94. 1Upsmanship: Fallout 4 (Feat. Vanessa Gritton)

[@FrankDelibio]

Pickman is a Lovecraft reference, Pickman’s Model short story

[@ser_ryon_vine6392]

The Railroad was in Fallout 3 and it was clearly supposed to be the Underground Railroad...The Replicated Man quest if I remember correctly.

[@thequeenofswords7230]

'Well, I've only ever played this one and Fallout 3 but I feel pretty confident in saying the core of Fallout is 'Bethesda game'.' Oh Adam... Adam, Adam, Adam. Honey, no.

[@thequeenofswords7230]

And, no, 'New Vegas is peak Fallout' is not an unpopular opinion. I don't know if it's a majority opinion, but in my experience those who have played the originals tend to feel this way about New Vegas.

[@irishprice5152]

@@thequeenofswords7230 I still feel dorect remakes of 1 and 2 would be peak fallout. Also feel like we should mention wasteland 2 as a contender for peak fallout... (spiritual successor made by the original team)

[@thequeenofswords7230]

@@irishprice5152 I haven't played Wasteland 2 but I have not heard good things.

[@RedsKinDK23]

I wish this was an hour longer.

[@CAMZAB]

I predict that in the future Fallout76 episode you'll be questioning why it wasn't more like your FO4 experience.

[@notednuance]

I have never related to Swaim's game opinions more than when he said he plays in third person... "don't you want to see your character?" Yes... yes I do.

[@saxorex7972]

I know, I really feel like he gets it, even when I don't agree with his opinions. Thats why I hate first person shooters, I like seeing characters and designs.

[@jjbaboon2380]

It also opens up a much wider question of how and why we label games with the 1st/3rd person names. If a game has the option to play in either perspective it seems silly to definitively label it as one or the other. It should be considered as both and can serve both needs/wants for its players. Sure, this makes it harder to categorize, but that means nothing to me. Categorizing things is meaningless when you need to bend what they are to make them fit.

[@theendisoverdue]

Adam is a real jackass sometimes lol love it

[@jontobin5942]

Even you must admit (INTERJECTION) Noooo...I don't

[@deertan]

No way that Bethesda didn't make the connection between the underground railroad in the game and the historical underground railroad. If we as normal humans make the connection, what makes you believe that they didn't?

[@PKAmedia]

Didn't know who Vanessa was going in but at the start, as soon as she said New Vegas was the best of the Fall Out series I knew she was going to be legit great.

[@Virjunior01]

Do her fingers really bend back that far?

[@LikeTheBuffalo]

It's a Bean Storm, everybody! Five episodes at once!

[@frankcastello9320]

Ok at about 40min in Adam starts talking about the underground railroad and how it's insane to reference it without a more concrete comparison with slavery. And there is actually an in universe reason why that simply isn't true. You have to take it at face value, the discussion on sentience and the role of AI, is because you have to examine the Railroad through the eyes of the characters. These are people with a rudimentary understanding of history at best. In Fenway park a guy tries to sell you swatters, claiming that baseball was this horrible blood sport. The railroad named themselves after a movement that they didn't fully understand. Someone probably read about how the original railroad carried people to freedom, but lacked any sort of contextual background for it. The reason that the railroad doesn't explore their namesakes compexities is because, just like the guy hawking swatters, they are completely ignorant of it. They can't possibly know about all the history surrounding the underground railroad. Exploring it further would be illogical. It wouldn't make any narrative sense. It would be nonsense to demand that fictional people, in a fictional world, after a fictional event, only use imagery you're familiar with in context that you deem appropriate.

[@anthonynorman7545]

Frank Castello +

[@HelloTardis]

Okay, this is alternate history sure, BUT up until fallouts history branches off from ours, they definitely shared past events like “The Underground Railroad”. In FACT wouldn’t anyone who lived in a Vault, or had contact with a Vault dweller be aware of this history? Don’t vault dwellers have comprehensive libraries of American History? If that is true, then why WOULDNT they have an idea of what the Underground Railroad was/what it meant. If your argument is that they shouldn’t have known, then I vehemently disagree. However, if your argument is that they shouldn’t have Co-opted the name, well then I won’t venture a guess there. I’m a person of color so I don’t want to throw around any Bias I may have. So in other words I’ve wasted your time.....Shit...

