Is FO4 worth it yet (w/ mods)?

[Swanky]

I'd say Fallout 4 is pretty good compared to the vanilla versions of Fallout 3 / New Vegas. Storyline could have been done differently but at least the writing isn't as terrible as before, even if it is a bit uninteresting at the later stages of the main quest.

 

So yes, Fallout 4 is less about the definement of what kind of character you are because you have a more developed background this time around as a soldier / working at a forum and you're having a son. Most of it wipes clean after Vault 111. Yet at the same time I feel the game is giving you more freedom within the more narrow sets of the story, say different ways of approaching your (self) set target is implemented a lot better than before. Modifying, building and everything adds to the game from the very beginning, and I felt like the game needed a lot less "fixing" to feel good.

Also, gunfights feel a lot more responsive than before, and sneaking worked a good bit better for me. Enemies are using a lot more tactics now, even if they could be working together a bit more.

The game doesn't feel small either way. It could have used some additional dungeons (hopefully AWOP will provide) but I needed around 40 hours the first time through and by the end I was mostly consequentingly doing main quests only, and by the time I was done I hadn't even touched any DLCs or even remotly uncovered all places in the commonwealth let alone quest mods (which I installed for my 2nd playthrough). With the implementation of radiant quests, around 60 side quests (or more) and lots of main quests I'd say it's not small. New Vegas had more quests but its landscape felt a lot smaller overall and with fewer possibilties to explore.

Like before, companions have a lot more background and are usually done well enough, with a real background like in New Vegas. Overall the setting has a bit of Boston's or even Chicago's gangster cliché attached to it, especially around Diamond City, and some characters really reflect that, like Valentine or Piper.

 

Funny thing is, a lot of people complained about the protagonists voice. Now I don't believe it too big of an issue, I have more qualms with the simplified dialogue system of only 4 answers which sometimes feels like a few dialogues could have used more options. I think it's funny because whenever my PC talks, and especially when she's saying something sarcastic, I can't help but think I'm actually playing Jack from the Mass Effect series. Voice overs can have that effect, and for most of it feels pretty hilarious. Male PC doesn't suffer from this and feels a lot less biased, though.

 

As far as modding goes, a lot of mods change how different things are working together, a thing that if Bethesda is continuing to work out, will be a chore to bring together in mods in future games, ESO or Fallout. I mean, getting various armor mods to work together right now is difficult, but with legendary modding, armor parts and bodytypes this will only get worse in the future.

That said, there are a lot of good mods right now which are making the game feel more cohesive, especially in the settlements department, which takes some of the focus away from settlement micromanagement and lets you explore the game a lot more freely. Like I said, overall the game needs a lot less fixing but more like bringing the game in line with your personal favors.

 

Now I have played the game for only like 60 hours or so so I can't say how much you'll like it in a year or so, but grab it with a season pass (mostly for mods) if you get it cheap. It's more of the same, just a little different flavor then before.

[NNS10]

Well, I ended up buying it since the discount on steam was so big. Next 2 questions... modding it.

 

Is everyone using MO2 even though it's kinda buggy?

 

And is there anything like Skyim's SRLE guide for FO4? I found SRLE useful just for getting a sense of what the really good and stable mods were for building the base.

[khumak]

Not sure how targeted Steam's deals are but for me at least, Fallout 4 is free this weekend so I plan on trying it once it finishes installing. 

 

I don't plan on buying it yet unless I'm more impressed with the base game than I think I will be.  Even with the sale it's still $50 for the base game plus the season pass.  Not worth it at that price IMO.  I got Fallout 3 and FNV for less than $10 each with all of the expansions.

[Tripleekz]

 

you either like it or you do not but going by what someone else says that you do not know from adam

 

There are some things that you do not need to play to understand the impacts of. For instance, the specificity of the character's background and the impact on the story does seem to restrict roleplaying. The player character had backgrounds in Skyrim and Fallout New Vegas as well, but they were more generic and situational. It didn't say anything about the PC itself.

 

In Skyrim, the PC is the Dragonborn. And the Dragonborn was captured while crossing the border. That all still leaves the Dragonborn as a blank slate in terms of history, personality, etc.

 

In FNV, the PC is the Courier. The Courier was shot and left for dead but somehow survived. The Courier still remains a blank canvas to be filled in by the player.

