Fallout 4 is a divisive title among the diehard Fallout community, but the DiMA quest in Far Harbor was one of its most memorable. While many adored Bethesda's approach to post-nuclear Boston and overall improved combat at the time, many fans were also displeased with the absence of certain features. Fallout 4's dialogue system was dumbed-down compared to its predecessors and lacked the speech checks that the series was known for. The removal of skills in favor of a more simple leveling system also irked fans.
Despite its mixed reception among diehards, one universal thing that fans can agree on is how good Fallout 4's second story DLC, Far Harbor, was, which brought players to the irradiated shores of Bar Harbor, Maine. The local fishing community of Far Harbor itself is wary of outsiders, and a mysterious, radioactive Fog has settled on the island. This was Fallout 4 at its finest. Far Harbor exudes a unique, creepy atmosphere that feels simultaneously familiar to older fans who played through Fallout 3's Point Lookout, and yet also fresh with the inclusion of Lovecraftian horror elements.
The central story of Far Harbor deals with the town of the same name. The locals are wary of the ever-encroaching Fog that has settled on the island. The Fog is known to house the island's most dangerous mutated creatures, and many of the people who enter the Fog for too long are driven to madness. The only way Far Harbor has kept the Fog at bay is with special wind turbines they were supplied with from the synths of Arcadia. The Fog is a new radioactive anomaly to the Fallout series and holds plenty of mysteries for players to uncover. Tensions are high as the locals of Far Harbor suspect that the Children of Atom are responsible for the ever-growing Fog, and it ultimately comes down to the player to help resolve the conflict between these three factions however they see fit.
Fallout 4: DiMA & Far Harbor Quest & Ending Explained
The most interesting character that players meet is DiMA, the leader of the synths at the Arcadia settlement. What makes DiMA different from the other synths in Fallout 4 is that, like player companion Nick Valentine, he is one of the early prototypes of synths that escaped the Institute. In fact, should the player bring Nick Valentine from base Fallout 4 to Far Harbor with them, Nick and DiMA will have special interactions where DiMA re Nick as his brother. However, Nick has no recollection of his time at the Institute or of DiMA. Since DiMA is also an older model of synth, he too suffers from gaps in his memory.
Not only is DiMA the leader of the escaped synths at Arcadia, but he also acts as the main diplomat between Far Harbor and the Children of Atom. However, it turns out that DiMA was only able to achieve this fragile piece through a great amount of deception. DiMA warns that his deception was so great, he removed his own memories so they could no longer pose a threat to the people of Far Harbor.
During the "Best Left Forgotten" quest, the player is tasked with uncovering DiMA's buried memories that are stored in the Nucleus, the nuclear submarine where the Children of Atom live. The "Best Left Forgotten" quest is notorious among fans as it is a puzzle-focused sequence that takes place in a virtual reality space where DiMA's memories are stored.
Essentially, Bethesda took the clunky settlement building controls of the main game and transplanted it here for a series of puzzle rooms. While novel in idea, the actual execution quickly wears out its welcome. The puzzles are overly long to solve and imprecise controls just frustrate the experience even further. While irable in its attempt, bringing the buggy settlement controls of Fallout 4 into Far Harbor's main quest feels ham-fisted.
However, the truth that players uncover for their efforts is worth the frustration. It turns out that DiMA had resorted to desperate measures to maintain peace on the island. The wind turbines that DiMA's people supplied to Far Harbor actually have a hidden kill-switch, so that at any time DiMA could turn off the turbines and allow the monsters of the Fog destroy Far Harbor. Also, if the player follows the coordinates they found in DiMA's memories, they will uncover a hidden medical lab where DiMA had murdered the original Captain Avery and replaced her with his own synth copy.
Similarly, the Children of Atom are unaware that their home has an active nuclear missile stored within it. DiMA's plan was to store the location of the nuclear launch key deep in his buried memories so that, should the Children of Atom grow too violent, he would have the bomb detonated and wipe out the Children all at once.
Finally, it is revealed that when DiMA and Nick Valentine had escaped the Institute, Nick was confused and attacked DiMA. DiMA had violently subdued Nick and forcibly took his memories before abandoning him.
Although DiMA is very vocal of his disgust of the Institute, the irony is that he used many of their same methods to achieve peace on Far Harbor. He had replaced a key leader with his own synth and set up contingencies to wipe out either side should they pose a threat to Arcadia.
From here, players are given a wealth of different options on how to approach the ending of Far Harbor. Players can choose to wipe out any of the factions they wish, and can even destroy all of the factions should they choose. Interestingly, the best ending - where all three factions survive - involves helping DiMA one more time. DiMA asks the player to keep the deception in place and to replace the leader of the Children of Atom, High Confessor Tektus, with his own synth copy. DiMA believes that his copy of Tektus, like the synth Captain Avery, would act more peacefully and would broker peace between Far Harbor and the Children.
The moral complexity of this quest just demonstrates how solid the writing from Bethesda is in Far Harbor. Fallout 4's main story suffered from lacking meaningful player choice and tough moral situations, and Far Harbor delivers on the complex storytelling that Fallout players want. With Fallout 76 revealing expeditions that will take players beyond West Virginia in the future, perhaps Bethesda will also provide an expedition back to Far Harbor with a younger DiMA that players can meet.