[@anthonynorman7545]

@@HelloTardis do you think the underground railroad would be a topic that the descendents of of people over a century ahead of us would discuss comprehensively and be remembered flawlessly? Back to the OP, they messed up the American past time BASEBALL. Surely, messing up the details of an the underground railroad is at least as likely.

[@benjaminpacatte2623]

@HelloTardis You can see that a lot of these factions base themselves on historical groups or empires. Caesar's Legion in New Vegas are clearly a post-apocalyptic Roman Empire, and you can actually talk to Caesar at length about his ideas, he's clearly educated on Roman history. There's a questline for the Great Khans where, in order to inspire them and give them a new direction, you bring their leader a book on Genghis Khan and the Mongols, and they further shape themselves around the Mongolian Empire and Golden Horde. The difference is how educated the factions are about the history of what they name their group after.

[@jessewallis6589]

I love New Vegas also. I watch Many A True Nerd’s playthroughs. They’re so good.

[@TyyrimeesMao]

"Nick is the only good companion" This is Deacon erasure and I will not stand for it.

[@phissure3081]

I love that you brought up morality, because one thing 3 and New Vegas had over 4 was an actual spectrum of moral choices. Getting 4 responses to every dialogue prompt and one of them being sarcastic/dickish has nothing on how the game completely changes if you play good or evil in 3.

[@BouncingTribbles]

A game that rewards you for being evil: star wars; knights of the old republic 2 Star wars knights of the old republic 2 has a very robust karma system. It rewards you more for being consistent, and does an amazing job of reflecting the nature of the force. When you were good you were a mighty lightsaber warrior, who was tough and able to throw themselves around the battlefield; chose the evil options and you could be the baddest Sith around, choking enemies and using force lightening to wipe out whole groups. Not that you couldn't be an evil lightsaber fighter, or a good mage, but the rewards for being good or evil were weighted the other way around. Not only that, but your companions would form radically different relationships with you based on your actions and how you explained those actions to them, as well as how you treated them in general. So much so that you could change their general demeanor and alignment or drive them to turn on you. The best morality system, and companion system, I've played through.

[@mcom234]

Adam please, please, play fallout nv. It’s still (after all this time) an amazing game. And you will love the hell out of it. You don’t understand how much you’re missing out on. Then do an episode on it *fingers crossed*

[@mortalthoughts3280]

Megaton is in Fallout 3

[@mortalthoughts3280]

Tenpenny Tower is in New Vegas

[@AndyJP]

Both in 3

[@AbyssalDrake88]

The aesthetic is nuke based and fifties because at some point, instead of pursuing the computing technology they pursued the power of the atom to the exclusion of all else.

[@barneymiller7894]

I think Bethesda made a concious decision to rely on the modding community to make the base building good.

[@jesusdelira10]

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!

[@michaelolsen2760]

The lack of dialogue options makes the story feel very hollow.

[@boostergaming2080]

Michael Olsen Triangle: Yes. Square: sarcastic , but yes X: maybe but yes Circle: No. But actually yes.

[@drunkencoyote]

2 had such a cool random encounter and companion mechanic.

[@crystalmartin5482]

do you guys really feel a bos run through is an evil run i felt it was more lawful good

[@MarkMueller1975]

For games that have evil runs, have you played Tyranny?

[@Irishprice1]

Just came from the new vegas episode. Want to keep the fallout binge going. Hope they do fallout 1 and 2 at some point.

[@xXxSpeshulKxXx]

New Vegas is best, don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. I mean, do. Then walk away secretly disgusted with whoever you were talking to

[@conedx]

i'll never understand why people say that one is the best. it had one of the most boring and empty worlds of an open world game ever.

