Fallout 76

People complain that it feels empty, and it does tbh. But I do like how the world is less condensed than it was Fallout 4. The graphics aren't very good, in fact it looks worse than Fallout 4. Even Skyrim remastered looks better than this.

The quests are pretty boring for the most part too, they are mostly just fetch quests. The game is pretty soul-less in terms of story and quests. In Fallout 4 they took a step back on this already, but in Fallout 76 its worse. Overall it feels pretty dated and bland, but I'm sure it will get much better in time. The bugs are horrendous which is very typical of a Bathesda game if you played any of the other Fallout or Elder Scrolls games. That does not make them excusable though.

For the record I take all those really low metacritic reviews with a grain of salt, just like I do with the people that give it 10. Or the shilling game "journalists" or youtubers that also give the game high ratings it does not deserve. Either way, the ratings it has now on metacritic makes it one of the worst games of the year on that site, and I don’t think that is something that should be ignored by any rational person, especially for a supposedly triple A game series like this.

The 0 ratings are over the top but most of those complaints that go along with those ratings are totally legitimate and the truth. I would personally give it a 5/10 at best, but even that is pushing it.
 
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The IGN review seems to confirm basically all of my reservations about this game. I don't really understand why Bethesda made this game....I'm actually a little disappointed they spent time on it. Fallout 4 already felt like a downgrade from New Vegas in terms of storytelling, richness of the world, and depth of the experience. 76 seems like a further step in the wrong direction, at least for me. Also, the 'settlement' trope is getting a little stale (I'm not sure where it originated, TWD?) and it really discouraged me from playing F04 long-term. I really hope they drop it for future titles.

Bethesda has been one of my favorite developers since Morrowind and it pains me to seem them swing and miss like this.
 
88GTA
The game is already on a Black Friday sale until the 27th on the US PS Store for $40.
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I've seen it at 35$ already.

Imagine the fury of those fans who paid full price or more to have it day one. I guess that's the risk you take when you pre-order a game...

I've decided to not buy an EA game ever again since BFII and Bethesda is on the same path. I can't support companies that do this. There are plenty of studios nowadays doing great games, including indie developers, who don't try to F* up their player base or target audience with lies and IMO immoral monetization practices.

I'm not contributing to this downward spiral.
 
zzz_pt
Imagine the fury of those fans who paid full price or more to have it day one.
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Maybe not “fury” in my case but “disappointed”, certainly.

I won’t be preordering Starfield, but will wait to see if the price drops. I’ll be really happy if it doesn’t, because the market will have said it’s a good game. I’ll also be happy if it does, because I’ll have paid a more appropriate price.

That said, FO76 is growing on me. I doubt that it’ll consume the hundreds of hours that Oblivion, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Fallout NV and Fallout 4 each did, but it’s interesting. There’s a lot to explore which is good for me, since I fit in the Explorer quadrant of the Bartle Taxonomy- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_taxonomy_of_player_types
 
GBO Possum
Maybe not “fury” in my case but “disappointed”, certainly.

I won’t be preordering Starfield, but will wait to see if the price drops. I’ll be really happy if it doesn’t, because the market will have said it’s a good game. I’ll also be happy if it does, because I’ll have paid a more appropriate price.

That said, FO76 is growing on me. I doubt that it’ll consume the hundreds of hours that Oblivion, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Fallout NV and Fallout 4 each did, but it’s interesting. There’s a lot to explore which is good for me, since I fit in the Explorer quadrant of the Bartle Taxonomy- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_taxonomy_of_player_types
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It looks too ugly and broken to me. Also with the amount of problems I'm seeing being reported, I don't see how I would explore and get immerse in the world (broken and ugly as it is IMO) for 30min without bumping into major issues that would break the experience.

I'm also part Achiever part Explorer and that's the main reason why I loved to play No Man's Sky for a couple hundreds of hours. I can't see myself playing FO76. Skyrim is 1000x better and it was launched 7 years ago.
 
