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Inclusion of 30, 40, and 60 fps modes, loads of content, bugs
Lack of mods included on other platforms, bugs
Knock knock. Who’s there? Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition! Aren’t you glad it’s not Skyrim? Many in the gaming community probably have breathed a sigh of relief at the appearance of a Bethesda Game Studios Game that isn’t The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim being ported to its millionth platform (that is possibly a bit of exaggeration). But, finally, after the Bethesda fanbase has been screaming for something different ported to the Nintendo Switch, then Nintendo Switch 2, Fallout 4 is finally here, in all its Bethesda goodness. Yes, that includes weirdly occurring bugs due to the extreme interactivity of its world. This is Fallout 4 through and through. What makes this port stand apart from Skyrim at launch is the inclusion of several graphical modes, something that is not often present in console ports, especially on Nintendo Switch.
For those unfamiliar with Fallout 4, the storyline has you take on the role of the sole survivor, a customized player character, of Vault 111, a fallout shelter designed to house the remnants of civilization after the Great War, a nuclear war responsible for plunging the world into nuclear wastes. At the beginning of the game, someone very close to you dies and someone else is kidnapped. The sole survivor must emerge from the vault 200 years after going in (no spoilers as to how that math checks out) and traverse the wasteland to find that person, as well as uncover many big mysteries along the way. It is a role playing game, so the choices that are made along the way shape the direction of the overall story, with big consequences for certain actions. Siding with certain factions will lead to completely different endings from others, with some factions being more ethical and others being more focused on coercion and strength.
So, yes, every bit and storyline from the original game is all here, and being that this is the Anniversary Edition, every extra downloadable content is included. This edition includes Automatron, Vault-Tec Workshop, Contraptions Workshop, Wasteland Workshop, and their two big expansions Far Harbor and Nuka World. These were all present in the Game of the Year Edition when it launched in September of 2017, but what sets the Anniversary Edition apart is the inclusion of 150 pieces of content from the Creation Club, a creator focused microtransaction shop present on other platforms.
A lot of this content is little bite sized mod-like additions, such as the inclusion of other breeds of dog companions, if you are tired of German shepherds, but who can get tired Dogmeat. Some of the larger pieces of content are new player homes and larger quests that give special items at the end. One big piece of the pie that is present on other platforms in some form, that has been completely removed on Nintendo Switch 2, is mods. Mods provide so much extra content on Bethesda games that it almost feels like it is missing a vital piece of the puzzle. However, this not being included is to be expected, as both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 versions of Skyrim do not include mods.
There are no differences in gameplay from other platforms. Players will be traversing the wastes, fighting enemies with guns or melee weapons, looting and equipping those weapons and armor from enemies bodies, and upgrading their perks through a SPECIAL perk chart in the menu. That is SPECIAL as in Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck, as the perks are broken down in Fallout in that way. In the Pip-Boy, a portable wrist mounted computer, players can change equipped inventory, take stat enhancing drugs, access their map, view stats, and choose new perks. The Pip-Boy can be used to play tapes found in the world and read notes. Oh, and don’t forget one of the best parts of a Fallout game: the radio.
Radio stations can be changed in the Pip-Boy, so that they can be listened to while mowing down raiders, super mutants, or the behemoth deathclaws that roam the wasteland. There is nothing better than listening to 40s or 50s music, while taking out loads and loads of enemies, or using VATS, a strategic targeting system, to gorily take out your enemies’ individual limbs one by one in close up detail. “Another settlement needs your help!” Fallout 4 also includes a whole settlement management system that allows you to build settlements, strategically defend them, and manage settlers’ happiness in the process. Some find this addition to the game infuriating and unnecessary, but with Nintendo players and their love of cozy games and Animal Crossing, this might be the area of the game certain players will attach themselves to the most.
As mentioned above, graphical settings are often excluded from console ports of many games, with the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 not having them included more often. This is usually due to developers feeling that they have optimized their game the best they can with one frame rate as the target and not wanting to compromise the experience by including more settings that are not as optimized. Skyrim for Nintendo Switch 2 originally released with just a 30 FPS mode included, but one that also came with terrible input lag. Eventually, Bethesda heard their fans’ outcry and fixed that mode and added a 60 fps mode with toned down visual quality.
Bethesda must have wanted to start off on a better foot with the release of Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, as it launched with a 30 fps mode and 60 fps mode. However, Bethesda went one step further for fans that want something in between by including a 40 fps mode. Much of picking a graphical setting comes down to individual preference, but lower fps modes like 30 can sometimes make gameplay feel a bit choppy, but have more visual clarity. 60 fps in this port feels very smooth in gameplay, but the visuals feel somewhat blurry and low resolution. Having the 40 fps mode included gives a nice balance between smooth gameplay and less blurry visual clarity. The frame rates are not perfect, and this becomes more noticeable in the 60 fps mode than others, as that one experiences the most significant drops in certain areas with more going on onscreen, but overall they stay mostly consistent.
Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition is everything you love from the original Fallout 4 and its DLC on Nintendo Switch 2, bugs, quirkiness, and all, without those pesky mods you have on other platforms. It includes unexpected graphical settings that are not present on other Bethesda published games that have been ported to the platform, which is a huge win. Overall, this release is for those who can never get enough of the scale of Bethesda Game Studios games, have never played Fallout 4, love portability, or are weird Bethesda bug loving masochists, who like to see the ridiculous things that can happen when you put Bethesda’s Creation Engine to the test. After this port’s decent launch state, it will be interesting to see how future Bethesda games fare, such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, but only time will tell.
Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard criteria.