[@BoneMachine1443]

New Vegas is the best. 1 and 2 feel dated but are excellent. 3 sucks, 4 sucks but looks nice.

[@Vortor]

Fallout 1 and 2 have much better worlds, stories, freedom, and gameplay teaching than 3 and 4. New vegas is closer to those two but it's not really as good at all. Also morrowind was the best bethesda game in most ways.

[@thesssradio5008]

Small beans, you have a'll the right ingredients, the best wrighters from cracked, the entire cast of after hours, you could be great, GREATER THAN CRACKED IS NOW. Can you please write a sketch or something, maybe get a camera. EDIT: correction I saw one your sketch videos that was great! please make more of those

[@smallbeans6720]

We can't afford it! Trying to parley the podcast and occasional low-budget sketches into enough budget to shoot another series like Disney Owns You. In the meantime, a new show with Swaim, Cody Johnston and Katy Stoll launches next week!

[@thesssradio5008]

Small Beans how about kickstarter, also love your content.

[@jesusdelira10]

Small BeansWill this new show be produced by you? All mighty Michael?

[@thequeenofswords7230]

www.patreon.com/SmallBeans

[@thesssradio5008]

Nicholas Scott oh right, thx

[@andrewmatlock3772]

Great ep! More entertaining than fallout 4! I can't say it without being mean but I feel compelled... My biggest take away from this entire series is the Ganz and I have fundamental disagreements on many many. Too many to list... on every episode the man is mountain of bad takes on games. Often coming from uninformed opinions but he charges on blind. Great on stories and movies though. You could feel Mike's frustration at his ignorance. From the get go he's just wrong ie. NV has been the consensus fan favorite for years. He had two super fans telling him so but nope the Ganz dismisses. This is a common occurrence.

[@andrewmatlock3772]

I mean what kind of savage plays a hardcore driving sim in the third person?

[@momoTAMAGOTCHI]

I feel like OG Ganz had to take a negative stance. Because no one else in the room wanted to admit that it wasn't a good game. Also Cait should have been mentioned. The companions were incredible.

[@FrankDelibio]

It would be nice to have someone that doesn’t harp on the more nitty gritty of story and comparisons. I played new Vegas and it was great and was so hesitant to play FO4 but when I did I enjoyed it without caring about the story or how it compared...might be less of an echo chamber

[@MystroX44]

Hey there, just thought I'd let you know my thoughts on the Fallout debate. My first Fallout game was Tactics which I thought was awesome so I went back and played the first two (also great, though the first has not aged so well). When Fallout 3 came out I brought it immediately and have since played it for several thousand hours. I modded it for years (more guns, enemies & locations) and even built my own mod to create new dungeons & combat arenas (unreleased coz it was a mess). When New Vegas was released I was very disappointed. Linear early game, boring interiors (mostly), the Strip was way too small and not enough combat after my modded FO3 plays so I built AWOP (A World Of Pain - a large mod) mainly so I could play New Vegas closer to the game I wanted in the first place. Not that it's a bad game, I still think it's one of the greatest games ever made and certain aspects of New Vegas still shine over it's competitors (quests/dialogue/DLCs/ammo variants and other stuff) and I played it in the end about as much as FO3 but to me it's the Fallout game that let me down the most. Fallout 4 I thought was great but very difficult to create an AWOP for due to certain technical issues so I'm not modding it heavily like the others. I still put 200-300 hours into it with mostly just the base game and I still really like it, though I don't like certain things, especially the dialogue. Other than that I'm not a fan of the new Power Armour (too clunky, don't like the Fusion Core element or the HUD) and find the game too easy even without it all the time (Glowing Sea included). Never drugged Mama Murphy to death, I thought she'd be like a Water Beggar and just keep asking for more so I ignored that option. I had no idea you could get a good ending, though I usually avoid completing the game. I'll have to look into that in the future. In the end Fallout 3 would have to be my top game from the series. I even prefer the AWOP mod for FO3 as it's my later work and everything I learned modding New Vegas helped make the FO3 version more technical, exciting and detailed. All the best.