 

However, in FO4 the PC is the Sole Survivor. The Sole Survivor was either an Army veteran (if male) or a lawyer (if female). The Sole Survivor is married to a spouse and has a son name Shaun. During cryogen, the Sole Survivor's spouse is killed and son abducted. The Sole Survivor's goal in the game is to seek revenge and recover Shaun. AND it turns out Shaun plays a major role in the story and is the leader of one of the major factions, and the Sole Survivor can choose to either fight or join the son.

 

Isn't that a real big difference? In FO4, the game defines who your character is, why it matters, and ties it heavily to the main questline. It doesn't take playing the game to realize what a shitty impact that has on roleplaying and replay value. The reputation of these sandbox Bethesda games are that they offer a lot of freedom as roleplaying games... so FO4 is being pretty counter-productive.

 

 

 

Its really up to you in terms of what your are looking for, The game is not terrible but again not amazing either. Ill bullet point what in my opinion makes it tolerable.

 

I.) Combat, with mods you can have really nice gun fights, being an assault person who uses cover and weapon for suppression and shock its glorious.

 

II.) character customization, I love skyrim and it has many mods dealing with this aspect, I found I used less mods to achieve my personal feeling of what I wanted to look like in game.

the sculptor was very nice add-on and fine tuning my assault grenadier to make her look like one of my drawings was very pleasing, it was harder to do that even with ECE in skyrim.

 

III.) building the settlement option is very fun but has one major problem, Why am I building this if it has no effect the world I am building it in. there are many points in the game where even if you build a fortress outpost with 20 people living in it, it still does not exist, the game has no clue its there if your looking for RPG, the only attention it gets are weak petty attacks that even I would not launch, me being a raiding psycho grenadier, ( I do feel like more of raider in game, love that) it means very little. But the building is fun but hollow.

 

IV.) fashion, this like others have said is very nice it is easier to customize and there are tons of options available.

 

V.) Power armor is very nice. I still prefer light to clothing for armor but it is fun to have this.

 

VI.) now this is very limited at first till you get mods, arsenal! there are literally tons of mods that add guns I have modern firearms 2.41 and frankly wont play the game without them, or play with out the fusion laser rifle.

 

VII.) I can be a raider, I love this and personally find it enjoyable, sadly your gonna have to build these outposts and farming settlements in order to get the most of it. although its limited I can raid diamond city, which is very annoying.

 

VIII.) I can punish Preston gravey, I dont hate this character as he is well thought out and honestly a cool looking dude, but dam does he piss me off, all the freaking time.

 

Thanks, helpful to know. My main interest in FO4 is the gun play. I do prefer that over Skyrim's combat. The main question is what is there to do.

 

If you don't do quests (and the main quest I certainly have no interest in doing b/c of how restrictive it is roleplaying-wise), what's there to do?

 

 

 

 

This is all my opinion but if your gonna get this game get all the DLC, lastly dont think of it too highly I still have more game time on skyrim than this game, 4000 hours on skyrim vs. 600 hours on FO4, 3456 hours on Fonv, and 2945 hours on FO3, 3789 hours on witcher 3, exanima has 1112, and my favorite stellaris has 1035 hours only because. It is a decent game but honestly once bannerlords comes out Ill probably forget this game. good luck hope this helps.

 

I had to google Exanima and it looks real interesting. But the big question is whether it's another Early Access game that has gone nowhere. Looks like it's been in Early Access for over 2 years already.

 

Roleplaying isn't JUST about doing whatever you want, Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a "narrative", either through literal acting or through a process of "structured decision-making or character development". Many times actions taken within games succeed or fail according to a formal system of "rules and guidelines". So you are playing a role as either ex-military or ex-lawyer, it is structured and has rules and guidelines to follow, but it also allows you to do whatever you want without the structure, rules or guidelines. But I guess because it was made by Bethesda it is garbage and nothing and no one will ever change that thought process of those who can't live without conflict.

[khumak]

Have only played it a few hours but the level of detail is nice and I like the crafting system.  Don't like the settlement system.  Hate the console interface.  Hate the dialog system.  I do think I'll be buying it at some point but I'm content to wait til the modders fix the stuff I don't like first.  By then hopefully the price will come down to something that feels worth it.

[sci fi samurai]

Not sure how targeted Steam's deals are but for me at least, Fallout 4 is free this weekend so I plan on trying it once it finishes installing. 

 

I don't plan on buying it yet unless I'm more impressed with the base game than I think I will be.  Even with the sale it's still $50 for the base game plus the season pass.  Not worth it at that price IMO.  I got Fallout 3 and FNV for less than $10 each with all of the expansions.

