Fallout 4

=== Setting ===

Fallout 4 takes place in the year 2287, 10 years after the events of Fallout 3 and 210 years after the Sino-American War, a war between the United States and China over natural resources, which ended via a nuclear holocaust called the Great War. The setting is post-apocalyptic, covering a region that includes Boston and other parts of New England known as "the Commonwealth". Unlike the previous titles, Fallout 4's story begins on the day the bombs dropped: October 23, 2077.
The game takes place in an alternate version of history that features 1940s and 1950s American aesthetics, such as diners and drive-in theaters, while design and technologies advance in the directions imagined during the era. The resulting universe is thus a retro-futuristic one, where society has evolved enough to produce laser weapons, manipulate genes, and create nearly-autonomous artificial intelligence, all within the confines of 1950s' technology, such as the widespread use of atomic power and vacuum tubes, as well as having the integrated circuitry of the digital age. The architecture, advertisements, and general living styles are depicted to be largely unchanged since the 1950s, while including futuristic products such as robotic rocking horses for children and high-tech fallout shelters known as Vaults. Post-war societal currency is based on bottle caps, often simply called "caps".
There are four main factions that the player can choose to support throughout the story: the Institute, a secretive technocratic hegemony society stemming from the former Commonwealth Institute of Technology that specializes in the creation of artificial humanoids called "synths"; the Brotherhood of Steel, a quasi-religious paramilitary aiming to regulate the usage of advanced technology; the Minutemen, a militia dedicated to protecting settlements that require help; and the Railroad, an underground organization desiring to rescue synths from the Institute.

Characters

The player's character takes shelter in Vault 111, emerging exactly 210 years later on October 23, 2287, and assuming the name of the "Sole Survivor". There are thirteen possible companions in the story. Dogmeat, a loyal German Shepherd, is the only mandatory companion, but six others must at least be encountered: Codsworth, the Sole Survivor's robotic butler; Deacon, a Railroad agent; John Hancock, mayor of the settlement Goodneighbor; Nick Valentine, a prototype synth detective; Piper Wright, an intrepid reporter; and Preston Garvey, a resilient member of the Minutemen.
The other six possible companions are Cait, an Irish-descended cage fighter; Curie, a robotic scientist; Danse, a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin; Robert MacCready, a mercenary; Strong, a Super Mutant sympathetic to humans; and X6-88, an Institute Courser.
Seven of the companions become romance options once they idolize the Sole Survivor, regardless of the player character's gender: Cait, Curie, Danse, Hancock, MacCready, Piper, and Preston. Though Curie cannot be romanced in her robot form, the Sole Survivor can do so once transferring her to a synth body.

Story

In the year 2077, a nuclear war erupts between the United States and China. In Massachusetts, the protagonist and their family—consisting of their husband Nate or wife Nora, depending on the player's chosen sex, and their baby son Shaun—escape into Vault 111, gaining entry due to a Vault-Tec representative signing them up for it immediately prior to the bombs dropping. Inside, the family members are tricked into entering cryogenic pods and frozen alive. 150 years later, the protagonist's spouse is killed and Shaun is taken away by a mysterious group. The life support system malfunctions at a later date and unfreezes the protagonist, who leaves their pod, realizing they are the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 as the remaining residents are deceased. They emerge from the vault into a wasteland now known as the Commonwealth.
Returning home, the player reunites with their former robot butler, Codsworth, who reveals that a total of 210 years have passed since the nuclear attack. At Codsworth's suggestion, the Sole Survivor reaches the nearby town of Concord, befriending a dog named Dogmeat and a member of a revived version of the Minutemen named Preston Garvey.
In Diamond City, a settlement built within Fenway Park, the Sole Survivor learns that an organization called the Institute has been terrifying the Commonwealth by kidnapping humans and replacing them with synths—humanoid robots who are indistinguishable from real humans. After rescuing the prototype synth private detective Nick Valentine, the Sole Survivor uncovers the identity of their spouse's killer as the mercenary Conrad Kellogg, who they proceed to hunt down and kill, avenging their spouse's murder, though he spends his last moments revealing that Shaun is inside the Institute. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Steel arrives in the Commonwealth from the Capital Wasteland onboard a modified airship, led by Elder Arthur Maxson.
The Sole Survivor uses a cybernetic device from Kellogg's brain to access his memories with the help of Dr. Amari, a brain specialist, and learns the only way to get into the Institute is through teleportation. They track down former Institute scientist Brian Virgil for help in infiltrating it, and he provides schematics for a large teleportation device. Receiving assistance from the Railroad and its leader Desdemona, the Sole Survivor retrieves a teleportation chip and has it decoded. After successfully building the device, the Sole Survivor enters the Institute.
The Sole Survivor meets a much older Shaun, who is revealed to have become the Institute's director and explains that his abduction 60 years prior was part of a synth experiment due to his uncorrupted pre-war DNA. After talking to Shaun, the player decides who to align with for a brewing war between the Institute, the Railroad, the Minutemen, and the Brotherhood of Steel.

If the player chooses to side with the Minutemen, after Garvey promotes the player to General and retakes their old base, they repulse an Institute attack and devise a plan to eliminate them. The player infiltrates it again and blows up the reactor, killing Shaun and the rest of the Institute.
Should the player choose to align themselves with the Institute, they learn that Shaun is dying of cancer and wants them to succeed him as director. The Sole Survivor destroys the Brotherhood of Steel's airship and massacres the Railroad's headquarters, removing the presence of both groups from the Commonwealth, after which Shaun peacefully passes away.
If the player joins the Brotherhood of Steel, they will destroy the Railroad due to the group's desire to help synths, which clashes with the Brotherhood's ideology. They then infiltrate the Institute with the aid of a massive robot called Liberty Prime and blow up the reactor, killing Shaun and the rest of the Institute.
If the player joins the Railroad, they will work for the Institute while secretly organizing a synth rebellion. The Brotherhood of Steel attacks the Railroad, requiring the Sole Survivor to destroy their airship. The player then assaults the Institute, freeing the synths and blowing up the reactor, killing Shaun and the rest of the Institute.