I love RPGs, so it will come as no surprise to anyone that I’ve poured thousands of hours intoFallout 4since its release in 2015. I scoured every inch of the Commonwealth to find hidden areas and odd side quests and made it my mission torecruit every companionevery single playthrough. I adore theFalloutfranchise, andFallout 4, so it breaks my heart that it has such a glaring problem at its core with the Sole Survivor.
I’ve been playingFalloutsince the very early days of the franchise, way back in 1997, shortly after the firstFalloutgame was released. Since then, I’ve steadily worked my way through each installment, finding new things each time to fall in love with as I immerse myself in the post-apocalyptic universe of the series. And whenFallout 4arrived,I dove straight in only to find an odd feeling of disappointment, and it took me a while to pinpoint the source.
The Sole Survivor Lets Fallout 4 Down
Nate & Nora Fail To Be Good RPG Protagonists
Fallout 4had a generally good reception at launch, with many praising the improved graphics and combat system. However, it wasn’t without its fair share of criticism, mostly linked to having a voiced protagonist, limited dialogue options, and repetitive quests. However, for me, being the lore and character nerd I am,the problem was the Sole Survivor and their lack of real identity. The Sole Survivor is a blank slate, which isn’t a bad thing in an RPG, but the problem is the Sole Survivor is never allowed to be a blank slate within the game’s story.
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To me, Nate and Nora are essentially the same character, vessels for the player to fill. Their dialogue in-game is the same whichever one I play. However, they are both given oddly specific backgrounds and the entirety of the main plot hinges on them being Shaun’s parents. So, they aren’t blank slates. Yettheir veteran/lawyer backgrounds are completely irrelevantand don’t even provide any starting skills. So, they are blank slates. And this cycle of back and forth continues.
My problem with the Sole Survivor isthey are trying to be both and end up doing neither well. The main plot ties them to a fixed background, yet outside that main questline it never comes into play. They are given previous jobs that would have specific skill sets, but this never influences any starting skills or perks, with Nora able to handle multiple weapons just as well as her husband, despite him being the one with a military background.
Past Fallout Games Did Things Differently
Even Blank Slates Started With Skills To Kick-Start Roleplay
This is counter to how pastFalloutgames have handled their protagonists. EarlyFalloutprotagonists that had come before had starting skills based on their backstory, or in the case ofFallout 3andFallout: New Vegas, allowed me to pick them at the start of the game. Butthe Sole Survivor just starts out with nothing, and it isn’t until they level up that they gain their firstperk inFallout 4.
Players could create custom characters inFallout,but were also able to choose from three premade characters: Albert Cole, Max Stone, or Natalia Dubrovhsky.
So, on the face of it, the Sole Survivor functions like a blank slate, and I don’t think that this is necessarily a bad thing; just look atSkyrimor, more recently,Baldur’s Gate 3. But thenFallout 4immediately ties this blank state to a fixed background and the plot. They have a child and their spouse has been killed. This imposes a layer over any character I might want to play, because I now have to figure outroleplay ideas that work with the Sole Survivorand suddenly my blank slate character isn’t so blank after all.
Fallout 3did something similar with the Lone Wander looking for their father, but by having the Lone Wanderer being the child and not the parent, it allowed for some roleplay. Perhaps they weren’t close, the Lone Wanderer is young and gets distracted, etc. But by having Nate/Nora be the parent and the game making you think Shaun is still a child, it pushes the player into the main plot and a fixed backstory. Although the parent/child dynamic is the same, reversing who is looking for who inFallout 4, changes everything.
Fallout 4 Mirrors Fallout 3’s Family Dynamic
The Switch Between Child To Parent Changes Everything
James inFallout 3is the Lone Wanderer’s father and a fully grown man. He chose to leave Vault 101 and clearly knows how to handle himself. If I, as the Lone Wanderer, don’t immediately pursue him and go off to have adventures, it doesn’t seem too strange.I am able to roleplay through the Lone Wanderer despite them having a backstory, because the plot is linked to them in a way that allows me to turn them into whoever I want them to be.
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Fallout 4uses the same situation with a parent and child, where one is looking for the other, but flips it. And in doing so, it completely changes the dynamic. There is a world of difference between a teenager looking for their adult parent, and a distraught parent looking for a kidnapped baby.It doesn’t make sense to me for my Sole Survivor to go off and do side quests, join multiple factions, or visit Far Harbor, because surely their only goal would be to find their child.
There is a world of difference between a teenager looking for their adult parent, and a distraught parent looking for a kidnapped baby.
And the main plot ofFallout 4does a great job of pushing that motivation. However, outside the main questline, this tragic backstory means nothing. With only a few rare exceptions,the Sole Survivor being pre-war isn’t relevant or even mentioned. And, as I mentioned before, dialogue is unchanged whether playing as Nate or Nora, making the choice in character creation purely cosmetic even thoughFallout 4makes a point of showing they both don’t have military backgrounds.
Choose Between Blank Slate Or Backstory
Fallout 4 Did Neither Of These Well With The Sole Survivor
By trying to leave the Sole Survivor blank for the player to fill in, but then having their paper-thin backstory be crucial to the main story, the Sole Survivor just doesn’t work well for me. Having a backstory isn’t a bad thing, far from it, asit can give players something to roleplay off of, with great examples beingMass Effect,Cyberpunk 2077, andThe Witcher. ButFallout 4doesn’t follow through with Nate/Nora and tries to have the best of both, but ends up doing neither well.
Dragon Age: Originsoffers a great example of a main character, tied in a meaningful way to the main plot, that has a backstory but also gives enough freedom for players to imprint on. My Cousland, Tabris, or Aeducan will be very different from anyone else’s, yet they will all share the same backstory. This would have been a fantastic model forFallout 4to follow, withShaun not needing to be the Sole Survivor’s son to push the plot forward.
Different backgrounds could have allowed Shaun to be linked to the Sole Survivor in different but meaningful ways, such as a nephew, best friend’s child, or sibling.
I understand what Bethesda was going for withFallout 4and the Sole Survivor, and that the backstory is there to provide motivation to move the plot forward. But by not committing either way, the Sole Survivor falls flat for me. They are not a blank slate for players to mold, like the Courier, andthey aren’t a character players can fully empathize with, like V, Shepard, or Geralt. Going forward in the franchise, I can only hope lessons are learned fromCyberpunkandBaldur’s Gate 3, which will hopefully bring balance to thenextFalloutprotagonist.
Fallout 4
Bethesda’s action RPG Fallout 4 puts players into the vault suit of the Lone Survivor, a pre-war soldier from an alternate future cryogenically frozen inside Vault 111. After their infant son is kidnapped, they venture out into the irradiated wasteland of the Commonwealth to scour the ruins of Boston for any sign of him. In doing so, they encounter various factions and companions and use an array of skills and abilities to navigate the apocalyptic remnants of society.
