Fallout 4 vs Skyrim – Differences and Similarities

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Adam Braunstein

Adam is our resident VR enthusiast and a dedicated member of the Wasteland Gamers team. He loves RPGs more than any other genre and enjoys nothing more than getting lost in a huge open world, whether that be the Mojave, the Capital Wasteland or The Commonwealth. His standout RPG titles are Fallout 4, Skyrim and Bloodborne, and longs for the day when RPG's release on VR platforms as standard.

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Two of the most iconic franchises in the RPG world happen to be from the same developer. Bethesda is the mastermind behind both Fallout 4 vs Skyrim and before they torched their reputation with the initial release of Fallout 76, they were hailed as RPG gods for these two masterworks. Each of these games has 100+ hours of content and when you consider the mods that can be added on, both are games that can last you an entire year or more depending on how much you play.

I’ve been a die-hard Bethesda fan ever since The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion came out, so I’ve made it a point to get all of their games on their release date. Skyrim quickly swallowed up most of the first semester of my senior year of college in 2011 and Fallout 4 has been a consistent game I’ve played since its release in 2015.

I fell off both for a little bit, but when they were both released in VR, I’ve shoved them both back into my weekly gaming sessions. The reason is both games create worlds that are so unique and fascinating to explore. Fallout 4 has mystery and horror to intrigue me and Skyrim has fantasy and awe that does the same. These are two sides of the same coin and you really can’t go wrong with either one, but what if you can only afford one of the games or only care to have one in your gaming backlog? If that’s the case, let’s figure out which one is right for you.

Story

Both Fallout 4 and Skyrim are not well known for their stories, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t solid tales that will last you a good amount of time.

Let’s start with Fallout 4’s story. You play as a nameless man or woman who begins the game in the near future with their wife/husband, son and robot butler when all of a sudden nuclear sirens sound that bombs are coming and you and your family are rushed to the nearby vault for protection.

From there, you are cryogenically frozen into the future and your son is stolen and your wife/husband is killed in their pod. You wake up far into the future and immediately set out on a journey to find your son and rescue the remnants of your family. While it’s an engaging premise, it takes a while to really kick into gear and the early hours of the story tend to drag.

You’re given multiple fetch quests that aren’t all that interesting and you won’t be taking on any really intriguing quests until roughly the halfway point of the game. Once you get to that point, everything kicks into high gear and both the missions and story are on point and the race to the finish line here is a fascinating one with a particularly awesome ending that not a lot of people could see coming.

It’s a solid story with some great characters like Nick Valentine, a Synth (think cyborg) who inhabits the body of an old Boston detective and he’s one of the better companions I’ve seen in a game in a long time. The villains are a bit lacking here though and the majority of your time will be spent facing off against a bounty hunter named Kellog who is one of the more boring villains out there. Overall it’s a decently lengthed story that has some fantastic highs to go along with several lows.

Skyrim has you start as a nameless warrior being sent to the chopping block for literally just being at the wrong place at the wrong time.  Of course, you survive this fate as an evil dragon attacks the town and sets the place ablaze and in the chaos, you manage to escape. Much like in Fallout 4, you escape a dark cave at the beginning to be unleashed on the world of Skyrim.

From that point, you discover that you can absorb dragon souls and are dubbed the Dragonborn by many across the land. Your quest then teams you up with the Blades, an ancient group of dragon slayers who have maintained order for decades. You go slowly uncover what is happening with the dragon attack and the return of dragons in general and then head out on a quest to defeat the dragon once and for all.

As far as storytelling goes, Skyrim takes the cake here with some awesome fights, amazing dungeon crawling, and incredible visual encounters. Yes, things get very cliche here as you’re pretty much the typical chosen one hero sent to save the world, and blah blah you’ve heard it all before. Regardless, it’s a well-told story that takes some interesting twists and most importantly, has you exploring some unbelievably cool locations. Highlights include a secret mission to infiltrate a Thalmor Embassy and several cool scenarios like this play out over time.

In addition to this main storyline is a completely separate story involving the Civil War in Skyrim. See, the Imperials and Stormcloaks are fighting over who should be the true king of Skyrim. On one side, you’ve got the Stormcloaks with their self-proclaimed, one true king, UIfric Stormcloak who shares your ability to shout like dragons.

