Ceramic Fanatic

[vallorn]

I see the spirit of Muggy lives on.

Also, silly Preston, focused institute rifles are junk compared to pre war lasers.

Oh, good. Muggy will be most pleased for once.

While you were out, I spent six hours trying to reach a coffee cup up on a shelf. When I finally got it down I was so happy, I cried... I hate my life!

 

[Devieus]

I haven't played it, only watched a stream of it. It seemed weird the guns and clothes were left behind, usually the things you want to have as many of as possible.

I bet this game would've worked better as a spin-off or new IP, like it seems like a spin-off of Fallout 3, which in turn is a spin-off of Fallout NV, and that's a spin-off of Fallout 2, the sequel to Fallout.

Still, it looks prettier, there's more than 2 colors and not everything always looks like shit.

Wait, didn't 3 come out before New Vegas?

Technically yes, but to say NV is a spin-off of 3 is just an insult to the first two games, and there's undeniably a closer connection between NV and 3 than 3 and 1/2.

Don't let chronology get in the way of a good analogy.

 

[bificommander]

I had the same experience in Skyward Sword.

"'You have found a goddess plume. It's a rare treasure few will behold.' Yeah, whatever, put it with the other seven I have no more use for. Now, where the hell can I get more tumbleweed?"

 

[Mike Richards]

Here's the thing about the dialogue system though, it actually sounds like a real conversation people are actually having.

Too many RPGs have a feeling of characters simply going "Let me vomit all the relevant information in your general direction, Protagonist, so can periodically interrupt by asking me to 'tell you more about-' something." Some games do this much better then others, but unfocus your eyes for a second and the illusion is gone.

Fallout 4's implementation may not be perfect for a number of reasons, but the vast majority of conversations I've held run like actual conversations. Opinions are expressed, the protagonist has inflection and emotion in their voice, and not once have I said "Tell me more about".

Now this is clearly more on the side of the writing then the mechanics in question, and from the outside it's very hard to gauge how difficult it would be to get up to this level of quality in a more traditional dialogue system. I certainly wouldn't want to see every game use this approach but then again I certainly wouldn't want to see every game use any approach. It was a worthwhile experiment with solid if imperfect results, and in this particular example I'll gladly take the loss in flexibility for just how much better it is to listen to.

 

[CaitSeith]

I haven't played it, only watched a stream of it. It seemed weird the guns and clothes were left behind, usually the things you want to have as many of as possible.

I bet this game would've worked better as a spin-off or new IP, like it seems like a spin-off of Fallout 3, which in turn is a spin-off of Fallout NV, and that's a spin-off of Fallout 2, the sequel to Fallout.

Still, it looks prettier, there's more than 2 colors and not everything always looks like shit.

Wait, didn't 3 come out before New Vegas?

Technically yes, but to say NV is a spin-off of 3 is just an insult to the first two games, and there's undeniably a closer connection between NV and 3 than 3 and 1/2.

Don't let chronology get in the way of a good analogy.

Isn't that the way religions are born? "You just have to believe, my brother! Believe!"

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

NMC; Need More Copper.

Neo; Copper, lot's of copper.

 

[Frank Ocampo Gomez]

I guess it's because "ceramic" rhymes with "fanatic" that Cory and Grey made the comic so, but I think aluminum is a way more fickle ***** to find in this game. Gave up once and coughed up 1,500 caps to get a shipment of aluminum at Diamond City (50 pieces); I think that was among the most exciting purchase I've made in the game, cause I immediately went back to Sanctuary and proceeded to mod the shit out of my T-60.

Edit: and for all the complaints about how bad the opening was, it's still heads and shoulders above Fallout 2, everyone's darling.

That... that is undeniable. I understand that the temple was supposed to be a tutorial of sort, but OH MY GOD, was it painful the first few times I played it.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I had the same experience in Skyward Sword.

"'You have found a goddess plume. It's a rare treasure few will behold.' Yeah, whatever, put it with the other seven I have no more use for. Now, where the hell can I get more tumbleweed?"

Which in turn reminds me of a particular flower in Legend of Grimrock II, whose flavor text describes it as being something an alchemist would be lucky to see one of in a lifetime. I think I had eighteen of them by the end of my playthrough, and never ended up using any.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

I see the spirit of Muggy lives on.

Also, silly Preston, focused institute rifles are junk compared to pre war lasers.

That ... that actually raises a question I've been wondering about for a while. Is there any actual use to the Institute weapons? The Institute version shares only a fraction of the mods for the regular laser rifle/pistol, and yet, no matter what combination of mods it seems inferior in every way. It's really strange since the Institute weapons are not just harder to get (or at least, I found plenty of laser weapons before institute weapons), they're also described as being an improved version.

So, is there any actual use to them? Because just going off the stats I've seen they appear to be worse in every way, to the point that if an enemy was charging me I would sooner thrown the rifle at them rather than waste any of my hundreds of microfission cells.

 

[vallorn]

I see the spirit of Muggy lives on.

