Fallout 4’s post-apocalyptic Wasteland is far too vast a place to explore on your own.
Loneliness creeps in slowly as the silence becomes deafening, and the banging of a far-away raider’s rifle is as much a warning of danger as it is a respite from the maddening isolation.
One option is to take Dogmeat along, hoping it’ll warn you of incoming threats and become a food supply were things to get hairy.
Another possibility is to recruit synths, humans and even a super mutant you can talk to while roaming the Commonwealth.
But after so many years of playing the same game, talking to the same people and traveling with the same nutjobs that seemed so interesting in the past… everything starts becoming faded and the ranting of irradiated minds goes from hilariously bizarre to boring and dull.
To improve your experience making friends and influencing people in the Commonwealth, I’ve gathered a list of my favorite companion-related mods available for Fallout 4, making sure there’s something for players on every platform.
There’s plenty of evidence in Fallout 4 suggesting that, originally, Dogmeat was meant to accompany you all the time.
This meant not counting as a companion and therefore leaving the spot open for someone else.
Dogmeat does very little damage, companion perks don’t apply to it, and you can even have the Lone Wanderer perks active while traveling together! There was clearly a last-minute change.
This mod by creator Valdacil simply rights that wrong, letting you keep your canine friend with you without sacrificing the aid of someone who can operate a gun and, well, talk.
I’ve never been a fan of how many games with companion approval rating systems give you no way of checking your progress at all.
Now thanks to this mod by Cdante, that should no longer be an issue in Fallout 4.
Not only will you get some extra information each time something affects affinity, such as your current standing, but you’ll be able to check it at any time through an item in your inventory.
Despite this list being aimed at finding great companion mods that are multiplatform, there are a couple that are too cool to leave out despite being only on PC.
The Motorized Artificial Intelligent Doll is one such item.
It replaces the Assaultron with a dangerously “kawaii” and very customizable anime-inspired robot, complete with THICC legs and adjustable breast size.
Although at first glance seems un-immersive, I wouldn’t put it past some Institute tinkerer to make this in their private time.
Speaking of spicing up your companions, consider the Companion Appearance Overhaul by Elianora, which promises to make Piper, Curie and some others much more appealing.
This mod is special because, unlike most of what you’ll find in the Nexus or elsewhere, it’s actually available for the PS4 version of the game.
Which isn’t true for every mod due to some coding challenges for the console.
That said, the PC and Xbox One version also swap the companion’s armors for better-looking ones that work with the CBBE body type – which the PS4 has no access to.
Another mod that’s only on PC but too good to leave out is Companions Go Home, which lets your followers go back to their daily lives when not adventuring with you.
Few things are as immersion-breaking as watching Piper farm turnips in Sanctuary while complaining that she’s worried sick about her loved ones back home.
What’s Publick Occurrences without Piper, or the Valentine Detective Agency without Nick?
If you’ve been modding Bethesda games for a while, you may be familiar with LlamaRCA. Or at least their famous companion mod for Fallout NV – Willow.
This amazing creator is back in the scene, offering their take on what an immersive companion in Fallout 4 should be like.
Meet Heather Casdin, a synth-phobic girl living in a run-down world and hating every second of it, which she’ll let you know through over 1200 lines of custom voiced dialogue.
In the same vein as the previous mod comes Ellen The Cartographer, a lore-friendly companion born and raised in New Vegas who couldn’t pass up the chance to come and check out the almost-intact Commonwealth area.
She’s romanceable, has custom quests related to her, and she’s fully-voiced by none other than PotasticPanda, known as the voice for the Recorder companion in Skyrim & girlfriend to a legend in the modding community – MxR.
A very simple and useful mod that’s luckily available on every platform is the Unlimited Companion Framework.
As the name implies, this mod by Expired6978 allows you to keep up to 15 companions at once with full functionality, and even more if you’re willing to give up companion dialogue.
Fallout 4’s protagonist is a tragic hero that truly embodies the name “Sole Survivor”.
Not only do they wake up alone in an unknown place, but they’ve also lost their son, and their spouse is too dead to help them find him in any way.
With the addition of the Nora Spouse Companion mod, Fallout 4 can become a game about family and the lengths a loving couple is willing to go to stay together and take back their son.
Or, you know… if you decided to play a female Sole Survivor it can be about a girl and her clone going around shooting stuff.
Without the shadow of a doubt, the most sophisticated and expansive companion mod available for Fallout 4 is The Machine and Her, introducing the mysterious Kit.
Modder NikaCola designed a companion with a complex AI capable of judging you based on both trust and your moral compass.
And she’ll let you know her opinions through her myriad of voiced dialogue lines.
With an amazing soundtrack and a long well-written quest to uncover her mysteries, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better companion than Kit.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
