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The Bethesda-era Fallout games marked the series' departure from an isometric perspective to a more upclose and personal first-person viewpoint. Counterintuitively, the classic titles still outshine their modern successors in terms of immersion. The primary reason for this is the strucural cohesion between narrative and gameplay as seen in Fallout 1 and 2.
While Fallout 4 attempted to create its own unique identity and atmosphere with Boston, this element of cohesion fell short. Nevertheless, its continued relevancy is well-earned. Mainline Bethesda games in both the Elder Scrolls and the acquired Fallout IP, despite their jank, are host to the largest modding communities.
With their help, we can add a few small immersion mods that go a long way to make the post-apocalyptic Boston feel more real.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.
5 realism mods to better immerse yourself into Fallout 4: MAIM 2, Immersive Animations Framework, and more
1) MAIM 2
Tabletop RPGs were the primary source of inspiration for the very first wave of this genre, now dubbed cRPGs or computer-RPGs. As products of this era, classic Fallout games also lift many ideas from Dungeons and Dragons. The limb-injury system is one of the more iconic implementation. Naturally, this has since become a series staple, and is also featured in Fallout 4.
In regular Fallout 4 gameplay, limb injuries are merely a minor inconvenience that heal automatically when the player is back to full HP. The Survival Mode makes it punishing by adding the requirement of stimpaks or a doctor, but its implementation is relatively uninteresting.
Enter MAIM, a "hardcore combat and medical overhaul" mod that ports the complex injury mechanics of Escape from Tarkov. Along with it come a number of handy tweaks to up the overall ante in combat, such as lethality of headshots. Moreover, it adds first aid and trauma management that is complete with tourniquets, splits, and surgery kits.
2) Classic Radiation Poisoning 2
In its drive to streamline and smoothen up the gameplay, Bethesda also simplified the radiation system in Fallout 4. By default, radiation poisoning eats away at your maximum HP until it is alleviated. Theirontoad and falloutkid12's Classic Radiation Poisoning 2 replaces this with previous iterations of the game mechanic.
Instead of reducing maximum HP, different levels of radiation poisoning will now add corresponding stat debuffs. The mod gives you the option to pick between whether you want to go with the FO3/New Vegas approach or the classic games.
3) Improved - Animated Accessible Backpack Standalone
Fallout 76 was riddled with questionable game design choices at launch. Still, it did its due dilligence to improve a long-requested feature: unpaused Pipboy menu. The Fallsouls mod tries to do the same to Fallout 4, but only at the cost bugs and stability issues introduced by the Pipboy module.
While bugless unpaused Pipboy-browsing remains a distant dream, there are other alternatives that get the job done. Flipdeezy's 'Improved - Animated Accessible Backpack' not only adds backpacks to the game, but also an unpaused game menu when you unload junk from your inventory into the backpack. Optionally, there are Tarkov-inspired animations and sounds you can add for it.
4) Sim Settlements 2
Settlement-building is the only brand-new mechanic that Fallout 4 added to the franchise. While it had the most divisive reception at launch, it seems to have grown on most players over time. To be sure, Preston Garvey's calls to action become steadily more disruptive as the game progresses, but the settlement-building mechanic itself is a solid framework.
Sim Settlements 2 turns the mechanic into a full-blown ecosystem of its own. Simply put, the mod adds autonomous simulation to the player-built settlements. Furthermore, the degree of this automation is customizable. As per your needs, you can have the mod turn settlements into its own Sims game, or a mini-city planning game.
5) Immersive Animations Framework
Like its predecessors, this game has its laundry list of consumables - from cram, crackers and chips to homebrew drug infusions. Immersive Animations Framework gives all of these edibles and consumables their own unique animations. Other than breathing some life into the game, the mod has the benefit of being an innate balance adjustment, barring you from spamming consumables.
Not only are the animations available in both first and third person, but many of them have several variations. They are also relatively short so as to not hinder gameplay, much like those seen in Red Dead Redemption 2.