On the other side, you’ve got the Imperials who just had their king literally ripped apart by Ulfric’s voice, so they’re none too happy either. There is no good and evil side here and who you join is completely up to you. Each one will have a recruitment mission and several massive battles to take part in and it’s a well-realized sub-story that plays out alongside the main one to add some depth to the game.

If you’re playing these games strictly for a story, I’d say Skyrim is the better one by a large margin, but Fallout 4’s is still interesting and fun to experience as well.

Combat

The gameplay between these two games is pretty different. Fallout 4 is a first or third person shooter depending on your preference while Skyrim is a first of the third-person fantasy-action game. Let’s explore Fallout 4 first.

Fallout 4 Combat System

Fallout 4 starts you off as a newbie to the wasteland and you’ll be lucky if you can even find bullets for your gun to start out. As you take on more missions and start fighting for your survival in the wasteland, you will loot boxes and fallen enemies and quickly unlock a formidable arsenal.

Your weapons start out very weak with Pipe weapons that looks like the most makeshift weapons you’ve ever seen. As you level up though, you’ll start to see better and better weapons able to be bought and you’ll eventually end up with chain guns, laser rifles, and even a gun that launch miniature nukes.

The shooting is pretty decent, but you need to keep in mind that because this is still an RPG, that there are some behind the scenes dices rolls determining if your shots are going to be accurate or not. While this can be changed with mods, the base game doesn’t fully respect your aiming abilities and that can make the shooting feel a little unfair at times since your enemies are pretty damn accurate mostly.

V.A.T.S

Combat has some unique parts to it though and the most prominent is the VATS system. This allows you to freeze time and target specific body parts to shoot. Each body part has a percentage attached and it changes based on how far your are from the target and what gun you are using. For example, a shotgun will have a very low probability of hitting a headshot unless you’re at point blank, but it will pretty easily hit the chest or arms and legs because of its bullet spread.

A sniper rifle on the other handle will be deadly accurate at long ranges and likely be able to pull off head shots with ease. Action points govern how long you can be in VATS for and if you build them up to the max, you can execute a critical attack which does massive damage and often kills an enemy instantly.

If all that wasn’t enough you’ve also got melee weapons that use VATS as well and you’ll find some wild variations here like sledgehammers with rocket fuel attached and all kinds of makeshift melee weapons that are fully upgradeable. You can upgrade your weapons and armor as well and finding all the scraps and resources needed to make the elite equipment is a great time.

Power Armor

Power Armor is back in Fallout 4 as well and these hulking suits of armor have several variations to find and each one has unique stats and capabilities. The Power Armor basically puts you in a mini mech that turns you into a really tough target and it extends your health substantially as well.

You can also use the biggest guns in the game like the Chaingun and Fat Man nuke launcher while in Power Armor while also being able to move around which is generally not doable without it on. When you’re taking on the toughest enemies in the game like Deathclaws or Behemoths, you’re going to want some Power Armor nearby to even the score.

Fallout 4’s combat is a fast-paced and exciting combat system that forces you to strategize as your surroundings and cover could be the difference between life or death.

Skyrim Combat System

Skyrim’s combat is a decidedly different beast. Instead of using guns and bats and Power Armor, you’ll be doing your fighting with swords, shields, magic, bows, and dragon shouts. While most RPGs would usually ask you to choose a class and you’d be locked into that style of play for the majority of your playthrough, in Skyrim, you can play any way you want.

Depending on what type of fighter you are, those will be the skills that get upgraded the most. For example, if you fight with a sword and shield, your one handed skill and your block skill are going to substantially increase.

Melee Combat

Melee combat involves either dual-wielding, sword and shield, two-handed weapons or even dual swords or axes. Each one of these weapons has a power attack for it that causes a substantial amount of damage that’s around double your base attack. The caveat here is that you have these attacks linked to stamina and the more you use them, the less stamina you’ll have and when you run out, you’ll be unable to attack efficiently.

Because of this, its recommended to combine light attacks and heavy ones depending on your situation. You’ll unlock additional power attacks throughout your playthrough too, so the more you specialize in one area of combat the cooler the things you’ll be able to do.

Archery

Archery is fantastic here too and you’re given tons of tools to become an amazing archer. You start out as a basic archer, but as you fire more and more arrows, you’ll get bonuses for attacking while sleeping, you’ll be able to zoom in and even slow down your strikes too.

