The comically overdone nature of Allen Lee is one of the few downsides, but it's also kind of realistic. We've all known at least one dude who will blame everyone else, who can't be swayed by facts or reason, has no facts of their own but despite it all is still reasonably charismatic. It's really obnoxious but unfortunately nothing completely unbelievable imo
@@komiks42 That's not the point, we can see clearly that sole survivor remember things that happends before bombs dropping yet still when talking with Dima now we have only option to tell that we remember day when bombs start dropping. It's like who handwritted interactions between sole survivor and Dima didint know somebody else is writting somethink that sole survivor remembers before that day.
The Nakanos don't have the only working boats in Fallout 4. They have the only working boat that we see. Trans-Atlantic travel is still happening in Fallout 4. How do I know? Simple; Cait has an Irish accent.
@@Bubben246 Simple raised by Irish parents and the fact that they lived in a secluded shack in the middle of no where while the Nikano's have Am radio telephone etc you can make the same argument about the fact of why do only some Bostonian's have a accent while others don't like the Bobrov brothers.
That is NOT an Irish accent. Her voice actor is literally a scot who sounds like they've never talked to an Irish person before attempting to imitate an imaginary Irish accent that doesn't exist lmfao
My only real complaint with Far Harbor was not being able to have both Nick and Old Longfellow tag along at the same time. Both have enough commentary on things you wind up feeling you missed out a little by not bringing one or the other along for the ride.
I never understood bethesdas obsession with a single follower + animal or robot. Skyrim, fallout 3, new vegas, 4... and theres plenty of mods for it so its definitelly possible to do. They should go around balancing differently than "you already have company sorry you can only have one friend by law"
@@F2PMegaGodAs someone who frequently uses Companion armies, I will say that it can get a little hectic. The obvious problems are that they get in the way. Think Dogmeat blocking doors is bad? Imagine 5,10,15+ companions blocking the door. Secondly it throws off difficulty. Even If you give them all bad bolt action rifles they can kill behemoths in seconds. Naturally you up the difficulty. This turns every encounter into a game of who sees who first. Because who ever shoots first wins. And lastly it does put a serious strain on the engine. I’ve had as many as 50 companions at once, and it can work decently well but crashes and lag are much more common.
I get pissed about that too because you could have parties in the OG games, but only one companion, no exceptions, in FO4. You can’t even have Dogmeat and a companion like you could with dogs in Skyrim.
@@Voland1871The solution to that would have a 3 companion cap and have the option to tell them to back up like in New Vegas. 3 companions are still kind of OP, but it’d still be better for immersion and story purposes.
Far Harbor had a different vibe to it compared to Nuka World obviously, very oppressive and dangerous in the beginning especially for a lower level character. The story was great, especially with Nick along for the ride, and the voice acting was very good. The "fix the fog condenser" missions got very old very fast for me though and I stopped visiting the settlements after a while to avoid them. I think your evaluation is spot on. I also liked that Bethesda didn't push us to end the DLC in a particular way like Nuka World.
Adding to the story endings, if you've do e enough to help the Children of Atom, Tektus will leave without a fight and let himself be replaced since you've proven that you're not out to destroy the Children, just pushing for peace. It's a small change to DiMa's plan, but it's great that it's included.
I saw it was an option but opted to kill him anyway. Tektus didn't seem like the guy to just give up and back down. I felt like as a character my Natecepuld have zero confidence in him never coming back, the peace had to be a lasting one. So I did what had to be done.
The SS is a synth theory is disproven in the game itself during the beginning of the silver Shroud Questline. When the SS talks with Kent they remember listening to the new episodes every time one came out, and even remembers the plot to some of them.
Nick remembers his entire life from before the war. Was he there? No, the real Nick had his brain scanned. The institute can implant memories. To the point that many synths don't know they are synths. There are many examples.
@@kahrnivor but that is different, because the pre-war Nick Valentine had a copy of his memories uploaded to a computer, so the Institute could take that pre-war copy and put it into a synth, unlike the Sole Survivor
@@kahrnivor Yeah but Nick knows he's a synth and that he's not the real Nick Valentine even if he's acting upon the memories from the real one. Ultimately, the SS being a synth is an interesting idea but there is too much that can disprove it with the largest being that the Institute ending shouldn't be possible as a synth as no one there would be willing to recognize the SS being the new Director due to how they view synths.
I do think one of the DLC's only weak points is how poorly Allen is written. He's too comically over the top obviously 'bad' when a more nuanced writing would have been more interesting. Especially given that he's partly right, about some of the shenanigans a going on Also, it's a little weird that Acadia didn't teach the islanders how to make the condensers themselves
I think that it is also a resource issue. Also, that assumes the townsfolk would be willing to be taught complex engineering. Stubbornness is a key trait of theirs
@@tinaherr3856the inability to teach is a resource issue? And people like that tend to want to be self sufficient when it comes to staying alive, so I would be willing to bet one or two of them would be open to learn how to make the live saving fog sucker.
@@chillycharizard5985 no, those were meant to be two separate reasons. You bring up a valid point. Prehaps the Mariner could be willing, since she already knows her way around tools. I suppose a restriction could be the power requirements for the large amount of condensers that Allen proposed. The experimental wind farm powers the condensers, but I'm not sure how many units it could power. So that would be a restriction
Acadia's knowledge of the condensers is a big part of why they haven't been attacked by the others. If they teach that tech to others they lose most of their leverage against violence.
Far harbor was a tremendous dlc, the nuance of the story trumps what the main factions couldn’t, but the biggest strength it brought was the atmosphere. The music and visuals set the tone for the area perfectly which wasn’t brought up. The ambiance music here is the best in the game.
Far harbor is, in terms of atmosphere, story, and just overall feel, what fallout 4 as a whole could and should have been. I also love the fog personally because of how you just can’t see and how on edge it can keep you
I genuinely believe that this dlc is the best thing to come out of Bethesda since Morrowind. The amount of branching choices and narrative freedom almost reaches New Vegas levels, and the quality of writing is also a big step up from your standard Bethesda affair, presenting a much more morally grey story. It’s a shame that they didn’t carry any of this over to Starfield.
It would be cool to see changes happening in the vanilla game like it does in Far Harbor. Like, what's all the hammering in Sanctuary for? Can we see roofs and walls patched up as you level up? And as you mentioned, the castle walls, those could be rebuilt, and the rubble be cleared as you level up or progress through the game.
My main complaint about FH is that you can get radiant missions from Knight Rhys or Scribe Haylen to locations on the island long before you go there. While on the island, it would be nice if settlements in the Commonwealth being attacked could be toned down or paused entirely.
I'd agree with that and same with while the player is in Nuka World, especially as it's a pain to get around the island if you aren't using fast travel (or are playing on Survival) and made even more annoying if you have to travel back to the Commonwealth multiple times to assist settlements since it's a bit random whether the defense is successful if the player isn't there.
15:30 also based on different pieces of dialogue from your character, they do actually remember things from before the bombs fell, like conceiving shaun, their time at college/in the military etc.
I like the synths main charecter idea. But this is a good point. Nate mentioned his past to anyone who brings it up. The robots at the automatic farm even have a conversation with the player about him living before the bombs.
Nora even tells that her father use to say she is watching tv too close, so yeah there are even childhood memories. That's why it feel stupid on far harbor when suddenly cant remember those college/childhood memories that have been said before.
