Topic: Fallout 4

[Quemaqua]

Thanks for the updates, Cobra. I'd like to say that I'll get back to this, but it's highly unlikely given everything else that's coming out and everything else that I have to get back to. Curious how the new DLC stuff will turn out.

[Cobra951]

Damn page breaks.  I'm tempted to move the whole bulk of my previous post here.  But I won't.  I'll just finish what I started, since I've now finished the game along the 3 paths I cared about (of 4 overall).

I was right initially.  My impressions about what's best for the Commonwealth were correct all along.  What I said looked impossible in the biggest blacked-out area 2 posts up is actually doable, in essence completely, since I get to call all the shots at the end of this story branch:

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The Institute is by far the best hope for mankind out of the 4 presented to us in this story.  The problem is that everyone above ground considers them the boogeyman, obscure monsters akin to a tech-based version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  In reality, they are led by a sheltered visionary, whose closed-in upbringing has kept him from getting a complete picture of the greater good.  As a result, some tragic mistakes were made, and blown way out of proportion by the fearful and ignorant wastelanders.  They fear The Institute wants to supplant humanity with synthetic beings, and take over the world.  The reality is quite different.  The consensus at The Institute is that the surface world is dead already.  As the wanderer's courser companion X6-88 puts it, the world is a corpse, carrion fed upon by the maggot-like remnants of surface-dwelling humanity.  So they take steps to ensure the continued viability of their pristine underground facility, as a sort of ark to preserve what matters for the future, after the old world finishes burning itself out.  They don't even like to go above ground, and do so only out of necessity.  That perceived necessity includes taking steps to deter any invasion or other interference.

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Shaun is the wanderer's son, but due to the cryogenic shenanigans that went on for 200 years, that son is a generation or two older than his father (or mother) by the time the two meet.  He leads the Institute.  Following this faction to the end allows the player to influence heavily the approach to the surface world.  It can end in heavy antagonism with the outside world, or cooperation.  The turning point is clever.  The wanderer partially crafts a speech to be broadcast through Diamond City Radio.  His multi-part influence on the speech determines whether the Institute will reveal itself as hostile and domineering, or reservedly benevolent and willing to help.  Since Shaun is terminally ill, and dies by story's end of natural causes in this story path, the wanderer becomes director of the Institute as well.  Because of these possibilities, a positive outcome is not impossible, as I had thought after following two other story branches.  So I crafted the reveal speech to be as reassuring and open-armed as the choices let me.  (I was trying to be Jean-Luc Picard in the TNG episode "First Contact".)  I chose better weaponry instead of more synths at the meeting before the final push to defeat the sadly misled Brotherhood of Steel.  (Humanity doesn't need even more synths scaring them.)  And I dealt with the Minutemen benignly, complete with a (successful) conciliatory speech challenge.  The result was a complete destruction of the BoS, the preservation of The Institute, now led by my benevolent character, the continued good work of Garvey and his minutemen on the surface, and no ridiculous new atomic devastation in the middle of Boston.  The wasteland has had enough of that.

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The Railroad unfortunately had to go as well.  In a replay, I may investigate if it's possible to reconcile with them, but I seriously doubt it.  While not as destructively closed-minded or anywhere near the same military league as the BoS, they seem completely intent on destroying The Institute as a sort of emancipation of its enslaved synths.  I found this conceit too unpalatable to really care about their pursuits, found them too weak and too fringe to support.  As Director of The Institute, I can treat all sentient synths as free beings, whether the more fascist elements in the organization like it or not.

Edit (4/15):  "Official" in-game confirmation of this take, something I found more recently:

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In an almost unthinkable series of recent events, the Institute has destroyed anyone in the Commonwealth who could conceivably stop them, including longterm player the Railroad, as well as the newly arrived Brotherhood of Steel. What's more, the shadowy, sinister organization has completed work on an advanced nuclear reactor that will provide them with nearly unlimited power for the foreseeable future. This surely means greater underground expansion, as well increased range of their teleporter technology (which, until recently, had been a closely-guarded Institute secret).

So what exactly does this mean for the Commonwealth, going forward?

"Nothing good" seems to be the consensus. In fact, most people assume the worst.

But isn't it possible these fears are unfounded? The Railroad may have opposed the Institute, but they also defended all synths - even those who would potentially infiltrate human society. And the Brotherhood's mighty airship may now lie a smoldering wreck - but was the neo-knightly order really interested in the Commonwealth's best interests anyway?

But perhaps the most compelling reason not to give up hope just yet is the fact that, if my sources are correct - and I know they are - the Institute is now under the direct influence of someone many of us have already met - the Wanderer. That lonely figure who came into our settlement searching for a missing child, and clearly found something else entirely. And maybe, just maybe, the Institute is all the better for it.

