So is FO4 an omen to Bethesda and the quality of their games?

[Erich van Loon]

FO4 has been hyped since around '09, and now that the game has been around for a few months now, the reviews are beginning to get mixed. They had 5/6 years to perfect on everything.

Obsidian made F:NV a year and half or so, and even with having to cut out content, it still did better than FO4. FO4 had some really cool content cut out, like the Combat Zone.

So many places in Fo4 are filled with generic raiders waiting to get cleared. The pacing is odd. I mean you should go to a place like Diamond City first, not in the middle. What I mean is that Concord should've been a town with quests and others, not a place under attack by raiders.

You could've gambled/fought in the combat zone, but nope, raiders. There could've been an inventive idea with the East City Downs, but nope raiders. They didn't even bother to make cool raider bands, or make one joinable.

Faction 'storylines could be better. 3/4 endings have you somehow nuking the Institute, which is a bad idea, espically considering the BoS could've just destroyed the Synth Facilities and use the rest for their research. Why would the minutemen nuke the Institute? Why should the RailRoad have nukes too?

Settlement building could be better, and have better locations. Like why the fuck do I only get a quarter of Jamaica Plain. C'mon Bethy, you can do better. Why can I build on some village that I helped out with. I don't think Aradesh is letting my build on Shady Sands any time soon.

There could've been more voices for the Player to choose from, and more dialogue. How am I supposed to be a drug addict raider that sounds like your typical American father?

I could keep going on, but tl;dr: fallout 4 had the potential, but missed it.

 

[Mr Fish]

Considering I think that Skyrim should've been received the way Fallout 4 was received yet it is a critically acclaimed game that tons of people (even people on here) love I'd say that no, it is not a bad omen for Bethesda. They shat out Skyrim and people ate it up. They shat out Fallout 4 and people are bit Eeeeeh about it. They'll just shit out Eslweyr(?) and get everyone back on Bethesda's moneycock.

 

[R.Graves]

Oblivion had me worried. Fallout 3 confirmed it. Skyrim confirmed it. Fallout 4 pisses me off. Its official bethesda sucks now. I don't think it's an omen by any means though. They'll keep making money because bethesda is great at that at least.

 

[Erich van Loon]

Like I said, Quality of their games, not how much they sell. I guess Bethy is on the same list of EA and Ubisoft...

 

[Mr Fish]

The quality of their games has been in the shitter since Fallout 3. Some would argue even since Oblivion (I enjoy Oblivion though, got some real good parts). The writing, stories, characters, RPG design all get worse while the combat and exploration sort of get better. So again, no I do not think that it is a bad omen for Bethesda's future or the "quality" of their games.

 

[R.Graves]

Like I said, Quality of their games, not how much they sell. I guess Bethy is on the same list of EA and Ubisoft...

I don't think they've ever made a good game. I like morrowind for the lore and story. But as a game morrowind is-- well it sucks. The gameplay is getting better in their games but nearly every other aspect of their games are getting worse imo.

 

[Millim]

I agree with R.Graves.
So I like Morrowind enough, it's a good game, but it's a bit clunky, even for a game released in 2002. But there was room for improvement, it wasn't perfect, but it it's a fun relaxed time.
Oblivion is too far one side, it has its moments, I consider it to be a good game. But somewhere in between Morrowind and Oblivion is a really good game.
Fallout 3 is... well... game wise it's alright, but writing wise it's terrible. I look at this as mismanagement more than anything else. They wanted to play it safe, it didn't work but it attracted a shit load of people, fine. New Vegas improves upon this game however and is the F3 we deserve.
Skyrim is a bit of an improvement, but it also takes a few steps back. The open World looks nice, but gets boring rather quickly. Every character and quest is boring, it doesn't feel natural at all. There was some improvement however, and for me, that improvement paid off. Skyrim is kinda meh.
Fallout 4 takes a number of major steps backward, and only a few tiny steps forward. It could have been good, but Bethesda happened. Really, it's the worst game they've released.

As seen here, there is a drop in quality with every release. We started from "Great with some promise to be amazing" to So "Meh with the missed opportunity to be great"
So yes, F4 is their Omen, they messed up big time, there is a huge backlash, I think now would be the perfect time to go back on some of their ideas for TESVI. I wouldn't be angry if they did, in fact, I would be happy to see their addressing issues with their game. For some reason through, I think Todd is a bit too stubborn for that.

 

[Izak]

This question is kind of dumb. Is the quality of the game they've presumably been working on for 4 years a sign of their overall quality as developers? Obviously.

 

[0wing]

It is. Unlike Skyrim which was a complete game, not very good but complete, Fallout 4 had potential and lost it due to team wanted to play safe.