Fallout 4 - What Should I Do?

[nickturner13]

Hi folks,

Bit of a dilemma - I played about 18 hours of Fallout 4 when it came out and haven't touched it since.

I want to get back into it and give it the time it deserves now, but I'm not sure if I should start all over again or continue from where I left off.

What would you do?

Pros for continuing - obviously the progress I've made, and I don't want to spend hours doing the character creation again.

Cons - I lost Dogmeat early on and have no idea where he is, so restarting would get him back. Restarting would put me in the right frame of mind so I'd know what's going on and not be lost and confused. I might get bored after 20 hours again so might not see anything new.

Also I've got a new monster gaming PC now and starting again would mean I could see the whole game with Ultra graphics!

Decisions decisions...

[DomsBeard]

Wow now this is a coincidence. I am exactly in the same boat now. I reached level 20 and stopped playing. I have hardly touched the main quest line, my save is in a dlc area where I am getting one hit killed by everything.

I stopped playing as I heard it was getting the VR treatment for PSVR but that was alas Skyrim.

I think I am going to start again from new at somevpoint.

[Flabyo]

I’d say just carry on, most of the major complex story beats are in the final half of the primary quest line so it won’t matter too much if you’re not fully able to remember what’s already happened.

Of course, whether you should carry on at all or just play a better Fallout like New Vegas... well...

[Alex79]

Bizarrely, I am in the exact same situation, but only got about 8 hours in. I'm starting fresh.

[Chopper]

Everybody seems to have abandoned the game at some point. Highly suspicious!

I would say to carry on. I don't know if repeating the early game would be worth it.

Full disclosure, I sacked it off at level 5 and will not be returning.

[kintaris]

I abandoned it after finishing the main quest and most major side quests, but before the DLC hit. Even though I bought the Season Pass I couldn't be bothered to keep up with them.

Tried to get back into it recently by starting a new game but found it so tedious that I barely scratched the surface of the DLC before I just traded the damn thing in. A real disappointment, that game. I honestly suspect the only reason I lasted so long the first time round was because the item dupe glitch allowed me to steam through everything in power armor that never ran out of cores.

[James]

I made it around 6 hours in before realising that I wasn't getting anything from it that Fallout 3 and New Vegas hadn't given me before. Not a criticism necessarily, but it sure sapped my enthusiasm, and, sure enough, I never went back.

[Flabyo]

I did finish it, it defintely gets a little more interesting later on, but it never reaches the heights of 3 or New Vegas. I’d argue it probably sits a little ahead of Oblivion in terms of Bethesda Games of this design, but behind all the others.

There’s a few memorable characters, and it’s probably worth playing far enough to hear the really rather excellent set of Fallout themed 1920s style nightclub cabaret songs Linda Carter’s character sings. (That reminds me, we really should’ve had one of those on Sound of Play by now...)

[Stanshall]

The improved gunplay is still worse than any FPS I've played over the last two generations, and they smoothed over/simplified everything interesting from previous games to prioritise it. I also think it's one of the ugliest games I've played this gen. The engine and animations and textures are pure PS3 and it's got such a drab palette. Also, I can't bear that 1920s cabaret music, which sours Bioshock for me, too. There's something so knowing and theatrical and insincere about it, it's like a pastiche of emotion. I also dislike the VATS system because it rewards neither skill nor strategy, but I must be the millionth person to say as much. The base building and weapon customisation (in particular) were entirely pointless, despite the fanfare.

A waste of fifty quid for me, alongside FFXV.

[ratsoalbion]

Not that it'll change how you feel about them, but (classical station aside) the songs in Fallout 4 are from roughly 1935 - 1960 rather than the 20s.

I've yet to play Fallout 4 but I thought the use of period music was great in Fallout 3, and in BioShock, absolutely stunning.

[Stanshall]

OK, cheers, I appreciate the correction. I'm not sure what it is but that Vera Lynn/music hall manner of singing just bothers me.

Bioshock Infinite music I actually really liked, funnily enough. The Edith Piaf and Beach Boys segments were heavenly.

[ratsoalbion]

Yes, the use of 'time travelled' music was probably the highlight of Infinite for me, amazing!

[Stanshall]

And how could I forget the opening with Would The Circle Be Unbroken? I stayed there for about half an hour. So beautiful.

[Flabyo]

Not that it'll change how you feel about them, but (classical station aside) the songs in Fallout 4 are from roughly 1935 - 1960 rather than the 20s.

I’m not talking about the licensed stuff, I’m talking about these:



There are four others, but I like that one the most.

[ratsoalbion]

Yeah, my comment was in reference to Stanshall's, Flab.

[nickturner13]

Well in the end I decided to start again.

It's had an interesting response, the reviews were all generally very positive but it does seem that anecdotally at least, most people think it's nowhere near as good as 3 or New Vegas.

Graphically it looks fine to me, but that's on a mega-expensive PC with all graphics on Ultra and playing at 2k resolution.

Let's see if I get more than 20 hours in this time before I get bored! This time round I've bought the strategy guide to play along with also, which some may disagree with but I like the idea of being able to read bits and pieces while I'm not playing, and get fully immersed in the game.