So be wary as we go into a new tomorrow, my friends. But stay strong. And always, always remember that humanity lives and dies on the surface. Humanity IS the Commonwealth. And maybe, just maybe, the Institute can be a part of that now.

-- from the final issue of The Synthetic Truth, written by Piper

So it turns out there is a fair amount of choice and dimensionality here after all.  The complete picture of the story with all its different perspectives and motivations is much better than some critics have led us to believe.  I am glad I persevered until I found a good path to a better future for the story.  I was completely immersed in its nuances.

Edit 4/29:  Final one, I hope.

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Finished the game with my 2nd character.  I chased the storyline I skipped before--the Railroad.  By far the most difficult to do, because it is the least appealing, and because it has very obscure quest-line triggers near the end.  I resorted to an outline view of these online, something I normally hate to do.  It was either that, or kill Desdemona and her gang yet again.  It is as I thought, an allusion to the Underground Railroad from where the new $20 bill will draw its face.  I cannot think of man-made synths as a downtrodden slave race.  The parallel to Africans in America is troubling at best.

On top of that, there is no compelling reason for the Railroad to demand the total destruction of the Institute, and vice-versa.  It makes sense that the Third-Reich-like Brotherhood of Steel has to exterminate or be exterminated.  But the rift between the other factions is not nearly so absolute, or necessary.  The game will not allow any alternative, however unreasonably inflexible that may be.  This is something that could not have been learned in my first playthrough, since the Railroad went down the tubes first, ahead of the BoS.

As before, I felt a bit queasy forcing myself to side against the wanderer's son (my son, as I identify with the wanderer).  It was the wrong thing to do, and I knew that before, during, and after the events.  The destruction of the most promising technology happened again.  The huge atomic crater in the middle of the Commonwealth happened again.  But hey, Desdemona and her handful of cohorts are happy.  Lucky us.

[W7RE]

I need to get back to this game. I got it at release, but only got to like level 12. It wasn't bad or anything, I just got distracted when a friend convinced me to spend every waking hour doing coop in some other game.

[Cobra951]

I know you played a lot of Borderlands 2 with someone in like a dark wizard skin.  I bet that was fun.

I ended up posting the video after some serious frustrations yesterday trying to get a screenshot out of my Onedrive space.  (Turned out better than expected because my modded Ada happened to be walking by.  But my target was the row of power armors.)  Firefox absolutely refused to load up Onedrive.  It kept coming up and blanking out repeatedly.  No amount of settings tinkering or script allowances made a difference.  I think it's just broken in Version 42 of FF.  Today, I installed Chrome, after necessity overcame my fear of exposing myself to the bad bits out there without the hefty script and ad controls I've come to rely on.  Damn, Chrome runs so much better.  It almost makes my ancient rig feel modern.  A different process for each tab?  Wow!  What a concept, eh, Mozilla?  Anyway, long story short (and it belongs in another thread anyway),  Onedrive works well, better than ever (as does Youtube), and I was able to extricate what I wanted from it.



As I said before, I focused a lot on power armor this playthrough.  Those are the 4 types, from the lowly T-45 on the left to the mighty-but-ugly X01 on the right.  The middle one is the

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Paladin Danse

BOS V T-60D, with unique paint job.  My original jetpack T-60F is just to the right of it.  I'm not using any of them right now.  I'm in the unique Tesla T-60 armor from the DLC, now in full 'F' protection.



My biggest gripe with this cool aspect of the game is that paint uses up one of the 2 possible mods per piece.  Some complete paint jobs bring in a boost to one of your SPECIAL attributes, but that does not nearly make up for the loss of the augments you have to give up.  So all the armor I use is unpainted.  I have other terracotta-like soldiers standing around Sanctuary (17 total power frames found by exploration), and at least one of them is painted.  But they're there just for grins.

[W7RE]

I know you played a lot of Borderlands 2 with someone in like a dark wizard skin.  I bet that was fun.

We both get into a game and pretty much spend all our time on it for a week or two at a time, sometimes longer. I knew it was either Borderlands 2 or Diablo III. (recently we did the Division for a couple weeks)


I use the OneDrive program on my PC instead of the web interface. I'm sure it uses some resources, but I let it run in the background and sync my stuff automatically. I just wish I could get the Xbox to automatically save my stuff there, instead of having to individually share every video and screenshot to OneDrive.

[Cobra951]

You can upload videos directly to Youtube, through their app on the Xbox.  You don't need to edit or upload them in the Studio. That's how I was able to post mine above.  Onedrive was completely inaccessible to me yesterday.

[W7RE]

Yeah, I upload most of the videos I want to keep to YouTube, but I'm talking mostly about screenshots. I took almost 50 Doom beta screenshots yesterday and had to individually send each one to OneDrive to get them to my PC. With how long it takes some of the dialogues to pop up, it's like 10-15 seconds for each image. Then sometimes Game DVR decides it want to refresh and put you at the beginning of the list, and you have to scroll back through and find where you were.