Even if they fix all the bugs, it’s still not a very good game. Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 will be on the same engine so I’m not getting my hopes up for those.
 
So far enjoying it. Have hardly seen any major issues, as a matter of fact I've seen less problems than in most Bethesda games on launch. Had a broken quest once, but nothing game-breaking. The odd crash. Several small issues. The game drastically needs some endgame though, currently there's not a lot. Base-building doesn't really serve a purpose either, it's completely optional since there are many places and a hub where you can craft, etc. Needs some more expansion. There are some epic stories/missions in this, but it's not as content heavy as a 'real' FO/ES. Then again this should come as no surprise to anyone since Bethesda announced this well before release. Same for this not being FO5.
 
This launch is worse than the Battlefield 4 launch. Known bugs, list will get larger.

They are even being investigated by a law firm for not giving people refunds on PC.

Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is currently investigating Bethesda Game Studios for releasing a heavily-glitched game, Fallout 76, and refusing to issue refunds for PC purchasers of the game who found it to be unplayable because of its technical problems.

https://www.spieltimes.com/news/bet...awsuit-for-not-fulfilling-fallout-76-refunds/
 
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Having decided to just go ahead and try to the game, I'll say this much...

If you have a genuine interest in the Appalachian region and want to see some creative takes on the crazy folklore that surrounds the area, it's worth trying out for a more casual approach (all the management stuff is actually quite lenient and doesn't hinder exploring when you get used to it). Once you wander off from the routes the storyline tries to push you down and go out into the boonies, you can find some genuinely freaky stuff like haunted campgrounds and cult hideouts, and the lack of human NPCs actually works in their favor as you have to let your imagination fill out what the story behind them is.

nbDhmeq.jpg


There's some overarching storylines that run through several locations and side quests too, like the pre-war proposition to replace government workers with robots, and if you're the type that likes to go lore hunting then learning the knock-on effects of how they affected life before the bombs is actually pretty interesting. But that's only if you have the patience to read terminals and scour buildings for holotapes laying around.

So yeah, as a Fallout game I doubt I'd recommend it, but if you take the perspective of an Omega Man scenario where your primary goal is trying to learn why the entire world fell apart, it can be interesting for a while.
 
The game is on sale for 33% off (about $40) on US PS Store until 1/1. I just wish I could play offline and without the real time VATS system. It would be a no-brainer for me to buy it then.

Side note: How is the sound track? I loved Fallout 4's but so far I have only heard the F76 main theme from the trailers.
 
88GTA
The game is on sale for 33% off (about $40) on US PS Store until 1/1. I just wish I could play offline and without the real time VATS system. It would be a no-brainer for me to buy it then.
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It's discounted on Bethesda's website as well. And while I agree with the offline part just because servers still get kinda flaky during peak times still, I have to say that so far VATS feels completely unnecessary just because of how slow and/or predictable enemies' movements are. Putting a decent sight on your gun of choice and not going bonkers with the trigger is usually enough to deal with most mobs in my experience.

But then again I've always relied on slow firing, high power guns in Fallout games, so your mileage may vary.

Side note: How is the sound track? I loved Fallout 4's but so far I have only heard the F76 main theme from the trailers.
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I admit I haven't used the Pip-Boy radio yet just because the bluegrass style ambient music is so spot-on, but what I've heard from the various radios sitting in the open is a mix of FO4 music and some new tracks I wasn't familiar with.
 
I downloaded this over the weekend after noticing it was half price (£29.95 from £59.95) on the PS store.

I only managed to cram a couple of hours out of it to date but i've not experienced any crashing or glitches so far. I bumped into a couple of other online players within 5 minutes of leaving the vault - one of which had set up camp right outside the vault (or within a 100 yards of) so was difficult to avoid. The other guy was killing off a batch of those scuttle-bots on the road down from V76. I had brief interactions with both but could offer nothing in the way of help or trades as i still had only a basic pipe pistol and about 6 rounds of ammo at that point. So i have no real opinion to whether or not i think that aspect works.

