Easily-Missed Fallout 4 Nick Valentine Dialogue Is A Huge Missed Story Opportunity

features some truly great companions, Nick Valentine being one of the most interesting among them. He's the first synth companion players are likely to meet and acts as an introduction to the ways in which synths and the Institute are viewed by wastelanders on the surface. But he goes past being a plot device and has actual depth to his characterization, with his own goals and wants, involving his job as a detective and the memories of a past love interest.

Nick even gets a feature role in one of 's DLC packages,, as he reunites with his «brother,» DiMA. But despite all of these ways that Nick Valentine can contribute to the plot and side quests of, parts of his character and events that relate to him still feel underutilized. One of the biggest missed opportunities players have noticed about Nick's character is his relationship with the mercenary known as Kellogg, and the experiment that brings them together midway through the game's main plot.

Starfield has faced its fair share of criticism, but there is one thing it did significantly better than Fallout 4.

At the end of 's first act, Nick Valentine helps the player to track down and kill Kellogg, the man who murdered their spouse and stole their son. This is all well and good, until players discover Kellogg had information they needed to find their son in the Institute. Luckily, all is not lost, since Kellogg had a cybernetic brain implant storing his memories, and Nick knows a doctor who could use that implant to let the players explore the dead merc's mind.

The Valentine Detective Agency is located in Diamond City, but players won't meet Nick until he's rescued from Vault 114.

The doctor needs a synth to hook themselves into Kellogg's brain for the process to work, and Nick volunteers. After the procedure, once players have gotten what they need from Kellogg's memories, they regain consciousness and are told that Nick recovered some minutes before and is waiting in another room. However, trying to talk to