One of the most common points of criticism surrounding Fallout 4 concerned its protagonist, the Sole Survivor. Contrary to other Fallout player characters, the Sole Survivor never really felt like an avatar for the player. Instead, with the character's established traits and backstory, players often felt shoehorned into certain choices and events.
The Sole Survivor contrasts directly with the protagonist of Fallout: New Vegas, the Courier, who is essentially a blank slate at the start of the game. Many players enjoyed the freedom this afforded them when role-playing, but that doesn't mean that a Fallout protagonist needs to be like this for a game to succeed. There are plenty of examples of role-playing games that pull off something similar to what Fallout 4 was going for, and by looking back at all these games, it's possible to see how the concept of the Sole Survivor could be improved in future Fallout projects.
Fallout 4's Sole Survivor Is A Step Down From The Courier
Too Much Pre-Established Backstory Makes The Game Feel Less Like An RPG
Unlike the other games in the core series, Fallout 4 starts before the nuclear war that destroyed the world. As such, it establishes the Sole Survivor as someone who was around in the "regular" world and makes them a fish-out-of-water in the post-apocalypse, which does help them become a player stand-in. But it does a bit more than that. The time players get to explore the Survivor's home lets them know about their connection to the military, family life, and the partner they have been married to, taking way too much of the character's narrative out of the player's hands.
Fallout 4's Sole Survivor should have been an interesting protagonist but falls short, surprisingly due to their connection to the main plot.
Fallout 3 also has established relatives and a place of origin, but it lets the player see their character grow up from infancy and make core choices throughout their development. In the case of something like the Courier in New Vegas, the player has little to no idea who they are or what they are like until they start making decisions. In both cases, the game sacrifices the streamlined narrative Fallout 4 opts for in exchange for more player choice and control over their own story, something that traditionally defined the series.
The Sole Survivor Could Still Help Fallout's Future
Taking What Works About The Sole Survivor
But, of course, a role-playing game can work with a protagonist like the Sole Survivor. Audiences have seen this same formula work well in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2. The difference here is that Fallout has always given players more choice in terms of their actions and backstory. It's a core part of the franchise's identity, and parts of Fallout 4 still feel like they should offer more choice, yet it doesn't feel as natural or open-ended as previous games in the series.
Fallout 4 has a unique quest that can have a drastic effect on companions, and most players will likely have never even encountered it.
It could definitely work to have the protagonist of Fallout 5 start with some pre-established backstory, but it shouldn't be control a central part of the narrative as it does in Fallout 4. The game could even take a page out of Cyberpunk's book, offering a few fleshed-out starting points for characters that help shape their identities. The Sole Survivor may have hurt Fallout 4's performance, but it was an important experiment to see what works in the Fallout universe that could serve as a foundation to improve protagonists in the future.
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