Fallout 4 is an open-world experience that offers plenty of content to players, but one has managed to turn over a hundred hours of content into an eight-year-long journey. Bethesda games have always been known for their specific brand of exploration, crafting worlds capable of immersing fans for several years. Whether it's the Dwemer ruins of Skyrim or the irradiated wilderness of the Commonwealth in Fallout 4, even recent Bethesda titles such as Fallout 76 are filled to the brim with hidden secrets, and intriguing details that players often miss on a first playthrough.
The reality of such an accessible (yet surprisingly dense) open world is that it's not meant to be finished in a single go. Most players conclude the main story, wrap up the major factions, explore a decent chunk of the Commonwealth, and move on to different games before coming back to a Bethesda title with refreshed interest and a new perspective. While many fans prefer the story of Fallout: New Vegas, the gunplay in Fallout 4 elevated the franchise's combat in a major way, allowing players to enjoy even moments of mindless carnage across the post-apocalyptic wastes of America.
However, the experience of jocky300 is an outlier to the usual Fallout 4 playthrough, as they have roamed the Commonwealth for the past eight years without taking a break, or even playing other games. As explained in their thread on Fallout's official subreddit, jocky300 enjoyed the escapism that Fallout 4's open world provided, and his example perfectly illustrates on how modern Bethesda games such as Skyrim have managed to stay in the limelight even a decade after release.
While fans often argue that the main plot of Fallout 4 leaves a lot to be desired, and it's certainly a valid expectation that Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 will do better in this regard, the true magic of a Bethesda title in the Creation Engine era has been its sandbox experience. Dungeon delving, monster hunting, settlement making, mini quest solving – players are encouraged to veer off the main path in Fallout 4, and the simple delight of its gameplay has allowed the game to enjoy its longevity despite its shortcomings.
In a time of live service titles, the enduring popularity of Fallout 4 and Skyrim seems all the more impressive, but a great factor that can't be ignored also lies in the unprecedentedly large modding community that these games have built. Fallout 4 mods range from simple quality-of-life additions and gameplay tweaks, to full-fledged total conversion mods such as Fallout London. For players who anxiously await the release of Starfield, revisiting the Commonwealth in Fallout 4 may not be the worst idea.
Fallout 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.