I have always thought that Bethesda are very half assed, and always stopped defiantly short of being 'good' and a fair ways off being 'great'. Arena/Daggerfall were early days. Morrowind is the closest I've ever come to enjoying one of their games, although even that game left me wanting a lot more. It was pretty close, I just wished it had a bit more balance, flair, depth, and a more varied world that wasn't 100% brown. But with Oblivion I felt like it all started going wrong. I felt like they spent all their budget on pretty graphics and pandering to the mainstream, and they dumbed gameplay down too. The skilling system is just weird and unbalanced, spell crafting too, also thought the loot was all so uninteresting, it lacked all the interesting rare items, fewer spells too, etc.
Then along comes Skyrim and I thought it had a chance of being great. My theory was that with Oblivion they spent all their budget on the graphics department and engine, and the gameplay suffered, but for Skyrim they could use the same engine and save money and spend it all on great gameplay! Maybe. It didn't happen (imo). It got dumbed down even further which to me was unimaginable. Fewer spells again, fewer spell lines, fewer items, fewer item slots, no more spell crafting at all, no acrobatics, etc.. etc.. etc.. And the attributes/skill points... Simplifying it down to just Magicka/Health/Stam makes me wonder why they even bothered with it at all. Just turn it into a spell shooting FPS and be done with it. I also thought the story and dialogue was dire too. If I had to listen to one more sob story of Jarl Fnyargnahr I would have lost it. I really dislike Skyrim. It bugs me because of how it is (or isn't), but it also bugs me because I feel a bit cheated, that the excellent and tactical RPG's I grew up with have all died up, and gamers backed Bethesda instead, and crappy Skyrim is the result. It's like gamers have given up on depth and tactics and would prefer to just run around squirting fire out their fingers and one shotting zombies with a bow from stealth. To me Skyrim is the epitome of dumbed down mainstream gaming, it knows the history of RPG's and it doesn't care and doesn't look back, and it released extremely bugged too, because they know 20 million people will buy it in the first few months anyway... For me this was their lowest point yet also probably their most profitable.
As for Fallout 3, I felt kind of the same way. I thought Fallout 3 was a solid 'OK'. It had an open world, just not a very interesting one, it had guns, just not very many of them, it had items, just not many and not very interesting ones, it had side quests which I always got bored with quickly. I enjoyed the main quest quite a bit, but the rest of it I felt was just so lacking. I never really cared about the action/RPG argument because... it is a shooter now. It's never going to be a turn based, grid based, tactical RPG or anything even within a million miles of that. It's an action shooter with some RPG elements and that's that, but it can at least be a good one, and my gripe is that it wasn't a good one.
When Fallout 4 came out and I started seeing reviews and user reviews saying, "It is barely even an RPG anymore!" I felt like screaming, "Why would anyone even expect anything else from Bethesda?! Dumbing down games is clearly what they are all about!" So I decided I would just put off playing it and maybe this would be the first time I just don't even bother playing one of their games.
Then recently I got burned out on some strategy games and felt like something a bit more action packed, so I thought I would give it a go... I like to wait because I usually install 100 mods on their games to make them more playable, but this time there weren't even many mods that I felt were necessary. I expected to hate it, if I always thought Bethesda games were too simple and yet most people seemed to love them anyway, then just imagine what it must be like if even other people are saying it is hardly even an RPG! I expected some sort of Call of Duty with zombies.
But I've been quite amazed! I maybe even love it! I don't ask for much, I just don't want half assed stuff in my games, and this time I feel like they actually made the effort. No longer are there just a handful of weapons, this time it has every type of gun, with multiple varieties of each type, and unique and creative ones too that I've never seen in a game before - like the junk blaster etc. But it also has 'named' versions of each weapon too, with unique artwork and a unique effect like double damage to full health enemies etc. It offers some tactical opportunities and makes weapons in general far more interesting. But the big thing for me is that I no longer feel like "side questing" is a waste of time. I am far more motivated to explore and do side quests because of special loots like this, and all the great worn items too. In Fallout 3 I always felt like the main quest was good but the side quests bored me, and I never wanted to grind in a single player game that I will be done with in a month. If I am going to grind, I would rather do it in some MMO where grinding pays off long term and you can enjoy your achievements even a year later. But Fallout 4 makes me feel differently, when some non-main-quest character comes to me with their sob story, I no longer just run away. Their quests usually just amount to going to some building and killing everything inside, but the good chance of good loot (even these unique and interesting special items) goes a long way towards making me feel like side quests are worthwhile now. I still prefer to focus on the main quest, I would get bored if I tried to do all of these little side quests, but for a good amount of time I am now happy to put the main quest on hold while I help random needy people and stock up on uber loots!
