Having no fancy graphics at all is better than having something that looks like a rhino stuff it out, but Bethesda seems to opt for the latter instead of the former. See conversations in the Isometric Fallouts vs. the 3d Fallouts- while (most) conversations in the IFOs have no voice or talking head, you can use your imagination to create your own interpretation of the characters. In the 3d Fallouts the conversations often shows you something that resembles a lump of feces moulded into a human, simultaneously breaking your immersion and preventing you from really creating your own interpretation. The fact that Bethesda only hires an average of 16 voice actors for their main cast also makes it really, really bad.
This is less of Bethesda's fault for trying to push for fancier graphics, and more along the lines of them cutting costs by using a budget facial structuring engine, cutting the corners on their engine and basically dropping the ball on their art direction. Fallout 4 is more of a step in the right direction (from the snapshots we've seen of the game so far)
This is stepping more into the subjective realm of game design, but I think fallout 3 and nv's graphics would have been better if they went with simpler tones a more stylized art direction. Basically, if they made the game less realistic-looking and more cartoonish like borderlands in a way, the game would have looked better and would have been memorable in a good way.
bland dull products that appeal to the masses.
Unfortunately to a publisher, "products that appeal to the masses" is more important than a game with heart, passion and creativity. To them at the end of the day, it's a product, not a video game.
Now that they know that the fallout IP sells well, I'm betting they're going to agree to do riskier things with fallout 4. Or not. This is bethesda we're talking about :P
If you don't like something about the game mod it or don't buy it.
A game's design shouldn't usually rely on the community to fix it. It's different for games like blockland because it's an open sandbox game designed for the players to build and create their own gamemode using blockland as a proxy. Fallout is a sandbox game with a narrative and cohesive world map, so relying on mods solely for main content is going to make the game feel clunky and full of content gaps.
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