil it by giving specifics).

http://store.steampowered.com/app/230070/

2) Serpent in the Staglands

- best high-fantasy RPG since Arcanum but with bad graphics (it was only made by 2 people).

http://store.steampowered.com/app/335120/

3)Underrail

- that's actually a game closer to Fallout than any Bethesda game. It has great exploration (something you can't experience in Bethesda games) and interesting world. It's not as good as the other two games I mentioned (especially Age of Decadence which is one of the best RPGs ever made) but it's still fun.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/250520/

All these games have demos available so you can see for yourself if you'll enjoy it without buying it first. 2 hours refund policy doesn't help much because these games are too long and you won't even see a fraction of what demo can tell you (especially Age of Decadence demo, it's huge but to see all the content you need to choose different backgrounds and/or make different choices).