10 Fallout 4 Quizzes That Feel Too Much For Seconds

Bethesda’s Fallout 4 was more than a little divisive, but the game has a strong following and is full of quests that make you think twice. Its open world, many factions, and time-consuming diversions like residential construction have given many of us reasons to keep coming back.

And when we did, we noticed that many of the quests in the game took on a new sense of sadness the second time around. While the Fallout franchise is one full of humor and fun, there are some serious moments as well. And armed with more information, sometimes, what was funny became sad, and what was easy became difficult to choose.

10

Baby in the Fridge

He Stuck In The Fridge For Hundreds Of Years, AND He’s A Ghoul

When you encounter this quest for the first time, it sounds absurd. But like the helpful Lone Survivor many of us are, we reunite Billy with his parents and move on… maybe amused by the silliness of it all.

Then we play it again, and we see that this child has been trapped in a freezer for centuries without food or company. Ignoring the lore and the absurdity of it all, that’s a long time for a child to be alone without anyone else in the world. And it’s very sad if, when he comes out, you decide to sell him to the Gunners!

9

Returns the order

Good Intentions Gone Too Bad

The Automatron DLC is kind of pulpy, kind of wacky, and a lot of fun. Crafting your own robots was a great game in Fallout 4, and the quest line associated with it wasn’t bad, either – and it featured memorable characters like the sarcastic robobrain and the evil Jezebel. It has its funny moments, but it feels like a righteous revenge story, too, which is always entertaining.

Unless you play it again, you understand that it’s all just an attempt to help it go bad. The Mechanist was not a criminal: he wanted to make life better for everyone in the Commonwealth. It didn’t turn out the way he wanted, and there were dire consequences.

8

Close to home

You don’t know who or what you are

Kasumi Nakano’s story is a mystery, with no clear answer as to whether she is human or synth. Really, the quest is about his need to face uncertainty and find himself more than anything else, which most of us can understand!

The first time I played Far Harbor, I enjoyed its mystery, but I didn’t think about the emotional impact. Second, I spent a lot of time thinking about whether her problem was necessary, especially since it was causing her and her family grief. In the end, no one can know, which is sad but also kind of the point.

7

War Does Not Change

The Calm Before the Nuclear Storm

Fallout 4’s introductory quest, The War Never Changes, opens with a beautiful and homey look at life before the War. Nate and Nora are making up and talking about love, baby Shaun is in his bed, and Codsworth is taking care of the house.

A picture of pre-War happiness. As players, we know that something it’s about to go bad, but I never expected things to go as bad as they did! The second time you play the open, though, you know exactly how it goes. And that makes this small period of domestic happiness more bitter and sad than ever.

6

The Way Life Should Be

Not Who You Think You Are

Far Harbor is full of sad quests that turn sour by the second, but The Way Life Should Be is a prime example. When you realize that Captain Avery has been replaced by the DiMA, you forget all the connections you’ve had with him… and some you’ve had with others.

At first, I didn’t really think about it, but the second I played, every conversation with him – or about her – became a reminder of what DiMA was doing in his quest for peace. He is a living reminder that in the Commonwealth, you can’t even rely on your memories.

5

Brain Dead

Condemned to Madness

This is another Far Harbor application that seems one way at first, then turns into something else the second you look at it. In Brain Dead, you visit a Vault full of mental robots full of pre-War brains.

It’s a murder mystery plot that sounds funny on the surface, but when you go back to it, you realize how painful it is. This desire is filled with people condemned to an immortal life of isolation, instability, and growing madness, trapped in cycles of betrayal and confusion because of the decisions they made before the Great War. It’s a perfect little microcosm of the wider world of Fallout in that sense.

4

Blind Betrayal

Everything He Knew Was A Lie

Paladin Danse is probably one of the Fallout 4 companions with the saddest story overall. He is a devoted member of the Brotherhood of Steel who has a tragic history growing up in Rivet City as an orphan. Super mutants killed his only friend, so he grew to hate non-humans and ghouls. He really drank the Brotherhood Kool-Aid, becoming one of its most prominent champions.

And then, actually, it turns out he was an Institute synth all along, and the Brotherhood wants him dead. The first time you play, this is a big revelation – but the second time? It’s a little ironic, a little poetic, and a little sad when you think about it.

3

A reunion

With Understanding Comes Sorrow

Encounter is one of those quests where your perspective changes dramatically after you play it for the first time – just like every other main quest. For the first time I was filled with righteous anger as I tried to save my son from his captor. Obviously, that didn’t go as planned, but it felt good at the time. Satisfying, indeed. But the second time? I already knew what was going on with Shaun. I understood what happened to Kellogg throughout his life. The application takes on a very different feel, especially Kellogg’s interview. With understanding came sadness, rather than anger.

2

The Best is Forgotten

Secrets and Lies

When we first meet DiMA, he appears to be a man with a shrunken robot mind. He seeks peace between Far Harbor, Acadia, and the Children of the Atom. When I started this mission, I was happy to find a big thing that could help maintain peace on the island.

I didn’t get that. Instead, I discovered the secrets DiMA hid from him, and the silence built on lies and atrocities that ultimately deepened the divide and rift. The reveal was very powerful the first time, but in the second game, there is this sense of inescapable sadness that the war never changes.

1

Established

The Sorrow of a Lost Opportunity

Institutionalized is, in my opinion, one of the saddest quests in Fallout 4 for the first time. It was even sadder on the second go. It’s a question of ups and downs: Shaun is alive! Wait, Shaun is a corporation? No, Shaun is alive and well! But also the leader of the Institute!

First of all, it’s sad that Shaun is alive, even if he’s not what you thought he was. But secondly, when you understand exactly how things end and know more about what Shaun personally ordered, there is a sadness that permeates everything. A sad and painful reminder that in the world of Fallout, almost nothing can escape the dark parts of human nature.