[Cobra951]

I know, it's lousy.  That full page reload whenever you do anything is exasperating.  They should let us select a group of images to upload too.  They should take a look at their own Onedrive interface.  All they'd have to do is add the Upload option on the Manage page.  You can select as many images there as you want, but then the options to apply to all the selections are very few.

Had a bit of a revelation today.  The name I chose for my first character is "Jack".  Codsworth called me "Mr Jack" in his John-Cleese-like voice, and it never struck me as odd for some reason.  This isn't a canned name from a list.  I typed out "J-a-c-k" to get it.  Well it finally sunk in on my 2nd playthrough.  I created a female character and called her "Laura".  (Again, not a selection from a list--"L-a-u-r-a" on the keyboard.)  Codsworth now calls me "Miss Laura" out loud.  Cool!  I wonder how many different names will get such treatment.  Codsworth's voice does not sound synthesized, but is it?  No one else calls me by name.  Only Codsworth.

[Xessive]

Had a bit of a revelation today.  The name I chose for my first character is "Jack".  Codsworth called me "Mr Jack" in his John-Cleese-like voice, and it never struck me as odd for some reason.  This isn't a canned name from a list.  I typed out "J-a-c-k" to get it.  Well it finally sunk in on my 2nd playthrough.  I created a female character and called her "Laura".  (Again, not a selection from a list--"L-a-u-r-a" on the keyboard.)  Codsworth now calls me "Miss Laura" out loud.  Cool!  I wonder how many different names will get such treatment.  Codsworth's voice does not sound synthesized, but is it?  No one else calls me by name.  Only Codsworth.

Yeah, Beth apparently added about a thousand names that Codsworth will utter. Here's a full list. There are a few Easter eggs in there too

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He'll even recognize "Kal-El"

I had the same thing, my character's name is also Jack and Iw as pleasantly surprised when my Robo butler called me by my character's name!

[W7RE]

My real name, Mitch, isn't on the list. I didn't know that until several hours into the game though. I would have used Fleshfeast like usual if I had known. Mitchell is on the list though, I could have used that too.

[Cobra951]

Can you change your name where you change your face?  I never tried those guys at Diamond City.  Maybe I will, just to see if it's possible.

Yeah, Beth apparently added about a thousand names that Codsworth will utter. Here's a full list. There are a few Easter eggs in there too

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He'll even recognize "Kal-El"

I had the same thing, my character's name is also Jack and Iw as pleasantly surprised when my Robo butler called me by my character's name!

I don't know why I forget Google sometimes.    Thanks for that link.  It must have been quite a chore for the voice actor.

Edit:  See?  I did it again.  Googling "Fallout 4 name change" reveals that your name can't be changed after leaving the vault.  PC players cheating with the console commands incur problems with their save files if they force it.

[MysterD]

PC Gamer -> Fallout 4: Far Harbor DLC -- Info on it: this takes place in Maine & comes out May 19th.
YouTube -> Fallout 4: Far Harbor DLC -- Trailer.

[Cobra951]

Console patch 1.5 (roughly equivalent to PC patch 1.6--I think) brings huge improvements in performance and stability.  The late game (after a couple hundred hours) had become a stuttery crashfest under 1.4--mostly outdoors, where random encounters in geometry-heavy places would almost guarantee an eventual crash.  That's all good now.  Much less streaming stutter, markedly better frame rate where it chugged before, and no crashes or freezes at all in 4 days (2 of which had long sessions).  I've noticed several bugs not mentioned in the list have been squashed as well, like not reloading a gatling laser properly when using power armor. 

It's uncharacteristic of Bethesda to fix so much in one go.  Quite a pleasant surprise.  I have a feeling that the revamped survival mode has much to do with it.  We can work around frequent crashes by creeping and saving.  Survival mode now disables all saving except when sleeping.  That would be a disaster under 1.4.

[MysterD]

EGM Now -> Looks like some data-miner might've found more info on future-planned DLC's in the game-files

[PyroMenace]

Can't stop playing... I got this on Christmas and been on and off of it. I recently started playing a lot lately. Been building a big ocean view home on one of my settlements. I also checked out the glowing sea, probably the most haunting and awesome areas I've ever explored in a video game. The landscape feels so much more varied than any other fallout has ever been despite a lack of actual desert in the game yet it still feels like a wasteland, it's a nice, refreshing change. I seemed to have lost dogmeat, which is kind of funny. That dog companion seems to be a staple of Fallout yet having played a lot of the first one, a bit of Fallout 2, and a lot of 3, I have never found dogmeat. I may have after someone pointed out where he's at, but in all of my actual play throughs, it's just never been in my experience. I kinda thought it was lame they sort of force him on you in this one, but now he's apparently bugged out of my game which will continue my tradition of playing without him. I hate companions in Bethesda games anyway.