One thing I can’t forgive about FH is that even though it brought back the Lever action rifles, the reloads are not even programmed correctly XD but I love the aesthetic of the actual area itself a lot
Everytime I see videos come across my feed regarding Far Harbor I click. I havent played it in 3 years or so but it's one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. And im gonna go on a somewhat long anecdote on why. My first Fallout game was 3. When I got into RPGs I was 8, and Oblivion/Fallout 3 were my first RPGs that really grabbed at me. Fallout 3 STILL is my favorite Fallout game ever, over FNV which is blasphemy to most. As I got older and was able to actually understand many of the plotlines within the games that I loved, two factions stood out to me as being my favorite. And this is funny because in this video you stated they are not too dissimilar and I had a good laugh knowing that in my main Fallout 4 run I sided with the Brotherhood, and the Children of Atom. My two favorite factions. I remember transcribing EVERY WORD of Cromwell's speeches, every terminal, every mother maya quote, hell even the offshoot branch added in DLC. Every word of the children of atom I could find I wrote down. I made a pseudo-bible type document trying to piece together the lore regarding them I was so fascinated. When I heard in the DLC you could be friendly and even join them I was EXSTATIC. And for that reason alone it became one of my favorite gaming experiences ever, but the story was great, the whole DLC was just phenomenal and was well worth the money. My Brotherhood of Steel (siding with Maxon) character informed the BoS about Acadia, wiped them out, then after they left I let Atom's holy fog take over the island and then nuked myself, my Automaton robot A7-0M (see what I did there) into oblivion with the other children. I was a bit sad that if you chose to die with them and not run out there wasnt a cool ending slide or narration but I was more than content with my gaming experience. I've rarely been more immersed with a character than I was then. Honestly I think thats why I loved Far Harbor so much. It was the first time in Fallout 4 I got that genuine joy I had playing 3 when I was younger, that immersion and wonder about the world and story. Anyways, hope you enjoyed my little anecdote. Thank you for the video
Fnv is a better game but I think fo3 had a better vibe, fo3 got alot of more horror aspects and It's definitely something that missing in the recents games, fo3 had a world filled with traps, crumbling building that blocked ur path and force you to have detour in the dark metro system witch was probably filled with ghouls that actually ran and had a creepy growls, raiders were insane maniac instead of cosplayers. some of fnv dlc had that darker tone but none of them actually had that horror feel like the fo3 and it's dlc like the Pitt and point Lookout.
I like the fact that there are some hidden querks too. Like if you don't take Longfellow to Arcadia and find it on your own. When you first talk to him he says how impressed he I'd with you and is completely different with your character
I want to mention that if your charisma is high enough you can just convince Confessor Tektus to take his ball and go home, leaving Far Harbor alone and insuring peace, unless Alan Lee loses it one day and storms Acadia
The atmosphere and location alone elevate this DLC in my eyes. I absolutely adore nautical themes, the ocean is just so damn cool. The main plot is quite compelling and there's some real good sidequests in there.
Far harbor is fine, the reason it's looked upon so fondly is because the commonwealth of fallout 4 is so vapid narratively that the effort put into this dlc looks amazing by comparison.
@@shanielsonits not bad the first time, but the 3rd time I was forced to do it by the story, and forced to fully finish it by my own greedyness for tastey armor, started really hating it, especially when you have to wait for those stupid bugs to walk to the next thing.
@@theghostofthomasjenkins9643 The biggest problem for me with Automatron is once the player encounters ADA (whom is a fantastic companion btw) the player starts to get a lot of Rust Devil and Mechanist encounters, and they can be quite a challenge when the DLC first unlocks at level 15. My last playthrough I avoided Automatron and I encountered all sorts of base game encounters I'd never experienced before.
@@jcohasset23 i can understand this criticism cause it's one i do share as well. rust devils will wreck your world at low levels and the mechanist squads have annihilated me even at decent levels when i didn't see them coming. it's pro outweigh the cons for me, though. and the fact it integrates into the base game makes it preferable than nuka world or far harbor for me, since i do minuteman runs mostly. i can't leave the commonwealth for too long.
1:30 Oh please... getting harrassed about "spoilers" over a 9/8 year old game is nothing... ...I got lynched because I accidentally said something spoiler-ish (a detail missed in a previous episode) about a TV show that ended 20+ years ago... Y'know Babylon 5? Fudging hell! I got harrassed because I pointed out you could see the PSI-Corps emblem under the mask tube... Anywho... doin' the likes and comments for the UA-cam gods! :D lol (I'll edit this if I wanna add anything else :P ) EDIT: Heh...VLDL reference... I approve! :D
I actually kind of liked the puzzle, a quick thing that is something else still using the same systems. But the Zealot's Armor is not the strongest, Nuka World adds armor with better resistances.
The puzzles are kind of fun, even if the final one is quite a jump in challenge, but it feels like more could have been done with it to flesh out the program more.
I'd say Far Harbor is a great addition to Fallout 4 but I find Nuka World more fun. Mostly because it's a pain to get around the island if you aren't using fast travel or are playing on Survival (especially if you have to run back to the Commonwealth to protect settlements- no matter how well the settlement is defended it always feels like a flip of the coin as to whether they successfully defend when the player isn't there) and the player is rather limited on where they can store loot until they can unlock a settlement (personally I feel Longfellow's cabin is in a bad location to be all that useful). In ways it's nice the story for Far Harbor is self-contained but it also means that other than personal preference the outcome doesn't matter and has no effect on the Commonwealth- even in Far Harbor destroying Far Harbor, the Nucleus, or Acadia has no consequence aside from removing a place one can trade at.
8:35 this wouldn't make any sense with the idea anyway. if the institute specifically didn't add any memories in player character from before the bombs, it would quickly begin questioning itself as soon as it exited the cryo pod, saw the situation and realized it can't recollect any information about the dead spouse. and obviously the whole thing with the main game's institute wouldn't make any sense. everyone would likely know you're a synth, the father would too, and his "synths are property, but you get to rule over your creators despite being just property" thing wouldn't make sense. even if he was just insane, first thing that'd happen after his death is a scientist walking up to you and reciting the deactivation code, or sending other synths and coursers after you if that was absent for whatever reason.
If I am allowed to level only one criticism against far harbor's story or gameplay (whichever it falls under), it would be the beginning. If you became the institute stooge, a bos zealot, or just a synth-prejudiced minuteman, the introduction doesn't make sense. For far harbor as a whole, I would say this is minor; nonetheless, I would say that this is certainly an oversight. In any case, great work as always, GG! I will one day watch your new Vegas content when I actually play it. (On another note, I am nearing the end of Babylon 5. Some topic for your other channel.)
@@theghostofthomasjenkins9643 are you talking about the claw doors or the things you open by spinning the pillars that have the snake, whale and bird on them?
@@Greenhawk4 no, but it takes time to menu to it, then roll the image around. probably around 30 seconds. or you could just click the key hole and watch it open, like it should've from release.
Love seeing (hearing) UA-camrs give shouts to other UA-camrs. It would be really fascinating to see an essay: "Why Sim Settlements 2 Is The Fallout4 DLC Bethesda Should Have Made"
The thing I love about Far Harbor is the aesthetics. The coastal town with the emphasis on fishing reminds me places like cape cod, Virginia Beach, and west coast Arcadia
So I've actually been to Maine and visited Acadia national Park and stayed in Bar Harbor back in 2000. So when this came out it was AMAZING to see these places again and done so beautifully (destroyed beauty, but still beautiful). I absolutely loved every minute of it and actual sent pictures of the game to my mom who lived in Bar Harbor and actually took me those places 😂 she thought it was so cool
@@BecomePneuma11235 great to hear, traversing the island did make me wanna go to Bar Harbor. Some day hopefully, but the first thing that comes to mind when I see places like this. Those patio sea food restaurants with a lobster logo, with a boat captain aesthetic and deep fried fish on a red and white checkered paper on a black basket bowl.
In 1969 I was in the US Navy and stationed in Winter Harbor, Maine. That is on the mainland immediately north of Bar Harbor. The creation of Far Harbor is almost like a transfer of Bar Harbor to the game with plant and animal monsters from rads added.
Best arguments for the Sole Survivor being a synth, to me, are 1, no Memory Den DLC, 2, insufficient radiant dialog about prewar Boston, and 3, it does kinda seem believable that the player character is secretly a "Gen 4" prototype to release for trial. That said, i much agree that you aren't a synth and that those things are tech limitations or oversights more than they're breadcrumbs to "truth" Excellent review. Far Harbor is really really good
It is an amazing DLC, though remembering those good awful puzzles make my head hurt, thank god for youtube and cheating. Jokes aside, the music for the DLC is top notch, I love just walking around and listening to the ambience, it truly makes the fog feel like some other worldly threat, that makes the urban jungle of Boston seem safe in comparison. Inon Zur hit the music out of the park.
One of the best mods for FO4, another one that I won't play without, is "Skip Dima's memories". A great scene happened in my current playthrough: On the way to Acadia, that Child of Atom confronts Longfellow. He gives her a smartass remark. She responds " Your barbs do not hurt me, old man. I am shielded by my faith." So I put a burst into her with my M60. She drops. Longfellow says "What about bullets? Your faith protect you from those too?"
Far Harbor was good, had a nice sense of variety and exploration. Nuka World was fine but a little less varied and kinda dull story-wise. Also, hot take, I don't like Gage at all.
i liked the area of nuka world much more than far harbor, but nuka world has the whole "raider" thing and i'm a minuteman. hunting season is the only quest i really do there. the way you feel about gage is about how i feel about everyone in far harbor. i don't like them and i don't care about them. captain avery is the only one i'd side with and well, spoilers.
