Fallout 5 Could Be the Ultimate Power Fantasy with One FO1 Feature

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 28, 2024 2 Views 6 Min Read
Fallout 5 Could Be the Ultimate Power Fantasy with One FO1 Feature

Throughout the Fallout series, players have met and interacted with a variety of characters from a plethora of factions and locales. In every Fallout game, players have collaborated with multiple members of the Brotherhood of Steel, such as Sarah Lyons, Veronica Santangelo, and Arthur Maxson. Similarly, gamers have encountered several members of the New California Republic in the series, including President Tandi and Chief Hanlon. While most NPCs can only be interacted with via dialogue and quest completion, a few are able to become recruitable companions and aid the player directly in their travels. Bethesda’s inevitable Fallout 5 could improve on modern companions by allowing players to travel with as many as they want, similar to Fallout 1.



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Fallout’s Companion Systems Explained

1997’s Fallout 1 is a very different beast compared to Bethesda’s modern Fallout games. Instead of being able to play in first or third-person, Fallout 1 is a top-down, turn-based RPG with players able to view the Vault Dweller and the local area in their entirety. Just like modern Fallout games, however, players could still talk with NPCs and recruit a few to be companions. Only four permanent companions appear in Fallout 1, including Dogmeat, Ian, Katja, and Tycho, but unlike modern Fallout titles, all four companions can join and fight alongside the player at all times. Some NPCs will temporarily join the player’s party on certain quests but will leave the party once the quest is completed.


Fallout 2 continued its predecessor’s top-down, turn-based RPG gameplay roots but started a trend of restricting how players can utilize companions. Instead of being able to have every companion in a party, the number of companions allowed in a player’s party is determined by their charisma statistic. For example, if the Chosen One has a charisma level of two, they could only have one companion in their party and if they had a charisma level of six, they could have three companions join them. However, due to stat limitations in Fallout 2, the Chosen One could only have five companions maximum in their party at any time.

How Bethesda Changed Fallout’s Companion System

With the transition to the more fast-paced, first-person-oriented gameplay of Fallout 3, Bethesda chose to change how companions are utilized once more. Here, the Lone Wanderer can only have one humanoid companion join them at a time, regardless of charisma level, with Dogmeat allowed to tag along as a bonus. This system was expanded a bit in Obsidian Entertainment’s Fallout: New Vegas by allowing players to have Rex or ED-E join the Courier along with one humanoid companion. However, the companion system saw another setback arise in Fallout 4, with the Lone Survivor allowed to have only one companion join them at any time, no matter if they’re a canine, robot, synth, or mutant.


Dogmeat is the only recurring companion in each mainline
Fallout
game, albeit represented by different dogs that just share the name.

An Expanded Companion System in Fallout 5

While Fallout 5 may be years away from development and release, Bethesda can still plan out improvements to some of Fallout 4’s notable flaws, especially when it comes to companions. Despite Fallout 4 allowing players to create robot companions of all shapes and sizes, they weren’t allowed to serve as accompanying compatriots with humanoid companions like ED-E in New Vegas. To rectify this issue and others relating to companions, Bethesda could allow players to have multiple, or every companion join their party at once in Fallout 5. This may be taxing on console hardware, but it could benefit the player’s impact on the radioactive landscapes.


Fallout 5 could be set in a war-torn period similar to Fallout: New Vegas. Here, players could slowly gather a small army of powerful companions akin to a group of mercenaries or samurai to create harmful or beneficial waves in the local area. Instead of slowly becoming leaders in the NCR or Caesar’s Legion, Fallout 5 could have players form a small third faction that will ultimately determine the fate of nearby civilizations. Allowing players to recruit multiple companions simultaneously could permit a few NPCs to reflect on the player’s actions at once and spark introspective debates for the player. Interactions such as these could continue and highlight Fallout’s gray narrative in a way never done before.

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