I love that Emil didn't think whatsoever that making the main character do war crimes might not be such a good look and only walked it back because "they wanted to preserve peoples headcannons" and not you know, that it was extremely distasteful, especially given the war crime shown is actually based on a real life instance.
Of course it's not actually canon given he realized that "oh s#*! I really shouldn't have said that" and went into damage control but it's just absolutely hilarious to me that he thought it was a good idea to imply that it was something Nate did, you know, the same Nate that can barely do anything evil in Fallout 4 whatsoever beyond Nuka World, which honestly feels non-canon with how Nate changes completely from even the most assholish base game Nate.
Like, just go back and watch the Fallout 1 intro scene, if you watch the scene it's absolutely brutal, the guy nate was supposed to be is straight up laughing his ass off, clearly enjoying himself as civilians are gunned down.
Honestly, perfect mod to make that dumbass who clearly doesn't understand Fallout at all look even stupider.
Seeing a lot of Emil hate in the comments, and I'm usually all for it, but I'll be real: I genuinely think this is one of the only interesting things he's written lmao. War criminal Nate is the only interpretation of the Sole Survivor that I'll ever accept and instantly elevates the backstory from tedious, uninteresting baggage to genuinely engaging
Oh yeah, it'd be real interesting - that is, if Nate being a war criminal was ever referenced or relevant in game. Having lore details or character-changing facts introduced nearly a decade after the release of the game isn't engaging, it's hollow and frustrating. You can't actually roleplay Nate in any way that makes his supposed role as a soldier actually matter, you're going to be the "concerned father" no matter what, and this stuff about his role in the war was just tacked on haphazardly.
I'd love to see an alternate universe where Fallout 4 went all-in on the idea of having a protagonist with their own history and motivations independant of the player. It'd actually be really cool to see, I'd totally be down for War CrimiNate. But we live in the reality where Fallout 4 half-committed in a way that satisfied no-one.
That said, yeah, the Emil hate is a little overkill. He didn't think this one through, but still.
Emil is all for big shocking revelations. That's the only thing he does somewhat well, but since he is never subtle or discreet with these plot twists, it always ends up feeling unearned. There are either no or way too obvious hints leading up to the reveal, and there never are any real consequences to them. The story just forgets about them and moves on. Nate's army background gets mentioned maybe 5 times in Fo4, and they never really go into depth since the player character is supposed to be a blank slate for the player to fill.
I would agree if he didn't take it back immediately because he didn't realize that it made him a war criminal. He accidentally wrote gold and then immediately said "Erm actually I was a bad head writer this whole time, nothing to see here move along!"
Nate is criminally insane. Just look at what he does. Of course it's not actively referenced, but the kinds of Shenanigans Nate gets up to in FO4 are proof enough for me that he's a war criminal and that Nora is the conniving lawyer that got him off before "celebrating" their court victory in the park :D
I don't trust anything Emil says. He's the one who said "nobody read and notes and terminals in Fallout 3" so have him suddenly blathering about a Fallout 1 character is just all kinds of pfft. Not to mention the Canadian soldier wore T-51, not T-60 like Nate did while he was stationed in ALASKA.
But it's unironically the best lore tidbit that Bethesda has made since they annexed the IP. Of course it's a funi meme, but it turns Nate into a grey dark af character that starts romancing random women that he meets in the wasteland approx. a week after he realized his wife died and has insane "sarcastic" dialogue for every situation, no matter how dire. It's perfect and I will never think of Nate as something other than a based war criminal :D
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Of course it's not actually canon given he realized that "oh s#*! I really shouldn't have said that" and went into damage control but it's just absolutely hilarious to me that he thought it was a good idea to imply that it was something Nate did, you know, the same Nate that can barely do anything evil in Fallout 4 whatsoever beyond Nuka World, which honestly feels non-canon with how Nate changes completely from even the most assholish base game Nate.
Like, just go back and watch the Fallout 1 intro scene, if you watch the scene it's absolutely brutal, the guy nate was supposed to be is straight up laughing his ass off, clearly enjoying himself as civilians are gunned down.
Honestly, perfect mod to make that dumbass who clearly doesn't understand Fallout at all look even stupider.
I'd love to see an alternate universe where Fallout 4 went all-in on the idea of having a protagonist with their own history and motivations independant of the player. It'd actually be really cool to see, I'd totally be down for War CrimiNate. But we live in the reality where Fallout 4 half-committed in a way that satisfied no-one.
That said, yeah, the Emil hate is a little overkill. He didn't think this one through, but still.
twists, it always ends up feeling unearned. There are either no or way too obvious hints leading up to the reveal, and there never are any real consequences to them. The story just forgets about them and moves on. Nate's army background gets mentioned maybe 5 times in Fo4, and they never really go into depth since the player character is supposed to be a blank slate for the player to fill.
/Comic Book Guy voice
greydark af character that starts romancing random women that he meets in the wasteland approx. a week after he realized his wife died and has insane "sarcastic" dialogue for every situation, no matter how dire.It's perfect and I will never think of Nate as something other than a based war criminal :D