I’ve been playing Fallout since the very early days of the franchise, way back in 1997, shortly after the first Fallout game 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 when Fallout 4 arrived, 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 4 had 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.
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. Yet their veteran/lawyer backgrounds are completely irrelevant and 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 is they 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 past Fallout games have handled their protagonists. Early Fallout protagonists that had come before had starting skills based on their backstory, or in the case of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, allowed me to pick them at the start of the game. But the Sole Survivor just starts out with nothing, and it isn’t until they level up that they gain their first perk in Fallout 4.
Players could create custom characters in Fallout, 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 at Skyrim or, more recently, Baldur’s Gate 3. But then Fallout 4 immediately 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 out roleplay ideas that work with the Sole Survivor and suddenly my blank slate character isn’t so blank after all.
Fallout 3 did 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 in Fallout 4, changes everything.
Fallout 4 Mirrors Fallout 3’s Family Dynamic
The Switch Between Child To Parent Changes Everything
James in Fallout 3 is 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.
Fallout 4 uses 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 of Fallout 4 does 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 though Fallout 4 makes 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, as it can give players something to roleplay off of, with great examples being Mass Effect, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Witcher. But Fallout 4 doesn’t follow through with Nate/Nora and tries to have the best of both, but ends up doing neither well.
Dragon Age: Origins offers 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 for Fallout 4 to follow, with Shaun 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 with Fallout 4 and 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, and they 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 from Cyberpunk and Baldur’s Gate 3, which will hopefully bring balance to the next Fallout protagonist.
