2. Having The Synth Storyline Be Analogous To Slavery
Props to Bethesda, they really managed to give such a dark time in human history a new light - albeit in a way that if you scratch just beyond the surface, it can start to fall apart again. The synthetic beings the Institute are creating are purely for domestic use and to aid the wealthy members within the faction. They're fully humanoid and lifelike in nature, yet they're kept performing tasks and running menial jobs, the Institute killing any that exhibit the barest notion of freewill. The Railroad want to set them free and let them go about their business, the Brotherhood want them wiped from the face of the earth, and the Minutemen... don't seem hugely bothered by either. Regardless, having to deal with this idea of a burgeoning people emerging and wanting to break free from the shackles of their owners is a powerful thought, one that's reverberated through time, and one that the game doesn't quite make a point with. Obviously the ground rule lies in the fact that the synths fundamentally aren't human, but disgustingly, that was the same viewpoint many devout racists held towards the end of the 1800s against black people. Perhaps we'll arrive at a point in time where artificial intelligence does want to be granted amnesty towards a society and this conversation will happen for real, but despite all that, the topic itself as it exists in Fallout 4 will still give you pause for thought.