Its hard to sum this game up in a few paragraphs but I'll do my best.
Upon starting my first play through of Fallout 4 I found my self confused and naive to many features/ and abilities the game offered its users. For example for probably 12-15 lvl ups I had no idea you could get indifivual perks- I thought the main perk upgrades (strength,agility,luck,etc) were the only ones to upgrade. I'm sure this wouldn't have been an issue had I played earlier Fallout releases; my first time playing any of the Fallouts. Occasionally I found myself searching online for mission troubleshooting. Searching for walk-through guides is something I rarely do unless I'm truly stuck. It was in some of my troubleshooting I began seeing other aspects of the game I was previously unaware of.
The learning curve for a first time player (playing on normal) was quite difficult. I'm also an avid gamer and while I don't play as much as I used to, I've spent many hours on games I adored and couldn't get enough of. So I consider myself a decent or skilled gamer for most FPS, driving, and RPG games. This game was an exception. I found, for the first half of this game to be just difficult enough when set to normal. I never tried easy and hard got me into bad situations much too quickly-however this was doable with several good perks and a power armor suite (yet another vital tool one should acquire ASAP in the game) . With power armor fiercer enemies were much less threatening. But after a bit I switched it back to normal as it was just right at the time for my game-play.
The map was stunning when looking around from high vantage points. I could only imagine how incredible this is to see on PC. Textures on characters and the environment were done very well for the limited capabilities of XBOXONE's hardware. However, I'm not sure if this is directly related, but the loading times were tiring. To make things worse every time one decided to fast travel (a essential feature), or even entering new building one would see a loading screen. Eventually it felt as though the loading screen took much too long, what seemed like a couple minutes each time. Quickly this was frustrating and led to me usually turning the game off. A big negative for me.
Quick saves were available whenever you should desire. One could also adjust save settings. Every time you pull up the pipboy (interface for map/abilities and more) after 5 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins after you had the pipboy screen open it will auto save, depending on your choice. On the first play through I had maybe one time where my save file was 'corrupt' and needed to load from another point in the game (maybe 4 lvls back) after that I decided to save the game in new slots to avoid the issue.
The missions were excellent, and while most involved similar tasks (clearing locations of enemies, defending settlements, retrieving items, and defeating bosses) the game included enough side missions where nothing became too competitive. That is unless you decide to play the minutemen mission which after the first few are very similar if not repeats of previous missions. The game offered much variety in which outcomes and overall destiny one could choose- hense my second play through of the story. Also conversations offered a couple different approaches depending on your lvl and charm. Unfortunately some missions which weren't very far into the game required two or more perk upgrades to proceed and complete the mission(s). This meant going around doing side missions or free roaming and killing which presented small drawbacks like less ammo in general. The ammo isn't always cheap but smaller calibers are reasonably priced.
The dialogue could be compare to a well written novel because of its specificity. Even though this was fiction they did a great job in beefing up the materials which increased the authenticity. Voices were excellent, most of the notable characters appeared to match the visuals and keep me interested. This is not to say I didn't skip many scenes, but I usually do in RPG's. I typically watch either half the scenes or only stick to main mission scenes which appear to be most pertinent to the storyline. Either way I was still very satisfied.
Combat was interested as the landscape was regularly changing through the game, although one could find oneself returning to locations for items, side missions, etc. Combustibility of weapons and armor felt gave the game that addictive quality where I always wanted to see how much add ons increased the weapons potential. The amount of weapons was great with a wide variety to choose from, and after occasionally stumbling across a powerful legendary weapon what followed was very rewarding and entertaining. I was lucky my first time playing and got the guess rifle early. I never needed to upgrade it and was my go-to gun for troublesome enemies, or if I didn't want the hassle of unloading 3 clips on a couple lower to medium lvl guys.
Altogether Fallout 4 was a great experience for me. Most of the time I find the latest games to deliver great multi-player modes, so its refreshing to play an RPG with the substance in single player campaign which contends games dominating in a multi-player experiences.
Worth the buy. Enjoy a couple times through!
Major drawbacks: loading times, and learning curve if first time playing a Fallout game.