Emob78: But then why have a Fallout 'franchise' at all if the very different new titles can't or don't even try to honor the originals?
Money, probably. Established IP = guaranteed sales in the eyes of publishers. I for one am glad to see the franchise taking the direction it is, regardless.
Emob78: I'm all for Fallout going in new and different directions, but then Bethesda should stop forcing their programmers to keep paying lip service to the originals. Just make it a generic post-apocalyptic shooter series and be done with it. From what I've seen, Fallout 4 is a good example of what happens when young game devs try to interpret their vision of classic game mechanics.
I would love it if Fallout 5 decided to scrap character building altogether.
Emob78: They shouldn't bother. Modern game devs are good at texture mapping and placing mobile hit boxes within a game engine.
Is... that a bad thing?
Emob78: Trying to stay loyal to the original games' atmosphere, lore, and gameplay is just pulling the whole series in too many wild, unfocused directions - somewhere in the middle that band is bound to snap.
Fallout 4 actually does quite a lot to streamline the experience in that regard.
Emob78: And from the looks of user reviews, it has.
From the looks of the user reviews, there are a lot of people who don't know how to check system specs, don't pay attention to the developer of the game, and/or have been living under a rock for the past decade and don't realize this horse was already beaten to death 7 years ago when Fallout 3 came out. Also, Witcher 3 fans on reddit were organizing mass negative reviews out of spite.
Emob78: Fallout 1 and 2 could never be seen as shooters, because they were isometric games. The player blasted the hell out of tons of enemies in those games, yet the games weren't seen as shooters because of the perspective.
So... Crusader: No Remorse is an RPG?
Emob78: The new Fallout games are seen as shooters because of the first person perspective, and it has come to dominate the design and gameplay.
So... Pathologic is an FPS?
Emob78: That's fine to me. But just call shooting random raider gangs and upgrading weapons as an RPG? That's a shooter with refined shoot 'em up game mechanics.
There's a lot more to Fallout 4 than that, even if the RPG elements are shallow when compared with traditional CRPGs. I suggest actually trying the game for yourself before you pass judgement.
Emob78: We're arguing over apples and oranges, really. I just want to be clear which one can be ground to pulp and called orange juice. Don't hand me a glass of apple juice and say, 'well, apples and oranges are basically the same thing, so enjoy this glass of orange juice.' Most gamers are smart enough to detect the difference. Their eyes and ears may have not noticed it, but their brain did.
I actually don't care in the slightest what Fallout 4's "real" genre is, because regardless of whether it's an RPG, an FPS, a CRT, a BRB, or an LOL, it's still an absolute blast. However, just because it's not the kind of RPG you like doesn't mean it isn't an RPG. Take a look at what the game is, take a look at the genre classification for similar contemporary games. At the very least, if we MUST classify it as an FPS, it's definitely an FPS with heavy RPG elements. And honestly, at that point the definition is so blurry anyway, what does it really matter?
I dunno, it's 3:30 in the morning here and I need to go to bed. That's really all I have to say on the subject, so you can respond or not respond as you wish, I probably won't participate anymore. I'll be too busy playing Fallout 4 :)