There are tons of different kinds of arrows available that have different effects available as well. You can either be an aggressive archer or be a stealth one here and depending on how you progress up the skill tree, that will change the type of archer you become.

Magic

Magic is possibly the most fun part of Skyrim. You are given an awesome range of spells here and while you start out flinging pretty weak fireballs and icicles, you’ll eventually be causing massive blizzard storms, blasting massive lightning beams, and burning the whole area around you to the ground.

You can wield a spell in each hand and there are different schools to choose from. You’ll have healing spells, telepathy, magic shields, conjuration spells, and more. The mixing and matching here is endless and you can have a fire spell in one hand while you heal in the other, or you can conjure a spirit to fight with you, then switch to melee weapons to fight alongside them.

You can even also poison, confuse, absorb health and cause general chaos to any enemy you fight. Your spells will become more impactful as you fight too and that adds to the feeling that you’re becoming an expert magic user.

Dragon Shouts

Magic is one thing, but you are the Dragonborn and that means you have access to a power that few others possess, the Dragon Shout. You will learn your first few shouts by following the main story, but from there, you need to find the rest on your own. Dragon Shouts are all incredibly unique and perform completely differently in their use.

One Shout will blow your enemy away with a blast of invisible energy, another will give you the power of super speed and others will grant you the ability to freeze time, calm hostile predators and even manipulate the weather. Finding these shouts usually means taking on Dragons or plumbing the depths of the various crypts and caves you’ll find throughout Skyrim.

There are tons of spells to learn, weapons to find, and armors to acquire throughout your playthrough and as you progress up the skill tree, you’ll unlock tons of new abilities that make combat feel better and better as the game goes on.

While they are two completely different styles of combat, Skyrim by its nature allows for way more options in terms of how you want to go about doing your fighting.  Not everyone loves melee combat though and some prefer their action bloodier and with guns. Two flavors, both amazing, and both feel great hours into the game.

The Worlds

The best part of any Bethesda game is never the characters, the missions, the weapons or the combat system. The stars of the show have always been the worlds these games take place in. The two flagship franchises of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout have two of the most fascinating worlds out there yet both are completely different in every way.

Fallout 4’s Game World

For Fallout 4, we get to explore the Commonwealth which, while not explicitly stated to be a post-apocalyptic version of Boston and the surrounding suburbs, it’s pretty clear that’s exactly where we are. To start, you’ll begin wondering what used to be lived in suburbs and while at a glance it seems very normal, inside you’ll see the ravaged and pillaged homes that used to be filled with people.

The world-building is outstanding here and you can see old baseball gloves, family portraits torn to pieces, and old TVs to paint you a picture of what life was like before the world was nuked to hell and back.

The Commonwealth

As you continue exploring, you’ll come upon what was once the bustling city of Boston. I don’t believe they actually have signs or even mention Boston (maybe Nick Valentine does? I’m a bit blurry on this) but the second you get to Diamond City, it all becomes very apparent.

The reason is that Diamond City is none other than the world-famous Fenway Park and home of the Boston Red Sox. It’s an incredible touch that simultaneously shows the spirit of the city by making their beloved baseball franchise stadium the last bastion of sanity in an increasingly dangerous world as well as showing us just how desperate the situation here really is.

To show the dichotomy of Diamond City, there’s also Goodneighbor, a hilariously named derelict society that appears to be made up of what was once Boston’s bar scene and the inhabitants are none too friendly and it’s all run by a terrifying half-ghoul named Hancock who dresses like a pirate.

Clothing is very telling here of a world that has pretty much given up. People are wearing whatever the hell they want without a care in the world and it’s clear when a man dressed like a pirate gets up to speak in front of an entire town and has their undivided attention.

As you explore the Commonwealth some more, you’ll start to see what the reality of the post-nuclear war really is like. Raider camps around every other street corner, Super Mutants, who are mutated humans from radiation, ruling over warehouses and abandoned factories and far, far worse.

Venture further into the vaults and subway tunnels you find and you’ll discover that you’re far from alone down there. While some humans managed to survive the radiation with just disfigurement, others were not so lucky and these areas tend to be infested with irradiated ghouls which are essentially zombies and these come in massive groups, so be ready for a fight when exploring the darkest depths of the Commonwealth.

