@holyxion: First, I think I try to make the case here that FO4 isn't just Cold War 2 + China. Through its intro narration and through a whole bunch of quests, it makes the case that its version of America was falling apart before the war hit. The war only exacerbated those problems by leading society to double down on their shitty, short-sighted, selfish plans of action.
Second, yes, it's definitely still a power fantasy. But dismissing fantasy as bad is a facile position--and I say that as someone who has spent the better part of my career critiquing power fantasies. We need to make distinctions between different sorts of power fantasies (Which is part of an argument I make in my review of The Crew from last year.) In this case, what I'm saying is that the fantasy of resource-limited aesthetic organization is a sort of playful fantasy that runs contrary to the most popular examples of post-apoc storytelling. Normally those are stories about kill-or-be-killed subsistence or (often failed) attempts at escape. Part of why I loved Fury Road was that it ran contrary to these, and Fallout's settlement stuff does a similar thing thing for me: Okay, things are fucked, but we should still try to find joy in the world in a way that isn't just about conquering others or fleeing towards some hypothetical (and unlikely) better world. That's worth separating from other sorts of fantasies.
@arjann: It actually doesn't. I know this because I used to teach it that way and then had a much smarter colleague correct me! Just a very popular misconception.
@gaff: @wicket42: @cooljammer00:I want Anno 2007 SO BADLY. Just think about it: It starts just before the recession hits, the year of the first iPhone and the spread of smartphones, Kanye's Stronger is out... it's so good.
@ichthy: Yeah, that I know (I think the current game in my game slot is Gundam Breaker 2 and I'm currently looking for a new place to pre-order Gundam EX VS Force English Asia Edition). If I came across that way, my bad!
@naion: Heads up, they absolutely didn't change Lin's model. The picture comparison that is floating around is (unintentionally) deceptive. It's comparing a screen-capture with a photo taken of a screen at a strange angle that makes her seem shrunk in a strange way. Take it from someone 37 hours into the game: her model is the same.
@bad_haggis: Lots and lots and lots of customization options. You can totally change your character's look, and yes, gear changes are reflected on the model. The player character can be female, and you can eventually even unlock the ability to totally remake your character from the ground up.
There's no city building, though. Instead, you can build probes to harness mineral resources from the different regions on the map, which you can then use to upgrade and develop new gear.
@shtinky: The embargo was actually pretty loose! I could've taken us to every biome/continent, but so many of my "wow" moments have been the first time I've come to a new place that I just wanted to give a taste of it without totally spoiling that experience for interested players.
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