*** May contain Spoilers***
We took three days off from work and became reclusive for a nice five day weekend. Simon was up until 5am that first night. He kept saying, after this mission I'll go to bed. I got up and created my character, that took about an hour, so many choices! I was able to get through the opening before Simon came lumbering out wanting to play.
For the next two and a half months I watched Simon play the game three times as he wanted to get all of the trophies for it. He played on Hard and had to fight a number of fights over and over, but he didn't give up and never changed the difficulty. Me on the other hand, played it on easy as I don't enjoy ramming my head into a wall multiple times. I play RPG's for the story, fighting comes second for me.
I slowly played my game, when I could, over the last three months and the last two weeks I've had full access after Simon finished his third game and got that last coveted trophy. I finish my game last night after flip-flopping on who's side I was going to take. Simon's endings went Brotherhood, Railroad and Institute. After watching all three different endings, I was disappointed and wanted to try a Minutemen ending. That didn't happen.
The Brotherhood had annoyed me the minute they showed up. Watching Simon's game and seeing their missions, and how they treated everyone annoyed me. They were outsiders that came in knowing what was best and wanted to "protect" the people..no make that the Humans of the Commonwealth. In my book, they caused more problems with the Vertibirds than needed. I don't know if was a bug, but if they got close to one of my settlements while fighting something, it set off the turrets and then my settlers would start shooting them. The Vertibirds would then explode or crash down on myself (Killing me once) and the settlers. At one point, they showed up as I was on a mission to take out raiding mutants and ruined my sniping fun. I pulled out my laser rifle and took them out. How dare they interfere with my job?!? Then there was Captain Obvious, Paladin Danse. Did the first mission with him and wanted nothing more with him. Got his gun and said "Smell ya later poopicals!".
Then I thought that the Railroad would be good to side with. Did a lot of their missions and some were fun. But as you go along, their only concern is the Synth and freeing them. They had no interest in helping to improve The Commonwealth and had no desire to compromise. The one benefit to the Railroad, is the armor.
Then there is The Institute. You can finally work with them in the later part of the game. Can't say much as I don't want to spoil the story line for those that have yet to play or are still playing. In the end, I ended up siding with them. They had the most that "may" better the lives of those living in the Commonwealth. I say "may" because the ending is kind of open to what they may or may not do. I'm hoping that a DLC will have more. I know it's cryptic but spoilers.
So here is what we think about the game itself. I honestly have no desire to play multiple games of Fallout 4. Some Gamers were surprised that it isn't game of the year. I can tell you, it is not a game that deserves the Game of The Year title. It's a good game but it's not a Great game.
The game is like a free dinner provided by work. Long on cheap sides, and unlimited veggies, and while it tastes good, the main dish is small, like they didn't have enough for everyone. Bethesda spent to much time trying to be other games and not trying to be a New True Fallout game. For example, with the conversation system, they were clearly doing a Bioware impression from the four options, all 4 options mean the same thing, this button is sarcasm, this button is Jerk, etc, etc. Even down to the same from the side back and forth angles during conversations. But unlike Bioware, they didn't allow for the traditional "extras" section to keep the conversation going. Which has ups and downs. In some ways it's good, as it trims down the conversations to something more realistic, as opposed to stopping a random person and you two going on at detailed lengths about the current geo-political state of life. But it removes skill based conversation checks, which has always been a big part of Fallout and replaces it with a hidden dice roll based only on Charisma. Those options are limited to "Ask for more money" which always works 3 times before they won't give any more money or "Talk more about what we are currently talking about" however that option seems to rarely make much of a real difference, just shares a little more detail.
At one point of my game, The Railroad kept asking me to support them. There was an option to ask why they felt that the Minutemen wouldn't help them. The response was, that they would mutiny before helping Synths and given the rest of the Commonwealth's views on Synths, it wouldn't work. Ok, why not give us a chance "prove" that theory wrong? Yes, while you travel in the Commonwealth, you hear the Settlers telling you that you better not be a Synth, however, one of your Companions is a Synth. It took time, but he was able to gain Diamond City's trust. Why can't I as the leader of Minutemen be able to convince my group to help the Railroad?
