Abhorrent story, writing full of contradictions and plot holes, only a few interesting characters and many other annoyances.

But all that can be cast aside with a fat stack of mods. The game shines in its exploration, combat and crafting. There's a lot of verticality in the exploration and many unmarked and marked locations to discover. The shooting is leaps and bounds above previous Fallout entries. I can no longer play New Vegas because I've been spoiled by the combat in this game even if NV has vastly superior writing and characters.

Explore > Loot > Build and craft when you can no longer carry more junk. Repeat. That's the game in a nutshell and it is a very satisfying loop.

There are a lot of things wrong with this game. Voiced player character and a forced family backstory are the biggest mistakes by far. In my 400+ hours of gameplay I have not once gone to the institute because I couldn't care less about my son. The """""plot twist""""" that awaits there is also blatantly clear to see in advance. The institute's motivations are confusing and almost nothing in this game stands up to even surface level scrutiny in terms of making sense.

But I can live with that since the open world is crafted in such an excellent way and exploring it is an absolute joy.

In short, Your Mileage May Vary.

Abhorrent story, writing full of contradictions and plot holes, only a few interesting characters and many other annoyances. But all that can be cast aside with a fat stack of mods. The game shines in its exploration, combat and crafting. There's a lot of verticality in the exploration and many unmarked and marked locations to discover. The shooting is leaps and bounds above previous Fallout entries. I can no longer play New Vegas because I've been spoiled by the combat in this game even if NV has vastly superior writing and characters. Explore > Loot > Build and craft when you can no longer carry more junk. Repeat. That's the game in a nutshell and it is a very satisfying loop. There are a lot of things wrong with this game. Voiced player character and a forced family backstory are the biggest mistakes by far. In my 400+ hours of gameplay I have not once gone to the institute because I couldn't care less about my son. The """""plot twist""""" that awaits there is also blatantly clear to see in advance. The institute's motivations are confusing and almost nothing in this game stands up to even surface level scrutiny in terms of making sense. But I can live with that since the open world is crafted in such an excellent way and exploring it is an absolute joy. In short, Your Mileage May Vary.