Fallout 4: 10 Things It Must Learn From Mass Effect

10. A Friend Is For Life, Not Just For Questing

One of the more enjoyable elements of Commander Shepard's adventures was the way players were able to sculpt their team of faithful companions to suit their playstyle and the direction of the story. While Fallout has allowed players to travel with temporary companions at various points in the games, the obvious importance of relationship-building with fellow survivors has never been fully capitalised on. In Mass Effect, however, maintaining balanced relationships with a group of close companions is actually vital to successfully navigating the events of the game. Your actions as Shepard have a direct impact on which of your crew members will survive the final showdown, and the game does a good enough job to make it feel like an actual failure if you let a friend die. Players can have certain companions killed in action but still continue with the story with no way to restore them; that's a lot of pressure on a gamer! But it's a major positive of the Mass Effect games; your actions feel important and the lives of your friends depend on your making the right calls and the right times. Put this into the desperate dystopia of a Fallout game and players will be immersed in a truly dramatic experience. In the series so far it's been easy to act selfishly and focus on your own character's survival at all costs, but adding a cast of longstanding companions to the mix may just fill players with enough guilt to make them think twice about their actions...