Anothername: FO4? Wasn't that greeted with a rather positive attitude? Its at least on of the titles I still somewhat plan to buy should it arrive on gog. Unless you meant the general lying the moment Todd draws breath no matter what; but that should be common knowledge by now.
I had FO76 in mind + the tie in "quality" goodies like moldy helmet of course :P
By the mainstream media, yes. I don't recall a
Bethesda title (except 76) with a negative reception. And while it has some improvements over its predecessors (shooting, power armor, graphics - although that's not saying much), I found
Fallout 4 to be the most tedious entry in the series by far. Between the console-oriented UI, butchered dialogue and lack of actual choice, to the story and all the nonsense that accompanies it, to the graphics (rather underwhelming for a 2015 game... The Witcher 3 puts this one to shame... yes, I know I mentioned graphics as a positive over the older games), to radiant quests and boring content (Kid in a Fridge has to be one of the worst quests I have ever had the misfortune to stumble upon)... An all-around slog, to say the least, I had to make an effort to actually finish it (I never touched the DLCs though, a first for me in these series). Which only enforced my opinion:
Bethesda can't write if their lives depended on it. Not as long as the team will revolve around the same group of people.
And yes, Howard has to be one of the best tricksters in the industry.
No need to delve into
Fallout 76, we're all aware how that one turned out. Even loyal, hardcore
Bethesda fans spat at the sight of it and that's saying something.