Should I... Play Fallout 4? [Details in body]

[cratchety ol joe]

So, I have a strange question of NMA, and I trust you guys and gals, so here goes.

Some of you may know (but unlikely) I took a grudge match against Failout 3 seeing what, if anything, the potential limits of just playing the game in a self-restricted way would present.

Admittedly I went into this little experiment jaded by the fact I didn't like playing the game... I went ahead and did it, beating the whole game and never using a single weapon. The pinnacle moment for me was punching a fully armoured Enclave soldier and knocking him out cold with my meat-hunks.

I went on to do the same with vegas, and once again, with little-to-no real effort, beat the game, never touching a weapon, and often just running about in a vault suit.

And so, here I sit, I have plenty of available time, being that I live some weird life devoid of having to commit to real work... but while my mind is saying "Fallout 4, no weapons... do it"

My soul, my deepest id my core is warning me that I hated the gameplay, and think attempting to round out my game challenge would just be time wasted, and not in a good way.

So... NMA, my boobah's, mis amigos, chums,

Should I play Fallout 4 attempting a no-weapons playthrough (to be blogged / vlogged) ?

 

[Mr Fish]

What? Totally unarmed?
I never used melee in Fallout 4 and I played it twice so I have no idea how it holds up but I don't think you'll have a good time doing that.

[edit]

I mean you do got this perk which ranks to 5 but I think it's meant to be used with unarmed weapons: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Iron_Fist
Purely unarmed (only fists) ?
The damage sponges in Fallout 4 are far worse than in Fallout 3/NV.

 

[Risewild]

Also in Fallout 4 IIRC the ranged enemies actually run away from you while shooting back if you try to get close enough to hit them with melee or unarmed.

Also the radiation damage (which many enemies now deal) will actually make your max HP you can heal to, be lower and lower, making it harder to survive as a close combat character, so my advice would be to stock up on radaway.

Not to mention the Legendary enemies that after losing more than half their HP will regain it all. So that will be a lot of punching and gobble stimpacks on those.

Fallout 4 is way more unforgiving to unarmed players than all the previous Fallout games.

 

[Big No]

It'll be quite the challenge, take as many healing and damage dealing perks you can. The SS tends to throw their punches much slower than the LW or Courier so spam punching won't work as well. If your health gets too low enemies can do the Skyrim bullshit where they do an insta-kill animation even if you have 25% health left.

Also, I suggest you don't do Far Harbor unarmed. Even with powerful weaponry, all magazines and several damage perks, for me FH enemies absorb damage like crazy.

 

[cratchety ol joe]

Some interesting points raised, but the polling currently sits on the side of sanity suggesting I avoid the ordeal.

As to the comments, I honestly never found FO4 to be anything other than annoying, not 'hard' I played the entire game on Ultra-survival Mo-fo mode and it felt like the most mundane of things, the difference of having no weapons would I think, drive me bananas due to ZOMG enemy HP/regen

Also, the mention of the 'kill move' thing, that is damn annoying. I can face-tank a buffed Deathclaw deep in radiation out by Virgils cave, but just one silly "ha! he done grabbed u" animation means no amount of tank or stims or med-buffs accounts for anything...

And as to Fart Harder, the challenge would be to 'Complete Fallout 4' - and so I'd only do the main quest, none of the Delicious Lemon Cheescake.

I'm still a little on the fence, but it's looking less likely as I could just as well spend the time nailing each of my toes to some passing driftwood.

 

[Black Angel]

Have you ever tried Fallout 1&2 no weapons?

 

[Deleted member 93956]

Melee/Unarmed in Fallout 4 is the worst in any Bethesda game yet because it's SOMEHOW even more tagged on and half-assed. Sure, weapons have a pretty good kinesthethic, enemies break into giblets pretty satisfactorily, and enemy AI being a bit less braindead makes standing still punching the guys who come into you in the face less common.

The bad? Well, if you mainly referred to actual Unarmed (Fist weapons), you have a staggeringly number of... SIX weapons to pick from, one being your bare fists, one from Far Harbor, and two of them being low tier scrapping fodder that are objectively inferior to the others (I'm pretty sure they removed the "fatigue" combat mechanic as well). As Melee, they are also one of the least customizable weapons. They have two or three total each, with an objectively more sueful one as well usually.

