Fallout 3, to me, has the most creative and clever way it portrays and sets up the protagonist and his world that I've ever seen, and it doesn't look like Fallout 4 will so much as try to hit that sweet spot again. I've never seen my perspective on Fo3 written by anyone else, so here goes:
In Fallout 3, you're with your character from literal birth, and then dictate the course of several important events from their growing up, events and situations that determine the kind of person they'll become.
No other RPG has this. Every other RPG shoves you into the head of their protagonist, and you sort of take over from their own consciousness. It's never felt to me like you are that person; you merely become their pilot and wheel 'em around the game world.
This is why Fallout 3 has been and probably always will be my favorite game ever.
But, beyond the excellent character creation, the immersion continues.
In the Capital Wasteland, the Wanderer is an important piece on the board simply via birth and association with James and his colleagues, not some prophecy, McGuffin, or - like in NV - everyone else being completely stagnant.
You don't break into Raven Rock with the intention of destroying it like some super-spy, you get kidnapped due to your association, after being sent to Vault 87 for being the most qualified person to delve into a totally unknown Vault.
It's all put together so well to make you important without making you Jesus, something New Vegas failed, and Skyrim didn't even try.
The way I saw it, in Fo3, the Purifier was the Lone Wanderer's father's life's work, which he fought and sacrificed much for, which was inherited by the player when he died, and moreso when Dr Li bitchfit and ragequit.
The work to get the purifier running, and in the right hands, was divided amongst a significant number of people, not just the Wanderer. The Wanderer wasn't the only one who could ultimately save the Purifier; you still needed the Brotherhood and Liberty Prime for that.
What was the one thing the Wanderer did by themselves? Field research for a fucking survival handbook. I love that about Fallout 3, that you're not the greatest hero in the world, you're just some person thrust into a conflict that you inherited, and are given motivation to see through to the end.
New Vegas?
"all teh doods want the desert, what we do? :V"
"This, this, this, and this."
"GEEZ WE NEVAR'D TOHUGHT OF THAT :O"
The whole west coast of the US in a political stalemate between a legionnaire army, fully-fledged democratic government and a demi-god who runs Las Vegas, and some dingus carrying packages is the only one capable of poking the snowball and getting it rolling... ?
It's implied there are hundreds of thousands of people who should be concerned by these events, but you are the only one who can make history. I've never accepted that. From Mass Effect to Skyrim, it bugs the shit out of me. That's not good writing; it's lazily imprinting a Jesus complex onto the player.
That's not even the worst part of what New Vegas did wrong, and Fo3 did right: when you're let loose into the Mojave, you're set upon a set of tracks - blocked by Cazadors on one side and a scorpion-infested desert on the other - that takes you a specific path to New Vegas - the long way around, during which you make no real choices, and doesn't actually set you free until you get to New Vegas.
Fallout 3 sets you free straight out of the Vault. There's the city on the horizon, a burned-out town to your left, and a road stretching up the hill to your right. You don't even see Megaton, your first objective, until a sign in Springvale suggests something interesting over there. Fo3 throws you into the world and says "Go play.". Oblivion does the same; Skyrim meets in the middle.
So it's my hope that Fallout 4 follows the same style of immersion, plot flow and stakes that made Fallout 3 so fucking good, but seeing the character creator being a middle-aged person with an established background has already been a real let-down for me, and the voice really isn't helping bridge the immersion gap. I didn't like it in ME or Witcher; I'm not going to like it here, especially if the conversations are also cutscenes.
Why not make the Fo4's protagonist the baby, growing up in the Pre-War world Fo3-style, then going into cryo-stasis in Vault 111 at age 18 or so?
I simply don't appreciate my character's story written for me.
In Fallout 3, you're with your character from literal birth, and then dictate the course of several important events from their growing up, events and situations that determine the kind of person they'll become.
No other RPG has this. Every other RPG shoves you into the head of their protagonist, and you sort of take over from their own consciousness. It's never felt to me like you are that person; you merely become their pilot and wheel 'em around the game world.
This is why Fallout 3 has been and probably always will be my favorite game ever.
But, beyond the excellent character creation, the immersion continues.
In the Capital Wasteland, the Wanderer is an important piece on the board simply via birth and association with James and his colleagues, not some prophecy, McGuffin, or - like in NV - everyone else being completely stagnant.
You don't break into Raven Rock with the intention of destroying it like some super-spy, you get kidnapped due to your association, after being sent to Vault 87 for being the most qualified person to delve into a totally unknown Vault.
It's all put together so well to make you important without making you Jesus, something New Vegas failed, and Skyrim didn't even try.
The way I saw it, in Fo3, the Purifier was the Lone Wanderer's father's life's work, which he fought and sacrificed much for, which was inherited by the player when he died, and moreso when Dr Li bitchfit and ragequit.
The work to get the purifier running, and in the right hands, was divided amongst a significant number of people, not just the Wanderer. The Wanderer wasn't the only one who could ultimately save the Purifier; you still needed the Brotherhood and Liberty Prime for that.
What was the one thing the Wanderer did by themselves? Field research for a fucking survival handbook. I love that about Fallout 3, that you're not the greatest hero in the world, you're just some person thrust into a conflict that you inherited, and are given motivation to see through to the end.
New Vegas?
"all teh doods want the desert, what we do? :V"
"This, this, this, and this."
"GEEZ WE NEVAR'D TOHUGHT OF THAT :O"
The whole west coast of the US in a political stalemate between a legionnaire army, fully-fledged democratic government and a demi-god who runs Las Vegas, and some dingus carrying packages is the only one capable of poking the snowball and getting it rolling... ?
It's implied there are hundreds of thousands of people who should be concerned by these events, but you are the only one who can make history. I've never accepted that. From Mass Effect to Skyrim, it bugs the shit out of me. That's not good writing; it's lazily imprinting a Jesus complex onto the player.
That's not even the worst part of what New Vegas did wrong, and Fo3 did right: when you're let loose into the Mojave, you're set upon a set of tracks - blocked by Cazadors on one side and a scorpion-infested desert on the other - that takes you a specific path to New Vegas - the long way around, during which you make no real choices, and doesn't actually set you free until you get to New Vegas.
Fallout 3 sets you free straight out of the Vault. There's the city on the horizon, a burned-out town to your left, and a road stretching up the hill to your right. You don't even see Megaton, your first objective, until a sign in Springvale suggests something interesting over there. Fo3 throws you into the world and says "Go play.". Oblivion does the same; Skyrim meets in the middle.
So it's my hope that Fallout 4 follows the same style of immersion, plot flow and stakes that made Fallout 3 so fucking good, but seeing the character creator being a middle-aged person with an established background has already been a real let-down for me, and the voice really isn't helping bridge the immersion gap. I didn't like it in ME or Witcher; I'm not going to like it here, especially if the conversations are also cutscenes.
Why not make the Fo4's protagonist the baby, growing up in the Pre-War world Fo3-style, then going into cryo-stasis in Vault 111 at age 18 or so?
I simply don't appreciate my character's story written for me.
