A gamer has shared a hilarious Fallout 4 video, where Nick Valentine finds the most inappropriate time to have a deep conversation. Nick Valentine is one of the best companions in Fallout 4, but in this situation, he fails to read the room completely.
Fallout 4's companions were one of the most highly-praised elements of the game in the wake of its original release back in 2015. Each character had layers of depth that the player would have to work to unravel in a way that felt completely natural. It was a big step up from Skyrim's companions, which seemed to take a quantity-over-quality approach that led to many players not getting emotionally invested in the characters. Nick Valentine himself received plenty of praise, and would later play a key role in the game's Far Harbor DLC, which earned the character further critical acclaim.
The clip by Redditor midnightvalkyre shows the player attempting to drag a body away from a violent scene, before they're interrupted by Nick Valentine. When the conversation begins, he wants to speak about the Sole Survivor's family, the emotional hook of Fallout 4's main story. The thought is definitely appreciated, and it could prove to be a really poignant scene that improves both of the characters involved. However, the emotional heft here is undercut by the dead body floating up and down behind Nick the whole time the conversation is happening. The camera doesn't know how to act, and it only causes the body to become more erratic, slapping Nick across the face at times in a comical manner.
Players in the thread took the time to explain their own hilarious moments with companions in Fallout 4. Another user explained that they had a companion monologue while defending the USS Constitution warship, which even sounds more inconvenient than this Nick Valentine clip. Although Fallout 4 is a great game, it's a perfect example of how the AI can still be quite buggy throughout, though it wouldn't be a Bethesda game without a few glitches.
There's no doubt that Fallout 4 took the right approach with its companions, even if the writing wasn't always top-notch for every character. Little is known about the companions in the upcoming Bethesda title Starfield, although a video revealing one companion, Vasco, indicates the developer will be looking to make them every bit as detailed as the Fallout 4 offerings. This is great news, and hopefully, it's a level of quality that Bethesda can keep up in The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5.
Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions coming in 2023.
