The creator helped define one of the main themes of the game.
Recently, the creator of Fallout 4, Emil Pagliarulo, spoke with Rock Paper Shotgun. He shared his memories of working on the game and talked about Todd Howard's influence on the project.
During the work, the authors realized that the game was missing something in terms of one of the main themes:
I remember talking to Todd Howard about how there should be a general sense of paranoia in the game, where people don't know who to trust.
This decision influenced the atmosphere of the game. In the world of Fallout 4, there are "Synths" — humanoid organisms created by the Institute with an implanted personality. Some residents began to suspect each other, as one of them could be kidnapped and replaced with a "fake."
However, "paranoia" alone was not enough. Another important theme of Fallout 4 was hope: "Through all this horror and paranoia, people are still trying to rebuild society."
Emil compared the difference in approach to Fallout 3 and 4:
If you look at Fallout 3 — from Rivet City to Megaton — everyone is just surviving there. And in Fallout 4, people are trying to go beyond that.
