Except you can't because you're the SS. You never find a body outside the Vault, that's just something you're imagining.

Something that doesn't count. We are talking about replay value for Bethesda's game. That means being able to play the game through Bethesda's narrative, not your own.

I can't say Pacman has replay value because I'm imaging myself as a ghost having a dream where he's Pacman and is getting revenge on the other ghosts because they called me names. It doesn't work that way.

And in TES, there's no lore about time travel but I imagine it exists to get my Oblivion character to Skyrim.

That doesn't count. You can't just arbitrarily add replay value to a game with your imagination and try to claim it's legitimate.

The game doesn't provide replay value on its own. That's the issue. The fact that you have to imagine your own is the problem. You didn't have to do that in Fallout 3. Or Fallout: New Vegas. Hell, you didn't have to do that in Morrowind, Oblivion, or Skyrim.

I imagine replay value in every Bethesda game.

Morrowind - That its events came after Oblivion and not before. That the Red Year was prevented by destroying the Ministry of Truth. That Lauren Sanders can join every house because she gets special permission to do so.

Oblivion - That she came to Cyrodiil by boat and she was not a prisoner.

Skyrim - That time travel and banishment to an alternate timeline where the Red Year happened was the reason why the same Lauren Sanders ended up in Skyrim, 200 years later with Morrowind destroyed.

Fallout 3 - That there was an 18 year gap between escaping the vault and rescuing Dad, and that the NV events are in parallel to Fallout 3.

New Vegas - That it takes times for the Mojave to change under the Indy path and so my character can continue after the MQ.

Fallout 4 - That my character is not the SS but the memories of the SS were installed into her brain with a weird side effect that she is mistaken for the SS, so she plays along and lies that she's the SS.

I did a lot weirder headcanons in Skyrim than Fallout 4. That's what I expect when the lore states that the 3 TES and Fallout heroes are not the same person. It's nothing against Fallout 4, just my preference to use one main character for an entire series instead of descendants because I get too attached.

I know this is a late response, but apparently my meaning passed right over your head. As you level your character, eventually they all become the same character. There is little variance due to the leveling mechanic. I wasn't talking about something as droll as ending slides.

Imagination always counts when roleplaying. In tabletop games, DM's would often have intricate storylines in mind that players will completely ruin in 10 minutes. Well we're just doing the same thing to a single questline in Fallout 4. Doesn't mean we cannot play the rest of the game as we choose and develop our own stories for our characters as we go along.

the vanilla game has twice as much replay value, as the old games

having a male and a female voice already makes both playthroughs very different

mods will obviously increase the replayability, like they did in all Bethesda games before

I voted no.


Given that you don't actually pick a side for a good while, the main quest for all four potential factions is basically the same for about the first 75% or so, and that honestly might be lowballing it. It boils down to "blow up the Institute with this faction" or "blow up all those factions with the Institute". Even most of the quests that occur after the lines start to branch are very close to the same but with knight/agent/synth allies depending on who you're with. I reloaded back to a save right at the point of no return and did all four endings (which give you a grand total of TWO different ending cutscenes) on one character. That took me one afternoon, and that's it. Given that, plus the side quests that almost all give you only one option and two if you're lucky, I can't see any reason to go back and start a new character. I'll boot my BoS version of this one back up when the dlcs come in because he was my first, but otherwise I think I'm done with Fallout 4 for a while.

I must have mystical powers then because I'm doing the impossible!

You're right, no reasonable person would ignore their son. Then again no reasonable person would allow themselves to be frozen for 200 years and no reasonable person would expect a person that's been frozen for 200 years to be thinking clearly either. Lets not forget about the fact the character just went through something extremely traumatic (nuclear war, spouse killed, son stolen) and could be operating purely on instinct alone. There are a number of ways you can role play a character in this game. I suppose the most important thing is you just have to enjoy role-playing.

absolutely it has replay value. there is so much to see and do in the game that I would boldly suggest you couldn't see it all in one play through.

I'm on my second play through right now.

There's also the fact that you can level up while simply not taking any perks at all. Any point trying to say things kike the current system takes away the ability to make unique builds is simply false. If a person is becoming a jack/master of all trades it's because they did it to themselves.

Love fallout 3 and FONV, got a 1000 hours+ in both of them. I like fo1 and 2, just not enough to finish them but find myself restarting every once in awhile to take in the atmosphere or try a different build. Hell I love morrowind and oblivion and even liked skyrim. Fo4....I can't even say I'm gonna finish my first playthru. Just something about the game that I just can't get excited or attached to the game. It looks great and they did a lot of advances in combat and graphics, but I'm into roleplaying games and will even "imagination land" my way thru the games to make my own story.

