Drizzlehell
Banned
Fallout 4
Allow me to elaborate.
In my humble opinion, Bethesda Game Studios hasn't delivered a decent game since Skyrim. So, it's difficult for me to picture how they could pull off a miracle now. Fallout 4, for instance, was riddled with so many absurdities that it eventually detracted from my overall enjoyment of the game. Once the initial honeymoon period was over, I grew to dislike it quite a bit. The crafting mechanics were beyond annoying, as they forced me to spend hours on end scavenging for materials just to upgrade my guns. The base building aspect was an unnecessary and tedious chore, with clunky controls that made the whole thing feel like a waste of time. Despite getting constant alerts about settlers needing help and Preston's relentless nagging, nothing significant seemed to happen regardless of how much I ignored those mechanics. The effort expended on these useless features could have been better spent on other aspects of the game that were more enjoyable.
The game's repeated dungeons also grated on me after a while, leaving me wondering whether Bethesda had only hired one interior decorator to work on the game. I mean, it was tolerable in Skyrim because it was limited to caves and tombs within a single province. But in Fallout 4, it was just nonsensical.
As for the characters, story, and dialogue, none of them stood out as particularly impressive. The stripped-down dialogue trees were an utter letdown, sacrificing interactivity for a fully voice-acted and boring main character.
It's safe to say that I'm not a fan of that game. And let's not even mention the travesty that was Fallout 76.
Regarding Starfield, I have decided to temper my expectations. The most likely outcome is that it'll be another Fallout 4 - dazzling at first, visually stunning, and epic in scope and scale, but eventually, it will exhaust me with tedious and pointless gameplay mechanics.
What I truly hope for is a game that's more like Fallout 3 or Skyrim, where exploration and discovery made for a primary gameplay loop. The sense of adventure I experienced when I could simply pick a direction and happen upon engaging quests, intriguing locations, and amusing characters, with the same heavily accented voice actor turning up around every corner, is what made those games so enjoyable. However, seeing the same aggravating base building mechanics for ship modifications in Starfield footage made me lose hope because I could already envision myself scavenging for resources to afford upgrades again. It looks like Fallout 4 all over again.
On a more positive note, it looks like the dialogue trees are making a comeback, and the space setting may inject some fresh energy into the formula and make exploration enjoyable again, so at least that's something to look forward to. Now, honestly, I don't want this game to be bad. In fact, a space sandbox game like Freelancer or Elite but with meaningful story-driven quests and NPC dialogue frankly sounds like the game of my dreams. But as I explained, with Bethesda's more recent track record, I am very careful about getting my hopes up about this game, as there is some evidence already that at least some of the things that turned me off from their recent games may be coming back here too.
Allow me to elaborate.
In my humble opinion, Bethesda Game Studios hasn't delivered a decent game since Skyrim. So, it's difficult for me to picture how they could pull off a miracle now. Fallout 4, for instance, was riddled with so many absurdities that it eventually detracted from my overall enjoyment of the game. Once the initial honeymoon period was over, I grew to dislike it quite a bit. The crafting mechanics were beyond annoying, as they forced me to spend hours on end scavenging for materials just to upgrade my guns. The base building aspect was an unnecessary and tedious chore, with clunky controls that made the whole thing feel like a waste of time. Despite getting constant alerts about settlers needing help and Preston's relentless nagging, nothing significant seemed to happen regardless of how much I ignored those mechanics. The effort expended on these useless features could have been better spent on other aspects of the game that were more enjoyable.
The game's repeated dungeons also grated on me after a while, leaving me wondering whether Bethesda had only hired one interior decorator to work on the game. I mean, it was tolerable in Skyrim because it was limited to caves and tombs within a single province. But in Fallout 4, it was just nonsensical.
As for the characters, story, and dialogue, none of them stood out as particularly impressive. The stripped-down dialogue trees were an utter letdown, sacrificing interactivity for a fully voice-acted and boring main character.
It's safe to say that I'm not a fan of that game. And let's not even mention the travesty that was Fallout 76.
Regarding Starfield, I have decided to temper my expectations. The most likely outcome is that it'll be another Fallout 4 - dazzling at first, visually stunning, and epic in scope and scale, but eventually, it will exhaust me with tedious and pointless gameplay mechanics.
What I truly hope for is a game that's more like Fallout 3 or Skyrim, where exploration and discovery made for a primary gameplay loop. The sense of adventure I experienced when I could simply pick a direction and happen upon engaging quests, intriguing locations, and amusing characters, with the same heavily accented voice actor turning up around every corner, is what made those games so enjoyable. However, seeing the same aggravating base building mechanics for ship modifications in Starfield footage made me lose hope because I could already envision myself scavenging for resources to afford upgrades again. It looks like Fallout 4 all over again.
On a more positive note, it looks like the dialogue trees are making a comeback, and the space setting may inject some fresh energy into the formula and make exploration enjoyable again, so at least that's something to look forward to. Now, honestly, I don't want this game to be bad. In fact, a space sandbox game like Freelancer or Elite but with meaningful story-driven quests and NPC dialogue frankly sounds like the game of my dreams. But as I explained, with Bethesda's more recent track record, I am very careful about getting my hopes up about this game, as there is some evidence already that at least some of the things that turned me off from their recent games may be coming back here too.
