I think Im pretty far into Fallout 4 now and I have to say this game has some of the weakest writing in any Bethesda game Ive played to date. In Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim, I thought the gaps in the logic of the plot and characters were present though perhaps exaggerated, but here for the first time I think they actively dilute my enjoyment of the game. The lack of narrative focus, absolutely constant and bizarre character and faction motivation, and, perhaps most important, the paucity of reliable information given to players to actually make reasonable decisions (harming player agency) have not gotten enough attention from the community at large, I think.
Everyones written about the stilted intro and how cartoonish the factions are in their ultimate end games, which, aside from the intro, I dont think is a new problem for Bethesda. Typically, though, I feel like at least as a player Ive experienced the narrative and characters in a linear fashion such that the information presented to me usually is coherent. For example, the plot of Fallout 3 is sugary stuff, but I dont remember it being delivered out of sequence (that is, characters referencing things they had no business knowing) even if you reach Rivet City early because of the way the dialogue was constructed. Here I feel like every character is clearly just a waypoint to the next story mission, and characters that either dont know me or dont know what Ive done are referencing things they have no business knowing. I was playing a mission and one of the side characters told me I should use my dog to help sniff out a trail. At first I said to myself
wow, thats a great idea! And then I was more impressed by how this character knew I had a dog.
Too many characters in the game, particularly those who lead factions, expect you to act without reasonable motivations. When youre given a motivation, and you want to learn more about it or perhaps question it, the dialogue system is not equipped for you to do so. This seems to be compounded by the nonlinearity of the game, which means that some of the characters in each faction seem reasonable and consistent until theyre not. Dr. Li at the Institute is my favorite example. So I got pretty far along in the Brotherhood of Steel questline while I was simultaneously pursuing the main story. I got the Get Dr. Li back quest and headed off to the Institute for the first time. I met her and she was pretty nasty to me and swore up and down shed never leave the Institute for the Brotherhood. But, whatever, I got her to leave for a secret project after a short quest that took me about 10 minutes. Then it turns out the secret project is her basically working on a giant robot that carries massive nuclear bombs. Wonder what that will be used for?
As Im pursuing these questlines, Im realizing I dont have enough information to know where Im actually going with any of this. The Brotherhood hates the Institute. The Institute believes in enslaving synths because whatever (I have done a few missions and basically I am not sure what their issue is entirely yet
not hopeful it will convincingly materialize). The Minutemen, the peaceful vanguards of the Commonwealth, suddenly want to destroy everyone else. Im also being asked to destroy the Railroad by everyone. Ive only been there once or twice and they seemed like nasty people, but Im not even sure why some groups hate other groups. And why is Danse such a big dumbass after his twist? Shouldnt he want to help me go one way in particular?
Im pretty surprised by how little information I feel I have to make a decision. In New Vegas, I feel like I was asked to make an informed decision between a few factions with obviously conflicting objectives. Nobody was perfect, but each side had their particular viewpoint reinforced by what I was seeing in the world. In Fallout 4, I feel like I have to make a choice without knowing the implications of said choice among a bunch of groups that seem to hate each other just because (and some groups hate each other for reasons I am not even really sure of). This seems like really basic stuff and a big regression even from their earlier works for Bethesda, and it really doesnt work at all with the dialogue system.
I just feel so completely in the dark about everything. I very obviously dont want to continue with the Brotherhood questline because Im pretty sure I know what that robot is going to do when I know so little about the other factions (despite having worked with most of them for quite some time).
If I were Bethesda, without even improving the quality of the writing overall, I think I would less stringently demarcate this is where the story will branch to players. I feel so conflicted because the story has obviously branched, and I feel like any decision I make may be held against me because I wasnt able to fully understand the consequence of what I was doing. I think I would also try to ensure the player gets more time through the main quest with each faction because the main quest ultimately requires you to pick a side.
Im pretty bummed about how this game turned out. It just seems like the story, perhaps matching the gameplay, is a collection of poorly executed ideas and themes that feels like a greatest hits version of their previous games without the care or consideration given to any of them in their original incarnations.
