Fallout 4's world feels "empty" (mild spoilers)

[TonkatsuRamen]

After reaching lvl 35 without touching the main quest I start to get the feeling that the world of fallout 4 is very shallow.

Sure there are many sights to be seen with unique architecture or style. But that's about it. Loot, enemies, locks, terminals ... everywhere I go it's 100% completely the same. Over and over again.

Then there are these promising sights like "the sentinel site" in the glowing sea. Wich basicly is just a "tube" you run through and kill ghouls. You make your way to the bottom, follow the tunnel and on the other site is an elevator to take you back up to the surface. There is no big "secret" to discover. No "special weapon" or interesting "story arc" to find. The only thing is a comic book and some casual loot.

And this feeling of emtpiness and "sameness" comes up a lot ... always some kind of "tube" you run through with an "elevator" or "door" to bring you back to the entrance or directly to the surface.

Instead of playing in a world full of lore and history, I just run through a "theme park" and look at nice buildings with occassional battles (I play on survivalist and still feel overpowered all the time).

Does anyone else feel the same?

[ryjilxiao]

I don't get that feeling at all. I love going into just about every door I come across, hacking every terminal, picking every lock. I've come across some really neat stuff in random terminals, scripted events in the Commonwealth, etc. I don't know, I seem to be the minority on this, but I'm really enjoying the game and feel that it was everything I was hoping for.

[TheHonoredOne]

Originally posted by TonkatsuRamen:

After reaching lvl 35 without touching the main quest I start to get the feeling that the world of fallout 4 is very shallow.

Sure there are many sights to be seen with unique architecture or style. But that's about it. Loot, enemies, locks, terminals ... everywhere I go it's 100% completely the same. Over and over again.

Then there are these promising sights like "the sentinel site" in the glowing sea. Wich basicly is just a "tube" you run through and kill ghouls. You make your way to the bottom, follow the tunnel and on the other site is an elevator to take you back up to the surface. There is no big "secret" to discover. No "special weapon" or interesting "story arc" to find. The only thing is a comic book and some casual loot.

And this feeling of emtpiness and "sameness" comes up a lot ... always some kind of "tube" you run through with an "elevator" or "door" to bring you back to the entrance or directly to the surface.

Instead of playing in a world full of lore and history, I just run through a "theme park" and look at nice buildings with occassional battles (I play on survivalist and still feel overpowered all the time).

Does anyone else feel the same?

im pretty sure new vegas and fallout 3 had more settlements to go to with actual npcs that made it fun to visit , this game bethesda rep " uuuhrm lets put less places to go so people use our crappy settlement maker cause we know they will mod and show us how to do in a few months then we will sell it back to them in 8 years and call it new hahah stupid peasents". yea i think this sums up their business model

[Percello]

I agree with the OP. There is no special reward or loot for completing most places.

[leadmecca]

It's an empty world, or as I call it, walking/massmurder simulator. The only deep convo you will get is 2-4 lines from people on the main quest and even those can usually be distilled to 1-2 lines if simplified. The dialogue is atrocious! There isn't even hardly any companion let alone npc build up. The one guy you talk to the most will be Strugis, between him and Mamma give probably 90% of the most dialogue the first 30 minutes in the game then pfffft! You are on your own in your walking/mass murder/settlement simulator.

[OrgatE]

Go play FNV, its an authentic simulation of a bare desert.

[Dave1029]

The quests are more story rich this time around. Like discovering the purpose of vault 81 was quite dark.

[Kashra Fall]

Game is the same as FO3 and FONV. You run, you explore, you pillage, you profit. That's the name of the game. Except this time, you Run, you Loot, you return the loot, you modify, you go back to pillage some more and then you profit. The lore is in the small things you might not listen to or read. From a child's note to their father, to the last recordings of a downed plane. Doesn't feel empty to me at all and the subtle things here and there just make it all the better.

[Leg Day]

I think of the junk as special loot. I'm currently collecting a full pool table set. I hope the junk doesnt disappear in my settlement.

[YoYoStevo]

... It's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ wasteland of course it's meant to feel empty. You think it's meant to look like some amusement park after a nuculear war? ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, it's like some people don't even know the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ setting of the game. Clearly you've never played a fallout game before.

[Army Pea]

I find FO4 more "alive" than any other Fallout.
The cities are teeming with interesting characters. Lots of roaming patrols , mutants, raiders , synthetic and gunners
Even random houses or shops have people in them with a small story.

Don't know what your basis of comparison.

[PureOrionBelt]

Sounds like you are just burnt on the genre. There are many more things to do in this game than Fallout 3 or FNV ever had, and it looks so much better to. You just seem to be bored with the whole design of this type of game.

[Nite69]

its suppose to have that feeling, its abandoned/wiped out (accept for survivors from bunkers and vaults)

[LostAngel1000]

I've always felt Open world RPGs often have this issue some what, there are area's full to the brim with quests and things then big area's with nothing but pretty things to look at and maybe a few rare tucked away places. Part this is probably for the Dreaded DLC aspect of these games, part of it is just our idea of how "Full" a world should be, and part of it just the fact there is only so much you can logically shove in a game with out making it to big to ever finish.

This isn't a bad thing though since it helps with giving Modders area's to use that are not being used as well as just gives that negative space any art needs to draw you to the postive space.

[Dex]

The only gripe i have with the world is that there are too many enemies everywhere. finding a super mutant tower right beside a raider camp which is behind a brother of steel camp which happens to be sitting in front of a ghoul infested building is silly.

[TonkatsuRamen]

Originally posted by YoYoStevo:

... It's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ wasteland of course it's meant to feel empty. You think it's meant to look like some amusement park after a nuculear war? ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, it's like some people don't even know the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ setting of the game. Clearly you've never played a fallout game before.

I don't know the setting? I still have the original Fallout 1 with CD in my shelve :)
Go back and replay the old Fallouts and you will understand what I mean. Too many places in Fallout 4 are just there as "loot dungeons". In the old games every place had a purpose and most had some interesting NPC's and not just dumbified dialoges like: "1: DERP, 2: HERP a DERP, 3: Sarcastic DERPHERP, 4: Yes"