Examples of Bad Writing in Fallout 4 [Spoilers]

TheVaultKeeper

Deliciously Demented
So, right from the start everything about the writing in Fallout 4 seemed wrong. And I don't just mean the vertibirds and stuff like that. I mean pacing, believability and character progression.

I choose to play as the female and at the beginning of the game I'm in the home, caring for the baby and being a homemaker and what not. Fine, not what I'd like to role-play as but let's roll with it. A Vault-Tec representative rings the front door and I open, he has some information about a vault we could use in case of a emergencies and since my female is clever she says yes because there is no obvious downside to his offer, apparently it's free of charge or something. At least for now. We bid the salesman farewell and that's that.

Now - not more than a minute after we bid the salesman farewell the TV starts blaring. How's that for timing? Not one minute after I agreed to be in one of their vaults the bombs start falling, but ok... let's roll with it.

(You could have done this another way you know, you could have had a conversation with your husband were you said "lucky with signed up for that vault-tec package two weeks ago! But no, Bethesda had to go for the contrived option)

But ok then, let's head for that vault we signed up for. We start running and apparently it's only a light jog away. Basically behind the house. So why was I even given the choice to say that I didn't know about vault-tec to the salesman? Hadn't my character noticed the absolutely massive bunker being built 200 yards behind our house? I seem to remember selecting a higher perception than "1" in SPECIAL. But ok... let's roll with it. Maybe they just moved in or something.

So we reach the vault elevator and as we're about to go down of course a bomb hits, of course. And with not one second to spare we are lowered down into the vault. Lucky us, the Gods must be smiling etc. But let's roll with it.

So we enter the vault and you immediately get the sense that this is a bunker. It is drab and functional and with people in uniform walking around, this is actually well done and one of the few things I liked about the intro. When you enter the bunker you get a sense that "holy shit, I'm actually in the vault now" and "this is no joke anymore". The tone is serious and the design is functional and if you were to enter a vault during war time this might be what it looked and felt like. So they did something right.

Then we are taken for decontamination but for some reason we are cryogenically frozen instead... may I ask WHY? Why were we lied to about being decontaminated? Why could we not be told that we were going to be frozen? Who instructed the doctor to lie to us? Not to mention that doctors have ethical codes. And why did we have to be frozen within minutes of entering the vault, what's the big hurry? It makes absolutely no sense. The only reason that it makes sense is that Bethesda needed a reason to move the timeframe forward. But maybe there's a huge conspiracy and vault-tec is evil and doctors lie to their patients and it will all be explained later so.... ok.... let's roll with it.

So now I am frozen but wake up just in time to see my husband get shot and my baby taken. Then I am frozen again. So - the thieves probably unthawed us both because they didn't know which of us was holding the baby. But then they were kind (?) enough to hit the freeze button again before running off. Would real thieves actually do this? Would they kill one of us without blinking and then take the time to refreeze us? What's the point in that? Why not just take what you want and be on your way? Makes little sense to me but maybe it just happend that way so again... let's just roll with it. And let's not go into the fact that we both awoke from cryogenic sleep within seconds of eachother and that we're both fully aware and ready for action. Ice cube to human being in two seconds without almost any side effects and then back to ice cube again... why not right.

(later we learn that they were more than ordinary thieves and then the question arises... why not bring the whole family? But let's not go there)

So then I awake from cryogenic sleep again because apparently shit is happening. So I wake up, stumble out of the pod, walk across the floor, open the pod and I kid you not this is what comes out of my mouth: "I'll find who did this and I'll get Shaun back"

Now that is a very analytical and task oriented homemaker I'm playing... She just saw her husband get killed and her baby taken, and within 10 seconds of waking up and seeing this she already has an action plan. There are five stages of loss and grief, it took her no more than 10 seconds to jump to the last one which is "acceptance". Sound like any woman you know? I certainly don't know any women like that. Heck - even Ellen Ripley would be in the corner crying for a minute before putting her war face on. So apparently I'm playing the most bad-ass ex-special-forces task-oriented homemaker in history. Good to know.

