How Starfield Can Improve on the Companions of Fallout 4

gamerant.com:

Fallout 4 introduced some of the most interesting companions that the player could recruit, giving them unique backstories and even personal quests. Still, there’s much that can be improved upon, especially with Starfield releasing this year.

Though Fallout 4 introduced a strong companion system to the series, there are a few aspects that can be improved, especially in terms of the companions’ usefulness and how they fit in the world. These are things Bethesda would benefit from tweaking for their upcoming game, Starfield, which will also feature player followers.

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There’s no doubt that the companions of Fallout 4 are fleshed out. All of them have interesting backstories, their own moral beliefs, and have much to say about the Sole Survivor’s actions. However, they do have their drawbacks. One of them is the combat AI. When in battle, most of the companions do little damage at long range because of their terrible accuracy. Though if they were to get closer to the enemy, they’d likely be downed within seconds thanks to the AI’s subpar reaction time and pathing.

Another issue that Fallout 4 companions have is that they don’t quite feel “alive,” specifically once the Sole Survivor dismisses them. Anytime the player dismisses their follower, they have the option to send that character to any allied settlement in Fallout 4. Alternatively, they can simply go back to their home base (for instance, Valentine goes back to the agency in Diamond City), where they wait for the player to call on them again.

This idleness on the companions’ part makes them feel less like characters with their own lives, and more like tools at the Sole Survivor’s beck and call. While they technically are, it