The Glowing Sea

Venture forth some more and you’ll discover the radiation-filled world of the Glowing Sea, a place so dangerous that you almost immediately drop dead from the poisonous radiation. In order to traverse this horrifying land, you’ll need Power Armor and once you start wandering around in it, you’re likely to see a horrifying radiation storm, which have become commonplace in this new world as the atmosphere has been badly damaged from the bombs.

It’s in the Glowing Sea that you’ll find some of the toughest enemies in the game like the Deathclaw, a hulking beast that resembles something out of a nightmare and it can destroy you in just a few hits.

Progressing through the story will take you to some even more interesting places like areas within the Institute, which is a highly advanced compound that essentially pulls the strings of the above world. You will also visit the Brotherhood of Steel who are the last remaining form of military that the country has. These hulking warriors cast out their judgment wearing the most sophisticated power armor and you get a chance to join them and take on missions for their cause as well.

Fallout 4’s world is a scary one that has a quiet beauty to it. It expertly shows you what once was while emphasizing how terrifying what now is without beating you over the head with it. It doesn’t throw constant monstrosities at you and make it feel like you’re playing DOOM, it instead allows you moments to breathe, it builds up the tension and the dread, and chooses to unleash its darkest secrets to you when you least expect it. The journey through the Commonwealth is a memorable one and it’s one of the more impressively crafted video game worlds out there.

Skyrim’s Game World

Skyrim is a completely different story. Instead of a barren wasteland filled with browns and grays, you’re instead treated to the majestic northern province of Skyrim. It’s a truly beautiful world filled with lush forests, snow-covered mountains, rivers, open farmlands, and incredible architecture. After you escape your initial predicament in Helgen, you’re given free roam to explore this world as you see fit.

The Holds of Skyrim

There is tons of life and civilization all over the place in Skyrim and all of it is accessible from the get-go. There is the quiet town of Riverwood to start you off in, but soon you’ll venture to the more populated city of Whiterun and from there you’ll explore the seat of the one true king in Windhelm and even head all the way across the map to the rich and imperial city of Solitude. There are several other fascinating cities to explore with my favorite being Markarth, a city built on stone and dwarven architecture that is completely vertical based.

Each of these cities is part of a hold and under these holds, there is usually a main city and then several towns. Each of these cities has a Jarl in charge and you’re free to take on missions for them as you see fit. What also makes these places unique is the military presence in each. Some cities will be loyal to the Imperials, while you might find Stormcloaks at a camp nearby others. Generally, the eastern side of the map sides with the Stormcloaks and the west sides with the Imperials.

In each of these cities, you will witness random events all over from bar fights to murders in the street. While these events are scripted, they come in many forms and it’s an awesome surprise each time you enter a new city to see what new event you’re going to see.

Skyrim’s Wilderness

Of course, Skyrim is a fantasy world, so while you’ll be getting a good dose of normalcy in the towns and cities of the world, heading outside the safety of those places leads to some more dangerous encounters. Traversing the snow-covered mountains might have you happen upon a Cave Troll having its first meal of the day, or heading to a nearby cemetery site might arise Skeletons from their age-old slumber. In the open farmlands, you’ll often see massive mammoths and their owners, the Giants, who pay you no mind unless you steal from them or get too close to their home ground.

Discovering The Depths

Turning any corner in Skyrim often leads to new discoveries and one thing you’ll find plenty of is ancient crypts. These come in all shapes and sizes and when you delve deep into the long-forgotten recesses of Skyrim, you’ll encounter the horrific Draugr, undead warriors from civilization’s past that become awakened when you, the Dragonborn approaches. These Draugr wander the darkness in packs with a large variety to them with the fearsome, ancient Dragon Priests often being the bosses in many of these areas.

The long-lost crypts will creep you out for sure, but there are even more mysteries to discover in this world. Elsewhere in Skyrim you will encounter Dwemer structures that are often in the more snow-covered areas and these are massive structures that house an entire underground world beneath them. I’m not exaggerating, some of these Dwemer ruins will have you exploring for hours as you plumb deeper and deeper into the unknown depths and you’ll be astounded at how far the rabbit hole goes here.