You know the bizarre bit, I think that one guy who hates the children of Adam in Far Harbor mine actually have a point, in one of my Pleasures I decided to completely kill all of the people in the children of Adam, because I've never done that before in any of my playthroughs, and suddenly the weather all across the entire aisle improved, that can't be a coincidence right? Suddenly all the shitty weather disappeared, and I can't really explain it, it doesn't make any sense killing them and destroying them doesn't make any sense in how it would cause the environment to become better, although in this play through it did for some reason, it made zero sense, and yet this was the outcome. So maybe that guy had something right about the children of Adam, but it's never really explained in the game why or even how that improves on the environment, cuz if you just leave them alone and do the dima Quest and allow them to live like normal, the weather stays shit on the island, so I think I might just kill the children of Adam more often, because it appears to fix the environment every time.
8:26 I agree it’s a silly theory. But I did a play through where I rolled with the theory, became the synth king of far harbour and the institute, with Curie and Cods and Nick as companions, built SPECIAL accordingly. One of my most memorable/ favourite playthroughs
I feel like the individual scores were padded just to get a good final score. Unfortunately that's the problem with an equally weighted scoring system. Realistically, the 5 out of 5 for story is worth way more than 25% of the total.
dead money will always be my favorite fallout dlc. being a really high level so you have the perks, then getting kidnapped by a nightkin and brought to a casino with nothing but a holorifle given to you.
Sooo, I found a "loophole" to the memory puzzle, and it only requires one mod, Heather Casdin. I took her, along with Nick, since she's a follower, instead of a companion, and when we got to where we could use the main frame, she said she could hack it no problem. So, I let her try, and she could, and she did, in about 2 minutes. Got all the tapes that way. Mad props to her mod author for that one, sort of like the mod in Dragon Age that let you skip the Fade stuff in the Mage's Circle. Other than that, the only real downside to this DLC that I have found is similar to other DLC, in that the BoS quests from Haylen and Rhys can send you there, even if you've never been. Major PITA that. While I'm not a big survival horror fan, I like the creepiness of the environment, it's a "pleasant" change from what's presented everywhere else.
Great Mah Na Mah Na reference. Stellar video as always. I particularly agree with you on the main character's backstory (or lack thereof) and how it works into the synth-or-not red herring. I see way too many people (just my opinion) discussing/arguing over bits of 'lore' that seem instead to be just aspects of the process of making a game on Earth at any given point in the modern era (e.g. too few npcs for a 'city', where's sufficient food in the CW, why is everything still run down after 200 years, why can I still find nuka cola and so on).
I am in the process of replaying F4 and Far Harbor. I agree that the story line is very good but I do find it a rather depressing location due to the fog. I am always pleased to return to the commonwealth. I realise this is a rather minor issue but it could be improved if it was possible to get rid of the fog (eventually) througout the island.
The sole survivor synth theory also comes from the fact the institute were involved in your unfreezing, so could have swapped you out and the ability to use vats, a pip boy ability, in vault 111 before getting the pip boy which synths are noted as having vats like abilities (obviously it’s a gameplay oversight but it makes for a fun fan theory)
They put the V.A.T.S. tutorial in the literal hallway before you encounter the pip boy, even knowing Bethesda’s “it just works” policy, that kind of placement doesn’t just get made out of ignorance, it’s ether an intentional game design decision because it’s most logical to put the V.A.T.S. tutorial after the player learns the melee and gunplay since you wouldn’t want players to cruch on V.A.T.S from literal minute one, or it’s intentionally meant to stick out to fallout veterans who know about the lore of V.A.T.S. as after the game encourages you to use V.A.T.S. it reminds you about your lack of a pip boy via the big spotlight that shines on the pip boy, making the veteran fallout fan question what is going on shortly before the tutorial ends and giving them another hook in the form of “will this be explained or is this Bethesda being incompetent again” and what the actual fuck do you know, an institute entry states that certain synths can experience time dilation that increases their combat capabilities, and guess how V.A.T.S. changed in fallout 4 that is a noticeable departure from previous games, *time does not stop, it slows.* Although I do have to agree that the former explanation I proposed is far more likely than the latter, like you personally believe.
To be slightly fair to Allen Lee, while it's definitely a question if Acadia even could provide enough fog condensers for the whole island even if they wanted to, they very much do not want to. He has no way of actually knowing that of course, but DiMA in his quest to play nice with both of two settlements that reallllly want to kill each other doesn't want to eliminate the fog since it would almost certainly lead to war with the Children of Atom. If that weren't a factor he almost certainly would be happy to provide as many condensers as he could, but he's just in a very tough political position. Also that murder mystery quest was honestly one of my favorites in the entire game. Spoiler warning, but I was on the edge of my seat for it, and even legit gasped at certain moments like "that is not my wife", putting those pieces together and getting it confirmed. And since they're robobrains the actual solution isn't immediately obvious (seeing as it couldn't have happened with flesh humans).
Something I didn’t realize until playing Far Harbor back to back to back for the different endings, there’s a lot of weird stops in the gameplay, ie. the door leading to the lower levels of Acadia behind DiMa remains locked even after he says Acadia is open to the PC, it eventually unlocked but not until after Faraday comes out and talks to DiMa
Was good until that fucking minecraft ass puzzle. It's basically just a shitty rehash of point lookout so imo its mid at best. There is definitely worse dlcs in the series, but definitely better ones as well.
First things first, don't EVER take the reviews of these dlcs into account. They consist solely of whiny children who didn't like it because it wasn't EXACTLY what they wanted. 1. Far Harbor is fun and has some decent story, however the only thing that sucked about it was dima and his quest. 2. Nuka-World was incredibly fun not only delivering a genuinely fun map to explore, but a decent story. 3. Automatron was interesting but was for the most part gutted. 4. Wasteland Workshop was ALMOST pointless. and finally 5. Vault Workshop IS pointless.
All of far harbor is great except the fucking puzzles. They were annoying the first time and even worse after. Also, both Nate AND Nora DO have memories from before the bombs, Nate was military, got some medal, Nora was a lawyer, etc. There is zero chance PC is a synthetic, like you said, it's just a red herring.
Far Harbour is overrated by a fanbase who were served mediocrity with the base game and its other DLCs. It only appears good when held against them, but on its own, I'd say it's pretty average and not something I'd re-purchase on other platforms. And fuck the puzzle.
How come no one has ever questioned one simple caveat in FH story - how DiMA even replicated Avery or Tektus without Institute tech?! FH has so many narrative issues that I prefer base game story over it.
Without even watching it, all i can say is: meh. Fallout 4 on its own is a good game, but its not a good fallout game. Small bits of lore get retconned, your choices are lopsided and have almost no diplomatic approach unlike new vegas for instance and the choices you can make in regards to factions, are all extreme, no middle ground. The dlc's that followed were all subpar with far harbor being the most complete, but still. The only part of any dlc i enjoyed was the addtion of the ak type rifle in nuka world, and even then, its called the handmade rifle with no lore to establish it. In my opinion, the lack of enclave dlc was a disservice to the series as well and the dlc's that did happen, really play no greater role in the series; theyre in a word, inconsequential. It reallys sums up post skyrim bethesda and its unfortunate.
For my first proper full play through, I sided with the institute after helping every faction as much as I could, but especially the Minutemen. I sided with the institute under the idea of my character being a scientist who was incredibly brilliant and wanted to be a good person, and saw the Institute as a necessary evil, for its resources that could be shared with the commonwealth if he played his cards right. When Father made him the successor, he was all in, convinced he could slowly end Synth subjugation, and mend relations with the commonwealth using the positive influence of the Minutemen. His attitude towards Father was disappointment and anger, believing him to be corrupted and evil. When I got to Far Harbor after the main quest, it was wonderfully dramatic to learn about what Dima did, and realizing the horror of his own actions for the sake of a greater good
@@michatomaszewski9388 When he went through Nuka it was "The Pack are animals that can be trained. The operators are dangerous but can be placated with caps. The Disciples though... unforgivable sadism for it's own sake, they have to go, if I empower the other two, the final one should die out one way or another. But I must wipe them out eventually..."
everyone forgot that fallout 3 point lookout did the whole my daughter has gone missing bit before and nobody caught this lack of creativity on Bethesda’s part. Nuka world is better imo
I absolutely love this DLC (exception is THAT puzzle, which is dire). Dalton Farm is my very favourite settlement which I spend the most time in (even more than Kingsport Lighthouse and Costal Cottage...both of which were my previous faves, because of how I built there). The whole atmosphere there is just somewhere I could live.
