What do you consider to be “your” best Fallout 4 ending?
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This is also posted in Steam Fallout 4 Discussions
I find myself for the second time at the crossroads of the Fallout 4 Main Quest climax, resolving the future of the Commonwealth. This article is a GIANT SPOILER. If you’ve not played this game and think you might, and you don’t like spoilers, stop right here. 
Caveat: This is my opinion. Agreement is not insisted upon!
There are 4 reputable competing factions outside the realm of raiders, roaming bands of renegade robots, and other riff raft.
- The Minutemen, whose goal is to rebuild the Commonwealth.
- The Railroad, whose goal is to provide a path to freedom for persecuted and enslaved synths.
- The Brotherhood of Steel, the second most technically advanced, and powerful militaristic faction.
- And finally The Institute, the most technically advanced faction.
Of these 4 groups, I rank them as listed above. The Minutemen is looking out for the overall good of humanity. The Railroad, could easily be an arm of the Minutemen with a specific task of sentient equal rights. The BoS, who in my opinion is too intolerant and wants to flex its muscle a bit too much.
And finally the Institute, the most advanced, is ranked as the least desirable, because those who posses the most, several hundred if not 500 years of technological advances, that could lift humanity up, that could easily transform the Commonwealth for the better, have decided the best course of action is to pull the ladder down, and hide themselves away in an underground complex, while ****ing with those who live above. This is why I regard them as the most despicable faction. No problem, if you disagree with this characterization
Most painful to the soul survivor is when he/she (depending on the gender you choose to play) is confronted with the admission by her long lost son, that not only does he now run Institute, but that he had the opportunity to save his parent from cyro storage in Vault 111, but instead decided to just turn her loose in the Commonwealth, to take her chances at survival. I find this completely astounding, damning, a symptom of the severely flawed Institute mindset, and the reason why the sole survivor should not side with them. At least that is my position. They don’t even send out feelers and make offers of joint cooperation, it’s a big **** YOU to fellow human beings.
Now this brings me to my major critique of Fallout 4. Yes, it’s just a game, and there are limits to how many choices are available, but I find it inconceivable that Bethesda would contruct this superb game, and try to funnel the player into a position of picking one faction and destroying the others. This statement is not exactly accurate, because the scenarios as laid out in the game, as a general statement, allows for 2 of the 4 factions to survive. But that is just the first part, and btw, it can be mitigated. Keep reading.
The real critique of Fallout 4 is that the only way the Institute’s technology can be saved is to join the Institute. If you choose any other faction, my understanding is the Institute will be destroyed. Please correct me if this is not accurate.
Imagine you are infiltrating the Institute with a strike group. Why the hell, not just take the place over? Why not gather up all of the technical knowledge, save those who surrender and preserve this most valuable of information and this facility? Why the rush to nuke the place? I find this to be the most frustrating aspect of the game’s structure.
And speaking of factions that deserve to exist or not, and although I’m not well versed in the outcome that sees the BoS destroyed, I may explore this outcome. My understanding is that the Minuteman can shell the Prydwn Command Ship. And there is a scenario where the BoS will attack the Railroad. I plan on exploring these scenarios and have set aside a particular save so I can do just that.
However, the first time I completed this game, and now for this second time through, I will first rely on the solution that preserves all 3 factions in a state of relative peace.
I reasoned that I have quite a few synth friends, and that wiping them out as abominations is not acceptable. The BoS is intolerant of synths, gouls (who are intelligent and peaceful, if not feral), and super mutants, but it’s not their fault!
My reason to chose to allow the BOS to live is that regarding the Virgil and Paladin Dance scenarios, that it seems possible to change some minds in the Brotherhood, and that as the second most powerful faction in the game with their own technology, it might not be a good thing to rush into eliminating them.
So once again I’m relying on the strategy described in this video to save 3 of the factions and pop out on the other end with three factions, maybe not the best of friends, but are not warring with each other?
And after that, I will resurrect the crucial save and experiment. I’m mostly interested if I can get through the Mass Fusion Quest (double cross the Institute), get the Blind Betrayal Quest (hunt down Paladin Dance to kill or save him. I’d save him, and I want to see if I can still choose the Railroad, Underground, Undercover Quest, but this might lead to the destruction of the Brotherhood or the Railroad, or at least devastating attacks on them. If forced to choose, I’d have to go with the Railroad because I have several synths in love with me, and the feelings are returned, lol.
I want to see what kind of a response I get to this post. And having posted this, I have another solution which will be in my next post.