The same is true with the Institute. You're asked to side with them and to prove your loyalty you have to wipe out the Railroad. There is no compromise, no exceptions. Here is a point that the Charisma checks would have actually been useful. What I would have liked to see was that I'm able to convince the Institute to let the "Self Aware" Synths to leave if they wished. Hand them over to the Railroad so that they can help resettle the Synths with the condition that the Synths become productive members of society. The minute that they start taking innocent lives, they go back to the Institute for reprogramming. If you have a high enough Charisma to make the speech checks, then it would be a win-win. But no, it is a solid "It's our way or no way." mentality for the three factions.
Towards the end, the story line dried up and I didn't like that there wasn't more peaceful options with the factions. The longer you play, the more holes you see in the game. This is something one would expect to see in a game that a company took a year to make, not a game that was 8 years in the making.
The positives of the game is that it's not THAT buggy and most of the graphics are pretty. Designing settlements is fun, up until a point. (Oh my god, you have 10 turrets, a canon, 4 guards, and a wall around the place. Keep the gate closed and stop letting the baddies in!)
Our favorite Companions:
Nick Valentine- He has one of the best developed character history and story lines.
Strong- Not smart but has some great lines that made us laugh throughout the game.
And of course, Dogmeat. I mean, come on, how can you NOT love wondering the Commonwealth with a really cute and expressive pup at your side? He doesn't talk back, won't get in the way of your lined up sniper shot and doesn't keep telling you about a settlement that needs your help!
Our Favorite Missions:
The Silver Shroud Story Line
Last Voyage of the USS Constitution
At one point of my game, The Railroad kept asking me to support them. There was an option to ask why they felt that the Minutemen wouldn't help them. The response was, that they would mutiny before helping Synths and given the rest of the Commonwealth's views on Synths, it wouldn't work. Ok, why not give us a chance "prove" that theory wrong? Yes, while you travel in the Commonwealth, you hear the Settlers telling you that you better not be a Synth, however, one of your Companions is a Synth. It took time, but he was able to gain Diamond City's trust. Why can't I as the leader of Minutemen be able to convince my group to help the Railroad?
The same is true with the Institute. You're asked to side with them and to prove your loyalty you have to wipe out the Railroad. There is no compromise, no exceptions. Here is a point that the Charisma checks would have actually been useful. What I would have liked to see was that I'm able to convince the Institute to let the "Self Aware" Synths to leave if they wished. Hand them over to the Railroad so that they can help resettle the Synths with the condition that the Synths become productive members of society. The minute that they start taking innocent lives, they go back to the Institute for reprogramming. If you have a high enough Charisma to make the speech checks, then it would be a win-win. But no, it is a solid "It's our way or no way." mentality for the three factions.
Towards the end, the story line dried up and I didn't like that there wasn't more peaceful options with the factions. The longer you play, the more holes you see in the game. This is something one would expect to see in a game that a company took a year to make, not a game that was 8 years in the making.
The positives of the game is that it's not THAT buggy and most of the graphics are pretty. Designing settlements is fun, up until a point. (Oh my god, you have 10 turrets, a canon, 4 guards, and a wall around the place. Keep the gate closed and stop letting the baddies in!)
Our favorite Companions:
Nick Valentine- He has one of the best developed character history and story lines.
Strong- Not smart but has some great lines that made us laugh throughout the game.
And of course, Dogmeat. I mean, come on, how can you NOT love wondering the Commonwealth with a really cute and expressive pup at your side? He doesn't talk back, won't get in the way of your lined up sniper shot and doesn't keep telling you about a settlement that needs your help!
Our Favorite Missions:
The Silver Shroud Story Line
Last Voyage of the USS Constitution