I did a little exploring on my meander down to the Overseers Camp and very much enjoyed playing Fallout in a different environment - even if it feels weird with crappy weapons/armour/perks after playing FO4 for so long at level 100+ with more than enough resources and weapons that can kill even a high-level foe with one or two mid-distance explosive hits - but i guess building up a formidable character is half the fun anyway.

I've read all the reviews and seen all the moaning about it, and with many aspects such as the lack of NPC-driven story i can see their point. But as someone who got much more out of just wandering around exploring and collecting junk then immersing themselves into the storylines i feel i'll quite enjoy playing this some more. Perhaps not £60 worth of digital entertainment, but certainly £30 worth ;)
 
So a couple things worth noting:

- Don't get too attached to your guns, because you'll start finding higher level versions of them that do more damage fairly quickly. I wasn't paying attention to this and probably scrapped a lot of better versions of my pipe revolver to unlock the upgrade mods for it. On that note, you can build your own guns and scrap them to do this too and get some quick XP, if you have a ton of resources to spare (the old Skyrim Iron Dagger trick).

- Ammo is a second currency, so don't be afraid to sell it for the guns you don't have or don't plan to use because caps are fairly hard to come by otherwise.

- Just about anything worth crafting uses aluminum and/or screws, so collecting junk with those parts should be a top priority.
 
I'm much preferring how you can scrap/break down your junk for parts/components at all crafting tables rather than lugging all that complete junk around until it gets broken down when you need it to build/craft/upgrade something as you did in FO4. It's a great space saver!

I played it a touch more tonight, locating the overseers camp and dumping all my junk in the storage box there. I then ambled down the road to the town to 'find' the overseer herself (which I didn't get round to) but came across another storage box in a garage which also had all my stuff in. I was under the impression that your storage box only moved with your c.a.m.p. - or does it just crop up randomly as you explore?
 
TheCracker
I played it a touch more tonight, locating the overseers camp and dumping all my junk in the storage box there. I then ambled down the road to the town to 'find' the overseer herself (which I didn't get round to) but came across another storage box in a garage which also had all my stuff in. I was under the impression that your storage box only moved with your c.a.m.p. - or does it just crop up randomly as you explore?
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All the Red Rocket stations and train stations in the game have a stash box in them, which is mighty convenient if you're like me and can't fast travel due to constantly being overburdened from grabbing everything that isn't nailed down.
 
So. Anyone still playing this?

Managed some decent time on this over the Christmas break. Up to Level 22 now so some of the better weapons, armour and missions are now available or within reach.

Have mostly been exploring the bottom left hand corner of the map, the Ash Heap and aside from a brief and ultimately painful journey through the Big Bend Tunnel to the outer fringes Cranberry Bog, i still have much of the top, middle and right hand of the map to explore. Still enjoying it as much as i did Fallout 4 - and for that matter Oblivion and Skyrim. And still not in any way missing any main storyline or interactions with NCP's.

I have found some ways around the small Stash Box issue that had quickly become a limiting factor. The large quantities of Steel - Glass - Wood - Cloth etc that were over plentiful can be 'tinkered' into 'bulk' items that can then be traded, which can be a useful source of caps and better than just dumping it. I also had almost complete sets of T45, T51b and T60 power armors that i want to keep but can't yet use, that were filling up large proportions of my inventory/stash. I also had several power armor frames that i thought would come in useful in the future. Didn't realise that i could just place the frame then mount the armor to it then store it back again - or more accurately, let it store itself. This way the armor and frame just weigh what the basic frame weighs. I cleared up hundreds of weight units of storage once i figured this out!

