Honest Hearts is the most disappointing DLC in Fallout, filled with missed potential. The premise is super interesting - dealing with the fate of the tribes inhabiting Utah's Zion Valley - a unique tribal setting in 3D Fallout, alongside the two mormon missionaries trying to redeem themselves in their own way. One of whom is Joshua fucking Graham, former general of Caesar's army, the "Burned Man" who is heavily hyped up in the main game. What's not to like?
The problem is that Honest Hearts is a complete nothing burger of a DLC. If you've seen the clip where Graham says the funny meme line ("but we can't expect god to do all the work"), you've already experienced a good 50% of what this DLC has to offer. All there is to be seen is a small open world where hordes of cazadors will spawn 1 meter behind you out of nowhere at random intervals, fetch quests, tribes which aren't given any agency in the plot and occasional moments of Joshua Graham being a one-dimensional heckin epic based le tradchristian stoic badass. The other missionary Daniel, is barely even worth mentioning. Yawn.
Dead Money had incredible companion writing, even for the high standards of the main game. Honest Hearts gives you two tribal companions. Both of these characters could be interesting if we were given more than just a tiny glimpse into their backstories and ambitions, but sadly they don't amount to much. There isn't even much narrative decision making to speak of. There's only one binary choice at the end whether to side with Daniel and evacuate Zion or side with Joshua and destroy the psychopathic White Legs. You can't even meaningfully oppose the missionaries because sadly the tribes aren't given any narrative agency.
The problem is that Honest Hearts is a complete nothing burger of a DLC. If you've seen the clip where Graham says the funny meme line ("but we can't expect god to do all the work"), you've already experienced a good 50% of what this DLC has to offer. All there is to be seen is a small open world where hordes of cazadors will spawn 1 meter behind you out of nowhere at random intervals, fetch quests, tribes which aren't given any agency in the plot and occasional moments of Joshua Graham being a one-dimensional heckin epic based le tradchristian stoic badass. The other missionary Daniel, is barely even worth mentioning. Yawn.
Dead Money had incredible companion writing, even for the high standards of the main game. Honest Hearts gives you two tribal companions. Both of these characters could be interesting if we were given more than just a tiny glimpse into their backstories and ambitions, but sadly they don't amount to much. There isn't even much narrative decision making to speak of. There's only one binary choice at the end whether to side with Daniel and evacuate Zion or side with Joshua and destroy the psychopathic White Legs. You can't even meaningfully oppose the missionaries because sadly the tribes aren't given any narrative agency.