Also the locations... Wow! It's not just an endless generic wasteland with cut and paste buildings anymore. There are so many unique structures and art assets, and there are some really interesting locations too. I saw a huge quarry, industrial towns, a fishing village and quay, a building with a ship inside, some huge 3 or 4 story office buildings, a twisting metal network of ladders and bridges, some real Road Warrior looking bases made out of wood and metal and body parts that various scumbag factions made for themselves. So many great locations, and I think the graphics are really amazing too. Also I can finally use Power Armor now, and it works, and it feels good, it makes you feel like an uber supersoldier but it is also somewhat balanced too. Who made this game and what have they done to Bethesda?! Hit detection seems far better now too. Enemies hide behind stuff and I can't hit them, then they come out and I shoot them in their arm and they drop their weapon! Then they throw grenades at me...
To me it just feels like a more polished Fallout. The towns/hubs are better, the graphics are better, and there is more of everything. And then there is the settlement idea. For now I think it is a gimmick that is not really worthwhile, but I think with a bit more of a push they could turn it into something revolutionary. It could become a whole new angle to the gameplay. Instead of just being about running around doing quests, gathering loot and then finishing the main quest, the settlements could add a whole new way of playing games like this. It could end up where the game world is truly dynamic and influenced by the player. Where story characters and quests and towns/hubs don't even exist when you start the game and the world is just a mess of little tribes fighting amongst each other. Only when you come along and you find a faction that you like (like the Minutemen or Brotherhood of Steel or someone else), and lead them to the point where they have several settlements and another big faction decides to join you, and next you have a town. And then quest NPC's turn up. These games could have faraway places you need to visit but with huge empty wastelands in between, there is no chance to go there in one journey. So head out and build up a settlement and then head out further and build another, and bit by bit you reach far into the world and instead of 50 generic trade towns, they can be towns that you actually created yourself, either by hand with the creation tool or by instructing people to build up towns for you. Some factions will attack your settlements and your success in the main story depends on you protecting and growing the settlements and protecting the people within, and everything you do in the world is valuable to help these settlements. Much of this already exists in Fallout 4, instead of selling 10 shotguns, I just sell 7 and give 3 of them to my homies at the settlement, and they will use it to help defend the settlement that I built! And every tin of beans and dinner try that I find while adventuring is now useful because it can be turned into something. It needs some refinement but I think in the future it could grow into something massive, something genre defining.
So yeah, it's not Fallout 1 or 2, but I don't really care about that, there are other games in a better position to carry the torch of those kinds of games. To me Bethesda's Fallout always intended to be an action shooter with some extra depth. But previously I felt like the extra depth was so so and the actual base game of exploring, shooting, and questing was not good enough. This time it is rock solid. Everything works as it should, shooting is accurate and fun, and the difficulty even seems balanced ok too. I can one shot most enemies but on occasion I get swarmed and need to change my plans and pause the game for a stimpack, and on other occasions I meet a legendary enemy that is really tough and I have to try out different weapons etc. The core gameplay this time feels great. I feel like this is a significant step forward for this series and for Bethesda. I hope the next Elder Scrolls can get the same kind of love and budget!
Then along comes Skyrim and I thought it had a chance of being great. My theory was that with Oblivion they spent all their budget on the graphics department and engine, and the gameplay suffered, but for Skyrim they could use the same engine and save money and spend it all on great gameplay! Maybe. It didn't happen (imo). It got dumbed down even further which to me was unimaginable. Fewer spells again, fewer spell lines, fewer items, fewer item slots, no more spell crafting at all, no acrobatics, etc.. etc.. etc.. And the attributes/skill points... Simplifying it down to just Magicka/Health/Stam makes me wonder why they even bothered with it at all. Just turn it into a spell shooting FPS and be done with it. I also thought the story and dialogue was dire too. If I had to listen to one more sob story of Jarl Fnyargnahr I would have lost it. I really dislike Skyrim. It bugs me because of how it is (or isn't), but it also bugs me because I feel a bit cheated, that the excellent and tactical RPG's I grew up with have all died up, and gamers backed Bethesda instead, and crappy Skyrim is the result. It's like gamers have given up on depth and tactics and would prefer to just run around squirting fire out their fingers and one shotting zombies with a bow from stealth. To me Skyrim is the epitome of dumbed down mainstream gaming, it knows the history of RPG's and it doesn't care and doesn't look back, and it released extremely bugged too, because they know 20 million people will buy it in the first few months anyway... For me this was their lowest point yet also probably their most profitable.
As for Fallout 3, I felt kind of the same way. I thought Fallout 3 was a solid 'OK'. It had an open world, just not a very interesting one, it had guns, just not very many of them, it had items, just not many and not very interesting ones, it had side quests which I always got bored with quickly. I enjoyed the main quest quite a bit, but the rest of it I felt was just so lacking. I never really cared about the action/RPG argument because... it is a shooter now. It's never going to be a turn based, grid based, tactical RPG or anything even within a million miles of that. It's an action shooter with some RPG elements and that's that, but it can at least be a good one, and my gripe is that it wasn't a good one.
When Fallout 4 came out and I started seeing reviews and user reviews saying, "It is barely even an RPG anymore!" I felt like screaming, "Why would anyone even expect anything else from Bethesda?! Dumbing down games is clearly what they are all about!" So I decided I would just put off playing it and maybe this would be the first time I just don't even bother playing one of their games.