I am bit bummed I didn't grab the season pass before the price hike, but I think I'll avoid it till they all come out, I'm a bit skeptical it's going to be worth $60.

[Cobra951]

If you dismissed Dogmeat without telling him where to go (i.e., you backed out of the selection), he should be in the Red Rocket station near Sanctuary.  If you told him to go to Sanctuary, he will be in one of like 3 doghouses, in backyards scattered about.  I recommend scrapping or storing all but one doghouse, so you always know where he is.  You can build a bell in any settlement, which when rung will draw every settler to it, including the dog.  Build a chair next to it too.  Ring it, sit, wait an hour.  Everyone should be near you.

I can't stop playing it either.  My problem now is that although I have many character development choices, I always gravitate toward what I know works best in the least amount of level-ups.  Sure, you can level up forever (or nearly so), but diminishing returns come in with a vengeance after about Level 75.  It takes forever, there are few interesting things left to do, and it feels like I'm losing ground to the world, because the perks left don't make THAT much difference.  I started my current character intending him to be strong/brutal, uncharismatic, and unlucky.  Mistake.  Can't do a lot of things without charisma, so I've been backpedaling on that ever since.  At first, I couldn't afford to buy anything, and I couldn't prevail in the simplest speech challenges.  And no supply lines connecting settlements (6 in Charisma needed), which is a huge loss.  Luck matters less, but Bloody Mess requires a Luck of 4, and that means a 15% universal boost to damage--which makes it the best damage-up perk in the game after the likes of Rifleman.

I've also been trying to develop a character that does not rely on power armor.  I'm finding that until I reach Level 40 or so, playing without the mech suit is an exercise in masochism.  You need the perks (like 4 in Armorer) and some progression through a certain faction to be able to take regular armor up to the point where its protection is good enough to replace power armor--ignoring radiation, against which regular armor always sucks.

I never did put a lot of effort into building up structures in settlements.  I've been more bare-bones practical about happiness.  If you come up with a wood and metal sky palace, let us see it. 

[Xessive]

I just started the Far Harbor quest line and it's quite interesting so far. The new area is relatively large (about a third of the Commonwealth) and it seems to have quite a bit of adventuring to offer.

[MysterD]

@Xessive

Since I have the Pass + want to get Far Harbor going...

[FO4 Base-Game Spoilers coming]

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...I had to finally start-up the main-quest stuff to go find Nick Valentine (yep, found him now) + taking on Get A Clue Quest to find Kellogg.
Found Kellogg, now I gotta' deal with him in that Vault.

[Cobra951]

In terms of camaraderie, conversation, and interest in backstory and developments, that is my favorite companion.  I'm not alone in that opinion.

[Cobra951]

This is mostly for W7RE's benefit.  But it's actually a bit of history making as well.  It's a first for any game on any console, as far as I know.

Xbox mods are now reality.  I thought we'd get a smattering of cherrypicked options, so I was quite surprised by the large number and reach of what's available.  About the only no-no is sexual or otherwise potentially offensive content.  Even the unofficial patch is supposedly available, along with cheat menu and big (if clothed) boobs.    I played around with a few yesterday.  The only downside is that using any mods will basically create a new character, with an "[M]" added in front of the old character name.  Only the modded saves will show until one quits and reselects the original (unmodded) character.  Modded characters have achievements disabled, but that's not a big deal.  The hard wall between modded and unmodded saves is more annoying.  (I can manage my saves without a baby railing, thank you very much.)

IGN also has a list of top 7 mods.  I'll be checking most of those out today.

[W7RE]

Yeah I was reading about the mods on Xbox and it's pretty great how it's been implemented. I really need to get back to the game, I bought like 3 games the month it came out, and only ended up at like level 10 in Fallout.

[Cobra951]

It's definitely good stuff, mostly.  I've already managed to take care of my 2 top problems with the game: weather and Marcy Long.  Several mods deal with the weather in different ways.  The one I'm using just keeps it clear always.  In Far Harbor, that means that the floaty mists used for the unique fog effect there are still present, but you can still see more than 5 feet ahead!  Woo!  Another mod takes the essential flag away from Marcy and several other annoying Sanctuary characters.  Only Marcy absolutely had to go.  The others I find tolerable.  So I enabled the mod, blew her brains out (finally!) and disabled the mod again.  I got a warning that content in the save depended on that mod, but she stayed dead (her body is on display on a table), and (presumably) the others went back to being immortal.  I can always make sure by trying to kill Mama Murphy or Jun Long.  They should just go down, and then get back up a bit later, pissed off at me.

