While playing Fallout 4, I noticed how much the game guides you at the beginning of the game. When exiting Vault 111, you can see in the near distant ruins of Sanctuary, contrasting the pre-war version when first starting up the game. The core mechanics matter when going back to Sanctuary, which are the SPECIAL skills. If you run or while playing survival mode, merely walk, your stamina will deplete. Stamina is used for AP, or Action Points, used for VATS, another core mechanic that slows time down to give better aim against hostile AI. Stamina can be increased by investing points to your Endurance, the one of seven SPECIAL skills. The other stats are Strength, for carry weight and determining if you become over encumbered, Perception for investing AP and sighting enemies at ease when further in the distance, Charisma, to persuade others for your own benefit, Intelligence, to invest lock picking, crafting, and hacking skills in, Agility, to invest your stamina points in to run longer and use more AP at a time, and Luck. Investment in your skills will give you perks, balanced out by the level you're at. There are 70 perks in Fallout 4, and depending on your build, there can be satisfying results. The core gating mechanic is based on your supplies, ammo, and level. If you run out of ammo or supplies, you may have to change your strategy. If you lack specific skills, primarily lock picking and hacking skills, some areas will otherwise be blocked off.
While at Sanctuary, there were additional supplies, ammo, the introduction to workshops to craft food, mod weapons and armor and how Settlements work. There were prompts at the top of the screen explaining how settlements worked such as affinity and resources. When first using the workshops, the entire screen is filled with text on how the gameplay mechanics worked, which I found mildly irritating, no matter how much I've played the game. Sanctuary officially debuts Codsworth, and if engaged in conversation, he'll mention activity in Concord, progressing the quest by investigating. This is when he can be recruited as a companion, one of many in the game. I noticed how when reaching Sanctuary, I saw the space rocket prop in the distance indicating where Red Rocket Gas Station is at. When following the main road, I am greeted by Dogmeat, another possible companion. If Red Rocket is explored, there is additional ammo, weapons, workshops, and can also be turned into a settlement. When continuing down the road leading to Concord, the game introduces raiders. When the road ends to the Museum of Freedom, you are asked by Preston Garvey on top of the balcony to help the settlers inside from raiders' attacks. This is when the first of four major factions are introduced into the game, the Minutemen. Regardless of helping them or not, the game's first Power Armor, T-45 and Gatling Gun is introduced. A new gating mechanic is now introduced, the mechanics of Fusion Cores, the main battery source of many nuclear based machinery, including Power Armor. When equipped with both, you're then prompted to clear out the remaining raiders of Concord while lastly introduced to the game's first Deathclaw, which can easily be defeated with the Gatling Gun. From there, the game continues to give you prompts to complete the quest, such as going back to the minutemen, following them back to Sanctuary, and given the duties of being General.
Despite being an open world game, the main story line is still presented as an option. Regardless of this design choice, however, if you go literally anywhere high north or particularly south, stronger enemies will be more present and thus harder to play. Overall, Fallout 4 doesn't necessarily hand hold you at the beginning of the game and the first quest of the game is fairly relevant to the main storyline. Depending on your playthrough, the Minutemen faction will either be essential or completely useless to you and your version of the story.
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