Fallout 4

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: Note the differences

As I was sinking tons of time into Starfield this year, I kept thinking about Fallout 4. So I think it’s time to jump back into the wastelands of Massachusetts (hopefully I won’t trip and fall down a hill like I did the last time).

Read More: Starfield: The Kotaku Review

I’m taking a very academic perspective on this revisit. What does that mean? Well, there’s a lot of discourse about Starfield, especially more critical perspectives. It’s not uncommon to see Starfield held up to Bethesda’s previous games. And Fallout 4 and Skyrim are often said to have offered better, more memorable quests and exploration vibes than this year’s space romp. So I’m starting a new character in Fallout 4 to reacquaint myself with that game and assess just how much of a step back Starfield really was.

I want to drill down to the specifics of what sets these games apart. It’s one thing to say one game feels more immersive than another, it’s another to cover the text of the game specifically, noting the concrete differences in quests, how they appear, their overall structures, how the environments are arranged, what I’m expected to do as a player, how much time is spent looking at loading screens, etc. I definitely had a better time playing Fallout 4 than I did Starfield. Now it’s time to get to specifics and really understand why

This will be a thoroughly quantitative approach to dissecting the differences between these two open-world RPGs, with the hopes of drawing some interesting conclusions at the end.

These games are enormous though, so I expect this trip of mine back to the Commonwealth to be slow and full of note-taking I’ll be sure to try and communicate my findings as they continue into the new year. — Clare Jackson

Rad, | Fallout 4 | is on Xbox Game Pass!

If you’re a Game Pass dweller, your subscription will let you venture out into the ravaged wilds of the commonwealth on both Xbox and PC.