Well, I was a bit lukewarm about Fallout 4. I thought it looked amazing. The graphics and detailing and size and options all seemed incredible. But it also looked like more of the same from Fallout 3 which, as a long-time Fallout nerd, was disappointing.

But, I went ahead and bought the game anyway and so far I've been really enjoying it. It's consumed several hours without even realizing the time has gone by. It's been tense and challenging at times and the meticulous and obsessive detail that went into the world construction is apparent everywhere you look.

Still though, if I put on my douchebag goggles I can find things about FO4 that bug me. Mostly, and Fallout 3 had the same issue, that Bethesda really doesn't 'get' the wit of Fallout at all. They put 'jokes' into the game but they're really dumb. Dialogue has mostly seemed useless so far and the fact that skill-check dialogue is color-coded means you can often sleepwalk through a conversation completely. I've done about a dozen quests so far and other than I think the first settlement building one, literally every other one has been a variation of 'go place, shoot things'. I'm sure there'll be some speech related quests somewhere but FO1,2/NV were all just so much better at this.

There's also a handful of 'lore' stuff that kind of bugs me, and has since Fallout 3. Bethesda doesn't really seem to care/acknowledge that it's been 200 years since the war.

But, despite that stuff, it is still a brilliant game for what it is. It's everything that was great about Fallout 3 only a lot more of it. The leveling system is fun, combat is smooth and rewards skill, all the sound effects are impeccable, the voice acting is great, and the overall mood and vibe is perfectly crafted. I have to just stop trying to judge it based on F1,2/NV and essentially treat those games as a different series all together.