Summary
I love the lore and world of theFalloutuniverse, and despite its many flaws,Fallout 4holds a special place in my heart. With some of the most interesting companions and quests along with improved graphics and combat, there is not a year that goes by when I don’t pop into the Commonwealth to explore. Perhaps it is because of my focus on lore and story then, that these pretty big plot holes still manage to really bug me, even 10 years afterFallout 4’s release.
Fallout 4received a lot of criticism at launch for scaling back some of the more in-depth roleplaying aspects when it came to its factions, choices, and, storyline. Although it drew unfavorable comparisons toFallout: New Vegas,Fallout 4still managed to put its stamp onFalloutlorewithbetter companions thanFallout 3andNew Vegas, and an innovative settlement system. However, no piece of media or game is ever perfect, and as I dig further and deeper intoFallout 4’s story, there are some glaring issues I just can’t ignore.
Fallout 4’s Ending Explained (In Detail)
Fallout 4’s multiple endings depend on which of its factions the player character sides with - primarily the Institute. Here’s what each one affects.
10Commonwealth Buildings Are Too Well Preserved
210 Years Is A Long Time For Wooden Houses With No Maintenance
Fallout 4takes place in the year 2287, 210 years after the Great War devastated the world and destroyed much of Earth’s civilizations. With nuclear bombs dropped all across the United States demolishing many cities and their surrounding areas, there is a very particular decaying aesthetic to the world ofFallout. Which is why it bothers me so much thatFallout 4’s Commonwealth looks far too goodand preserved.
Although downtown Boston is wonderfully destroyed, with toppling skyscrapers and piles of debris, many of the buildings in the Commonwealth look far too good 210 years later.Lots look like they are apparently made of wood andshould have rotted long ago, especially with the frequent rainstorms blowing in from the coast and the Glowing Sea. Even taking the leap that technology in theFalloutuniverse may allow for some preservation treatments, 210 is a long time for wood, steel, and even plastic to withstand the elements and damage from constant conflict.
There should also be much more lush vegetation after 210 years, with Pripyat and Fukushima providing good examples of how nature will quickly reclaim areas despite high radiation.
9The Glowing Sea Shouldn’t Still Be That Radioactive
Contained In One Area, The Radiation Should Have Dissipated Long Ago
The Glowing Sea is one ofFallout 4’s most iconic locations, living up to its name with eerie green fog and frequent storms. The whole area is highly radioactive, which means when I want to explore the many ruins found there, I have to climb into my power armor to make the trek.The whole place is wonderfully atmospheric, and one of my favorite places to find cool hidden gems. I just can’t ignore that it simply shouldn’t be that way, let alone in a self-contained area.
Even though the Glowing Sea took a direct hit from a nuclear bomb, with an impressive crater to show for it,210 years later it shouldn’t still be that radioactive. Of course, this most likely stems from the science and technology inFalloutbeing based on the pulp science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s, but even that would be stretching it for the Glowing Sea. Despite how much I love exploring the Federal Surveillance Center and the mostly buried Hopesmarch church, I can’t ignore that it shouldn’t be setting off my Geiger counter that much.
8Billy The Ghoul Kid Makes No Sense
His Existence Raises Far Too Many Questions
Much has been said about Billy Peabody in the years sinceFallout 4’s release, and he first emerged from that fridge. Billy can be found just south of University Point, shouting to be released from his fridge, wherehe has apparently been trapped for over 200 years. And while the“Kid in a Fridge”is a greatIndiana JonesEaster egg and one ofFallout 4’s weirdest side quests,it doesn’t mean that it makes any sense.
On the one hand, Billy should be feral, as it has been well-established that ghouls who go without food or any kind of interaction will succumb to the condition. But even if Billy somehow found things to eat, it doesn’t explain how he was breathing inside an airtight container. And even if there were vents to allow Billy to breathe, there are still the huge plot holes ofno one else in 210 years ever hearing a kid shouting from a fridgeor why he hasn’t aged.
7Is Kellogg Still In Nick’s Mind?
The Cut Content Leaves Many Confused
As part of the main quest line, the Sole Survivor must hunt down the man who killed their spouse, with this ultimately leading to a fatal face-off with Kellogg. It’sone of the most satisfying points in act one, and I think it’s a great turning point in the plot. This then leads to the quest“Dangerous Minds”where Synth companion Nick Valentine helps the Sole Survivor gain access to Kellogg’s memories by acting as a host via a cybernetic brain implant.
At the end of the quest, though, there is a problem as Nick will speak briefly with Kellogg’s voice, implying there is still some of the Institute’s merc left inside him. But after this one interaction, it is never mentioned again andthere is no way to know if Nick is really himself anymoreor if he has a hitchhiker. This was part of a cut quest, but by leaving this sliver of dialogue still in the game, it raises far more questions that there are no answers for.
6Why Does Shaun Need To Die?