The worst? The player character has worse CQC ability than a fucking Dalek. They don't have combos or special moves, and the starter is... bad. Skyrim level bad, and it doesn't even chain with anything. Feels overly sluggish, and GOD FORBID that could change even with the infamous "Legendary" weapon system. Because it doesn't. Sure, contextual kill moves are pretty cool. But as cool as they are, they compose about 10% of your combat time at best.

 

[Risewild]

Melee/Unarmed in Fallout 4 is the worst in any Bethesda game yet because it's SOMEHOW even more tagged on and half-assed. Sure, weapons have a pretty good kinesthethic, enemies break into giblets pretty satisfactorily, and enemy AI being a bit less braindead makes standing still punching the guys who come into you in the face less common.

The bad? Well, if you mainly referred to actual Unarmed (Fist weapons), you have a staggeringly number of... SIX weapons to pick from, one being your bare fists, one from Far Harbor, and two of them being low tier scrapping fodder that are objectively inferior to the others (I'm pretty sure they removed the "fatigue" combat mechanic as well). As Melee, they are also one of the least customizable weapons. They have two or three total each, with an objectively more sueful one as well usually.

The worst? The player character has worse CQC ability than a fucking Dalek. They don't have combos or special moves, and the starter is... bad. Skyrim level bad, and it doesn't even chain with anything. Feels overly sluggish, and GOD FORBID that could change even with the infamous "Legendary" weapon system. Because it doesn't. Sure, contextual kill moves are pretty cool. But as cool as they are, they compose about 10% of your combat time at best.

I think that @cratchety ol joe would play with only fists and no other unarmed weapons.

 

[Deleted member 93956]

I think that @cratchety ol joe would play with only fists and no other unarmed weapons.

If the idea behind that is the extra moves you got in NV and the classics when increasing the Unarmed skill or did certain things, shit outta luck lad. I think there are a couple of alright perks for it, unless they actually are exclusive to melee...

 

[cratchety ol joe]

I think Black Angel has the best idea, go back to roots!

It's been a moderate amount of time since I last played either of the classics, so heck, why not!

I think that @cratchety ol joe would play with only fists and no other unarmed weapons.

^ nail, head, apply force.

 

[Black Angel]

I think Black Angel has the best idea, go back to roots!

It's been a moderate amount of time since I last played either of the classics, so heck, why not!

Heck, have you tried Fallout 1.5: Resurrection, too? Or if you don't mind it, Fallout: Nevada has been translated, but it's still absolutely raw and rough and in need of more polishing and refining.

 

[Einhanderc7]

The main issue with an unarmed or melee character in Fallout 4 is the following:

• Game is not designed for it, as they placed emphasis on shooting.
• Physical damage incurred in Fallout 4 via melee does not always register as a valid hit.
• Very limited ability to correctly build a character around unarmed/melee game play due to the perk system.
• The increase in levels+difficulty generate super meat sponges. You will be striking them for a good while.
• Radiation oriented attacks will force player to flee rather than engage.
• Some enemies are specifically designed to counter melee assaults even in power armor.
• Melee attacks against foes with spiked armor will also damage you.
• Melee players will get surrounded in conflicts.

I hope my input helps, and I also agree with Black Angel, going back to the roots would be much more enjoyable for all parties involved.

 

[NMLevesque]

Get a ripper. There are a few legendary effects that make it devastating, chief among them furious. Nothing else stacks up outside of situations where sneak attacks can reliably deliver kills. However, the ripper is stealth capable so there's no real point in any other weapon. This is Fo4 after all. What would be the point if there wasn't exactly one weapon of a type worth using (excessive tiers thereof notwithstanding)? Oh, and definitely do hoard grenades/molotovs because the game lets you target projectiles in vats. So with the teleportation perk you can literally throw something and then teleport to it, even if it went straight up in the air. Though you can also just download a jetpack mod, which is the only mod I know of (I stopped playing Fo4 a while ago) that made it worth replaying. To their credit, virtually every rooftop is functional so you can basically just fly around. It's fun, but mostly because it means ditching the walking simulator for a jetpack simulator.

 

[cratchety ol joe]

Get a ripper

hoard grenades/molotovs

Though you can also just download a jetpack mod

Just to be utterly clear:

• No weapons, at all just unarmed fists.
• Not even grenades...
• No mods, vanilla game only.

Additionally, I decided to go back and do 1 & 2 before I even contemplate this ... I think Fart-about 4 might just be too bad for me to even really consider adding it to my 'no weapons' challenge series.