Highlights
- Fallout 5 needs to do something new to differentiate itself from past games, and there are already plenty of ideas from previous entries to draw from.
- Being a Synth protagonist in Fallout 5 could provide a fresh and intriguing experience, with the potential for hidden identity twists.
- While the inclusion of a Synth protagonist in Fallout 5 could work, it's uncertain whether this concept will actually come to fruition. It may be a risky decision for the game since Fallout 4 already focused so much on Synths, but a Synth protagonist could lead to many interesting scenarios.
Fallout 5 could leap at the opportunity to embrace a feature that was left out of Fallout 4, or dissuade the notion entirely. While it will be a long time before players see Fallout 5, it will need to do something new in order to set it apart from past games. There are already a lot of ideas that have been set up by past games that could be adapted into the next entry in the series, including some from Fallout 4. Among the many paths Fallout 5's story could take, there is some territory still unexplored.
There is a good chance for Fallout 5 to surpass Starfield thanks to having so many years and games worth of material to work off of. The various wastelands that Fallout has taken players through have generated a series of memorable adventures. From The Master's plots in the first Fallout to the Institute's experiments in Fallout 4, the series has no shortage of foes to fight and desolate locations to explore. Since the series has set its bar so high, Fallout 5 has to do something impressive to be a worthy follow-up. After all, there are still more twists that the series hasn't attempted yet.
Fallout's Next Protagonist Could Be a Synth
Likely the most well-known experiments of Fallout 4's villains, The Institute, are the Synths. Synths, as their name implies, are synthetic humans that were created by The Institute. While early models looked like mechanical skeletons, they were eventually refined to the point that later models are virtually indistinguishable from humans at a glance. In fact, there are several Synths who don't even realize that they aren't human, since they have lifelong memories programmed into them. Unfortunately, due to their connection to the Institute, Synths are often viewed with suspicion by wastelanders and treated as simple machines by the Institute, so their lives are often difficult.
Bethesda could take a risk and make Fallout 5's new protagonist a Synth. While Fallout: New Vegas let players become a cyborg in the Old World Blues DLC, being a Synth would be an entirely new experience, with two very distinct approaches. The protagonist could know that they are a Synth from the start, and be wary of revealing that information to anyone due to the aforementioned suspicions. However, a more interesting idea may be for them not to know until a certain point in the story has passed. That kind of twist would add a lot of extra intrigue to the game.
There is still a lot to consider, namely the fact that Fallout 5 might not even have Synths. If it does, then having the player character be a Synth would be a good move, especially since no other game in the series has tried it. However, the game could still go the other way and not feature any Synths at all. If there was ever a time for Fallout to make a Synth protagonist, Fallout 5 may be the time since they played such a major role in Fallout 4. If Fallout 5 doesn't take the opportunity, then the concept may never come to fruition.
Synths were core to Fallout 4's story, but that doesn't mean that they can't exist elsewhere in the wasteland. For Fallout 5 to stand out from past games, a big twist involving the protagonist could be necessary. It would be a risk, especially after how Fallout 4's voiced protagonist ended up being divisive. Not to mention, it will also depend on whether Synths are prominent in Fallout 5, or even if they are present at all. A Synth protagonist could be Fallout 5's big surprise, or a concept that will forever remain in the realm of fantasy.