Fallout

[Toadflax]

A lot of hot takes going right now, the main one being that after the success of Outer Worlds we don't need Fallout anymore (at least current state Fallout) It's obvious the series has taken a pretty large dip in the last few releases, and the scratch people were itching for has all but been filled by OW's. Couple with that OW's is a new IP, and it's potential is FANTASTIC...given how Bethesda have treated FO i just don't see them being able to rival it.

What i'm really waiting to see is how Elder Scrolls 6 ends up looking. If they go all in on making a fantasic RPG like the previous games people will all but forgive them for the last few years, but if they screw it even slightly the ES fans will all but revolt...and Bethesda can't afford to lose them, not now anyway.

I want to join the fun!

Fallout 3, Skyrim, and New Vegas are pretty much my favorite games of all time. I grew to love Fallout 4 over time, but I was definitely disappointed on my first playthrough by the lack of dialogue choices, complex quests, and desolate mood of the previous games. That said, I went on to play it 5 more times and fell in love with the variety you can get from different builds/choices.

Fallout 76 was... fine. I wish they hadn't spent time and resources working on it, but I enjoyed my time with it. Meeting real people out in the world and trading with them and exchanging pointers was really cool for the first few weeks. I haven't minded the additions and adjustments they've made over the past year. I get the fan backlash, but I've mostly been on the side of, hey, they're trying stuff out to see what works. That said, Fallout 1st is fucking insulting. Adding content fans have been asking for since the game's announcement behind an expensive paywall is the first thing BGS has done that actually made me feel offended as a fan.

As for The Outer Worlds, I'm really enjoying it. It's definitely a breath of fresh air where action RPGs are concerned, and I'm also excited about the future of the franchise, but I haven't fallen in love with it, at least not yet. I don't know if it's that the cartoony graphics keep it from feeling "real," or that the main story isn't particularly engaging, or that I don't feel connected to the Unreliable and its inhabitants they way I did to the Normandy and its crew in Mass Effect, but something just isn't clicking for me. Again, I am really enjoying the game, and I love that I keep discovering new things about it, but it hasn't given me that warm, I-feel-like-I'm-home-when-I'm-playing-this feeling that the Bethesda games have.

I really just hope the more negative feedback Bethesda gets, the more it slaps them in the face and makes them realize what the people who play their games are looking for. I'm still looking forward to their upcoming games and hope they somehow manage to recapture what made their 2006-2011 run so special, but the past year definitely has me managing my expectations. Let's not forget that their next release is a sci-fi game, which basically has to be at least comparable to The Outer Worlds in every way if they want to escape the "Obsidian did it better" jail they've been in since New Vegas came out in 2010.