Then recently I got burned out on some strategy games and felt like something a bit more action packed, so I thought I would give it a go... I like to wait because I usually install 100 mods on their games to make them more playable, but this time there weren't even many mods that I felt were necessary. I expected to hate it, if I always thought Bethesda games were too simple and yet most people seemed to love them anyway, then just imagine what it must be like if even other people are saying it is hardly even an RPG! I expected some sort of Call of Duty with zombies.
But I've been quite amazed! I maybe even love it! I don't ask for much, I just don't want half assed stuff in my games, and this time I feel like they actually made the effort. No longer are there just a handful of weapons, this time it has every type of gun, with multiple varieties of each type, and unique and creative ones too that I've never seen in a game before - like the junk blaster etc. But it also has 'named' versions of each weapon too, with unique artwork and a unique effect like double damage to full health enemies etc. It offers some tactical opportunities and makes weapons in general far more interesting. But the big thing for me is that I no longer feel like "side questing" is a waste of time. I am far more motivated to explore and do side quests because of special loots like this, and all the great worn items too. In Fallout 3 I always felt like the main quest was good but the side quests bored me, and I never wanted to grind in a single player game that I will be done with in a month. If I am going to grind, I would rather do it in some MMO where grinding pays off long term and you can enjoy your achievements even a year later. But Fallout 4 makes me feel differently, when some non-main-quest character comes to me with their sob story, I no longer just run away. Their quests usually just amount to going to some building and killing everything inside, but the good chance of good loot (even these unique and interesting special items) goes a long way towards making me feel like side quests are worthwhile now. I still prefer to focus on the main quest, I would get bored if I tried to do all of these little side quests, but for a good amount of time I am now happy to put the main quest on hold while I help random needy people and stock up on uber loots!
Also the locations... Wow! It's not just an endless generic wasteland with cut and paste buildings anymore. There are so many unique structures and art assets, and there are some really interesting locations too. I saw a huge quarry, industrial towns, a fishing village and quay, a building with a ship inside, some huge 3 or 4 story office buildings, a twisting metal network of ladders and bridges, some real Road Warrior looking bases made out of wood and metal and body parts that various scumbag factions made for themselves. So many great locations, and I think the graphics are really amazing too. Also I can finally use Power Armor now, and it works, and it feels good, it makes you feel like an uber supersoldier but it is also somewhat balanced too. Who made this game and what have they done to Bethesda?! Hit detection seems far better now too. Enemies hide behind stuff and I can't hit them, then they come out and I shoot them in their arm and they drop their weapon! Then they throw grenades at me...
To me it just feels like a more polished Fallout. The towns/hubs are better, the graphics are better, and there is more of everything. And then there is the settlement idea. For now I think it is a gimmick that is not really worthwhile, but I think with a bit more of a push they could turn it into something revolutionary. It could become a whole new angle to the gameplay. Instead of just being about running around doing quests, gathering loot and then finishing the main quest, the settlements could add a whole new way of playing games like this. It could end up where the game world is truly dynamic and influenced by the player. Where story characters and quests and towns/hubs don't even exist when you start the game and the world is just a mess of little tribes fighting amongst each other. Only when you come along and you find a faction that you like (like the Minutemen or Brotherhood of Steel or someone else), and lead them to the point where they have several settlements and another big faction decides to join you, and next you have a town. And then quest NPC's turn up. These games could have faraway places you need to visit but with huge empty wastelands in between, there is no chance to go there in one journey. So head out and build up a settlement and then head out further and build another, and bit by bit you reach far into the world and instead of 50 generic trade towns, they can be towns that you actually created yourself, either by hand with the creation tool or by instructing people to build up towns for you. Some factions will attack your settlements and your success in the main story depends on you protecting and growing the settlements and protecting the people within, and everything you do in the world is valuable to help these settlements. Much of this already exists in Fallout 4, instead of selling 10 shotguns, I just sell 7 and give 3 of them to my homies at the settlement, and they will use it to help defend the settlement that I built! And every tin of beans and dinner try that I find while adventuring is now useful because it can be turned into something. It needs some refinement but I think in the future it could grow into something massive, something genre defining.
So yeah, it's not Fallout 1 or 2, but I don't really care about that, there are other games in a better position to carry the torch of those kinds of games. To me Bethesda's Fallout always intended to be an action shooter with some extra depth. But previously I felt like the extra depth was so so and the actual base game of exploring, shooting, and questing was not good enough. This time it is rock solid. Everything works as it should, shooting is accurate and fun, and the difficulty even seems balanced ok too. I can one shot most enemies but on occasion I get swarmed and need to change my plans and pause the game for a stimpack, and on other occasions I meet a legendary enemy that is really tough and I have to try out different weapons etc. The core gameplay this time feels great. I feel like this is a significant step forward for this series and for Bethesda. I hope the next Elder Scrolls can get the same kind of love and budget!
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