There are still some frustrations though. 'Disconnection from server' crashes still occur more frequently than what is acceptable. I keep starting location-triggered missions where the goal is unclear and the opposition is too strong for my current level and so quickly get overrun and die. Usually this is fine. You re-start and carry on where left off with lessons learnt. But too often i'm left locked out of a previously open mineshaft or wherever and unable to get back in and pick up my dropped loot. I've also found that i'll die first time around, try recover the loot when re-spawned but die again whilst attempting to recover it leaving a now empty paper bag of loot instead for my next attempt. So much hard-to-find and much needed adhesive has been lost in this way. I finished off last night stuck in a bunker in Mount Blair Trainyard with no way out of it. Hopefully i'll respawn outside next time i play, but who knows?

Interactions with other online players has still been pretty much non-existent. I'll occasionally run into one near a main mission location, but aside from a brief and awkward wave or failed attempt to trade, they're like ships that pass in the night. For a game that's supposedly based around that concept its not been a great success so far.
 
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I still play it, I'm level 89 and doing it the 'hard way' by being (by choice) constantly overweight and so am unable to fast travel anywhere, I've done all the major missions apart from launching a nuke and killing the scorchbeast queen, I've walked all the way round the perimeter of the playable area of the map and try to take a different route every time I have to go to places I've already visited. Even so, I'm amazed that after 250 or so hours of gameplay I'm still finding new places that I've never seen before and it seems there'll be more areas opened up before long.
I know I'm lucky in the fact I've not experienced any major bugs so far (although a friend I talked into buying it did on her first session did and it's put her off playing again :() but I do think this game has received a lot of unfair negativity from youtube 'influencers'. I've had barely any incidents with 'griefers', the only time I've been ambushed and killed by gankers was when I had an accidental wanted bounty of 10 caps on my head for inadvertently picking a locked safe in an owned workshop and would have let a level 5 kill me without retaliation just to clear it ... so the sneaking up from behind and killing me while busy at a workbench and then teabagging me as if they'd scored a great victory was pretty amusing. If they can get rid of the duping and other bugs I think it'll become a great game instead of just a good one.
 
My hope is that F76's tremendously negative reception will galvanize Bethesda into really trying in their next title. I really hope the next Fallout title has a new engine and better writing.

Less on topic: I also hope there is a lot less emphasis on crafting and base building. It seems like such an annoying distraction. I much prefer the level of crafting in New Vegas....specifically creating custom ammunition rather than custom yet generic weapons. Crafted weapons feel so disposable to me in a way that doesn't matter for ammunition. Seeking out unique weapons has always been one of my favorite parts about Bethesda games, and I felt like the overabundance of crafted weapons kinda took the meat out of that pursuit.
 
The game is still in a bad state, their most recent patch was just an older build of the game and it brought old bugs back. I haven't seen a triple A series fail this badly since Battlefield 4. Nearly the entire community has turned against them now. Even the f76 sub which was chock full of dumb fanboys, they can't defend the game anymore.

Bathesda's greed and unethical practices are catching up with them, same goes for EA and Activision. The triple A gaming industry is at rock bottom, I hope these publishers suffer the consequences.
 
DesertPenguin
Battlefield 4 had issues but don't put it as low as Fallout76 lol
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Plus BF4 managed to rebound to the point where alongside BF3 is considered to be the gold standard of the series. You also have to consider the fact that BF4 was basically a launch title and stuck in two generations of consoles. F76 has no such excuse.
 
Silver Arrows
BF4 managed to rebound to the point where alongside BF3 is considered to be the gold standard of the series
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Well, I'm sure people who claim that has never heard of BF2142. But I digress.

I think it's safe to say that F76 is a lost cause now. Maybe Bethesda should just divert their focus to new Starfield and Elder Scroll game, rather than trying to put the spilled milk back in the carton.
 
DesertPenguin
Battlefield 4 had issues but don't put it as low as Fallout76 lol
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Don’t get me wrong, I love BF4 and still play it to this day, but that games launch was also a total **** show and it took years to fix it. It’s awesome in it’s final form though. It’s still my favorite FPS on this era of consoles.

Hopefully the same will happen to Fallout 76. It's awful seeing another series that I love go down the toilet like this.
 
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