I wish more role-playing games had storytelling like this and I wish the main games factions were written as well as and also executed as well as the NPCs in far harbor
Something I've felt about the potrayal of synths in this DLC is that it has always weirdly felt a bit like a queer alagory. Think about how Kasumi slowly learns her identiy (Or supposed identiy) As a synth, discovering a part of ones self that makes them feel unsafe having to leave for a safer place. Consider the damage done to Jule who suffered a mind wipe, a long lasting trauma caused by being forced to not be herself (in this case the focus is on her identy as a synth). As someone who is trans I find this a bit of unintentional but still interesting subtext. Naturally it's not one to one, but I couldn't help but see myself in these snyths struggling to be accepted for their identiy. Most of all with that first conversation with DiMA, and when he asked "Are you a synth" to me it felt as though the answer was yes, not for my character but for me. If that makes sense.
I played this DLC using the Fallout 4 VR mod and it was such a great experience I highly recommend playing Fallout 4 in VR, easily spent 200 hours exploring the world and enjoying the experience.
I love arthropods and this dlc adds two of my favorite enemies. Hermit crabs and the fog crawlers that are clearly based on mantis shrimp specifically the West Atlantic Mantis Shrimp that looks almost identical in color to the fog crawler.
I really don't know how the Far Harbor story is compelling. Kasumi is not a synth and this whole "case" is really about some parents making some bad decisions which have led to somewhat dire consequences. Now if Kasumi was adopted, then the story might make a bit more sense. At least then you won't literally be told about how Kasumi's was born. Also to get the "good" or "peaceful" ending, you end up unlocking all the settlements, so if you are not into settlement building then this ending is not for you. You will be left with settlements that get abandoned, yet the game doesn't tell you in this is going to happen before you accept those quests. Now this story might have been good if not for the extremely obvious mistakes in the writing. This story is nowhere near as compelling as anything found in New Vegas. At least Nuka World didn't hide how basic their storyline is. The lack of pretense was actually rather refreshing whereas Far Harbor greatly suffers from the same issues that you see from the main story. As for the synth debate in the forums...? Honestly I feel like I lost IQ points just from reading the mind-numbing stupid comments. It's too flawed to be compelling and the seriousness of this DLC makes me want to slap my head even harder. As such I can only give this a 1-2/5.
I agree - the setup felt compelling, but they failed to execute on the ending and some details. It only works if you play through in the writer's preferred way, which is the opposite of what you should be doing in an RPG.
I think your scale is seriously flawed. Atmosphere should be the number 1 metric. Fallout 4 has 10% atmosphere. Far Harbour has 20% atmosphere. All of the other DLC are flavourless mush. You do the math.
A. that's so sweet, Brandon. b. the DiMA's memory part I have such a firm memory of because i'd stopped watching Game of Thrones by then, but my husband had not, and while I was playing that bit, he was watching the part where Hodor is killed in the background and all I could hear was the flashback and him repeating his lines. It made the memory section very strange. c. while I agree that I enjoy and like the detail in the story and the area in general, I find the fog oppressively boring to play in when I go there. I know that's the point, trust me, I know, but I'm a "green grass" kind of gamer. I want to look at pretty things in my game because they're often missing in my irl views. The choice between green fog with my light on, grey fog with my light off, and darkness, was depressing to play in and at least three or four playthroughs all I did was beeline the story, no side quests -as you stated- ruins the main story choices. ETA d. I was *very* sad the companion voice actors didn't come back for new lines. By this point I was so in love with MacCready I've never been able to play without him, *ever*, and so I naturally took him along to continue our bad a** husbands tour the wasteland schtick, only to find out that... no lines. I did eventually do a Nick playthrough, and I like him ofc, but I really wish everyone else got any sort of a chance or refresh too.
Yeah.. cait was my favorite and I was so damn disappointed she had no lines, made me a little disappointed immersion wise. Still though atleast nick was there, made it a little enjoyable but damn I still wish cait was there with me 💔.
I’ll take some points away from Far Harbor because of the awful puzzle that Dima makes you do.
Dima is an innocent synth. Blame Todd Howard, a guilty synth.
@@Jay-ys2cfhow can it be innocent after all its HUMAN rights
@@Voltboy1449 because he’s a fictional character and Todd is very much real ☹️
@@Jay-ys2cf who said i was talking about dima
@@Voltboy1449 🤣
The part that made me feel the oldest is when you said fallout 4 is a 9 year old game. Oh how time flies 💀
If it makes you feel better, it won't be 9 years old until 15 November 2024.
The comically overdone nature of Allen Lee is one of the few downsides, but it's also kind of realistic. We've all known at least one dude who will blame everyone else, who can't be swayed by facts or reason, has no facts of their own but despite it all is still reasonably charismatic. It's really obnoxious but unfortunately nothing completely unbelievable imo
...I have worked with several people like this...
That dude is 'Murrica condensed into a single character
Actually I find Allen would be much more believable if he wasn't voiced by such a nice guy as Liam O'Brien.
Kinda like Ahab. I'd roll with Allen Lee to catch a White Synth Whale 🐋 👍
He's one of those guys who says what we all know is true, but are afraid to say ourselves. Sure he's an asshole, but most characters are in Fallout XD
The thing is there are multiple points in the game where your character mentions stuff prior to the bombs falling.
With COULD be planted memory
@@komiks42 That's not the point, we can see clearly that sole survivor remember things that happends before bombs dropping yet still when talking with Dima now we have only option to tell that we remember day when bombs start dropping. It's like who handwritted interactions between sole survivor and Dima didint know somebody else is writting somethink that sole survivor remembers before that day.
@@komiks42 least insufferable theory
@@komiks42 except things like codsworth exist
@@komiks42 Please shut up
The Nakanos don't have the only working boats in Fallout 4. They have the only working boat that we see. Trans-Atlantic travel is still happening in Fallout 4. How do I know? Simple; Cait has an Irish accent.
Fallout 4 is set in Boston; the bigger question is why she's the only one with an Irish accent.
@@Bubben246 Simple raised by Irish parents and the fact that they lived in a secluded shack in the middle of no where while the Nikano's have Am radio telephone etc you can make the same argument about the fact of why do only some Bostonian's have a accent while others don't like the Bobrov brothers.
@@jonathancunningham8739 Yep, same reason why characters like house and Raul have a peculiar accent
That is NOT an Irish accent. Her voice actor is literally a scot who sounds like they've never talked to an Irish person before attempting to imitate an imaginary Irish accent that doesn't exist lmfao
And Tenpenny is also Irish.
My only real complaint with Far Harbor was not being able to have both Nick and Old Longfellow tag along at the same time. Both have enough commentary on things you wind up feeling you missed out a little by not bringing one or the other along for the ride.
I never understood bethesdas obsession with a single follower + animal or robot. Skyrim, fallout 3, new vegas, 4... and theres plenty of mods for it so its definitelly possible to do. They should go around balancing differently than "you already have company sorry you can only have one friend by law"
@@F2PMegaGodAs someone who frequently uses Companion armies, I will say that it can get a little hectic. The obvious problems are that they get in the way. Think Dogmeat blocking doors is bad? Imagine 5,10,15+ companions blocking the door. Secondly it throws off difficulty. Even If you give them all bad bolt action rifles they can kill behemoths in seconds. Naturally you up the difficulty. This turns every encounter into a game of who sees who first. Because who ever shoots first wins. And lastly it does put a serious strain on the engine. I’ve had as many as 50 companions at once, and it can work decently well but crashes and lag are much more common.
@@F2PMegaGodtechnically you could actually have two companions in new vegas it was just slightly restricted on which two you could have
I get pissed about that too because you could have parties in the OG games, but only one companion, no exceptions, in FO4. You can’t even have Dogmeat and a companion like you could with dogs in Skyrim.
@@Voland1871The solution to that would have a 3 companion cap and have the option to tell them to back up like in New Vegas. 3 companions are still kind of OP, but it’d still be better for immersion and story purposes.
Imagine if DiMa has been doing that to everyone, and he's the only actual synth there 😂
And Chase, the coucer that dejected from the Institute. And I not sure but I think that there's another synth that scaped too, but I'm not sure.
As someone who did a BOS playthrough and choose to end things the fun way I can confirm a good number of them are in fact synths, but not all...
