In Fallout 76, Reclamation Day marks the occasion in 2103 where Vault Dwellers leave Vault 76 and start their journey in Appalachia. In the real world, Fallout Day is a celebration of the Fallout franchise, set on the same date as Reclamation Day. For the 2024 celebration, Bethesda held a Fallout Day broadcast, showing some of the next updates coming to the game. This includes pets, a fishing minigame, and an end-game raid that caps off with a giant, terrifying snake boss.
The Fallout Day video showed several Bethesda developers talking about their day-to-day work, sharing genuine memories of good cheer in the wasteland, and tongue-in-cheek complaints about how much of a pain it is to work with a ghoul colleague. The highlight is the new end-game raid, which takes heavy inspiration from MMO-style dungeons, and is meant to be a serious challenge for dedicated players. Teams will delve underground, survive being hunted by an infuriated mole miner, and eventually face the Ultracite Terror — a big, scary snake originally inspired by a coal miner.
We also learned more about what playing a ghoul will be like in game. Bethesda first revealed back in June that players could become ghouls, but with this video, the developer showed off some of the effects that choice will have on gameplay. For one, instead of hunger or thirst, ghouls will need to worry about a “feral” meter. Going feral offers some benefits in combat, but as the Fallout show on Amazon depicts, no one wants to go too feral. Ghouls will also have unique talents to choose from, and they’re totally immune to rads — in fact, radiation will heal them. However, some factions, like the Brotherhood of Steel, treat ghoul players with derision and hostility, unless you craft a clever disguise. If the ghoul life is just too much, players can opt out entirely and go back to being human.
Bethesda also showed off the two new pets players will be able to unlock for their bases — a dog and a cat, with more to come in future updates. Personally, I’m intrigued by the obvious hint at a fishing minigame. I hope I can catch a three-eyed fish and cook it up for dinner with minimal risk of mutation. No Man’s Sky recently added a fishing minigame that was very well-received. Perhaps gamers simply yearn for the humble life of a fisher.
