Better character design:
It’s fun being able to customize your characters, but damn did Fallout 3 had similar issues to Oblivion. The characters were all ugly or disproportionate. Bethesda has always had somewhat of a history of making some weird looking character designs.
Oblivion had everyone’s faces looking like swollen-mouthed dental patients or they’d be smashed in the face with a sock full of quarters, so there is definitely some room for improvement here. Having the option to play a non-human character would also be an excellent addition. In other Bethesda games we can play as other race, so why not have the option to play as a mutant or Ghoul as well?
More random quests:
Skyrim did wonderfully here, with plenty of random quests littered throughout the world in various forms. This sort of thing would absolutely help the world feel more alive, even if it is a barren wasteland.
Finding objects that grant quests, or people running up to you to ask for help. While this sort of quest system was in New Vegas and Fallout 3, it would be great to see them expand on this and improve on the design choices that were made for Skyrim. It will give players even more of a reason to explore the world as well as adds a nice level of chaos and unpredictability to it.
Fallout has people living in the strangest of places, so let them give us some strange quests too. This sort of questing also fits the world. It’s a harsh, unforgiving planet with mutants, monsters and bandits, plenty of people should need the players’ help. Let us be the hero that the Wastelands deserves.
Bethesda Creation Kit Support:
This is a very real possibility, at least for the PC players. Valve’s steamworks system would fit perfectly into Fallout 4 just like it did for Skyrim. It seems like a no-brainer consider how powerful Bethesda’s Creation Kit is; not to mention how successful it was in Skyrim. There are plenty of tweaks, mods and extras that gamers just love to download and play. People are still creating brand new content for Skyrim, even after Bethesda has stopped, adding enough content to easily change or improve on aspects that some players found lacking.
PSN even has access to steam now, why not let the PlayStation gamers in on Steamworks as well? That may be a long shot, but with Valve and Sony working in conjunction with Bethesda isn’t totally impossible.
Having Steamworks on Xbox Live would also be great, however there’s a checkered past between Valve and Microsoft when it comes to updating and supplying extra content to players. Even with that in mind, Modding and player generated content is great. it also really fits the “hodge-podge,” theme in the Fallout Universe. With NPC’s that have the “do it yourself,” attitude and weapons that can be constructed from various, random components around the world why not let the players in on the fun?
Closing note:
Bethesda has a real goldmine here. While some people may be bored with the Post-Apocalyptic setting, even more gamers are looking forward to the next installment of the Fallout series, and why wouldn’t they? With such a convincing and entertaining world to play through for the last two games the only thing we can really ask for is more.
With all the amazing work that Bethesda has done since Fallout 3’s release, Fallout 4 has the potential of being a masterpiece and a testament to modern gaming. With the new consoles right around the corner Bethesda is certainly going to have the power they need to get the job done.
