Fallout 4: My New Favorite Game of This Decade

It's no secret that I harbor a great deal of contempt for Bethesda Softworks. Every game of theirs that I've played (Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim) has majorly disappointed me, usually feeling like a soulless shell of some better game that might've been (or in some cases, that actually is/was). That disappointment stems generally from a combination of their shallow world designs and repetitive gameplay, both of which tend to feel lacking in meaningful depth or interesting systems, all in worlds that are so big they wear out their welcome well before their playtime runs out. A chief criticism of mine, especially lately, is that they just don't feel like very good RPGs, and yet ironically they've been generally improving by progressively devaluing the RPG side of things.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I decided to give Fallout 4 a chance (only because it was on a free weekend event -- I wasn't about to pay Bethesda for the opportunity to play another one of their disappointing games), and actually liked it. Like, really, really liked it. I get that some people might not like it because it's technically a step back from Fallout 3 and New Vegas, at least from an RPG standpoint, but I honestly didn't care. The first-person action is absolutely on point in this game -- the best it's ever been in a Bethesda game -- and the world was so much fun to explore, with so much to see and do. I also, surprisingly, liked how the voiced protagonist offered your character a lot more personality, and the dialogue system itself, meanwhile, flows really nicely. There's a much more cinematic feel to this game, which makes it look simply gorgeous to play, and as we all know, visual presentation is one of the most important things when it comes to game design.

There's a lot more I could talk about, of course, which I'll get into in the full article, but to sum up the teaser section before getting into the more detailed section of things: I was not expecting to like Fallout 4, and was blown away by just how good it actually is. Bethesda have out-done themselves, and I truly feel like this represents a new major step forward for what they're capable of accomplishing. It's so good that I think I can safely say that it's my new favorite game of this decade, easily bumping Prey 2017 out of the top spot. Anyway, on to the actual review.

10/10

Would recommend.