If it is already risky to say “I will not drink this water”, imagine how much risk you have when you say “I will not drink this water again”, especially when what you have drunk is very good. It has happened to me on several occasions with Fallout 76. The last one was just before the launch of Starfield, when I returned to kill the bug before launching into the space adventure.
Now what Prime Video has released the Fallout series, resisting returning to any video game in the franchise is almost a herculean task. Plus, Bethesda has made it easy by giving away the game on Prime Gaming, applying discounts, and adding temporary rewards. And on top of that with the Fallout 4 update for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Returning is inevitable, like Thanos from the MCU.
I’m back (again) to Fallout 76
Everyone has their own tastes in video games: sports, driving, exploration, photography, no-hit, speedruns, trophy hunters/challenges, professional competition, horror, social events… There are as many specializations as there are tastes. I enjoy walking the path of being a poor bastard who has nowhere to drop dead… and Fallout It has the perfect worlds to be it in the best way.
I love the beginnings of post-apocalyptic worlds. An entire map to discover, hundreds of stories waiting, a basic suit, a gun with a few bullets and the certainty that any outburst of curiosity could lead to my death. Everything is dangerous… but the status quo can change if you are smart enough to adapt and evolve.
Hacienda Wixon, Fallout 76
The Fallout saga has always had a special place in my life because it is a setting that perfectly meets my survival needs in a video game. I squeezed Fallout 3, New Vegas y 4 for as long as I could, exceeding 400-500 hours in the latter. With Fallout 76 I’ve almost reached 500 hours and I abandoned it because I stopped feeling the thrill of survival. And that’s why this time I’m back (motivated by the Prime Video series and the update of Fallout 4) with a secondary character, a new one with everything to discover.
Leaving a shelter, in this case 76, is always exciting. However, it was when I rediscovered the Wixon Hacienda that nostalgia and that pleasant feeling of survival invaded me. It is one of the first locations with enemies for most players who follow the path marked by the missions. There are usually between 7-10 ghouls, although I have found up to 20 at a time. I approached in stealth and killed them one by one with headshots.
Mina de Gauley, Fallout 76
Another reason I’m so passionate about early Fallout is that literally anything you see in the world can be useful. When you have level 200 and you are not a subscriber Fallout 1ST (something that greatly limits the scrap you can save) you have farmed and managed enough so that you don’t lack for anything… and that takes away a lot of the emotion of the game.
Everything has changed since the last time I played the beginnings of Fallout 76. I’m a veteran of Day 1, so I found Appalachia devoid of NPCs and had to settle for following the clues on the tapes the Overseer left behind during her journey. Now, the Wayward bar is in charge of opening up the experience better and guiding us towards different fronts… including the infamous ribbons. I spent the first three hours of the game doing the quests for Duchess, the dream of the bar, and getting equipment.
Summersville, Fallout 76
The Gauley Mine is the first trial by fire for all survivors of Fallout 76
I remember that arriving to this small town for the first time was quite hard. I was almost out of ammunition, food and drink, so I was forced to run into many dangers… which caused me to end up half dead at the end of the mission that had taken me so far. However, this time it was different: the experience was with me.
I took out my hunting rifle and killed two Blood Eagle Rogues before they knew what was happening. A third tried to reach me to hit me with a sledgehammer, but one is an old dog: I shot his right leg three times. The poor devil screamed like a madwoman and she crawled towards me to hit me. I aimed at her head and ended her suffering with a fourth shot. A couple of enemies were still hanging around the area, but the door to my objective was clear. Even though I had 700 bullets, my survivor soul chose to save.
Summersville, Fallout 76
I know this is going to sound surreal, but I convinced a robot in a robot store that I was a ghost from the past that needed to access a Raidtron to install a locator. This was where I learned that in Fallout it is always better to invest in Charisma and Intelligence, although a little Strength never hurts. During my first time I had to shoot down all the turrets, robots and security systems, but this time all I had to do was ask for it, pretend I was a ghost and make a light threat. I docked the device and left.
The next 5-15 hours I played over this past weekend (April 5-7) were just as enjoyable. I killed enemies in stealth whenever I could, I tried to solve problems through diplomatic means (and with the gun when the results did not suit me) and I explored every corner of each “new” location. Oh, and look at the three characters I found during my adventures with my main character! A great group that took me on a trip to Atlantic City for the first time… but in a good way. I had never been there in Fallout 76.
It’s a shame that Fallout 76 It ends up becoming a walk in the park. It is still something natural or part of the progress of the game. There comes a point where you don’t lack anything and you have so many resources that you can afford to waste magazines, throw away items, and even give away 50 stims and a bunch of pieces with special abilities.
In any case, I have once again enjoyed the beginnings of Fallout 76 with this second character. There’s nothing like those moments when you have a whole world to discover and you go through every last box in search of some stims, bullets, water and food and even a few badges to spend at any merchant. I can’t wait to relive the experience in Fallout 4!
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