Far Harbor had a different vibe to it compared to Nuka World obviously, very oppressive and dangerous in the beginning especially for a lower level character. The story was great, especially with Nick along for the ride, and the voice acting was very good. The "fix the fog condenser" missions got very old very fast for me though and I stopped visiting the settlements after a while to avoid them. I think your evaluation is spot on. I also liked that Bethesda didn't push us to end the DLC in a particular way like Nuka World.
Adding to the story endings, if you've do e enough to help the Children of Atom, Tektus will leave without a fight and let himself be replaced since you've proven that you're not out to destroy the Children, just pushing for peace. It's a small change to DiMa's plan, but it's great that it's included.
I didn't do any of their quests and was still able to convince him to leave without a fight so I think you just need high charisma.
I saw it was an option but opted to kill him anyway. Tektus didn't seem like the guy to just give up and back down. I felt like as a character my Natecepuld have zero confidence in him never coming back, the peace had to be a lasting one. So I did what had to be done.
Also mad respect for this man still making fo4 content in 2024
What kinda fallout videos is he supposed to make, Bethesda hates us and won't give us a new one in a while
Well, Fallout 4 still scratches a game playing itch. What? Do we expect him to talk about Fallout 76 or Starfield? They suck! That's it.
I mean we are supposed to get a next gen update for the game soon.
He's still yappin
They are waiting for us to get over the fact that we continue to give them money for trash.@@606films9
The SS is a synth theory is disproven in the game itself during the beginning of the silver Shroud Questline. When the SS talks with Kent they remember listening to the new episodes every time one came out, and even remembers the plot to some of them.
And you can explain baseball to that one guy in diamond city
Even in Far Harbor you can tell the tools guy that you remember the commercials for the tools
Nick remembers his entire life from before the war. Was he there? No, the real Nick had his brain scanned. The institute can implant memories. To the point that many synths don't know they are synths. There are many examples.
@@kahrnivor but that is different, because the pre-war Nick Valentine had a copy of his memories uploaded to a computer, so the Institute could take that pre-war copy and put it into a synth, unlike the Sole Survivor
@@kahrnivor Yeah but Nick knows he's a synth and that he's not the real Nick Valentine even if he's acting upon the memories from the real one. Ultimately, the SS being a synth is an interesting idea but there is too much that can disprove it with the largest being that the Institute ending shouldn't be possible as a synth as no one there would be willing to recognize the SS being the new Director due to how they view synths.
I do think one of the DLC's only weak points is how poorly Allen is written. He's too comically over the top obviously 'bad' when a more nuanced writing would have been more interesting. Especially given that he's partly right, about some of the shenanigans a going on
Also, it's a little weird that Acadia didn't teach the islanders how to make the condensers themselves
I think that it is also a resource issue. Also, that assumes the townsfolk would be willing to be taught complex engineering. Stubbornness is a key trait of theirs
@@tinaherr3856the inability to teach is a resource issue? And people like that tend to want to be self sufficient when it comes to staying alive, so I would be willing to bet one or two of them would be open to learn how to make the live saving fog sucker.
@@chillycharizard5985 no, those were meant to be two separate reasons.
You bring up a valid point. Prehaps the Mariner could be willing, since she already knows her way around tools.
I suppose a restriction could be the power requirements for the large amount of condensers that Allen proposed. The experimental wind farm powers the condensers, but I'm not sure how many units it could power. So that would be a restriction
Acadia's knowledge of the condensers is a big part of why they haven't been attacked by the others. If they teach that tech to others they lose most of their leverage against violence.
Allen is definitely the weakest link behind The Hull, Longfellow flat out says he’s wrong about the Fog
Far harbor was a tremendous dlc, the nuance of the story trumps what the main factions couldn’t, but the biggest strength it brought was the atmosphere. The music and visuals set the tone for the area perfectly which wasn’t brought up. The ambiance music here is the best in the game.
Music is a distraction to me. When I play the game, the music is off.
@@edmartin875ewwww no music. I'm all about that freedom Radio
Far harbor is, in terms of atmosphere, story, and just overall feel, what fallout 4 as a whole could and should have been. I also love the fog personally because of how you just can’t see and how on edge it can keep you
Which is why I don't like fog ANYWHERE.
I genuinely believe that this dlc is the best thing to come out of Bethesda since Morrowind. The amount of branching choices and narrative freedom almost reaches New Vegas levels, and the quality of writing is also a big step up from your standard Bethesda affair, presenting a much more morally grey story. It’s a shame that they didn’t carry any of this over to Starfield.
The most beloved writing of Fallout 4, the only section not written by Pagliarulo. It like when people say their favourite Bethesda game is New Vegas.
It would be cool to see changes happening in the vanilla game like it does in Far Harbor. Like, what's all the hammering in Sanctuary for? Can we see roofs and walls patched up as you level up? And as you mentioned, the castle walls, those could be rebuilt, and the rubble be cleared as you level up or progress through the game.
The worst part is that the castle actually has change. The muck from mirelurk nests gets cleared out.
@samreddig8819 Yeah, that gets cleared, but the walls stay tore up unless you use a mod.
If it wasn’t for that puzzle we had to do it would definitely be a 10/10 imo 🤷🏻♂️
My main complaint about FH is that you can get radiant missions from Knight Rhys or Scribe Haylen to locations on the island long before you go there. While on the island, it would be nice if settlements in the Commonwealth being attacked could be toned down or paused entirely.
I'd agree with that and same with while the player is in Nuka World, especially as it's a pain to get around the island if you aren't using fast travel (or are playing on Survival) and made even more annoying if you have to travel back to the Commonwealth multiple times to assist settlements since it's a bit random whether the defense is successful if the player isn't there.
Yeah I just started a new game and the first mission from Rhys is to go to a place on far harbor.. kinda dumb if you ask me
Is that what's going on? Haylen gave me a mission that said it was completely off the map 😂i had no idea where to go
Oh, y’all are actually defending the settlements? No thanks.
Keep radiants in the commonwealth is a fantastic mod tbh
With Fallout 76 and Starfield being subpar, Far Harbor really ended up being the last great thing Bethesda produced.
15:30 also based on different pieces of dialogue from your character, they do actually remember things from before the bombs fell, like conceiving shaun, their time at college/in the military etc.
I like the synths main charecter idea. But this is a good point.
Nate mentioned his past to anyone who brings it up. The robots at the automatic farm even have a conversation with the player about him living before the bombs.
Nora even tells that her father use to say she is watching tv too close, so yeah there are even childhood memories. That's why it feel stupid on far harbor when suddenly cant remember those college/childhood memories that have been said before.
@@lartonki The TV line is said by Nate as well.
One thing I can’t forgive about FH is that even though it brought back the Lever action rifles, the reloads are not even programmed correctly XD but I love the aesthetic of the actual area itself a lot
Rip Mitten Squad💔
He's not dead have you even looked at his channel
@@AgentBob700 That was posted just b4 he passed (the tragic irony, yh)
Take a chill pill, buddy. It was a simple mistake. Quick getting riled up. @Pairduck
Everytime I see videos come across my feed regarding Far Harbor I click. I havent played it in 3 years or so but it's one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. And im gonna go on a somewhat long anecdote on why.
My first Fallout game was 3. When I got into RPGs I was 8, and Oblivion/Fallout 3 were my first RPGs that really grabbed at me. Fallout 3 STILL is my favorite Fallout game ever, over FNV which is blasphemy to most. As I got older and was able to actually understand many of the plotlines within the games that I loved, two factions stood out to me as being my favorite. And this is funny because in this video you stated they are not too dissimilar and I had a good laugh knowing that in my main Fallout 4 run I sided with the Brotherhood, and the Children of Atom. My two favorite factions.
I remember transcribing EVERY WORD of Cromwell's speeches, every terminal, every mother maya quote, hell even the offshoot branch added in DLC. Every word of the children of atom I could find I wrote down. I made a pseudo-bible type document trying to piece together the lore regarding them I was so fascinated. When I heard in the DLC you could be friendly and even join them I was EXSTATIC. And for that reason alone it became one of my favorite gaming experiences ever, but the story was great, the whole DLC was just phenomenal and was well worth the money.
My Brotherhood of Steel (siding with Maxon) character informed the BoS about Acadia, wiped them out, then after they left I let Atom's holy fog take over the island and then nuked myself, my Automaton robot A7-0M (see what I did there) into oblivion with the other children.
