HRRRRRRNG. I was going to buy Fallout 4 but then I saw Mixed steam reviews. Is it really worse than Fallout 3/NV?
Some will disagree on some parts but let me just give my own review here:
It has the best combat so far. Same goes for power armour. Some complain the power armour comes too soon, or skews the balance (which it does), but I feel that it is more than fun enough to make up for that. Obviously the best graphics, and the crafting system and settlements are really cool. The world is actually pretty well-crafted, though the quest number is far lower (a lot of it is radiant stuff). The main story is mediocre, in my opinion (though some would call it bad). I like it more than FO3's, but it obviously does not hold a candle to NV's, though that one ranks among the best stories I've seen in games to date.
The dialogue system is one of the main dividers, and the first source of the ever-present calls of "dumbing down" (hate that term). See, everything is voiced, so there are less options. Four, to be exact. While it reduces the roleplaying options, people forget that outside NV, there weren't tons of
meaningful choices either. That's not a point in 4's favour, mind you, just stating what it is. There are some nice touches to the dialogue, though: you can walk around during conversations, wearing power armour with a helmet will muffle your voice, being drunk causes some slurring, and skipping dialogue will result in your character going "uh huh" or "sure".
People also misconstrue what makes an RPG. A lot of reviews attack the lack of stats, but... stats don't make an RPG. Stats are purely mechanical, they can't make your roleplay better or worse. There was also the pre-release hype, with people who weren't accustomed to how Bethesda makes their games finding out it was not the be all, end all.
Survival mode is also pretty sweet, though only being able to sleep sucks when you can be one-shot by a hidden raider with a mininuke.
A lot of people also criticize FO4 based on the first two games of the series but... while good for the time, they were not THAT good. Nostalgia's a harsh mistress.
All in all, I recommend it if it's on sale and you got the cash.