 

That's about the way I feel. Looks great, but a friend told me to wait until Christmas this year to see if they release a Game of the Year edition. I got Skyrim, Oblvion, FO3, and NV that way. All very good games and probably worth the $50 imo, but I've heard mixed things about FO4. I'll try it this weekend, but I have so many steam games to play through I can afford to wait until later to buy it.

 

As an aside, has anyone played a rogue (hacker/sneak/thief sort) character in FO4? I felt it was stupidly hard in NV but picked up late game pretty well in FO3.

[27X]

If you like crafting buy it

 

If you like shooting buy it

 

If you like big ass sandboxes buy it

 

If you like anything else do not buy it, because that's all it is

[Outlast1]

 

 

you either like it or you do not but going by what someone else says that you do not know from adam

 

There are some things that you do not need to play to understand the impacts of. For instance, the specificity of the character's background and the impact on the story does seem to restrict roleplaying. The player character had backgrounds in Skyrim and Fallout New Vegas as well, but they were more generic and situational. It didn't say anything about the PC itself.

 

In Skyrim, the PC is the Dragonborn. And the Dragonborn was captured while crossing the border. That all still leaves the Dragonborn as a blank slate in terms of history, personality, etc.

 

In FNV, the PC is the Courier. The Courier was shot and left for dead but somehow survived. The Courier still remains a blank canvas to be filled in by the player.

 

However, in FO4 the PC is the Sole Survivor. The Sole Survivor was either an Army veteran (if male) or a lawyer (if female). The Sole Survivor is married to a spouse and has a son name Shaun. During cryogen, the Sole Survivor's spouse is killed and son abducted. The Sole Survivor's goal in the game is to seek revenge and recover Shaun. AND it turns out Shaun plays a major role in the story and is the leader of one of the major factions, and the Sole Survivor can choose to either fight or join the son.

 

Isn't that a real big difference? In FO4, the game defines who your character is, why it matters, and ties it heavily to the main questline. It doesn't take playing the game to realize what a shitty impact that has on roleplaying and replay value. The reputation of these sandbox Bethesda games are that they offer a lot of freedom as roleplaying games... so FO4 is being pretty counter-productive.

 

 

 

Its really up to you in terms of what your are looking for, The game is not terrible but again not amazing either. Ill bullet point what in my opinion makes it tolerable.

 

I.) Combat, with mods you can have really nice gun fights, being an assault person who uses cover and weapon for suppression and shock its glorious.

 

II.) character customization, I love skyrim and it has many mods dealing with this aspect, I found I used less mods to achieve my personal feeling of what I wanted to look like in game.

the sculptor was very nice add-on and fine tuning my assault grenadier to make her look like one of my drawings was very pleasing, it was harder to do that even with ECE in skyrim.

 

III.) building the settlement option is very fun but has one major problem, Why am I building this if it has no effect the world I am building it in. there are many points in the game where even if you build a fortress outpost with 20 people living in it, it still does not exist, the game has no clue its there if your looking for RPG, the only attention it gets are weak petty attacks that even I would not launch, me being a raiding psycho grenadier, ( I do feel like more of raider in game, love that) it means very little. But the building is fun but hollow.

 

IV.) fashion, this like others have said is very nice it is easier to customize and there are tons of options available.

 

V.) Power armor is very nice. I still prefer light to clothing for armor but it is fun to have this.

 

VI.) now this is very limited at first till you get mods, arsenal! there are literally tons of mods that add guns I have modern firearms 2.41 and frankly wont play the game without them, or play with out the fusion laser rifle.

 

VII.) I can be a raider, I love this and personally find it enjoyable, sadly your gonna have to build these outposts and farming settlements in order to get the most of it. although its limited I can raid diamond city, which is very annoying.

 

VIII.) I can punish Preston gravey, I dont hate this character as he is well thought out and honestly a cool looking dude, but dam does he piss me off, all the freaking time.

 

Thanks, helpful to know. My main interest in FO4 is the gun play. I do prefer that over Skyrim's combat. The main question is what is there to do.

 

If you don't do quests (and the main quest I certainly have no interest in doing b/c of how restrictive it is roleplaying-wise), what's there to do?

 

 

 

 

This is all my opinion but if your gonna get this game get all the DLC, lastly dont think of it too highly I still have more game time on skyrim than this game, 4000 hours on skyrim vs. 600 hours on FO4, 3456 hours on Fonv, and 2945 hours on FO3, 3789 hours on witcher 3, exanima has 1112, and my favorite stellaris has 1035 hours only because. It is a decent game but honestly once bannerlords comes out Ill probably forget this game. good luck hope this helps.