I was a bit sad that if you chose to die with them and not run out there wasnt a cool ending slide or narration but I was more than content with my gaming experience. I've rarely been more immersed with a character than I was then. Honestly I think thats why I loved Far Harbor so much. It was the first time in Fallout 4 I got that genuine joy I had playing 3 when I was younger, that immersion and wonder about the world and story.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed my little anecdote. Thank you for the video
Fnv is a better game but I think fo3 had a better vibe, fo3 got alot of more horror aspects and It's definitely something that missing in the recents games, fo3 had a world filled with traps, crumbling building that blocked ur path and force you to have detour in the dark metro system witch was probably filled with ghouls that actually ran and had a creepy growls, raiders were insane maniac instead of cosplayers. some of fnv dlc had that darker tone but none of them actually had that horror feel like the fo3 and it's dlc like the Pitt and point Lookout.
I like the fact that there are some hidden querks too. Like if you don't take Longfellow to Arcadia and find it on your own. When you first talk to him he says how impressed he I'd with you and is completely different with your character
I want to mention that if your charisma is high enough you can just convince Confessor Tektus to take his ball and go home, leaving Far Harbor alone and insuring peace, unless Alan Lee loses it one day and storms Acadia
My Charisma is currently 21. Will that be high enough? 😂 Ah, mods are great.
Th rizzeler @@donkeysunited
The atmosphere and location alone elevate this DLC in my eyes. I absolutely adore nautical themes, the ocean is just so damn cool. The main plot is quite compelling and there's some real good sidequests in there.
Far harbor is fine, the reason it's looked upon so fondly is because the commonwealth of fallout 4 is so vapid narratively that the effort put into this dlc looks amazing by comparison.
Nah this DLC is fantastic. It can stand alongside the New Vegas DLCs and not be out of place.
No it’s genuinely good
@@gewdvibes dima memory part is a drag, and ruins it for many people myself included. Sad.
@@shanielson having modded that part out it is definitely the best part of 4 and probably the best thing Bethesda Maryland has made post Skyrim
@@shanielsonits not bad the first time, but the 3rd time I was forced to do it by the story, and forced to fully finish it by my own greedyness for tastey armor, started really hating it, especially when you have to wait for those stupid bugs to walk to the next thing.
Only one I really didn't like was Automatron. I don't care if you can build OP deathbots that win the game while you eat Cheetos.
really? that's the only 1 i love. robots kick ass.
@@theghostofthomasjenkins9643 The biggest problem for me with Automatron is once the player encounters ADA (whom is a fantastic companion btw) the player starts to get a lot of Rust Devil and Mechanist encounters, and they can be quite a challenge when the DLC first unlocks at level 15. My last playthrough I avoided Automatron and I encountered all sorts of base game encounters I'd never experienced before.
@@jcohasset23 i can understand this criticism cause it's one i do share as well. rust devils will wreck your world at low levels and the mechanist squads have annihilated me even at decent levels when i didn't see them coming.
it's pro outweigh the cons for me, though. and the fact it integrates into the base game makes it preferable than nuka world or far harbor for me, since i do minuteman runs mostly. i can't leave the commonwealth for too long.
I sound like a fucking lunatic but I always preferred nuka world. Gage is just too damn good of a companion compared to Longfellow.
i don't like nuka world quests or companions, but i do like the area so much more. the island has a couple need locations, but is largely forgettable.
fah habbah
Now wheyah did I pahk my cah...
Far harbor is just so much better than everything else in Fallout4 that it shifts the perspective
Im surprised that so many people did the Children of Atom quests. I always made them "embrace division" the first opportunity lmao
1:30 Oh please... getting harrassed about "spoilers" over a 9/8 year old game is nothing...
...I got lynched because I accidentally said something spoiler-ish (a detail missed in a previous episode) about a TV show that ended 20+ years ago... Y'know Babylon 5? Fudging hell! I got harrassed because I pointed out you could see the PSI-Corps emblem under the mask tube...
Anywho...
doin' the likes and comments for the UA-cam gods! :D lol
(I'll edit this if I wanna add anything else :P )
EDIT: Heh...VLDL reference... I approve! :D
Aw come on, and I was just going to watch Babylon 5 today /s
I actually kind of liked the puzzle, a quick thing that is something else still using the same systems.
But the Zealot's Armor is not the strongest, Nuka World adds armor with better resistances.
"quick" lmao
The puzzles are kind of fun, even if the final one is quite a jump in challenge, but it feels like more could have been done with it to flesh out the program more.
I'd say Far Harbor is a great addition to Fallout 4 but I find Nuka World more fun. Mostly because it's a pain to get around the island if you aren't using fast travel or are playing on Survival (especially if you have to run back to the Commonwealth to protect settlements- no matter how well the settlement is defended it always feels like a flip of the coin as to whether they successfully defend when the player isn't there) and the player is rather limited on where they can store loot until they can unlock a settlement (personally I feel Longfellow's cabin is in a bad location to be all that useful). In ways it's nice the story for Far Harbor is self-contained but it also means that other than personal preference the outcome doesn't matter and has no effect on the Commonwealth- even in Far Harbor destroying Far Harbor, the Nucleus, or Acadia has no consequence aside from removing a place one can trade at.
8:35 this wouldn't make any sense with the idea anyway. if the institute specifically didn't add any memories in player character from before the bombs, it would quickly begin questioning itself as soon as it exited the cryo pod, saw the situation and realized it can't recollect any information about the dead spouse. and obviously the whole thing with the main game's institute wouldn't make any sense. everyone would likely know you're a synth, the father would too, and his "synths are property, but you get to rule over your creators despite being just property" thing wouldn't make sense. even if he was just insane, first thing that'd happen after his death is a scientist walking up to you and reciting the deactivation code, or sending other synths and coursers after you if that was absent for whatever reason.
If I am allowed to level only one criticism against far harbor's story or gameplay (whichever it falls under), it would be the beginning. If you became the institute stooge, a bos zealot, or just a synth-prejudiced minuteman, the introduction doesn't make sense. For far harbor as a whole, I would say this is minor; nonetheless, I would say that this is certainly an oversight.
In any case, great work as always, GG! I will one day watch your new Vegas content when I actually play it. (On another note, I am nearing the end of Babylon 5. Some topic for your other channel.)
I've had some requests lately for BY5. is it on any streaming services?
Just a heads up.
There is a mod on the NEXUS that allows you to skip DIMA's puzzle
that's teh first mod everyone should download. it's akin to the "automatically solve drauger doors" in skyrim mod in terms of necessity.
@@theghostofthomasjenkins9643 are you talking about the claw doors or the things you open by spinning the pillars that have the snake, whale and bird on them?
@@Greenhawk4 the claw doors. it actually looks a little impressive solving itself, too.
@@theghostofthomasjenkins9643 is it really that hard to just look at the claw itself for the answer?
@@Greenhawk4 no, but it takes time to menu to it, then roll the image around. probably around 30 seconds. or you could just click the key hole and watch it open, like it should've from release.
Love seeing (hearing) UA-camrs give shouts to other UA-camrs.
It would be really fascinating to see an essay: "Why Sim Settlements 2 Is The Fallout4 DLC Bethesda Should Have Made"
Fallout: Skylines spinoff when?
The thing I love about Far Harbor is the aesthetics. The coastal town with the emphasis on fishing reminds me places like cape cod, Virginia Beach, and west coast Arcadia
So I've actually been to Maine and visited Acadia national Park and stayed in Bar Harbor back in 2000. So when this came out it was AMAZING to see these places again and done so beautifully (destroyed beauty, but still beautiful). I absolutely loved every minute of it and actual sent pictures of the game to my mom who lived in Bar Harbor and actually took me those places 😂 she thought it was so cool
@@BecomePneuma11235 great to hear, traversing the island did make me wanna go to Bar Harbor. Some day hopefully, but the first thing that comes to mind when I see places like this. Those patio sea food restaurants with a lobster logo, with a boat captain aesthetic and deep fried fish on a red and white checkered paper on a black basket bowl.
In 1969 I was in the US Navy and stationed in Winter Harbor, Maine. That is on the mainland immediately north of
Bar Harbor. The creation of Far Harbor is almost like a transfer of Bar Harbor to the game with plant and animal monsters from rads added.
BTW, the Naval Station has since been sold and I think it is now a State Park.
Best arguments for the Sole Survivor being a synth, to me, are 1, no Memory Den DLC, 2, insufficient radiant dialog about prewar Boston, and 3, it does kinda seem believable that the player character is secretly a "Gen 4" prototype to release for trial.