The other mod I like shows you the full text of all 4 possible responses by your character when engaged in conversation.  It helps a lot when wanting to try alternate responses that are too cryptically described, and on occasion have actually turned out to be exactly the opposite of the intent I expected.  I also grabbed the cheat menu, which is a holotape found right outside the entrance to Vault 111.  That I have yet to try at all, other than to verify it comes up in the pip boy.  It allows major cheats, and I can't see it being any fun to play with anything on the list--like God mode, no clip, and enabling all perks.  Come to think of it, no clip might have helped get me unstuck from some geometry.  (I ended up fast traveling out of that one.)

2 mods I grabbed don't seem to work at all.  One is for a better-looking map, and the other to highlight NPCs enemies and corpses in different colors, when in power armor.  I've tried playing with the load order quite a bit.  No dice.  But overall, the experience is pretty much as advertised, and achievements be damned, I can't see playing the game any other way now.  There are many more, like more robust settlement building, special houses for you in different places, lush greenery, playing as a ghoul, and so forth.  It's like finding a new box of toys.

[Cobra951]

Most surprising benefit from a mod so far: Disable Godrays.  The performance boost is . . . ungodly (ooooh . . . ).  Frame rate is decent even in the busy city areas now.  It's markedly better at all times, even at night, which surprised me.  Not only are godrays processing-intensive, but they're apparently used for a lot more than just sunlight.  Thing is the game still looks great, more crisp even, without all the haze added by the effect.  Lens flare and bloom are still there, so staring at the sun looks much as it should.

[PyroMenace]

I managed to find Dogmeat again Cobra, he was at a doghouse, just another one I didn't know about in Sanctuary. Figure it's about time I show my Nordhagen beach home off since I worked on it some more recently. I managed to reach the limit of the amount you can actually build at a settlement, at least in this one. I went a little crazy with it's size. Mostly to see how much you can actually build, so I did end up downsizing a little and I may have to do more so I can add interior decorations and the like. Here's what I got so far:

Exterior shot, still need to put lights on the outside.


The game room.


Basic bedroom area.



This whole side is just open to the beach with some docks I made.



This is the second floor which I haven't done much with other than put in a crafting area.



And here's another outside shot from the other side.


I'm pretty much out of building materials now but it'll be pretty easy to stock back up again.

[Cobra951]

Neat!  That's quite a building for this game.  Where did you get those strings of lights?  Are those from the Wasteland Workshop add-on?  It's the one DLC so far that I didn't feel was worth the money.  Or do the lights come courtesy of a Picket Fences mag I haven't found.  That'd be sweet.

I don't know why I haven't gotten into this part of the game at all.  I'm still being completely utilitarian with my building.  That there mansion completely dwarfs everything I've done.

Screenshot tip: you can turn off the HUD in the settings.

[PyroMenace]

I'm pretty sure it's from the wasteland workshop, I bought the season pass just the other day and I noticed there's a bunch of new items I can use. In the workshop, any new items added have a "+" symbol indicated they are new like those light strings you mentioned. 

[PyroMenace]

Here's another update, downsized a little bit and added a bit more to the inside, including my bedroom.

[Cobra951]

Functional pegboards!  I know those didn't come from the vanilla game.

[MysterD]

MY FALLOUT 4 (BASE-GAME) REVIEW:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/mysterd/recommended/377160/

MYSTERD'S VERDICT:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...to those who can accept Fallout 4's base-game change in direction - i.e. FO4 is more shooter/ARPG hybrid, but less of the moral decision-making (that the FO series is known for) than ever before.

REASON FOR THE VERDICT:
FO4 base-game improves drastically on the feel of the combat, weapon systems & upgrading equipment stuff by a mile - but it doesn't offer up choices galore (of good, evil, neutral & special choices) per quest like previous FO games do.

SIDE NOTE ON THE ABOVE VERDICT:
Far Harbor DLC (15-20 hours DLC) could be the saving grace for many FO fans here w/ FO4, as that DLC offers up the classic FO-style of moral decision-making in most quests (both main & side quests). That DLC is excellent & will get a review of its own (if it hasn't already).

INTRO:
Let's get this right out of the way: Fallout 4 base-game is not as deep of the previous two modern-day Fallout games (when compared to even Fallout 3 base-game & especially Fallout: New Vegas), in terms of actual choices & the RPG elements; the base-game has been cut back a bit on that stuff. If you were expecting good, neutral, evil & special choices per quest in a FO game like many previous games (even including Bethesda's Fallout 3 & its DLC's did this well), you will often not find that here in Fallout 4 base-game - though, the Far Harbor DLC expands on the FO4 foundation of excellent combat & offers that RPG decision-making stuff up often & consistently.

What you will find often are different shades of good, in most of FO4's base-game quests: you can be a sarcastic jerk & still do nice things (i.e. think Mass Effect-like options); or you can be straight-up nice and do morally good things; and/or you can often extort/persuade to earn more caps (money) per quest. Most of the time, that's it though. Once & a while, you might also get actual others choices (evil, neutral, or special choices for a quest).

