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Tweets like that one become headlines:

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As well as a top-voted threads on Reddit:

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It sometimes seems as though you can’t talk about Fallout 4 without having someone start talking about how good New Vegas is, how much they wish Obsidian, rather than Bethesda, handled modern Fallout games. It’s in every comments section for the Fallout 4 articles we post, I see it on Reddit a whole lot, and I’ve been emailed petitions about Obsidian and future Fallout games many, many times.

Why does this happen? Clearly, people are hungry for the sort of game New Vegas delivered—that is, an experience focusing around RPG elements, and a rich, choice-driven post-apocalyptic story. That’s not what Fallout 4 is...which is not to say Fallout 4 is “worse” than New Vegas. The game just focuses on different things. Fallout 4 is more about combat and exploration, and I’d argue it’s pretty damn good at those things, too.

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I don’t fault people for getting excited about where Fallout could go next. We do the same thing for series like Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, and The Elder Scrolls. People like hype. They like speculating about dream game locations.

Personally, I don’t want to get too swept up in the idea of a game that may never exist. Something about that feels cruel to Bethesda, and makes it easy to lose sight of the many things Bethesda’s Fallout games have excelled at, like competent shooter mechanics, a lush, lively world that’s fun to explore, and a intensely addictive settlement system that lets us customize things to our own liking.

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After some of the more negative reactionsto Fallout 4, and the accompanying clamoring for a new Obsidian Fallout, it feels like Bethesda has something to prove with Fallout 4's DLC. That sort of pressure is good. Hopefully, it’ll mean that Bethesda won’t just rest on its laurels, won’t just ride the wave of Fallout 3’s commercial success. Fallout 4 is already out. It sold well, and lots of people own it. And as cool as it’d be to play another Obsidian Fallout, the current question is: where will Bethesda take Fallout 4 next? I’m looking forward to finding out.