That said, i much agree that you aren't a synth and that those things are tech limitations or oversights more than they're breadcrumbs to "truth"
Excellent review. Far Harbor is really really good
It is an amazing DLC, though remembering those good awful puzzles make my head hurt, thank god for youtube and cheating.
Jokes aside, the music for the DLC is top notch, I love just walking around and listening to the ambience, it truly makes the fog feel like some other worldly threat, that makes the urban jungle of Boston seem safe in comparison. Inon Zur hit the music out of the park.
I rank Far Harbor up in the same vague category as Old World Blues. Proof that Fallout 4 could have been so much more.
One of the best mods for FO4, another one that I won't play without, is "Skip Dima's memories".
A great scene happened in my current playthrough:
On the way to Acadia, that Child of Atom confronts Longfellow. He gives her a smartass remark. She responds " Your barbs do not hurt me, old man. I am shielded by my faith."
So I put a burst into her with my M60. She drops. Longfellow says "What about bullets? Your faith protect you from those too?"
I dig the crashed MiG-15 concept art from the beginning
Far Harbor was good, had a nice sense of variety and exploration. Nuka World was fine but a little less varied and kinda dull story-wise. Also, hot take, I don't like Gage at all.
i liked the area of nuka world much more than far harbor, but nuka world has the whole "raider" thing and i'm a minuteman. hunting season is the only quest i really do there.
the way you feel about gage is about how i feel about everyone in far harbor. i don't like them and i don't care about them. captain avery is the only one i'd side with and well, spoilers.
You know the bizarre bit, I think that one guy who hates the children of Adam in Far Harbor mine actually have a point, in one of my Pleasures I decided to completely kill all of the people in the children of Adam, because I've never done that before in any of my playthroughs, and suddenly the weather all across the entire aisle improved, that can't be a coincidence right?
Suddenly all the shitty weather disappeared, and I can't really explain it, it doesn't make any sense killing them and destroying them doesn't make any sense in how it would cause the environment to become better, although in this play through it did for some reason, it made zero sense, and yet this was the outcome. So maybe that guy had something right about the children of Adam, but it's never really explained in the game why or even how that improves on the environment, cuz if you just leave them alone and do the dima Quest and allow them to live like normal, the weather stays shit on the island, so I think I might just kill the children of Adam more often, because it appears to fix the environment every time.
8:26 I agree it’s a silly theory. But I did a play through where I rolled with the theory, became the synth king of far harbour and the institute, with Curie and Cods and Nick as companions, built SPECIAL accordingly. One of my most memorable/ favourite playthroughs
Far Harbour also has the best overworld song. "Our island" its so hauntingly beautiful and really sets the tone of the dlc and island itself.
I finished my second playthrough couple weeks back and Our Island and Tale of Oak and Elm are still playing in my head.
I feel like the individual scores were padded just to get a good final score. Unfortunately that's the problem with an equally weighted scoring system. Realistically, the 5 out of 5 for story is worth way more than 25% of the total.
dead money will always be my favorite fallout dlc. being a really high level so you have the perks, then getting kidnapped by a nightkin and brought to a casino with nothing but a holorifle given
to you.
My favorite thing about Far Harbor is all of the references to John Carpenter’s The Fog. I’m a sucker for movie references in gaming.
Sooo, I found a "loophole" to the memory puzzle, and it only requires one mod, Heather Casdin. I took her, along with Nick, since she's a follower, instead of a companion, and when we got to where we could use the main frame, she said she could hack it no problem. So, I let her try, and she could, and she did, in about 2 minutes. Got all the tapes that way. Mad props to her mod author for that one, sort of like the mod in Dragon Age that let you skip the Fade stuff in the Mage's Circle.
Other than that, the only real downside to this DLC that I have found is similar to other DLC, in that the BoS quests from Haylen and Rhys can send you there, even if you've never been. Major PITA that. While I'm not a big survival horror fan, I like the creepiness of the environment, it's a "pleasant" change from what's presented everywhere else.
If that's your "loophole", you can just download the mod that lets you skip the memories
@@kaizenregimen Did not know about that one, but with the Casdin mod, I won't need it.
Great Mah Na Mah Na reference. Stellar video as always. I particularly agree with you on the main character's backstory (or lack thereof) and how it works into the synth-or-not red herring. I see way too many people (just my opinion) discussing/arguing over bits of 'lore' that seem instead to be just aspects of the process of making a game on Earth at any given point in the modern era (e.g. too few npcs for a 'city', where's sufficient food in the CW, why is everything still run down after 200 years, why can I still find nuka cola and so on).
I am in the process of replaying F4 and Far Harbor. I agree that the story line is very good but I do find it a rather depressing location due to the fog. I am always pleased to return to the commonwealth. I realise this is a rather minor issue but it could be improved if it was possible to get rid of the fog (eventually) througout the island.
The sole survivor synth theory also comes from the fact the institute were involved in your unfreezing, so could have swapped you out and the ability to use vats, a pip boy ability, in vault 111 before getting the pip boy which synths are noted as having vats like abilities (obviously it’s a gameplay oversight but it makes for a fun fan theory)
They put the V.A.T.S. tutorial in the literal hallway before you encounter the pip boy, even knowing Bethesda’s “it just works” policy, that kind of placement doesn’t just get made out of ignorance, it’s ether an intentional game design decision because it’s most logical to put the V.A.T.S. tutorial after the player learns the melee and gunplay since you wouldn’t want players to cruch on V.A.T.S from literal minute one, or it’s intentionally meant to stick out to fallout veterans who know about the lore of V.A.T.S. as after the game encourages you to use V.A.T.S. it reminds you about your lack of a pip boy via the big spotlight that shines on the pip boy, making the veteran fallout fan question what is going on shortly before the tutorial ends and giving them another hook in the form of “will this be explained or is this Bethesda being incompetent again” and what the actual fuck do you know, an institute entry states that certain synths can experience time dilation that increases their combat capabilities, and guess how V.A.T.S. changed in fallout 4 that is a noticeable departure from previous games, *time does not stop, it slows.*
Although I do have to agree that the former explanation I proposed is far more likely than the latter, like you personally believe.
To be slightly fair to Allen Lee, while it's definitely a question if Acadia even could provide enough fog condensers for the whole island even if they wanted to, they very much do not want to. He has no way of actually knowing that of course, but DiMA in his quest to play nice with both of two settlements that reallllly want to kill each other doesn't want to eliminate the fog since it would almost certainly lead to war with the Children of Atom. If that weren't a factor he almost certainly would be happy to provide as many condensers as he could, but he's just in a very tough political position.
Also that murder mystery quest was honestly one of my favorites in the entire game. Spoiler warning, but I was on the edge of my seat for it, and even legit gasped at certain moments like "that is not my wife", putting those pieces together and getting it confirmed. And since they're robobrains the actual solution isn't immediately obvious (seeing as it couldn't have happened with flesh humans).
Something I didn’t realize until playing Far Harbor back to back to back for the different endings, there’s a lot of weird stops in the gameplay, ie. the door leading to the lower levels of Acadia behind DiMa remains locked even after he says Acadia is open to the PC, it eventually unlocked but not until after Faraday comes out and talks to DiMa
Whatever anyone thinks about the DLC, one thing is for sure about Far Harbor, the music is fantastic.
Was good until that fucking minecraft ass puzzle. It's basically just a shitty rehash of point lookout so imo its mid at best. There is definitely worse dlcs in the series, but definitely better ones as well.
I feel like it was an improvement on most of what Point Lookout did, but I concede they are _very_ similar.
Finally a new Grey Gaming video! That’s what I’ve been waiting for!
As Fallout 4’s biggest hater, I enjoyed it a lot tbh.
After what DiMA did, I'd call the Brotherhood of Steel down on Acadia.
First things first, don't EVER take the reviews of these dlcs into account. They consist solely of whiny children who didn't like it because it wasn't EXACTLY what they wanted.
1. Far Harbor is fun and has some decent story, however the only thing that sucked about it was dima and his quest.
2. Nuka-World was incredibly fun not only delivering a genuinely fun map to explore, but a decent story.
3. Automatron was interesting but was for the most part gutted.
4. Wasteland Workshop was ALMOST pointless.
and finally 5. Vault Workshop IS pointless.
Far Harbor is held in such high regard because it’s the only “Good” Bethesda Fallout DLC and it’s basically Point Lookout but with synths now.
Definitely not.
The only similarities are in the starting moments. And even then it's a far more engaging conversation to get that mission.
