I was sat down the other day with James going through our Pop Vinyl's and came across my Dogmeat vinyl, I remember being in Game and finally finding him and getting excited because he was one of my favourite things about Fallout 4 and the journey I took through the wasteland to find my son, but I won't get into that I want to focus on Dogmeat for now. Companions can often be annoying in games, the amount of times I complained about Lydia in Skyrim I'm surprised people didn't tell me to shut up but I found it to be rare that I didn't like a companion in a game and Lydia was one that annoyed me the most out of any games I had ever played.
For me, Dogmeat has always stood out when it came to companions, at times he would be annoying but he was more helpful than anything and went on a long and emotional journey to help my character find her son (I chose to be female in Fallout 4). I remember coming across him and thinking about he was going to be able to help me when the wasteland was full of so many scary monsters trying to kill us but being the loyal dog he is (yeah I know he was programmed that way) he stuck by my side and made my gameplay even more enjoyable.
He was the first companion I met and I preferred him to stay with me because I enjoy animal company rather than human company even in games, the biggest downfall was the fact that he wasn't great against any robotic enemies which can be a pain in the arse but you can get armour for him to help when you get attacked. What I loved about having a dog was that he would find hidden treasures for me such as stimpaks and food and be happy to help, he is handy in his own way. There has been talk that he isn't a true companion though this is due not disabling the lone wanderer perks even though he is with you but technically having someone or something travel with you would make them one.
Dogmeat is modelled after River who is a female German Shepherd owned by Michelle Burgess, she happens to be married to Joel Burgess who is Senior Designer at Bethesda Softworks. Their dog River also is the voice actor of Dogmeat which is a clever move! Dogmeat can be found at The Red Rocket stop but if he isn't there Nick Valentine will ask him to come to you for the quest Getting a Clue so either way there is every chance of you meeting Dogmeat on your travels and making him your companion.
He isn't able to be killed but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to protect him, some may say it's a waste but I always made sure I had enough stimpaks for me and him to get through fights and across the wasteland. I admittedly didn't use when it came to quests that would involve tougher enemies and instead I would choose Strong who is a super mutant but his name clearly states he is strong and well worth using when it comes to tougher enemies. I would always go back to where ever I sent Dogmeat to recruit him again though and I ended up finishing the game with him.
I was putting off finishing the game because I was having so much fun exploring which made me wish that I could have Dogmeat in Fallout 76 considering Dogmeat had been in so many of the other games but unfortunately there are no dog companions in Fallout 76. Hopefully, animal companions will be added at some point, it would be cool to see it implemented, for now, I could just hop back on Fallout 4 and see my faithful friend and watch him jump right in and attack enemies for me.
There are other campaigns I love such as Claptrap, Elizabeth Comstock and Sparx the dragonfly, they're all very unique and cool but Dogmeat will always stand out for me. He has his own personality and isn't just solely a dog, Bethesda has made him stand out amongst the crowd and wears he gets to wear the coolest accessories ever much like Boomer from Far Cry 5 but I can't comment on him because I haven't played much of that game but I will do eventually, it's in my ever-growing backlog of games!
Fallout 4 also made it so you wouldn't have to do anything for Dogmeat to like you, it would have been nice to build up trust with him instead of being handed that trust on the plate, it would have made it that much more rewarding when he started to help fight against enemies and defend me but at the same time the game is pretty long to get through as it is that it's a big of an upside being able to work with a companion without doing anything in return and he is the most loyal creature in the game. If I was wandering the wasteland in real life I would happily wander it with Dogmeat, he seems enough to brighten a gloomy day and is helpful enough to help me find food and money. He is the perfect companion!
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