NEW DIRECTION = COMBAT & ARPG STUFF:
FO4 base-game now has a heavy focus on drastically improved gunplay & action, similar to that of an Id Software shooter - but combat's still not as great as an Id game b/c there's still less RPG/ARPG systems in Id's games. With Perks & SPECIAL basically now merged into the Perks system, some skills & things were tossed out the window or moved over to Perks. There's also less points to upgrade per each Perk or Skill (it won't go to 100 now; most of them often go up to numbers of say 2, 5 or up to 10 points). Since Guns stat doesn't get upgraded to 100 & bonuses are part of the Perks system - you don't have some of the clunkiness of combat that FO3 & FO:NV had going on.

VATS Mode for combat now is not a complete stand-still, but happens in a heavy slow-motion, keeping the combat flowing & action going...even if it's still going slowly. Some might be looking for that old-school inspired VATS mode (where you can pin-point body parts in a turn-based style to queue up shots/attacks), similar to Fallout 3 & NV where it actually doesn't move time at all & might not like this change. Though, some might like the new change to keep things still going even if it's ultra-slow in VATS for FO4. Personally, I'm fine with this change, as the game's combat is still slow enough in VATS & the drastic improvement in combat makes a lot of stuff for time to pass slowly in VATS.

There's also a heavy focus on ARPG loot-grabbing (weapons, materials, etc) & tinkering with equipment (upgrading), which drastically improves anything related to dealing w/ combat. Besides the game's hand-crafted quests - there's also the Radiant AI system here, in which this could go on for a very long time, as there are constant quests being given to the player that are generated randomly by the game.

If you want that FO4 combat - but you also really want all of that classic Fallout-style moral decision-making, you really should try Far Harbor DLC. For classic Fallout fans (Fallout 1 & 2), Fallout 3 fans, and especially Fallout: New Vegas fans that really want the decision-making stuff, FH DLC is the DLC that Fallout fans look should take on. If it isn't up already, a separate review for Far Harbor on that its DLC page will be up or incoming, as I recently finished that DLC.

OPEN WORLD & EXPLORING:
As usual per Bethesda games, this is usually one of the main reasons to play a Bethesda Softworks game. Boston is an absolutely fantastic choice for the game to be set & based around, with a location with so much history surrounding it. Bethesda's version of a Fallout-style Boston is excellent. Many historical locations & landmarks are here, with (of course) the Fallout-destroyed twist thrown on top of it - such as Diamond City is their take on Fenway Park; CIT is their take on MIT; Faneuil Hall is here; Bunker Hill; Old North Church; Boston Common; Goodneighbor is where the old Scollay Square & Old State House resides here; The Old North Church; etc etc. With so many interesting & different locations here in FO4, when compared to FO3, FO4 certainly has going a lot more usage of color & whatnot than FO3's base-game (which used lots of brown, gray & some green).

As you would expect, given how excellent a lot of areas & levels were built in previous Bethesda-developed games, you can expect excellent design throughout. With the awesome open-world; how linear certain buildings & missions; and also how open some of the level design is for buildings & locations you explore inside - as usual, everything here is great & it has a nice mix of everything pretty much.

PERFORMANCE & GRAPHICS:
Running mostly at 50-60fps at 1440p with most stuff set on Medium (and GodRays set to Off) on my desktop PC (W7 64; i7 950; 16 GB RAM; GTX 970) - yes, Fallout 4 ran quite well on my desktop PC. It also has ran quite well on other laptops that I've thrown this at - such as my W10-based SC15 Laptop (60fps no problem at 1080p) & even my W10 Acer Nitro Laptop (at 900p with Medium settings @ 30fps w/out drops). So, if anything: shouldn't be much of a problem to get Fallout 4 running well on most modern-systems, which is great.

Mind you, FO4 does have tons of textures, objects, things & little details everywhere - which is great, BTW - this really doesn't always look like a game from this generation of systems. It also doesn't look like a game from the last generation of PC's & console systems either, as it's beyond that also. The graphics quality look somewhere b/t a game from the Xbox 360/PS3 & XBox 1/PS4 generation. Given with so many systems & things Fallout 4 has going on and with its huge open-world, this makes a lot of sense. Animations might be better than usual for a Bethesda game (which isn't saying much, as their animations have never been that good by any means), but still aren't on the level of many other higher AAA games. I also don't think most people here meet the GTX 1080 recommendations either for the highest end of textures either, which likely could improve quality on the textures & graphics.

But, seriously: most people probably will not be here for the graphics & animations - but will be playing Fallout 4 for the exploration, open-world, gameplay, ARPG elements, & gunplay - which certainly delivers an awesome experience here with just that stuff alone.