As you go lower and lower into the Dwemer structures, you’ll encounter the Falmer. These are blind creatures that can sense you by your sound and they are sophisticated and fight with melee, magic and bows just as you do. As you discover various books and notes lying about the world, you will find out that these were once a proud race of Elves that were kept deep in these structures by the mysterious Dwemer and their deprivation of light from the above-ground world eventually drove them all insane and cause their blindness.

If you dare to go even further down these structures, you’ll encounter terrifying insect enemies and massive, Dwarven Automaton robots that seem from a different world entirely and these enemies can destroy you in no time at all. It’s not all awful as you keep traveling downward though as eventually, you’ll reach an area called the Blackreach.

This is one of the most incredible looking places in videogame history and it’s filled with glowing mushroom trees and a fascinating array of colors that will hypnotize you. Of course, this area houses some incredibly tough challenges as well, but I’ll leave up to you to discover yourself.

In each of the towns, you’ll often be introduced to the guilds. There are tons to join and each one has their own storyline and characters to discover. While some are of the more typical variety like the Thieves Guild or The Companions, others offer darker storylines like The Dark Brotherhood, who turn you into an assassin that serves the Night Mother. If you want more fantasy fair though, you can head up north to Winterhold and discover the College of Winterhold, which is a Mage college that has its own storyline and teaches you how to properly use magic.

Dragons

Of course, we can’t talk about Skyrim’s world without mentioning perhaps the most important piece of all and that is the dragons. These encounters are always amazing and although some of them are story-driven, you’re also able to encounter dragons completely organically as well. Every so often, you’ll see a dragon roar in the distance and start circling from above.

These dragon attacks can happen in the wilderness, but the coolest feature is that they will often attack towns as well. When a dragon attacks a town, you might assume it’s solely on you to make the bad thing go away, but that’s not the case at all in Skyrim. Here, the citizens and guards of the town will all take up arms to defend their homes and it becomes an epic fight of man vs. beast as they launch arrows and slash swords alongside you as you struggle to fell this epic creature.

The dragon encounters aren’t just cool to experience, they’re also incredibly valuable to you as the Dragonborn because with each dragon defeated, you absorb its soul and you use these souls to unlock the Dragon Shouts that you’ve acquired. You can also sell the dragon bones you find for hefty sums of money too, so it’s worth scavenging their skeletons after the fight as well.

The vibes of these two different game worlds are so different, and that’s not a bad thing as there are plenty of people who have a desire to experience both like me. Skyrim offers you a magical world so far removed from our own that it seems completely alien. It’s filled with brimming civilization, wildlife, and color while also having the dark and scary moments that Fallout 4 has plenty of.

Fallout 4 is a depressing world of gray and brown, but it’s powerful and thoughtful and it can be warm at times while feeling cold and bleak at others. It’s a fight to rebuild a lost world and in that way, it’s a world that needs you more urgently. Both are amazing, I can’t choose here.

The Supporting Casts

Key to every Bethesda game is the supporting cast and although some of these characters exist in the background or purely act as quest givers, others tag along and add a whole other layer of color to your journey. The Followers available in Fallout 4 and Skyrim are both numerous and varied in their character, so let’s see what we’ve got in each.

Fallout 4’s Followers

Fallout 4 has you exploring a world that is trying to come back from what was a complete collapse, so with that in mind, the Followers you’ll have the ability to recruit are reflective of the awful environment you’re stuck in. I’m going to highlight a few standouts, although there are plenty more to discover along the way.

Your first follower is Dogmeat, an adorable German Shepard who you find shortly after exiting the vault, and this good boy can join you on your journey at any time and even proves to be valuable on some story-specific quests as well. He attacks your enemies alongside you by biting their arms and legs and he’s often a great distraction for you to line up your perfect shot.

Shortly after you meet Dogmeat, you’ll head to Diamond City where a few more Followers become available. The standout here is Nick Valentine, a synthetic being who acts as the cities main detective/policeman. Nick clearly has been through the wringer as parts of him are clearly damaged or even completely gone and his bright yellow cybernetic eyes give his character a chilling look that dichotomizes perfectly with his friendly disposition.

Nick is a Synth that was given the brain of an old detective from before the war, and he both speaks and acts like it. He talks in an old-time fashion that’s both charming and unsettling. He knows this brain was not his, but he accepts his predicament and is loyal is they come. He fights with whatever weapon you give him and he’s an excellent shot. He also has a questline of his own to take on if you so choose and doing so will up his affinity towards you greatly.