When the Sole Survivor reunites with their son Shaun, among the many revelations thrown at them, there is the awful news that Shaun is dying. Butit doesn’t make any sense to me why Shaun dies, other than the fallback answer of“for the plot”,so I can become the new leader of the Institute. As the director of an incredibly technologically advanced organization, he definitely had more options.
Shaun is suffering from an aggressive form of cancer and, despite the best efforts of Institute doctors, there is no cure, but given that it’s been shownthey can transfer memories into Synth bodies, he could have lived that way. Given how Shaun and the Institute think about Synths, it is plausible that he wouldn’t want that, but there is also Lorenzo’s serum. If the Cabot House quests had been completed, then the Sole Survivor would have known there was a way to save their son.
Fallout 4: Should You Side With Lorenzo or Jack?
Fallout 4’s The Secret of Cabot House quest places the player in the middle of a family dispute between father and son, so who should be sided with?
5Why Do The Brotherhood So Easily Believe The Institute About Danse?
Blindly Following Intel From An Enemy Isn’t Smart
Close to the end of the Brotherhood of Steel questline, it is revealed that Paladin Danse is a Gen 3 Synth, and the quest“Blind Betrayal”has the Sole Survivorside with either Danse or Maxson. However, it never made any sense to mewhy the Brotherhood would believe Danse was a Synth so easily. It’s explained that Proctor Quinlan checked his DNA against the file they recovered from the Institute, but realistically, that doesn’t prove anything.
The Institute greets the Sole Survivor as they enter their headquarters, indicating that they knew they were coming, and it makes sense that Shaun would have been watching their parent. So it’s not a huge leap to assume thatthe intel could be a plant to sow chaos in the Brotherhood ranks. As it turns out, Danse is a Synth, but the Brotherhood believing a report from an enemy known to play mind games with people makes no sense.
4No Consequences When Shaun Is Found To Be Father
No One Cares Or Mentions This Important Information
Speaking of factions and the Institute, another thing that bothers me when playingFallout 4isthe lack of reaction or consequences to having Shaun be Father. By the time the Sole Survivor finds their son and learns that he is the mysterious Father who runs the Institute, multiple factions and people know who they have been looking for. But once the Institute has been accessed, no one ever brings it up again. In fact, the only person who can be told is Desdemona, who doesn’t seem to care.
But surely the Railroad and the Brotherhood should care that a person who has become their most valued asset is related to the leader of their enemy. Even within the Institute questline, it is barely acknowledged, which isincredibly odd for a plot point that was the driving force for the first two acts of the game. I think some fallout would have been better, perhaps with the Sole Survivor’s loyalty called into question, rather than the abrupt end in the game.
3Why Can’t The Minutemen Or Brotherhood Help With Nuka-World?
Dealing With The Raiders Solo When In The Factions Makes No Sense
TheNuka-WorldDLC was tons of fun and I loved having a chance to play as a really bad character, taking over the Commonwealth with my new raider gangs. However, with the DLC being so geared toward ‘evil’ playthroughs, itleft out any option to call in the cavalry during a ‘good’ run. This meant that if I was doing a playthrough where I didn’t want to side withNuka-World’s raider gangs, I had to deal with them all myself.
I can’t understandwhy a Brotherhood member or the General of the Minutemen can’t call in some backup, especially given the size of the threat at Nuka-World. Both factions would be interested in the goings-on in the theme park, although for different reasons. There is the excellent mod Minutemen Takeover byhxhunter15that allows the Minutemen to become involved during the quest"Open Season,“but this option should have been included in the DLC.
2Why Doesn’t Kellogg Age?
Are His Implants Really That Good & Why Is He The Only One With Them?
Kellogg is first established as one of the main antagonists during the introductory scenes while the Sole Survivor is still in cryostasis. However, when finally confronting him almost 60 years later,the man hasn’t aged a day, which is really weird. It is never mentioned in the game and sort of hand-waved away by many as a result of his cybernetics, but that shouldn’t stop him aging.
Also, if the Institute has cybernetics that can slow or prevent the natural aging of a human, thensurely they would be standard for everyone importantin the faction. There is only a single terminal entry talking about cybernetics and implants in the Institute’s Advanced Systems wing, where it is proposed that more research is needed. However, it seems that Shaun rejected this idea for unknown reasons, adding further confusion if the miracle implants halt aging.
1Why Kill Everyone Else In Vault 111?
Why Not Keep All The Pre-war People As Backups
Finally, the one thing that puzzles me the most aboutFallout 4’s storyline is the death of everyone else in Vault 111. Somehow the Institute found out about it and decided that a pre-war baby was their best source of uncorrupted DNA, which is fairly plausible. But what I don’t understand iswhy the Institute would then kill the rest of the residentsrather than have more backups for genetic diversity.
The most common community theory forFallout 4is that the other frozen residents were killed so that their pods wouldn’t consume as much power to help preserve Shaun’s remaining parent. However, when the Sole Survivor exits their pod, they find the frozen remains of their neighbors, not decomposed bodies. To me,this indicates thatthe other vault residents were suffocated and then refrozen, which is as horrific as it is confusing.