I could go on but I think I've made my point already. Bethesda cannot write a decent and believable story if their lives depended on it. They should fire ALL of their writers and hire new ones, maybe there's a good one hiding among them but better be safe. Fire them all and be done with it.

Feel free to write what you think are examples of bad writing in Fallout 4.
 
Last edited:
I don't want to spoil anything, but I think there's a very good reason why the thieves froze you down again (ending related) and why the doctors froze you to begin with (read the computer terminals).

What is especially jarring to me is the first interaction with Codsworth. In 5 minutes he goes from being very shaken up about all this and relieved to see you again after all these years, to snubbing you off and sending you to Concord. At the very least he should have accompanied you there.

In general though, I think the writing is better than in Fallout 3. But that's not saying much.
 
Don't forget that the female PC was a lawyer before the War. I mean, it doesn't mean she's a wuss, but it does put into question how she acquired all those survival skills. Maybe she was drafted beforehand?

But yeah, I don't think they did a great job with the PC. The trauma one faces from the events of the prologue just aren't portrayed in the game. Sure, that doesn't mean the PC should have gone into PTSD, but at least some hints that they were haunted by the events and afraid of the hellhole they suddenly find themselves in would have helped a lot. Like yelling ''what the hell?'' the first time they encounter a Ghoul, for instance.

I think that in the end, Bethesda games just aren't built to allow your character to properly react to traumatic events. What with their lack of cutscenes, good writing and now with the pitiful dialog system. You always must be the unshakeable badass who explores every nook and cranny of the world, kills dozens of people on a slow day, and is unfazed by all the BS they encounter. Even if you're just fresh out of the Vault and just had your life descend into a nightmare.
 
I think it would be easier to point out any examples of good writing in Fallout 4 considering I haven't found one yet after 25 hours of playtime.
 
I think it would be easier to point out any examples of good writing in Fallout 4 considering I haven't found one yet after 25 hours of playtime.
General Atomics Galleria.
Codsworth.
Only played the game for 10 hours or so, but I'm sure there's more to come.
 
Codsworth is nice to have around, what with that John Clesse British accent he's got, but what bugs me about him, and every companion besides Dog, is how bluntly you ask them " What do you think of our relationship?"It's nice to not have an obvious numerical value detailing your standing with any of the 13 companions, but at the same time, that makes me wonder...can you piss companions off enough that they leave your service like we could make happen in Dragon Age and New Vegas?
 
Now - not more than a minute after we bid the salesman farewell the TV starts blaring. How's that for timing? Not one minute after I agreed to be in one of their vaults the bombs start falling, but ok... let's roll with it.

(You could have done this another way you know, you could have had a conversation with your husband were you said "lucky with signed up for that vault-tec package two weeks ago! But no, Bethesda had to go for the contrived option)
As bad as it sounds [and it does], the conversation is absolutely playing out for player exposition. There are players that have never heard of Vault-Tec; and others that have zero familiarity with the brand coming into it.
 
Codsworth is nice to have around, what with that John Clesse British accent he's got, but what bugs me about him, and every companion besides Dog, is how bluntly you ask them " What do you think of our relationship?"It's nice to not have an obvious numerical value detailing your standing with any of the 13 companions, but at the same time, that makes me wonder...can you piss companions off enough that they leave your service like we could make happen in Dragon Age and New Vegas?

I think I saw a loading screen tip that said that they wil lrefuse to adventure with you if you piss them off overmuch. So far I haven't got it to happen with Strong, whis disapproves every time I pick a lock.
 
Now - not more than a minute after we bid the salesman farewell the TV starts blaring. How's that for timing? Not one minute after I agreed to be in one of their vaults the bombs start falling, but ok... let's roll with it.

(You could have done this another way you know, you could have had a conversation with your husband were you said "lucky with signed up for that vault-tec package two weeks ago! But no, Bethesda had to go for the contrived option)
As bad as it sounds [and it does], the conversation is absolutely playing out for player exposition. There are players that have never heard of Vault-Tec; and others that have zero familiarity with the brand coming into it.