Aside from Nick and Dogmeat, you’ll find Followers in the form of a nosy female reporter, a rough and tumble Irish cage fighter, a Super Mutant who wants to return to humanity, and also a member of the Brother of Steel. The DLC also offers some new Followers as well, so the options here are incredibly varied and each character is bursting with personality and some very solid voice acting to boot.

Each of the characters comes with side missions and various quirks to their characters too and it’s a thrill to see some of them in action like watching your Super Mutant Follower destroy an enemy with a melee attack and then talk to you about finding him some milk.

The Followers of Fallout 4 are an awesome package and although the world is depressing as can be, they offer glimpses of hope in joy in a place that seems devoid of both.

Skyrim’s Followers

Skyrim comes with a large cast of characters to become your Followers as well. One of the first Followers you can have join your side is Lydia, the Housecarl of Whiterun and while she isn’t too interesting, she’s the first real ally you have in Skyrim and that counts for something. As you explore the world more, you’ll find various taverns and other areas that have people willing to work for you for the right price and some of these characters are fantastic to take on journeys with you.

Skyrim’s suite of Followers is enormous and some will only become available after completing certain quests. Cicero is one of the more insane followers you’ll encounter in the game and he can only become a follower after you join the Dark Brotherhood. He offers unique sneaking and one-handed combat ability and can level up to level 50 which makes him a rarity as many followers only level to around 30.

Jenassa is another awesome companion who you can hire at a tavern in Whiterun and she’s a Dark Elf with a unique voice who cuts an intimidating figure with her customary greatsword at her side. She’s got more attitude than most Followers you’ll encounter and she’s also unique in that she’ll allow pretty much any crime you commit in front of her and she’ll even take directions from you to kill anyone you desire as well. This is rare as a lot of Skyrim characters have a sense of morality to them that will often make them disapprove of your actions or even turn on you completely.

The Followers in Skyrim are massive in their number and each one comes with a unique set of skills as well as an individual morality to them that governs just how much evil you can commit in front of them before they turn on you. In addition to this, many of the Followers in the game can be married and even had kids with and this flexibility is incredible.

Fallout 4 has a smaller cast of Followers, but the standouts are truly memorable as the personalities they bring are an outstanding addition to the world you’re exploring. Skyrim has way more Followers as well as options on how to interact with them, but not nearly as many standouts. This is all about preference, both games have human and inhuman followers alike too, so the variety is still plenty available in both games.

DLC

Both Skyrim and Fallout 4 have an enormous amount of content to consume, but once you’ve exhausted the maps on both games for things to do, you might be wondering what to do next. Bethesda realized that and just a short while after both games released, DLC came out that extended both experiences substantially. Skyrim had the Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn while Fallout 4 has Nuka Harbor, Automatron, and Far Harbour. Let’s find out what both have to offer.

Skyrim’s DLC

Dawnguard

Skyrim’s DLC is vast and each piece offers a different kind of experience. Dawnguard has you taking up arms for either the Dawnguard, an ancient society of Vampire hunters, or conversely, joining the Vampires and taking down the Dawnguard. This is a substantial questline that offers two new factions, multiple new followers, multiple quest line endings, and tons of new weapons and spells to learn as well as a brand new Vampire form. It’s an exciting questline that takes you to some awe-inspiring and some horrific areas and it’s all bolstered by some great writing and intriguing new characters.

The Vampires are appropriately creepy and the Dawnguard are complete hardasses who are fully dedicated to completing their mission by any means necessary. Key characters will die and some huge battles will be fought as you discover more about the ancient conflict between these two different worlds. In total, Dawnguard will last you about 10 hours and at a certain point, you’ll be able to choose between the two sides, and it’s recommended you save here so you can experience both sides of the story.

Dragonborn

Dragonborn is a massive questline that not only gives you a new story to experience but an entirely new land to explore. After you’re unceremoniously attacked by enemies called the Cultists of Miraak, you find a note letting you know you’ve been targeted as the False Dragonborn and that is not a good thing.

After this attack, you can take a ship in Winterhold to Solstheim, an island in Morrowind that is a very different place from Skyrim. You’ll enter a harsh land with hot deserts and frozen wilds to explore and the civilization on display here is far more primitive than the bustling cities and town of Skyrim.

