Fallout 5: What Bethesda Could Learn From Modern RPGs

The gaming world has been waiting for a new Fallout game for years now. Don’t get us wrong, the Elder Scrolls crowd has a bigger gripe with Bethesda, but the fact of the matter is, there’s likely not going to be a new Fallout until years after Elder Scrolls 6. It’s not a simple thing to build RPGs with the complexity that’s usually in Bethesda RPGs, but the main goal should be to get a more revolutionary game with all the time they have to develop it. Starfield is a great start, and we can see the love and innovation they’ve put into the setting, but it should be only the starting point for their second longest-running series.

To be honest, it’s difficult to create stories for a setting that’s quite limited in the flora and fauna or lack thereof. It’s even harder to come up with fresh stories involving corrupt governments, evil bandits, and technology worshippers. To combat this problem, we believe that innovation should come in the form of gameplay and its systems. Here are our thoughts on what the next title in the series could look like if and when it is released.

Related: Starfield Review: The Definitive Space RPG

What Can They Do To Improve Combat?

Combat is something that Bethesda has historically suffered at doing great. It seems like something that should be simple, but the biggest issue we have with it is the rather stiff animations. For example, maybe they could switch up the combat to be turn-based again like the original two games. With Baldur’s Gate 3, Gamers have shown that they’re willing to go with turn-based combat if it’s done well.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be as intricate as Larian Studios’ table-top-influenced systems, but the level of polish and diverse methods of handling conflict is something that many fans could love as well. This could also have the effect of bringing back some of the older fans who didn’t like the direction that three and four went. It can also flesh out the companion systems that seem a bit clunky in the “oblivion-esque” system they opted to use.

Can The Quest System Be Improved Upon?

The short answer is “Yes they can,” but the long answer is if they can get a system that promotes dynamic questing like Witcher 3. Now to be fair, CD Projekt Red has the gift of source material to work from, but the deep pockets of Microsoft is something that can fix that problem if needed. We’re pretty sure that there are plenty of authors in the genre, that could fix the problem. Heck, why not hire multiple authors for each storyline to help diversify the various plots one could come up with in the apocalypse?

The one thing that we believe that they should carry over the Witcher series is the voice-acted protagonist. It didn’t go over well in Fallout 4 and limited what they could do with both dialogue and branching plotlines. It works for Geralt so well, as he’s an already defined character, while outside of the Sole Survivor, all of the previous Fallout Protagonists were blank slates.

Related: Starfield The Devils You Know: Can You Save Reginald Orlase?

Modern RPGs have raised the bar for all future releases in the genre. It’s been officially proven that content is still king and that consumers are willing to pay top dollar for a complete and polished experience. Well, who’re we kidding, it’s Bethesda, there’s never been a release from them that’s anything near polished, but if anyone can ship a playable open-world experience, one would hope that the elder statesmen of the genre could do it, if there was one solid vision of what they want to create. War may never change, but the RPG genre should consider it if they want to remain profitable.