Hype and Expectations - my thoughts on Fallout 4

It was set to be the biggest game release of the year, Bethesda's new post-apocolyptic RPG. We all expected something like Skyrim with guns, but even better than that. What actually shipped was something I have played a massive amount of time into and have enjoyed immensely, enough for it to be my personal game of the year, but talking to friends it seemed that all was not as rosy in other peoples gardens. The main reason I bring this up is that a friend leveled many of the same complaints that both of us had with Fallout 3, the small map, the lame questlines and the boring story. He said that Fallout 4 was too small and too linear. I would dispute this, as for the first time in a 3D Fallout game, I feel like the world is quite large. Sure the map of Fallout New Vegas is really big, but with how scattered everything is, and how far apart the main towns are. Not to mention the large areas of empty space between them, making them pointless to explore, Fallout New Vegas felt small because of its linearity. I don't feel this way with Fallout 4, sure the map may be smaller, but due to the abundance of towns with which to do buisness and other activities in them, as well as the sheer number of locations between them to explore, the world of Fallout 4 feels much larger than any previous 3D fallout game, I could waster hours just walking to a far away point and checking out every stop on the way, and enjoy it far more than with either of the other 3D games.

But more to the point of the hype game. Having avoided all exposure to the game pre release, I went into the game with a fresh mind and an openness that none of the other people I know had. They all went into the game with a real purpose of what they wanted to do based on what features they liked from the pre-release videos and demos. This way I was truly able to immerse myself in the game world and experience every thing it had to offer in a way that made me excited to see what was next and eager to explore the new features. This way I was not disappointed when certain feature weren't as expansive or as good as I had hoped based on what I saw before the game came out.

Anyway thats my theory so far. Wait with baited breath for the release of Pokemon Sun and Moon in which I will avoid all the hype and release info and see if the same thing happened.

-Dallywoop