Back to the newest and most standout game feature; settlements. They were seemingly put in to appeal to the Minecraft or Little Big Planet generation; a sandbox mode that lets you create custom homesteads in whatever shape you fancy. You can build towering structures with a pool tables, bar facilities and suits of power armour nestling in the corner, or you can completely leave it alone - it's up you. Story-wise it's supposed to tie into the idea of you leading the Minutemen and establishing all sorts of viable places for people to seek shelter, but the problem comes with the fact you simply don't need to. Now, plenty of fans have pointed out that it's precisely because there's no reward to this other than itself, that makes it so appealing - but can you honestly say it wouldn't have felt more natural if Bethesdatiered specific unlocks behind it, or had a story repercussion be directly tied to your HQ? Plus, do you know which other game had an entirely unnecessary homestead-building mechanic? Assassin's Creed III. And we all know how well that went down. Tying all of your hard construction work to the factions i.e. having the threat of everything being torched to cinders if you annoy the wrong person, would've been great, and could've helped give you some sort of personal investment in the narrative, outside the "get your son back... eventually" premise. Speaking of which...