I just dunno why I can't get into this game because I was excited for it and even held off looking up stuff and tried to go in with an open mind. But this is the first fallout/TES game that I have no hunger, no desire to even play. Hell I love fallout 3 (come at me bro!) and it's my second favorite fallout game and will still play the hell outta.

Fallout 4 for some reason I don't think I will even finish or continue playing and that makes me sad because they did a lot of good things in it, but I just don't have any desire to continue playing it. Hell I had/have more desire to play daggerfall than this game and I don't even like that game at all lol.

Many of us are happily replaying the game, and as such have empirical evidence that the game does have replay value. Haters aren't going to successfully convince those enjoying their second characters to ignore their lying eyes and their own enjoyment of their replays to buy into the notion that the game doesn't have any replay value.

Replay value ain't some intrinsic thing. Just because the game has it for you doesn't mean it has it for me. Otherwise, every game that is still being played has an equal amount of replay value. Clearly the value this game has in its replayability varies from person to person.

I voted yes. While the voiced protagonist and dialog system can understandably hinder some peoples replay value it's hardly a universally agreed condition.

I also replayed the game, and it still doesn't have the same replay value as F3 or FNV. I mostly play beth games so i have 500+ hours minimum in every game each(oblivion,skyrim,f3,fnv) but in f4 i have less then 100h and don't see myself playing any more. According to you i'm a hater because the game is more linear with little choices/options? And my second playthrough felt the same as the first one, just different faction. Those who say that the game doesn't have replay value are mostly comparing it to previous fallout games.

Plus, mods can change those two things for the people who don't like those 2 things. I know as I use mods to mute the player and overhaul the dialogue UI.

Personally, I find the Bethicles that consider anything Bethesda does to be Immaculate and reflexively condemn the idea that Obsidian might have gotten anything at all right in NV to be Heresy worse than the NMAers, as they at least have some valid points. I loved FO3 (I bought it and the DLC for 360 twice and then for the PC a third time), I loved NV (bought three times again), but FO4 is missing something that I can't quite put my finger on. I've got nearly 300 hours in, and I'm starting to get the same feelings I got about Skyrim...which I never finished because I got bored. Right now, I'm more interested in working on the fort I'm building at the Starlight than continuing the MQ. You can dismiss that with some condescending Bethicle remark about Obsidian, but in truth it saddens me to feel this way. I expected that they would build on NV as Obsidian did on FO3, but they threw it out wholesale.

Voted "yes, with conditions". I think there's a playthrough or three to be had here, maybe more once we get an alternative start mod.

My reservation is that I don't think this is nearly as replayable as F3. It doesn't give me room to spin my usual internal narrative around the protagonist, but neither does it give me anyone interesting in place of that narrative.

[edit]

So far it looks like the majroity claimed in that other thread is nowhere near so clear cut as the initial claim seemed to suggest. In fact unqualified "yes" votes are currently in a minority. A large one, admittedly, but a minority nevertheless.

Not being one to replay these long games...... or even finish to the very end, apart from Morrowind and Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics.

I kind of have had my fill of the game at some point.... and off to do other things.

Anyway this game, with SO many permutations of game-play and strategies of play, I came to the conclusion that....

If any game was replayable.... this is the one that beats most previous big games..... but being also a "Casual" player, I would probably jump into the middle of the game at some point. I voted Yes.

Nah, not finding any personal replay value in the game doesn't make one a hater. I didn't find any play value ... much less replay value ... in the original games. I don't hate them, though. The hater part comes from those who, rather than simply putting up the game and pursuing an alternate activity that they actually find value in, choose instead to dedicate time and energy convincing other players that they shouldn't like the game, either.

Expressing a personal opinion on whether the game replay value for you =/= hating.

Stating the lack of replay value as an objective fact and expecting others to validate this position = hating.

Your loss my gain. I completely disagree with your summation and that's pretty much it

Interesting poll results. Twice as many yes' than no's.

Despite its numerous flaws - yes, the replay value is there.

Those saying you're forced to look for your son....

....not really. In my playthrough, my characters motivation aligns with the goals of the BoS. I wasn't looking for my son, but eradicating the wastes of monstrosities.


I hate to be that guy, but many people posting make me think, "you're playing it wrong."