I’m 15 and I’m pretty sure the wish reference isn’t dated. Your good
All of far harbor is great except the fucking puzzles. They were annoying the first time and even worse after.
Also, both Nate AND Nora DO have memories from before the bombs, Nate was military, got some medal, Nora was a lawyer, etc.
There is zero chance PC is a synthetic, like you said, it's just a red herring.
Far Harbour is overrated by a fanbase who were served mediocrity with the base game and its other DLCs. It only appears good when held against them, but on its own, I'd say it's pretty average and not something I'd re-purchase on other platforms.
And fuck the puzzle.
How come no one has ever questioned one simple caveat in FH story - how DiMA even replicated Avery or Tektus without Institute tech?!
FH has so many narrative issues that I prefer base game story over it.
Without even watching it, all i can say is: meh. Fallout 4 on its own is a good game, but its not a good fallout game. Small bits of lore get retconned, your choices are lopsided and have almost no diplomatic approach unlike new vegas for instance and the choices you can make in regards to factions, are all extreme, no middle ground. The dlc's that followed were all subpar with far harbor being the most complete, but still. The only part of any dlc i enjoyed was the addtion of the ak type rifle in nuka world, and even then, its called the handmade rifle with no lore to establish it. In my opinion, the lack of enclave dlc was a disservice to the series as well and the dlc's that did happen, really play no greater role in the series; theyre in a word, inconsequential. It reallys sums up post skyrim bethesda and its unfortunate.
I don’t think we can ever overemphasize how important it is that wildlife is of the area and not just imported from another part of the country.
It's completely unplayable due to the iron crease on Avery's pants... no one in the post-apocalypse would care about ironing their pants 0/10
For my first proper full play through, I sided with the institute after helping every faction as much as I could, but especially the Minutemen. I sided with the institute under the idea of my character being a scientist who was incredibly brilliant and wanted to be a good person, and saw the Institute as a necessary evil, for its resources that could be shared with the commonwealth if he played his cards right. When Father made him the successor, he was all in, convinced he could slowly end Synth subjugation, and mend relations with the commonwealth using the positive influence of the Minutemen. His attitude towards Father was disappointment and anger, believing him to be corrupted and evil. When I got to Far Harbor after the main quest, it was wonderfully dramatic to learn about what Dima did, and realizing the horror of his own actions for the sake of a greater good
Yeah that was exactly my first playthrough. Great to see other Players who did the same. 👍
Then what? Going full decadent in Nuka Cola?
@@michatomaszewski9388 When he went through Nuka it was "The Pack are animals that can be trained. The operators are dangerous but can be placated with caps. The Disciples though... unforgivable sadism for it's own sake, they have to go, if I empower the other two, the final one should die out one way or another. But I must wipe them out eventually..."
everyone forgot that fallout 3 point lookout did the whole my daughter has gone missing bit before and nobody caught this lack of creativity on Bethesda’s part. Nuka world is better imo
It definitely gets bonus points because it’s such a massive step up from base f4 BUT it’s still a top 3 dlc from any fallout game.
I absolutely love this DLC (exception is THAT puzzle, which is dire).
Dalton Farm is my very favourite settlement which I spend the most time in (even more than Kingsport Lighthouse and Costal Cottage...both of which were my previous faves, because of how I built there). The whole atmosphere there is just somewhere I could live.
I wish more role-playing games had storytelling like this and I wish the main games factions were written as well as and also executed as well as the NPCs in far harbor
No, it really isn’t that good. Weapons stink. Story wasn’t great. Radiation was annoying.
Yes, except for that DIMA puzzle thing it really is that good.
I think it's only fair to compare Far Harbor to Nuka-world for best DLC. The others are so much smaller that they can't realistically compete.
Something I've felt about the potrayal of synths in this DLC is that it has always weirdly felt a bit like a queer alagory. Think about how Kasumi slowly learns her identiy (Or supposed identiy) As a synth, discovering a part of ones self that makes them feel unsafe having to leave for a safer place. Consider the damage done to Jule who suffered a mind wipe, a long lasting trauma caused by being forced to not be herself (in this case the focus is on her identy as a synth). As someone who is trans I find this a bit of unintentional but still interesting subtext. Naturally it's not one to one, but I couldn't help but see myself in these snyths struggling to be accepted for their identiy. Most of all with that first conversation with DiMA, and when he asked "Are you a synth" to me it felt as though the answer was yes, not for my character but for me. If that makes sense.
I played this DLC using the Fallout 4 VR mod and it was such a great experience
I highly recommend playing Fallout 4 in VR, easily spent 200 hours exploring the world and enjoying the experience.
I will not accept the marine armor slander, its the best looking armor in the game imo
I would have thought nuka world would be the most popular..
I love arthropods and this dlc adds two of my favorite enemies. Hermit crabs and the fog crawlers that are clearly based on mantis shrimp specifically the West Atlantic Mantis Shrimp that looks almost identical in color to the fog crawler.
Best DLC in Fallout 4.
Local robot gaslights yokels too get him more spark plugs
I really don't know how the Far Harbor story is compelling. Kasumi is not a synth and this whole "case" is really about some parents making some bad decisions which have led to somewhat dire consequences. Now if Kasumi was adopted, then the story might make a bit more sense. At least then you won't literally be told about how Kasumi's was born.
Also to get the "good" or "peaceful" ending, you end up unlocking all the settlements, so if you are not into settlement building then this ending is not for you. You will be left with settlements that get abandoned, yet the game doesn't tell you in this is going to happen before you accept those quests.
Now this story might have been good if not for the extremely obvious mistakes in the writing. This story is nowhere near as compelling as anything found in New Vegas. At least Nuka World didn't hide how basic their storyline is. The lack of pretense was actually rather refreshing whereas Far Harbor greatly suffers from the same issues that you see from the main story.
As for the synth debate in the forums...? Honestly I feel like I lost IQ points just from reading the mind-numbing stupid comments.
It's too flawed to be compelling and the seriousness of this DLC makes me want to slap my head even harder. As such I can only give this a 1-2/5.
I agree - the setup felt compelling, but they failed to execute on the ending and some details. It only works if you play through in the writer's preferred way, which is the opposite of what you should be doing in an RPG.
Alot of content for a DLC ! Very impressive !
I think your scale is seriously flawed. Atmosphere should be the number 1 metric. Fallout 4 has 10% atmosphere. Far Harbour has 20% atmosphere. All of the other DLC are flavourless mush. You do the math.
Nuka world is not flavorless mush
the finaly weapon you get in the children of attom quest line is the best mele weapon in the entire game
Either that or the harvester
The fog mother made me throw away my convictions and loyalty to other factions and join up with the guys with magic
I personally like Nuka World more but I agree that Nuka World has OBJECTIVELY a high quality.
10/10 more settlements to expand my minuteman empire!!!!
24:30. You actually can't buy the marine assault legs off anyone. So, if you want the full set, you need to do the last memory.
And they’re expensive as hell to buy
No mention of the Radium Rifle in the weapons section? It’s actually quite good, with its lowered recoil.
I liked this dlc the most, with the exception of the puzzle, like most people. Even when I first played this, the puzzle made me ask why?
A. that's so sweet, Brandon. b. the DiMA's memory part I have such a firm memory of because i'd stopped watching Game of Thrones by then, but my husband had not, and while I was playing that bit, he was watching the part where Hodor is killed in the background and all I could hear was the flashback and him repeating his lines. It made the memory section very strange. c. while I agree that I enjoy and like the detail in the story and the area in general, I find the fog oppressively boring to play in when I go there. I know that's the point, trust me, I know, but I'm a "green grass" kind of gamer. I want to look at pretty things in my game because they're often missing in my irl views. The choice between green fog with my light on, grey fog with my light off, and darkness, was depressing to play in and at least three or four playthroughs all I did was beeline the story, no side quests -as you stated- ruins the main story choices. ETA d. I was *very* sad the companion voice actors didn't come back for new lines. By this point I was so in love with MacCready I've never been able to play without him, *ever*, and so I naturally took him along to continue our bad a** husbands tour the wasteland schtick, only to find out that... no lines. I did eventually do a Nick playthrough, and I like him ofc, but I really wish everyone else got any sort of a chance or refresh too.
Yeah.. cait was my favorite and I was so damn disappointed she had no lines, made me a little disappointed immersion wise. Still though atleast nick was there, made it a little enjoyable but damn I still wish cait was there with me 💔.
I intentionally to Deacon, thinking he'd definitely have things to say about an entire settlement of synths, but nada. *sigh*