Fallout 76 can feel a tad lonely at times. There are no human NPCs in the game, so your interaction with other people is strictly limited to players. At least, that's how it used to be. Bethesda's E3 2019 conference saw the studio announcing the Wastelanders update for Fallout 76. This update will add new questlines to the game, but more importantly, there will now be human NPCs. That's right - a feature that's been present in every mainline Fallout game will finally be accessible in this one. Hip hip and indeed hooray. So what can we expect from these new human additions to the Virginia wasteland?
According to Fallout 76 project lead Jeff Gardiner, the Wastelanders NPCs will be much more than just glorified set dressing. Speaking to PCGamesN, Gardiner said Fallout 76's new NPCs would have complex dialogue trees which have "even more options than [they] did in Fallout 4". Supposedly, Fallout 76's dialogue trees will be more like those in Fallout 3. Players will be able to use their SPECIAL stats to influence characters in certain ways. Gardiner also says you'll be able to romance certain NPCs. We don't know exactly what that will entail yet. Here's hoping for a reappearance of a romance-worthy Nick Valentine. Come on, Bethesda, you know it makes sense.
If you're not in a social mood, that's fine. Gardiner says the NPCs will also play a role in Fallout 76 mechanically. Unlike previous Fallout games, they won't follow you into battle and they won't travel with you. They will, however, stay at your camp and issue quests, some of which will be multi-quest chains. All Bethesda needs to do now is to make sure those quests are worth getting stuck into. If they're not just jumped-up fetch quests, I'm on board.
It's not a bad time to get into Fallout 76. From June 10th to June 17th, Bethesda is offering a free trial week for the game. If you're on PC you'll need to download the Bethesda launcher, but console players can grab the trial from their digital storefronts. The free trial week includes a sneak peek at the upcoming Nuclear Winter battle royale mode for Fallout 76. I'm rooting for this game, so I hope these new additions can fix Fallout 76's rather rocky reputation.
Will you be checking out the free Fallout 76 trial? Are you looking forward to Wastelanders? Let us know in the comments below!