[@randwilliams5552]

I've tired 3 times to get into FO4. It's just so bland. Jack of all trades, master of none. The combat is clunky, the characters - save valentine - are generic, and I never feel compelled to do much of anything.

[@conedx]

it's objectively the best combat of any bethesda fallout game...

[@thesssradio5008]

Also syths ARENT SENTIENT! THEY ARE THE NEXT STEP OF TGE SINGULARITY, THEY HAVE NO EMOTIONS CHANGE MY MIND

[@frankcastello9320]

boawesomeness the awesome meh, when a synth gets memory wiped and is at that point completely indistinguishable from a human being including to itself, that's what sentience is.

[@thesssradio5008]

Frank Castello from that point on its still not human. It mearly replicates human behavior. It may have been away for programmers to train syths faster.

[@frankcastello9320]

I didn't say human, I said sentient. The personality develops based on experience and choice, which aren't programmed, it's random. Synths that are captured are wiped and develop completely differently. They are not humans, but they are still sentient.

[@mogo5055]

You're right. They're sapient. Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk

[@thesssradio5008]

Frank Castello sorry I meant sentient. Tell me, (stares dramatically out the window) have you ever seen a synth show remorse. Any fear they show is a mear preprogrammed response to danger, a self preservation mechanism.

[@RictorIAG]

New Vegas is the worst game in the series. The music in it blows too compared to Fallout 3&4.

[@jayjeckel]

Delete it. No need to lower the quality curve of the franchise with this less than lackluster installment. Whenever they come up, keep 1, 2, 3, and New Vegas; delete the rest; maybe there is an argument for Fallout Shelter being kept for what it is on its own.

[@HelloTardis]

New Vegas is Good.....But it Wouldn’t have Existed at all if not for the foundation built by Fallout 3. Now don’t be so quick to twist those words in your head...Don’t be that asshole to say “hurp hurp, if not for fallout 1 and 2 then....etc”. This would be a stupid Argument. Fallout 1 and 2 set the world up for anything certainly. But if you skipped Fallout 3, the Fallout New Vegas would be some impossible to know piece of this puzzle! Without three, there would be no modern skeleton for dialogue, and graphics, and world rendering that we can imagine. If I can be more razor sharp in my assessment,....If there was no fallout 3, then you NV fans would have no Basis to assume it was better than.....well, than 3. 3 has to set the stage of Fallout-New Vegas would be COMPLETELY unrecognizable to you. So by that reasoning, I wonder if so many of you claim that Fallout-3 is “Garbage”, when your favorite wouldn’t EXIST without it.... And don’t even try to say I’m mad that you don’t like F3. That is FAR from the case. I’m a fan of TES before fallout. What I’m saying is, that without Fallout 3, and without TES, WITHOUT BETHESDA, you would never have your precious New Vegas. Think about that seriously, and logically before you just jump on Swaims personal preference bandwagon (no offense intended and all hail to the Swaim). Just think about it logically, and how it would be rediculous to call such a close, influential, and integral Predecessor, Garbage. Makes you look silly and capricious as fuck. Here Watch, I’ll show you “Metal gear solid was garbage! I’m all about MGS5!”. I would Hammer Spank you in the fucking Blood for saying something as illogical as this. Rant complete.

[@BoneMachine1443]

Fallout 3 updated the graphics and gameplay of the series, but for a lot of players who loved the first two games 3 felt like a step backwards in terms of storytelling, world-building, and player choices--things that matter most in Fallout games. If New Vegas hadn't used Bethesda's engine, if it had been made with the graphics and gameplay of the old Fallouts, it would still be great; it would still take place in a well-developed world brimming with flavour and attention to detail, full of memorable factions and NPCs, with choices that are more than binary good/evil video game decisions. Obviously it's totally cool to like Elder Scrolls and Fallout 3, but I'd argue that you could strip all of Bethesda's additions to the franchise out of New Vegas and you'd still have a bonified classic on your hands.