Throughout its history, the Fallout series has more or less always been a single player experience. As an RPG franchise famous for its vast open worlds and bewildering number of missions, this makes sense. Still, things changed with Fallout 76. Bethesda changed the standard formula.
Now, the whole focus is on online multiplayer. Unlike previous Fallout games, Fallout 76 places an emphasis on working with or against other players. While you can play it on your own, doing it is not encouraged or fun.
A stripped experience
Understanding exactly why Bethesda thought Fallout 76 was a good idea is difficult. After all, the Fallout series has a large and dedicated group of fans. Each new game sells millions of copies and becomes a smash hit. But one of the most important things about them is that they are single player experiences. Having players on an adventure on their own means they can explore the world at their own pace. Meanwhile, isolating users allows developers to include choices that truly alter the world. Without having to worry about the effects of other players, decisions can significantly affect the game environment.
To make Fallout 76 a multiplayer experience, the studio has done away with much of what makes the franchise so great. Perhaps the biggest example of this is the lack of NPCs. Instead, tapes, journals, or robotic machines give missions. With no human characters to interact with, the world feels bland and lifeless. All your actions lose impact because you are not really affecting the world. It would be more fair to say that you are cleaning more than anything else. Players end up being like a hazardous materials team sent to fix the mess left behind after a disaster, only able to see the remains of the people who once lived here.
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