Fallout 4 is a game that has become iconic in its versatility and replayability. The sprawling open world that the Fallout franchise has become known for lends itself to a near endless amount of content that has served to satiate fans to this day.
That being said, the array of varied content within Fallout 4 is proportionate to the variety of difficulty present within different aspects of the game. With Fallout 4 boasting 84 achievements worth a total of 1600 gamerscore, it is inexorable that some achievements are exceedingly difficult in their required prerequisites.
They're Action Figures
The achievement 'They're Action Figures' possesses its difficulty through the tedious and time-consuming nature in which it is unlocked. This is a collectible-based achievement, requiring players to gather a total of 20 bobbleheads scattered across the vast map of Fallout 4.
Although a lot of the difficulty within this achievement can obviously be alleviated via the help of a guide, it will still require a serious amount of precarious map traversal, and an array of hostile encounters, regardless. Worth a relatively underwhelming 20 gamerscore, players are instead rewarded reasonably well with in-game benefits as a part of their bobblehead hunting efforts.
The bobbleheads of Fallout have since become an iconic aspect of the franchise, with each bobblehead offering a different boost to a variety of combat abilities or S.P.E.C.I.A.L perks once successfully found. In addition to this, players can proudly display their bobbleheads on bobblehead stands within the different settlement locations of Fallout 4, making going through the somewhat grueling process of obtaining this achievement, and thus the full bobblehead collection, more than worthwhile.
Eyes on the Prize
Eyes on the Prize is also another achievement within Fallout 4 that possesses difficulty in the amount of time it takes to unlock. Worth only 20 gamerscore, this achievement sees players having to collect and redeem 100,000 tickets at the Nuka-Cade.
The Nuka-Cade was introduced with the Nuka-World add-on for Fallout 4, being an arcade hall that contains five mini-games that can be used to collect tickets, which are then redeemable for an ever-changing array of special items. While the games themselves are relatively easy, the difficulty of this achievement stems from the amount of time it takes to collect 100,000 tickets.
Whilst it is true that reels of around 800 tickets are possible to find scattered across the Nuka-World map, collection of them all in this manner will still leave an overwhelming amount of tickets than need to be collected through mini-game gameplay. The Bandit Roundup mini-game offers the highest amount of tickets per playthrough by far, and even then only has an output of around 635 tickets per minute of play. Players who brave this achievement will need a serious amount of patience.
All Sugared Up
All Sugared Up is definitely a worthy contender for the most difficult achievements within Fallout 4, being one of the least-unlocked achievements and being worth only 20 gamerscore. This achievement is also related to the Nuka-World DLC, requiring players to kill 40 Nuka-World creatures while under the effect of any Nuka-Mix flavor.
While seeming outwardly straightforward, this achievement is so difficult because of the vague nature of its description as well as the harsh specification of what counts towards unlock progress. Despite not being mentioned in the description, only the effects of Nuka-Mix drinks hand-crafted by the player will count toward any unlock progress, with the effects of drinks found via loot not counting at all. While any of the effects from the crafted 'Nuka' drinks that have become so synonymous with Fallout will count, an added element of ambiguity is present in what creatures actually count as Nuka-World creatures. With only a few enemies of Nuka-World actually counting as the correct creatures, defeating 40 of them whilst under the effects of crafted Nuka-Mix drinks suddenly appears to be a much harder task than what might originally be thought.
... The Harder They Fall
...The Harder They Fall is a base-game achievement for Fallout 4, and is one of the most overtly intimidating to achieve. Only being worth 20 gamerscore, this particular achievement requires players to kill five giant creatures.
Giant creatures are present in different forms throughout the world of Fallout 4, and often possess the powerful combat ability befitting of their giant stature. The main giant creatures present within the game are the four aptly named Behemoth enemies scattered through the map, the Mirelurk Queen, and the Swan located at Swan's Pond.
The Mirelurk Queen can be defeated as part of a quest, with the resultant aid from NPC teammates during the fight offering a serious advantage. She can be killed as a part of the Taking Independence quest given by Fallout 4's Minutemen, although the player must deal the final blow for it to count towards the achievement progress. This achievement finds itself as being difficult purely in the sense of it requiring five successful boss encounters with very tough and resistant enemies, but should still be achievable by more skilled players.
Benevolent Leader
Another base-game achievement, Benevolent Leader requires the most amount of pre-requisites of all the achievements that have been mentioned. Worth 20 gamerscore, this achievement requires players to reach maximum happiness within a large settlement.
Concerning the detailed settlement mechanics introduced to Fallout 4. players must first develop their settlement to a point where it is considered large, with a plentiful amount of shelters, beds, turrets, amenities, and food storage being required. They must then ensure that there is a 100% happiness level within their settlement, by carefully managing their settlement through providing entertainment and basic quality of life necessities over a sustained and prolonged period of time. This achievement itself requires a serious amount of attention and focus, and with how detailed and expansive the game can be in general, the focus needed definitely puts it on the more difficult side of the achievements the game boasts.
Fallout 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.