You know, in spite of all of the various problems have with Fallout 4 – and I have many, that I have noted variously in all the pieces I have written about what Bethesda should and should not do in the upcoming inevitable The Elder Scrolls 6 – in the end, I managed to enjoy the game.
Make no mistake, I didn’t enjoy it as an RPG- there’s barely a good RPG to be enjoyed there. No, I realized I enjoyed it far more if I approached it as a loot shooter. Not that Fallout 4 is necessarily balanced like a loot shooter, sure, but it manages to be a fun one, anyway. And it was then that I realized I wanted something that, to most Fallout fans, will probably be sacrilege- I wanted co-op in Fallout.
Look, at this point, I’m not even sure Bethesda will give us a proper RPG with Fallout 5, given their steady march towards accessibility over depth- but if they insist on making it a glorified shooter, at least make it a good glorified shooter. I love the idea of walking across the open world to the marked quest with my friend, then taking on the waves of enemies with my friend in cramped quarter firefights, before taking on the boss, and scoring some good loot, before I set out on my next quest. Seriously, with drop in/drop out co-op, Fallout 4 could be an excellent, less obtuse alternative to something like Destiny.
Of course, Bethesda could just make Fallout 5 a proper RPG again. Not that doing so would preclude co-op- look at how well Divinity did it.