 

I had to google Exanima and it looks real interesting. But the big question is whether it's another Early Access game that has gone nowhere. Looks like it's been in Early Access for over 2 years already.

 

Roleplaying isn't JUST about doing whatever you want, Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a "narrative", either through literal acting or through a process of "structured decision-making or character development". Many times actions taken within games succeed or fail according to a formal system of "rules and guidelines". So you are playing a role as either ex-military or ex-lawyer, it is structured and has rules and guidelines to follow, but it also allows you to do whatever you want without the structure, rules or guidelines. But I guess because it was made by Bethesda it is garbage and nothing and no one will ever change that thought process of those who can't live without conflict.

 

 

Look I dont think everyone here is downing on them game because its beth, I adore oblivion and play it frequently, skyrim too, Its mainly sharing our thoughts on the game. I still play fallout 4 from time to time, but sadly I dont feel as invested in it as other beth games. Ther are many who would say oblivion is well schisse, that the story sucks and that you are confined to the fact your a prisoner and must save cyrodil from the divine threat. Same could be pointed out for Fallout new Vegas. I respect the point you are making but I rather tell the truth about my feelings as this person on this post wanted real feeling. its up to him and him alone to gauge whether it is for him.

 

[alxndrfritsch3647]

True enough I was hoping for sextec to come but at last someone figure it out the built-in mod manger

[Swanky]

Have only played it a few hours but the level of detail is nice and I like the crafting system.  Don't like the settlement system.  Hate the console interface.  Hate the dialog system.  I do think I'll be buying it at some point but I'm content to wait til the modders fix the stuff I don't like first.  By then hopefully the price will come down to something that feels worth it.

 

There's a couple of mods dealing with those issues already.

1) DEV_UI

2) Sim Settlements

3) Full Dialoge Interface

[guk]

I picked up FO4 again half a year ago, bought the "Season Pass" (all existing and future DLCs) so i practically paid the full price twice.

Just so much, it has been the only game i've been playing almost daily ever since.

 

 

The game is already worth it without mods, you can sink 100+ hours just doing the main storyline and faction stuff. Unlike Skyrim, where i got bored after 20 hours before i had to install mods... a lot of them.

Luckily FO4 doesn't need any major gameplay overhauls, the perk trees and combat system indicate that they actually listened to complaints about FO3/Skyrim and also got closer to real first person shooters. To make this clear, it's not that EVERYTHING is better, but if you weigh the pros and cons then FO4 is simply the best product of Bethesda's elder scrolls / fallout family.

 

You will without a doubt notice that some areas are lacking, the most central points here are the settlement building and the graphics / ambience.

These can be improved so much that the visual and audio experience becomes absolutely fantastic; a decent ENB of your choice and True Storms make the world really come alive.

 

Settlements are mostly lacking options how things are built in the workshop mode, this is fixed by Place Everywhere which adds a lot of hotkeys and new functions so you can eventually build as accurate and creative as with a 3D modelling program. And other mods like "Workshop Rearranged" and "Thematic And Practical" unlock thousands of objects that already exist in the game but can't be built normally.

Note that these are not mods like "Homemaker" which unlock a million of ridiculous objects (like the pre-war houses etc), it's more about the details like plywoods, cinderblocks, supports and such which make the difference between boring vanilla player settlements and the chaotic and immersive rest of the vanilla game world.

 

Another thing that i really hated in the vanilla game is the weapon selection; Fallout 1+2 had mostly real-world firearms, and FO3 / NV at least had a lot of badass lookalikes. All the high-end guns in FO4 look absolutely shite, fortunately the weapon mods are myriad and at least some are very well developed. Also the in-game weapon modding (crafting) is amazing, changing weapon modifications has not only a massive effect on gameplay but is also visually represented (so it's not just static numbers).

 

 

Things that can't really improved:

 

First thing coming to mind is the game difficulty. There is no level cap (none at all), although the perks requirements end at level 50 so any sensible build will cover how to get from 1 to 50 and how your skillset will look like at 50.

The problem here is that the game can't really adapt to your build, enemies always work the same no matter wether you have a completely random "noob" build or one that perfectly stacks the most effective perks in the right order.

This is why one player whines about "bullet sponges", while others say the game is way too easy even in Survival Mode. Both are probably correct.

 

And the other thing is the NPC AI; talking mostly about settler pathing in settlements and companions in general. The pathing is just super-annoying when you frequently spend hours trying to build a stairway so settlers can use it, and companions really LOVE to fall from any elevated areas so you have to get back down and heal them.