One of the biggest criticisms that gets lobbed at Fallout is the overall plot and the story of the Sole Survivor. I have to add that I haven't played any of the other Fallout games but I actually disagree. I like the overall arc of the Sole Survivor in Fallout 4 and his quest to find/avenge his family, I admit that it would be boring/too familiar of a revenge quest without the inclusion of the other factions but having played through the campaign twice, I was still caught up in it. I also really like the choose-your-own-adventure aspect of it, getting to pick which faction you support and seeing how it impacts the story is a lot of fun. I'm a bit of a sucker for when that mechanic is done well and this is one of the better games I've played that gives the player that kind of freedom (I'd also recommend the Far Harbor DLC for the same reason).
While Fallout 4 is defined as an RPG, I agree with the fans that its more of a FPS with RPG elements. The positive side of this is that the gun play is well designed and tons of fun. If this kind of game isn't your specialty, the inclusion of VATS (its a targeting system that helps the player play percentages of where to strike at an enemy) helps keep the game play fresh. There is a lot of variety with the enemies you can fight against, the ability to upgrade your weapons and your armour to buff against certain types of foes and damage. It was ahead of its time and it holds up pretty well.
I'd be remiss to not talk about my other favourite aspects of this game which is characters. The Sole Survivor is the audience avatar, he's got a driving force but you choose who he/she is or how they impact the Commonwealth. But the side characters are a colourful, vibrant and interesting group that I could continue to just gush about. They're alp distinct and grab your attention. The companions would be enough for me to recommend Fallout 4 alone and while your ability to interact with them properly falls short (more on that later), I couldn't help but be transfixed by their depth and their backstories at points in the game.
I wish it was all just praise but this game does become more of a mixed bag upon revisiting it. Firstly, while the game features an ample campaign with many missions, the pacing does drag, especially in the introductory missions for the factions. You get a lot of the standard fetch/ eliminate the target quests and while that is to be expected, that can be tiresome. The next is the dialogue system. To be fair, this isn't easy to do, to create natural sounding dialogue while giving the player choice. But the summation of the option in the dialogue wheel isn't always accurate and when you step back, the cadence of the responses becomes easier to discern. A lot of the dialogue is clunky because of this and picking one option could lead to a different result than you desired because of the inaccurate summary. Lastly, the RPG mechanics aren't as finely tuned as they could be. It was clear when I was playing this that the previous games were more focused on this and that in an effort to modernize the franchise, it got pushed to the side. I didn't think they were as awful as some do but underwhelming isn't a bad way to describe it.
Players of the classic Fallout games spit venom at this game and at Bethesda for diverting the the franchise. But coincidentally, most of the people who played this game first before other entries in the franchise (like me), really enjoy it for what it is. I haven't even touched on how big the map is and all the areas that can be explored (conversely, there's not as much aesthetic variety to the post-apocalyptic environment, another mixed element in 4). This game is the definition of a mixed bag with some strong virtues and some glaring weaknesses but its a memorable experience and even after playing the campaign twice, I'll probably revisit it again someday. If you're interested and willing to put the time in, I'd still recommend it. I'll play 76 someday but while that game was panned, at least this one had a mixed response overall?
