Fallout 4’s opening animated episode has the following implications for the main game’s storyline:
- Setting the emotional tone and motivation:
- An important bond of kinship: the cosy interactions between the protagonist and his wife and son in the opening animation show the protagonist’s deep love for his family. This becomes an important emotional motivation for the protagonist’s actions in the wasteland world. After the outbreak of nuclear war, the protagonist enters a shelter and is frozen, and waking up to find his son Sean becomes one of the core objectives of the main game. Players will be pulled by this kinship throughout the game, constantly driving the plot to discover the whereabouts of their son and the secrets behind him.
- Desire for Peaceful Life and Pain of Loss: The animation shows the normal life of people before the outbreak of a nuclear war, as well as the scene where the war destroys everything in an instant, which gives the player a deep feeling of the preciousness of peace as well as the cruelty of war. The protagonist has experienced a huge transformation from peaceful life to the end of the world. This pain and nostalgia for the past life make the player better understand the protagonist’s determination to survive in the wasteland world and try to find his family.
- Constructing the worldview background:
- Reinforcement of the war theme: The opening animation starts with ‘War. War never changes.’, emphasising the timelessness of war and its huge impact on human society. Not only is this a central theme of the Fallout series, but it also sets the stage for the main game’s clash of forces, the struggle for resources, and the struggle for survival. Players will continue to encounter various problems and challenges arising from the war in the subsequent main game line, such as attacks by looters and battles between different forces.
- Technological Development and Resource Crisis: The anime mentions that the early application of nuclear energy brought convenience to people, but the subsequent shortage of resources triggered the collapse of the world order. This explains the fierce competition for resources among various forces in the main game line and the importance of technology in the wasteland world. Players need to constantly search for resources and utilise technology to survive and thrive in the game, as well as face various dangers and challenges arising from the misuse of technology.
- Triggering the player’s initial perception of the forces:
- Curiosity and questions about the Academy: In the opening animation, the protagonist’s son, Sean, is taken away by an unknown force, which introduces the player to the Academy, an important force in the game. Players will continue to explore the secrets of the Academy and learn about its purpose and modus operandi in subsequent main quests. The disappearance of his son in the opening animation serves as a trigger for players to delve deeper into the Academy, and it also fills players with curiosity and questions about the Academy’s existence, pushing them to solve the mystery.
- Preparation of other forces: Although the opening animation does not directly mention the other forces in the game, such as the Brotherhood of Steel and the Vigilantes, it provides a background for the emergence and development of these forces by demonstrating the chaos and danger of the wasteland world. Players will gradually come into contact with these forces in the main game line and join them or interact with them according to their own choices. The conditions of the wasteland world presented in the opening animation make it easier for players to understand the necessity of the existence of these forces and their respective positions.
- Shaping the initial image and abilities of the protagonist:
- Background of the protagonist’s identity: the opening animation shows that the protagonist is an ordinary person with his own family and life. This makes it easier for the player to substitute into the protagonist’s role in the game and experience the hardships and challenges of the wasteland world from the perspective of an ordinary person. At the same time, the protagonist’s life experience before the war also influences his decision-making and behaviour in the game, e.g. his desire to protect his family may affect his attitude when facing other survivors.
- Effects of cryo-dormancy: the protagonist wakes up after years of cryo-dormancy in the refuge, an experience that puts him in a special state in the main game. He needs to re-adapt to the environment and rules of the wasteland world, and also has some special abilities and knowledge, such as knowledge of the shelter system and familiarity with pre-war technology. These abilities and knowledge will play an important role in the player’s completion of the main quests, helping him to solve various puzzles and challenges.
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