OUTRO:
After 142 hours w/ the FO4 base-game, this game is an outstanding open-world shooter/ARPG experience. If you're looking for a game with tons to do, a huge open-world (of Boston) to explore & immensely improved combat - you're going to love Fallout 4. For the most part, it's a very addictive & time consuming shooter/ARPG with a huge open-world (of the awesome location of Boston in a Fallout-destroyed manner) and absolutely tons to do. While I was disappointed quite a bit with the questing (namely & especially on many side-quests), I still enjoyed the game immensely w/ its exploration, setting & its awesome main quest, even despite its few flaws.

[Cobra951]

Thanks for that detailed review of the vanilla game, D.  I agree for the most part with everything you said.  I have a couple things to add.

I got heavily into the PC version of the game since I last posted here.  I'm surprised I didn't post about it in this thread.  I guess I must have felt it would just be redundant?  No matter.  What I found, in terms of performance, is that besides godrays, shadows have a huge impact on it when there is a lot going on.  You can have high settings for the most part and still get a locked 60 fps (99% of the time) if you dial shadows back manually, from like 20000 to 5000.  They must have really inefficient, CPU-bound shadowing code in this engine.  My memory is letting me down now.  I can't recall where you do this.  It's in a config file somewhere.

As for the good/neutral/evil possibilities, check out my reply #121 above, and perhaps #119 before that.  There are still multiple paths to the end, and who gets your support, who wins out, and how you handle certain missions and tasks, does have what I consider a significant impact on the future of humanity.  I found a way to (at least in my mind) come up with what I considered the best outcome by far.  I inserted quite a bit of my own reasoning, and tried to present some evidence backing it up.  See what you think, if you haven't already.

[MysterD]

MY FALLOUT 4: FAR HARBOR DLC REVIEW:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/mysterd/recommended/435881

MYSTERD'S VERDICT:
EXTREMELY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

REASON FOR THE VERDICT:
Implementing back in the real choices & decision-making elements FO series are known for (good, evil, neutral & special choices per quest), while still retaining the major improvements found in FO4 base-game (i.e. combat/shooting mechanics & the equipment/settlement building/upgrading).

INTRO:
Let's face it: FO4 possibly disappointed a lot of the long-term FO-fans/players w/ its lack of real choices (especially on side quests), who have played numerous FO-games before. This really put people who have never played FO game & picked up FO4 (base-game) at an advantage, as they have no previous FO games to really compare FO4 to. Though, as someone who plays lots of shooters, ARPG, ARPG/shooter hybrids, and also other games - I still could appreciate FO4 with the improvements in combat.

Long-term Fallout franchise fans finally can rejoice, as this Far Harbor DLC implements back in the main thing FO4 was lacking: real decision-making choices per quest (good, evil, neutral, gray & special choices per quest), no matter if the quests are either main quests and/or side quests. Over the 15-20 hours of likely gameplay the player will get out of this DLC, there's no doubt in my mind: this is what Fallout fans are looking for, expanding on the excellent foundation Fallout 4 already brought to the table instead of just bringing only more of Fallout 4 ARPG/shooting stuff to the table.

EXPANDING...WITH PERSONALITY:
If you look at a lot of Bethesda's base-games in their franchises (i.e. see Oblivion & Skyrim), a lot of them suffer from being so big that many parts can feel generic and/or lacking personality. A lot of their expansions/DLC's - i.e. see Morrowind's Tribunal & Bloodmoon; Fallout 3's Point Lookout & The Pitt DLC's; Oblivion's expansion Shivering Isles both of Skyrim's major content DLC's of Dawnguard & Dragonborn, for perfect examples of this - offer up much smaller areas with more interesting quests & decision-making opportunities; and/or areas & characters w/ more personality...which remedies a lot of those problems w/ their base-games. There's great news here: Far Harbor is no different, in that regard.

Like FO4's base-game (where you're looking for your son all over Boston), you're again...looking for someone. Taking place in Far Harbor, which is their own version of Bar Harbor, Maine - you're off to find a missing girl for their parents. You don't know if she was kidnapped, left on her own volition, or what; it's up to you to figure that out and then decide what to do w/ your findings (when the time comes). That is honestly...just the start of things here & the tip of the iceberg here, as that one personal story leads into a much more epic storyline & set-up, slowly but surely.

A lot of characters here are often flawed, interesting, have worthwhile back-stories, and even often offer up shades of gray - which can make it tough at times to make decisions on who to side with (if you decide to side with anyone). B/c of this DLC feeling smaller & much more personal in many instances, you will likely care about characters & their quests here. And even some factions here like DIMA's faction and the Children Of Atom, are very interesting factions b/c they often have their own issues, flaws, and strengths. You're often not just dealing with good and evil here, as you also will deal with shades of gray - which makes for a more interesting experience here.