It was posted in the Fallout 4 topic of the Order by @Akratus ... but I feel this also fitts in here just nicely.

8aad92b571.jpg


and a Bonus:

Spoiler for plot detail - not that it is such a big deal ... but still.
51e4f0e5b9.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Codsworth is nice to have around, what with that John Clesse British accent he's got, but what bugs me about him, and every companion besides Dog, is how bluntly you ask them " What do you think of our relationship?"It's nice to not have an obvious numerical value detailing your standing with any of the 13 companions, but at the same time, that makes me wonder...can you piss companions off enough that they leave your service like we could make happen in Dragon Age and New Vegas?

I think I saw a loading screen tip that said that they wil lrefuse to adventure with you if you piss them off overmuch. So far I haven't got it to happen with Strong, whis disapproves every time I pick a lock.

The strategy guide is really wishy-washy about that little detail; "...they'll continue to offer assistance, with some protest" is how the guide details the annoying of companions with actions they dislike.
 
Codsworth is nice to have around, what with that John Clesse British accent he's got, but what bugs me about him, and every companion besides Dog, is how bluntly you ask them " What do you think of our relationship?"It's nice to not have an obvious numerical value detailing your standing with any of the 13 companions, but at the same time, that makes me wonder...can you piss companions off enough that they leave your service like we could make happen in Dragon Age and New Vegas?

I think I saw a loading screen tip that said that they wil lrefuse to adventure with you if you piss them off overmuch. So far I haven't got it to happen with Strong, whis disapproves every time I pick a lock.

The strategy guide is really wishy-washy about that little detail; "...they'll continue to offer assistance, with some protest" is how the guide details the annoying of companions with actions they dislike.

So it's kind of like Dragon Age: Inquisition. If you do some horrible thing that a NPC really dislikes they'll make a big sad frowny face and a little angry speech and then get on with it. I miss the days of Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, I don't think any game has handled companion relationships better than those two games. NPC's would argue, fight and even leave your party if they didn't like the other NPC's or you. Good luck keeping Keldorn and Viconia in your party at the same time for instance, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
 
I miss the days of Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, I don't think any game has handled companion relationships better than those two games.
What about Arcanum? You had follower for half of the game, helped him obtain his ancestral weapon etc. and at the end of the day, he was always going help his master (main antagonist) against you, heh.
Or to have dark elf and dwarf you had to have best speech otherwise they wouldn't go with each other and stuff like that.
 
Last edited:
So it's kind of like Dragon Age: Inquisition. If you do some horrible thing that a NPC really dislikes they'll make a big sad frowny face and a little angry speech and then get on with it.

You can upset your companions enough in DA:I that they leave, it's just that either they require a LOT of disapproval (Cole), specific narrative triggers (Varric, Cassandra), or don't pay off until the DLC (Iron Bull.) The "little angry speech" is designed to placate players who would have gotten mad because they didn't figure the "so-and-so greatly disapproves" messages meant anything.
 
Slept with Magnolia, came back and asked her about a patron..."I don't think it's polite to gossip with any stranger that walks in the bar"

Oh really. Is that how it is? Lol.
 
Do you know how long it takes for the average Bethsoft employee to right ANY dialogue? Let alone GOOD dialogue?

attachment.php


The keys are difficult to press!!!!
 

Attachments

  • hamfist.jpg
    hamfist.jpg
    44.5 KB · Views: 6,473
I just chose a "Sarcastic" option and instead of being sarcastic my character angrily threatened someone, then in the next sentence acted like everything was normal.

Also, teleportation?! Decoding memories from dead brain tissue? Really?! I just started thinking maybe I was being too harsh on the game and then that happened.
 
I just chose a "Sarcastic" option and instead of being sarcastic my character angrily threatened someone, then in the next sentence acted like everything was normal.

Also, teleportation?! Decoding memories from dead brain tissue? Really?! I just started thinking maybe I was being too harsh on the game and then that happened.

Cabot house was worse...
 
"A private detective on the ruins of a ball park, makes a lot of sense"

The sarcastic option in general has the most cringeworthy dialogue in the game.
 
Back
Top