Also, silly Preston, focused institute rifles are junk compared to pre war lasers.

That ... that actually raises a question I've been wondering about for a while. Is there any actual use to the Institute weapons? The Institute version shares only a fraction of the mods for the regular laser rifle/pistol, and yet, no matter what combination of mods it seems inferior in every way. It's really strange since the Institute weapons are not just harder to get (or at least, I found plenty of laser weapons before institute weapons), they're also described as being an improved version.

So, is there any actual use to them? Because just going off the stats I've seen they appear to be worse in every way, to the point that if an enemy was charging me I would sooner thrown the rifle at them rather than waste any of my hundreds of microfission cells.

Some of them contain screws. Aside from that, many of them are just ridiculously bulky and take up enormous amounts of your screen when you have them out so they restrict your FOV as well as being inferior to the other energy weapons.

I guess the main use for them is that they are easy to get early on in the game (If you take a certain quest early on you are guaranteed a bucket of them) and so you can use one till you replace it, aside from that I really don't see much use for them other than as some spare parts.

 

[FirstNameLastName]

I see the spirit of Muggy lives on.

Also, silly Preston, focused institute rifles are junk compared to pre war lasers.

That ... that actually raises a question I've been wondering about for a while. Is there any actual use to the Institute weapons? The Institute version shares only a fraction of the mods for the regular laser rifle/pistol, and yet, no matter what combination of mods it seems inferior in every way. It's really strange since the Institute weapons are not just harder to get (or at least, I found plenty of laser weapons before institute weapons), they're also described as being an improved version.

So, is there any actual use to them? Because just going off the stats I've seen they appear to be worse in every way, to the point that if an enemy was charging me I would sooner thrown the rifle at them rather than waste any of my hundreds of microfission cells.

Some of them contain screws. Aside from that, many of them are just ridiculously bulky and take up enormous amounts of your screen when you have them out so they restrict your FOV as well as being inferior to the other energy weapons.

I guess the main use for them is that they are easy to get early on in the game (If you take a certain quest early on you are guaranteed a bucket of them) and so you can use one till you replace it, aside from that I really don't see much use for them other than as some spare parts.

I'm pretty sure that despite taking up a disgustingly large portion of the screen, they're actually lighter as well, so there's that. Even so, it really seems like they ought to be superior to the laser rifle, you know, the Institute having superior technology and improving the tech and all that.

I haven't checked, but perhaps they have better ammo capacity?

 

[ShakerSilver]

Fallout 4 is not a shooter. It doesn't play like a shooter, and the emphasis is clearly not on the shooting mechanics.

Let's revisit this statement in a bit.

The companion system is improved [...] the settlement system is awesome

Both have nothing to do with roleplaying - one is an added feature than doesn't allow for many roleplay options and the other is a trivial minigame with no real bearing on the overall game. Companions are especially shallow since most don't react to any choices you make - your faction alliances, the quests you've done (save for the one required for recruitment), the dialogue choices you've made all hardly have any impact on them. You may occasionally see the game note that they like or dislike whatever arbitrary actions you perform, just so you can maybe romance them or have them say nice things to you.

the stats are improved [...] the game play is improved

Bethesda has attempted to fix all that while keeping the RPG elements intact, and I would argue they've largely succeeded.

Stats are as meaningless as ever. You can be at STR 1 and do almost max unarmed damage. You can be at AGI 3 and max out stealth. The reliance on perks completely trumps the relevance SPECIAL. So what's the point of your SPECIAL score? To unlock more perks, of course. Their importance is so minimal that something that used to be the most important part of character building - allocating SPECIAL scores - is practically meaningless now as you can increase them whenever you level - as opposed to the original games where you had very few chances to do so, making each point all the more precious. You can have 10 in all your scores and still have little impact on your character's abilities. The only time I actually felt like my CHA score mattered was because it I was slightly better at the few persuade options in the game - but even that was a random chance of success so simply save-scumming could have solved them.

And then there's the perks themselves. Merging them with skills has made them become almost just as meaningless, rarely giving worthwhile additions to gameplay and quite a lot of them just giving % increases on actions or outright removing consequence for certain actions. I managed to play a high LCK/CHA character, going out of my way to only pick perks that had minimal impact on combat and still managed to blast my way through things with little difficulty. I never felt like these choices mattered in terms of gameplay and did little more than add some flavor to my character and how he shoots things slightly differently.

The main point I'm trying to make here is that there is little in the way of actual character building and progression - both in a narrative sense and in a gameplay stance - which the key aspects of any roleplaying game. The game doesn't focus on your ability to manage your character's abilities and progression is trivialized to the point where the only skill that matters in the game is your ability to shoot things (and even that is underdeveloped in it's own way).

