Fallout 4 is often considered the best of the best in the Fallout franchise. It launched in 2015 to an epic and overwhelmingly positive reception, and today, it remains one of the most-played games in the history of the series. It has a vibrant modding community driving it ever-onwards, and even this far out from launch, there are still things hidden deep within the game that are being uncovered.
In Fallout 4, there is a far-reaching and expansive story that is interwoven into the game's very foundation. It's lengthy, engaging, and, above all else, it can be very emotional. There are some powerful scenes in Fallout 4 that are able to shock a player, excite them, and even evoke genuine feelings of anger.
7 The Loss Of A Family
In Fallout 4, the devastation comes thick and fast, with one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the game occurring within minutes of the story kicking off. During the opening sequence, players meet their spouse and their son, Shaun, in their idyllic, all-American home in a quiet suburb of Boston.
Then, minutes later, players are plunged into the deep darkness of a Vault-Tec vault, forced underground by the nuclear apocalypse. It doesn't end there, though. Moments after that scene takes place, the protagonist's spouse is murdered, their son kidnapped, and hundreds of years have flown by while they've been cryogenically stored.
6 The Sins Of The Son
For the majority of the game, the player's chief goal is to break into a facility known as The Institute. It's a faction otherwise known as the 'Boogeyman of the Commonwealth,' a dark and mysterious organization that snatches people out of the wasteland and turns them into synths: android people, in other words.
However, once the player successfully navigates their way into The Institute, they're met with a shocking revelation. At the head of The Institute sits their son, Shaun, who was kidnapped by members of The Institute decades earlier. He has now risen up the ranks to lead this ominous group and asks the Sole Survivor to join him.
5 Destroying It All
If the player opts to not side with The Institute, which is generally the most common choice, then all that's left at the end of the main story is to destroy the faction. This can be accomplished with any other faction in the game, and it all comes to a head standing on the roof of a tall building with a hand hovering over a big, red button.
It's an end to the work done by the protagonist's son, and, in a way, it's an act that frees up the Commonwealth Wasteland from the dark, tyrannical force of The Institute. Moments before, the player left Shaun, their son, behind, wallowing on his deathbed and knowing that the end was both near and inevitable.
4 Answering The Call
As the player explores the Commonwealth Wasteland, they'll come across a wide variety of radio messages. Through the Pip-Boy device, these radio stations can be tuned into and listened to at will, and, in some cases, they can be very revealing about the road ahead. However, there are several radio stations broadcasting in and around Boston that are nothing short of heartbreaking.
From a family sealed in an airtight bunker to a mother and her son hiding from a Deathclaw and pleading for help, the desperation seeping through these radio calls is tangible. In almost every scenario possible, the player arrives at the source of these radio signals to find that the broadcaster has long since passed away, and the message has been replaying ad infinitum.
3 The Tale Of Arlen Glass
Arlen Glass is a Fallout 4 NPC who can be found at a settlement called The Slog. He's a pre-war Ghoul, and before the bombs fell, he worked at the Wilson Atomatoys Factory, where he was a designer. In fact, it was he who designed the Giddyup Buttercup toy that can be seen all over the wasteland.
However, there's more of a backstory to Arlen than for most of the NPCs scattered throughout Fallout 4. If the player takes the right path beforehand, they'll uncover hidden holotapes that act as the last message from Arlen's wife and child who died during the war, far away from Arlen. He's been alone for two hundred years, and, upon hearing the holotape for himself, Arlen mourns, as, after two centuries, he both finds out what happened to his family and hears their voice one last time.
2 Finding Virgil
A former Institute scientist driven mad by guilt, Brian Virgil is one of the loneliest characters in Fallout 4. He fled his home, colleagues, and peers, destroying his life's work before deciding to relocate to an area of the wasteland known as The Glowing Sea. In order to survive there, Virgil mutated himself with a unique strain of the FEV, the Forced Evolutionary Virus.
He became a twisted form of a Super Mutant, retaining his sentience, consciousness, and intelligence, but taking on the form of a hideously mutated Super Mutant. Ultimately, the player can undertake a quest to produce a serum that turns Virgil back into a human, but if they're not successful, Brian Virgil will either die at his own hand or at the hand of the player.
1 Saving Billy
Billy's tale is one of the most remarkable stories from the Wasteland. When the bombs fell, young Billy was playing outside his home, and, in an effort to survive, he locked himself in a nearby fridge. However, owing to some twisted turn of events and a hefty dose of radiation, Billy turned into a Ghoul, adopting some form of immortality but remaining trapped in the fridge for two hundred years.
When the player stumbles across Billy, they are given a choice shortly after: sell him to a slaver for bottlecaps or attempt to lead him back to his childhood home. In one of the most positive twists in the history of Fallout, the player can take Billy Peabody home, only to learn that his parents were also Ghoul-ified and have been mourning his loss for two centuries.
Fallout 4 is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.