Bethesda shared some new details about Fallout 4 at QuakeCon 2015 today, thanks to the company's head honcho, Todd Howard.
During a special presentation, Howard announced that gamers will not have to roam through the wastelands of Boston on their own. No, this isn't a multiplayer announcement. Howard was talking about A.I. companion characters, of which there will be twelve you can choose from. Pick one and they'll join your journey throughout the game. And that's in addition to your faithful mutt, Dogmeat.
But your partnership can go much deeper if you desire. Should you choose to do so, you can romance your partner and enter into a relationship with them, regardless of your gender or theirs. No harems, though; you can trade companions, but you can only have one at a time.
Further details on how romance works will be released in the future. But Howard did say that while pairing up with a significant other adds a lot to the game, there are benefits to going it alone, too. In particular, there's one special perk in the game for players who go solo, though Bethesda isn't ready to announce what that perk is just yet.
Aside from the romantic companion details, another juicy piece of new information was dropped at QuakeCon.
Mister Handy, the ever-present line of commercial service robots, will of course return for Fallout 4, and you'll be able to hear him address you in the name you pick for your character. Dialogue for Mister Handy has been recorded using over one thousand names, as Bethesda hopes to cover as many names as possible. Howard said that even goofy nicknames have been recorded, offering examples like "McFly," "Fart-Face" and "Boobies."
It's not hard to imagine Bethesda releasing DLC packs down the road that add new companions and dialogue names to Fallout 4. Though that's merely conjecture on our part.
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