Fallout 4 offers what Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't: consequences

16 Jan 2021PCGamesN

I've been thinking about Fallout 4 a lot lately. I didn't love it at launch, not like I loved Fallout 3 and New Vegas, but in the five years since it released I've come to appreciate just how good it is at making you feel like your choices will have tangible, meaningful consequences.

Fallout 76 jolted my appreciation for Bethesda Softworks' previous entry, but it took Cyberpunk 2077 to finally prod me into revisiting the irradiated wastes of the Commonwealth. I've spent just over 40 hours in Night City, plugging away at the main quest and ticking off side jobs and gigs. There's plenty to love, plenty of stuff that annoys me, and some spectacular bugs; on paper it should be striking all the same chords as Fallout 4, but it's leaving me frustrated and unsatisfied every time 'quest complete' pops up on screen.

From relatively small quests all the way to major story beats, Fallout 4 always reminds you that what you choose to do matters. One of the first side quests you pick up is Painting the Town, an otherwise bland and forgettable fetch quest where you're tasked with tracking down some paint to spruce up the walls of Diamond City. There are a few ways to get the desired green paint, or you can retrieve another colour for a lesser reward, and there are plenty of dialogue options to choose from depending on what you deliver.

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