Todd and his consequences 
Hot take: Fallout 76 is actually an okay game. It’s way better than either Fallout 3 or 4 and way way better than fucking starfield. it’s got by far the best and most varied map of any Bethesda game and they were somehow able to sneak some somewhat decent and thematically worthwhile writing past whoever usually does the writing there. Sure it ain’t much of an RPG but Bethesda hasn’t made a game worth giving a shit about as an RPG since Morrowind anyway. Although I’m pretty sure the game has just gotten worse with updates especially after they added in NPCs with half-assed dialogue trees and quest lines that make no sense.
Disagree on the NPCs, the Wastelanders content is shockingly good, especially in comparison to Fallout 4. The companions were really cool as well—Bartender guy’s voice acting (I played 76 like four years ago so fuzzy on names) was some of the best in the series.
Also my GOD the world design. Each biome is so atmospherically distinct and it makes the map feel that much bigger and more varied.
But yeah there’s a surprisingly decent fallout experience in there for one or two playthroughs. Just gotta wade through all the live service bloat to get it
Todd Howard, you’re on notice
Think he’s said TES VI will be the last game he directs. Which means that position might fall into more capable hands
Or Emil Pagliarulo’s
oh dear god no
He was the lead designer for Starfield, wasn’t he? It’s fucking sad how far he’s fallen. This man worked on the Thief series. He handled the best faction quest line in Oblivion and the only halfway decent one in Skyrim. How does he suck so much now?
A combination of coasting on his past success and Todd’s seagull style of management
Kirkbride walks in one day and just declares himself director, immediately changes entire art style to something that makes Morrowind temple artlook stodgy and overdone.
Thank u Todd, I’m glad we got Starfield instead of Fallout: A Good Game.
NGL, I think Avowed has a higher chance of being a good game than a theoretical Obsidian Elder Scrolls game.
Considering Elder Scrolls has been riding purely off of the much better lore established in games like morrowind, and Starfield has shown the level of creativity in modern Bethesda, I believe it too.
kicking open the doors to a heavily fortified and defended bunker in the woods and screaming TOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
I always fine it incredibly how much bethesda has destroyed any interest I had in the games they make. I really enjoyed Oblivion when it came out, I remember downloading Skyrim the second I could. I played about a hundred hours in Fallout 3, and countless hours in New Vegas. But FO4 stopped all that in its tracks. I didn’t bother with 76 when I heard it was multiplayer only, I never touched ESO, and Starfield was barely a blip on my radar. If starfield had been announced a decade ago I would have been obsessed, something marketed as skyrim in space would have been right up my alley. Now the closest I’ll be to getting excited for a bethesda game is wishing that they’d let Obsidian use their assets/engine to make a better game. Ah well, I’ll stick to indi games and the occasional well-done mainstream game like Balders Gate 3
God, TES lore in the hands of Obsidian with an actually supportive publisher behind them would make me overlook the aging engine.