With the whole fisherman area/settlement; small quaint town; some horror & monster elements (and lore); and other vibes this DLC gives off - this gives us a lot more personality than you'd normally find in Bethesda's often big base-games. It also feels like this entire DLC was very much hand-crafted to each inch, as there a quests everywhere...often with real choices. NPC's and characters often have their own back-story, quests, and personality. It really feels like this FH DLC here is to Fallout 4 what Point Lookout was to Fallout 3.

OLD LONGFELLOW:
One (possible) companion & important character in particular, is named Old Longfellow. Once you meet-up with him, you will see he is a perfect embodiment of most of this DLC: he is absolutely brimming with personality & humor. Like having Serana from Skyrim's Dawnguard DLC be the stand-out companion, Fallout 4's Far Harbor has Old Longfellow. Old Longfellow always seems to banter & comment about specific quests within this DLC; in specific areas in the game; if your player takes certain actions; and even in important dialogues with important dialogues in the game - which makes it feel like it's necessary to take him with you throughout the Far Harbor experience on at least on entire play-through of this DLC.

OUTRO:
Sure, there's more of the Fallout 4 combat, mechanics, Minecraft style settlement-building (if you want to use it) here. Sure, there's more and new weapons (like the cool Harpoon Gun), armor, and whatnot here - which is awesome. But, honestly, it's the return of the decision-making & obvious that different permutations (b/c there are a few different important stories & sub-stories that matter here) can result from your decisions, make this experience even more so worthwhile. An already great ARPG/shooter hybrid (Fallout 4 base-game) gets to be even greater b/c it brings back the decision-making FO series is known for here with Far Harbor DLC.

By bringing back the decision-making FO series is known for and by retaining the already improved combat formula FO4 provided (ARPG/shooter hybrid), Far Harbor excels in delivering an unforgettable FO4 DLC. This feels like a more complete FO4 experience with Far Harbor here, which gamers are likely looking for. With at least around 15-20 hours worth of content here for most gamers - well, I spent a little over 20 hours and have not done everything here in this DLC - this is an excellent DLC that delivers the FO4 experience here...but with much more personality, story, character, and decision-making.

If you liked or loved Fallout 4 (base-game), get this DLC. If you were disappointed on Fallout 4 (base-game) b/c of its lack of choices, this DLC turns that around: get this DLC.

Simply put: Far Harbor DLC embodies everything that a Fallout gaming experience should be about.

[MysterD]

Thanks for that detailed review of the vanilla game, D.  I agree for the most part with everything you said.  I have a couple things to add.

I got heavily into the PC version of the game since I last posted here.  I'm surprised I didn't post about it in this thread.  I guess I must have felt it would just be redundant?  No matter.  What I found, in terms of performance, is that besides godrays, shadows have a huge impact on it when there is a lot going on.  You can have high settings for the most part and still get a locked 60 fps (99% of the time) if you dial shadows back manually, from like 20000 to 5000.  They must have really inefficient, CPU-bound shadowing code in this engine.  My memory is letting me down now.  I can't recall where you do this.  It's in a config file somewhere.

As for the good/neutral/evil possibilities, check out my reply #121 above, and perhaps #119 before that.  There are still multiple paths to the end, and who gets your support, who wins out, and how you handle certain missions and tasks, does have what I consider a significant impact on the future of humanity.  I found a way to (at least in my mind) come up with what I considered the best outcome by far.  I inserted quite a bit of my own reasoning, and tried to present some evidence backing it up.  See what you think, if you haven't already.

Actually, the FO4 main-quest is one of the few quests that, at times, will offer up actual real meaningful choices. And it doesn't really do much of that, it seems, until the last 1/4 or so of the actual game's main quest.

It all seems like this choice-stuff finally begins to kick really into gear...

(click to show/hide)

...Once you meet Father (AKA The Wanderer's son, Shaun).

A lot of that decision-making stuff, eh, doesn't appear in many of the FO4 base-game's side-quests - since there are also some Radiant AI stuff and some hand-crafted stuff throughout the entire game. The Curie, Cabot House, and Covenant's "Human Error" quest-lines, I think, are some of the best side-quests in the game.

I personally think that Far Harbor DLC does a much better job overall (probably b/c it's much smaller in size, scope, and can actually have some detail & depth to it b/c of its size). They often go more for a quality over quality thing in DLC's & expansions, as opposed to their base-games which often seem to be insanely huge sandboxes with a few quests w/ choice but tons of MMO-style fetch quests (either Radiant AI-based or hand-crafted fetch quests). Far Harbor also seems to have a lot more personality, as well. This all actually happens a lot w/ their DLC's & expansions - go see Fallout 3's The Pitt & Point Lookout; Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion; Morrowind's Tribunal & Bloodmoon expansions; and Skyrim's Dawnguard & Dragonborn DLC's.