The Evolution of Cosmic Horror within Bethesda's Fallout

Hey everyone! I wanted to make a clarification as I don't believe I conveyed it well enough in the video! New Vegas was an intentional omission. This video essay discusses the Fallout titles Bethesda Studios primarily controlled, as those are the titles where Cosmic Horror elements are integrated into the games. Due to New Vegas being controlled primarily by Obsidian Entertainment, next to no notable Cosmic Horror elements made their way into the title. This is why New Vegas is absent from the video! This is also why other Fallout titles (1, 2, Tactics, etc.) are not included! Thank you so much for the attention the video has received! I hope you've all enjoyed it!

People will be into cosmic horror and then be afraid to tell the waiter what they want

Jack: Do you believe there is other intelligent life in the universe? Sole survivor: No Also the Sole survivor: *Kills alien in a cave

The scariest part of Dunwhich Borers is losing your power armor in the hole

If FO4 had still used Fallout 3's style of 4-5 mini-expansions rather than 2 big ones and a few other bite-sized add-ons, we'd have probably gotten a Providence expansion that just went full Lovecraft.

I've always loved the Lovecraft references in Fallout. They're not part of the main story, they're not important and they don't fit in with the rest of the world. It's always off in some corner off the map where the main story doesn't take you and whatever you find is so out of place with the rest of the world that it really sells the idea that it's something bigger and out of this world.

"slowly sink in" not me tho my dumbass jumped in with a full set of T-60 power armour. Sank to the bottom like rock witch I should have known especially if I am literally role-playing a walking tank. Also their is a sacrificial knife in the hole in the dunwitch borers I only found it after TCL'ing my way out, form my understanding it's a unique weapon and one of the few that isn't randomised, it's called Kremvh's Tooth.

See this is what makes me watch YouTube, an interesting subject that frankly hasn’t been talked about so thank you for this great content

Creepiest location for me...super duper mart...kept save travelling to do moira's speech challenge so I could convince her id gone there and come back as I was afraid to go there. This is when I was like 12 XD

They even incorporated a Shadow Over Innsmouth quest in Oblivion with Hackdirt not to mention Hermaeus Mora that is a clear nod to Yog Sothoth. There’s some definite fans of Lovecraft in Bethesda. My favorite genre is cosmic horror and despite some serious issues in their releases Bethesda is one of my favorite game companies so it’s a match made in heaven for me. Awesome video!

I think some of the elements you probably overlooked because they're to obvious are the mirelurks themselves. The dark, creatures creeping out from the waves, the stunning effect on the mirelurk hunters voice, the entire design of the mirelurk queens... Those are so obvious lovecraftian that i wonder why the connection have not been made by more people

I'm glad this was an ad in my recommended, because it's an interesting subject! Thank you!

This video did the impossible, it made me want to play Fallout 76

Ads like these are what we need, just straight to the point and no fluff in the titles and thumbnails. Good job man keep it up

Im still waiting for Call Of Cthulhu: Modern Warfare

I find that the post-apocalyptic setting is a great seedbed for cosmic horror, yet is strangely under-utilized. Cosmic horror relies on the frailty of man and all his constructions and ideals, where else are those things on more display than after a nuclear conflict?

People here commenting they came from an ad? Dude I wish my ads wheres this good. All I get is Indian dating app ads for some reason... I found you because of the algorithm. I guess this is gonna blow up in views soon enough.

—Chapters— 0:00 Intro 1:15 A Brief History of Fallout 3:50 Cosmic Horror & Fallout 3 11:14 Cosmic Horror & Fallout 4 12:10 The Dunwich Borers 19:04 The Cabot House 31:47 Far Harbor 33:57 Minor Allusions 36:11 Cosmic Horror & Fallout 76 38:24 The Regions 42:50 The Locations 51:18 The Cult of the Mothman 53:07 The Interloper 1:03:19 Conclusion 1:05:41 Credits

It was after stealing a fork and the ensuing massacre in the River City Marketplace that I realized The Lone Wanderer was the most depraved Raider of them all

The cabbot house quest was probably the best quest line in fallout 4 I had so much fun doing it for the first time