The vibe here is one of complete mystery and this won’t be the only land you’ll explore here as the main Dragonborn storyline will take you into some creepy new worlds where you’ll encounter enemies never seen before and you’ll gain some godly powers here as well.

The new enemies are varied and one of the highlights is the Rieklings, which are little goblin-like creatures that throw spears at you. Speaking of Spears, they are just one of the new weapons you can find. You’ll have tons of new armor, new Dragon Shouts, magical abilities, and side quests to find while you’re here too.

The culmination of this storyline gives you the coolest Dragon Shout in the game which is the ability to ride dragons. That’s right, from the moment you finish the story, you will be able to ride a dragon anywhere you’d like in Skyrim and even attack with them too. It’s an incredible reward to a very cool journey that introduces some cool new characters and Followers to help you along in the journey as well.

Hearthfire

Not everyone loves the relationship side of Skyrim, but for those that do, this is an excellent add-on. Hearthfire adds the ability to have an entire family and to build a house of your own in any of the cities or towns in Skyrim. You can select your Followers to be Stewards, hire Bards and so much more that makes your Skyrim experience feel more personalized. This isn’t a massive content add-on, but it’s a cool addition that didn’t have to be there, and the fact that Bethesda cared enough about players who liked the family aspect to put this content in is impressive.

Far Harbor

Far Harbor is a fairly sizeable add-on that tasks you with taking on a new mission from Nick Valentine’s agency as you search for a mysterious young woman. This leads to discovering an entire colony of Synths and discovering a growing conflict between the Synths, the townspeople, and the Children of Atom.

You can decide what sides you want to support here and experience some branching storyline based on what you choose. This is a massive quest that takes you down some interesting paths and gives you brand new factions to join, new settlements to create, brand new enemies to face, and a bunch of new dungeons as well.

This is the most sizeable DLC Bethesda has ever made and it certainly feels that way. Far Harbor is pretty much an entire game unto itself and the story here is engaging and fits right into the rest of the world. You’ll find a lot to do here and the new land is awesome to explore as it feels a bit more like older Fallout games in both its atmosphere and quest design. This is a very difficult DLC and you need to make sure you’re ready to handle it before you embark on the initial quest.

Automatron

Fallout 4 has always been pretty quirky and with the Automatron DLC, you get that on full display as you embark on a bizarre quest to stop the Mechanist, who has released a massive army of evil robots into the Commonwealth. You’re tasked with hunting them down and taking them apart. Literally.

You can take the parts of the fallen enemies you face in order to make your own robot companions and there are some really cool Followers you can create doing this. There are tons of new armors and weapons to find here. The content here is pretty light, but it’s a cool diversion and it allows you to make customized robots as your Followers, so that makes it well worth it as it’s an add-on that is permanent in the impact it has.

Nuka-World

Nuka World is an awesome diversion from the main game of Fallout 4 and introduces a way more fun environment to the game while also retaining the challenges of the Commonwealth. This DLC gives you Nuka World, a harmless amusement park on the surface and an absolute nightmare in its actuality. It’s a new place to explore that has a wasteland all of its own as well as tons of unique places to find like Dry Rock Gulch, Galactic Zone, and Safari Adventure.

These are some of the craziest areas you’ll find in Fallout 4. You’ll encounter new gangs of raiders here and the cool addition is that you can now join with them and use them to conquer the Commonwealth if you see fit. There are new enemies, new items, weapons, Followers, and more here. It’s a decent-sized DLC that again gives you something to impact your place even after you’ve finished the content of the main storyline.

FAQ

Conclusion

As you can probably tell, Skyrim and Fallout 4 are two games that are very near and dear to me and I don’t believe you can ever get enough of either of them. Sometimes, you want to explore a near-future world on the brink of total collapse to see if you’ve got what it takes to save it.

Other times, you want to lose yourself in a world that is completely unlike our own and witness a civilization running on the ways of our ancestors 100’s of years ago. Both are total escapes and brilliant experiences that bring out unique emotions in the player. If you’re holding a Pipe Pistol to my head, I would have to go with Skyrim for my favorite, but I’m a total fantasy nerd, so that’s no surprise.

Plenty of players will prefer Fallout 4 for its focus on realism and I can’t blame them for that either. Luckily, these two are often bundled together in package deals, so try and get both if you can, you won’t regret it.