This really isn't new though. Fallout 3 already had nearly the same lack focus on RPG-mechanics and Fallout 4 just further emphasized how little Bethesda cares for the genre. I'm baffled that anyone can call them roleplaying games when there is clearly a greater focus on action than character progression. I wouldn't even call them Action-RPGs, because that would imply it be a subgenre of RPG that implements action elements in a way that does not intrude on its RPG mechanics, rather than what it really is: an action game that implements minor RPG elements. It's in the same vain as Borderlands and the latest Far Cry game - open-world shooters with some numbers and perks. So when people say

Fallout 4 is not a shooter. It doesn't play like a shooter, and the emphasis is clearly not on the shooting mechanics.

I can't say I agree with that at all. It certainly plays like one and doesn't play much at all like an RPG.

Note that despite my ranting, I don't think this the game is bad because of this. It's a decent title and a competent action game but underdeveloped in many aspects. Had it used the focus on action to further expand on the mechanics shooting and provide better experience as an action game, then it may have been great. Not really Fallout, but a good action spin-off (certainly better than BoS). However even the action mechanics aren't too well developed. Sure shooting it's better than 3 or New Vegas, but it's not any better than something like Call of duty. Even the narrative could have been better by providing a more focused story along the lines of Mass Effect and The Witcher - something they again only made a partial effort to do. Honestly the game seems like a mish-mash of half-baked ideas with only the action mechanics standing out as the main focus, and even that doesn't shine.

 

[Cpu46]

While I definitely think the dialogue wheel is far too simplified compared to the previous games, I will give it props for being one of the more accurate dialogue wheels I have seen. Too many games that use them take your intended nice/mean/snark/ext. response and turn it up to 11. You tend to have a better feel for what your character is going to say in Fallout 4.

Choosing a mean response results in a fairly mean response not your character going off the deep end of no redeemable qualities.

 

[Fox12]

snip

Hmm, maybe. As much as I love the game thus far, I must admit that you make a good point. I do feel like they have a lot of good, but underdeveloped, ideas. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a fan of the bioware-style dialogue, since this isn't really a story driven game, and it doesn't fit. Having a fewer number of more focused ideas would probably be a better idea. In this regard I thank you're correct.

I find it hard to fault them too much, though. Even if their ideas need to be ironed out, it's a relief to see them try something new. Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Skyrim... all excellent games, but they're all essentially the same. Even if the game is a hodgepodge of ideas, at least it's a fun hodgepodge that they can improve upon over time.

I still don't consider it a shooter, though. If it is, it's a rather poor one. I feel like the VATS system is still the central point of the game, for instance, and combat is treated like one option among many. I haven't had very many encounters that seemed to require combat.

 

[Mikeybb]

'Hey Erin I found this sweet pre-war tech... by some company called Nerf.'

...and now I'm imagining how to customize one into a lethal anti scavenger weapon.
Stick stingwing barbs through the foam tips?
soak the nerf darts in radioactive swamp water and aim for the mouth?
So many options...

These games speak to me on a primal level.
Straight past the reasoning part of my brain and directly to the perma hunched hairy knuckled scavenger who still lurks there in the hindbrain.
Which is why I spend all my time gathering shiny things (and coffee cups) then hoarding them all the while hobbling around in a crouch.
If someone mods in an option to make a treehouse and fling poop my inner scav will be truly satiated.

 

[Headsprouter]

That ... that actually raises a question I've been wondering about for a while. Is there any actual use to the Institute weapons? The Institute version shares only a fraction of the mods for the regular laser rifle/pistol, and yet, no matter what combination of mods it seems inferior in every way. It's really strange since the Institute weapons are not just harder to get (or at least, I found plenty of laser weapons before institute weapons), they're also described as being an improved version.

So, is there any actual use to them? Because just going off the stats I've seen they appear to be worse in every way, to the point that if an enemy was charging me I would sooner thrown the rifle at them rather than waste any of my hundreds of microfission cells.

They can be good. I had a great one for a while. It would still be good, were it not for my snazzy unique laser rifle which has a nice bonus effect and doesn't hog my screen.

EDIT: Quick check, it's equal. Save for screen hogging and lack of snazzy effect.

As for this comic, not very relatable if you're like me and haven't bothered with any base building. I'd say you could replace the mugs with desk fans or anything else with screws, but they're no longer a problem thanks to that lovely perk.

 

[Thaluikhain]

That's a straight up plasma gun from ol' 40k

Yeah, that's what I thought as well.

Hang on, given that plasma guns often overheat and kill the operator, that really changes the joke.

 

[Tommy1138]

I had the same experience in Skyward Sword.

"'You have found a goddess plume. It's a rare treasure few will behold.' Yeah, whatever, put it with the other seven I have no more use for. Now, where the hell can I get more tumbleweed?"

Which in turn reminds me of a particular flower in Legend of Grimrock II, whose flavor text describes it as being something an alchemist would be lucky to see one of in a lifetime. I think I had eighteen of them by the end of my playthrough, and never ended up using any.

Ahh the joys of Nirnroot. Here is the most useful flower an alchemist can ever use. So awesome it is that we limited the amount you can find to 200flowers. I never used the bloody weed once in the game.