Thank you Bethesda for that incredible game. Fallout 4 has suffered too many times from bad reviews that bring nothing more than a simple nostalgic “Other Fallout games were better.” But were they though? Well, the answer is definitely: no.

Were they handling some aspects of Fallout better? Some of them, yes. But that doesn’t mean Fallout 4 completely fails when it comes to those aspects. That is why I would say Fallout 4 is an okay Fallout that does indeed break some codes when it comes to the Fallout DNA. I can understand that some of those changes were not for the better, and the game definitely feels different when you compare it to how New Vegas handled the story and the choices, or the way Fallout 3 embodied the dirtiness of a post-apocalyptic world.

But where those games were mainly shining because of those aspects, Fallout 4 still does a correct or at least different job, far from being bad at it. And that is where Fallout 4, in my opinion, becomes the best game of the franchise. On top of handling those aspects correctly, it adds what the other Fallouts were lacking: the game is extremely fun and addictive. The combat system is the best in the Fallout franchise. The world, the immersion, and the exploration are perfectly handled.

I also saw a lot of bad reviews about the DLC. Here I am going to talk mainly about the biggest ones: Far Harbor and Nuka World. People, are we for real? While everyone has the right to like or dislike something, I cannot understand how those DLCs got so many bad reviews. The only thing I see is mainly review bombing from possibly frustrated Fallout fans who decided that Fallout 4 would be bad no matter what, refusing to see what it does correctly.

Far Harbor and Nuka World were objectively some of the best DLCs I have played in any video game, each bringing something totally new to your game while staying true to the main material. The only thing I wished is that they would have gone more in depth with Nuka World’s story, and that is also something I wish Fallout 4 did better and my main complaint about it.

The depth of its story, while being mostly good, during the whole game I was having a blast, always felt like it was holding back when it comes to storytelling. It often felt too short. The same goes for the characters you meet. You always end up with that feeling: I want more of it. You are totally immersed in the atmosphere, but the choices and the scenario stay at the surface. It’s acceptable, but frustrating.

I was mentioning that Fallout 4 changes the formula by changing things and the way you approach them, so let’s talk about what Fallout 4 added to the franchise: the settlements. A game inside the game. You build your base, manage your settlements, your supply lines, and if you decide to really get into it, it will add dozens of hours to your experience and oh man, it feels great.

It adds so much to the immersion. You feel that you are part of the Commonwealth, of the world that surrounds you, and that is where Fallout 4, for me, is a masterpiece. Everything combined : the super fun combat system, the mastered exploration, the good story, and the building/settlement system makes you feel like you are evolving with the world around you. You start as a person out of this new world, who does not belong there, and you end up, after hundreds of hours, being one of its architects, shaping it, becoming a part of it, and basically making it your playground. And for me, that is the definition of a true and good RPG, so yes Fallout 4 is objectively one of the best RPG of its time.

So for all those reasons, thank you Bethesda for giving us, 10 years ago, one of your last masterpieces. Yes, the game is 10 years old and has aged like fine wine. An absolute blast. Give it a try, give it a chance, immerse yourself.

I will conclude this review by mentioning the modding community. Like any Bethesda game, mods can make the experience ten times more enjoyable, while the vanilla experience is still great and does not need any mods to be enjoyable (I played 90% of the game without any mods).

So I understand that the modding system is important to a large part of the community, and that Bethesda made some questionable decisions when it comes to modding Fallout 4. I understand the frustration, but you can’t, in any way, leave a bad review because your mod list does not work anymore. Mods are outside the base game. It is your choice to use them while knowing the risks.

The developers do not have to care about mods when updating their games. You are responsible for any files that you change yourself, and if it ends up corrupting your game or your save, that is on you. You knew the risk and did it anyway. Putting a bad review simply because of that should not happen. You are altering the real value of the game and what newcomers might think of it.