Fallout 4 is one of Bethesda Softworks' best-selling games, having sold enough copies soon after its launch to compete with The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. For that and other reasons, it is considered one of the most popular Fallout titles as well as generally one of Bethesda's most successful games. Despite this popularity, it does have its fair share of flaws.
Even though Fallout 4 did amazingly in sales, it did not manage to keep up with Skyrim in terms of its legacy. Some may consider this curious, especially given the hype before the launch of Fallout 4 and the popularity of the series as a whole, which has often rivaled that of The Elder Scrolls. However, the game failed to leave a lasting impression on the industry as much as Skyrim did, with the reasons varying in nature, starting with worldbuilding.
The Difference Between Fallout 4 and Skyrim's Worldbuilding
Skyrim's impact on the gaming genre is generally one that can be seen in a variety of places. Whether it be the memes such as the infamous "arrow to the knee" joke or the DNA of the game's formula itself found in other games, its impact has been far-reaching. This is largely in contrast with Fallout 4, which while it was an incredibly popular game, did not manage to have as much of a cultural impact on gaming as Skyrim has had. In that sense, there was just something iconic about Skyrim that allowed it to permeate throughout the gaming community. One of the biggest reasons for this is how Fallout 4 approached the Commonwealth and how The Elder Scrolls approached the land of Skyrim.
The main difference between the Commonwealth and Skyrim is that the latter is much more culturally diverse than the former. The land of Skyrim contains multiple holds, which all consist of their own cities and towns, each having its own culture, history, and practices. Skyrim's world feels much larger than Fallout 4's Commonwealth, which remains relatively consistent in terms of what the player can find. While the player could find something new around every corner, Fallout 4's huge secrets were much less abundant in comparison. The land of Skyrim made for a more interesting world to explore.
Another huge contributing factor is the aspect of escapism found in both Skyrim and Fallout 4. It is undeniable that both of these games have this, as they are vastly different macrocosmoses from the real world. In Skyrim's world of Nirn, the player can cast fireballs, summon demonic creatures, go on epic adventures, and slay dragons. In contrast, Fallout 4's satirical nature brought it much closer to reality than Skyrim, which hurt it in the escapism department. Though Fallout 4's cool details were great discoveries, its escapism was not as comparable to Skyrim's.
However, arguably the most important contributing factor would be the idea of freedom found in Fallout 4 in Skyrim. Fallout 4's inclusion of voiced protagonists as well as a backstory for them made the player character much less malleable in terms of what the player could envision for them. If the player chose the male archetype, they were a war veteran, and if they chose the female archetype, they were a lawyer. Fallout 4 had immutable character traits that the player couldn't just deny. On the other hand, Skyrim's main protagonist's nature of being a prisoner gave players a completely clean slate to work with, allowing them to be anything they envisioned.
In that regard, Skyrim was not only a more free experience, but a more immersive one as well. And yet, none of this is to suggest that Fallout 4 had in any way underperformed, as the game still did significantly well. However, if Fallout wishes to recapture some of that success, then it'll need to take some lessons from Skyrim and how it built its legacy.
Fallout 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
