Yeah. In earlier Fallout games, you needed special training to use power armor and it was an end-game thing. But, it had ever-lasting power. In Fallout 4, however, since you get it so early and without needing to learn how to use it (which was a mistake in my opinion), they needed some way to balance it out. And fusion cores was the way they decided to go about it. I'm pretty sure that was the thought process that led to power armor in Starfinder needing to be charged up.
I'm completely fine with the mechanics of power armor. I would just like more power armor. Especially those Xenodruid power armors made of living plants that were mentioned in the CRB.
Uhm. If I remember correctly...Your character in Fallout 4, grew up in that time, he even was part of the ongoing war himself. He was a war vet. Long since experienced. S/He has LOOONG since known how to use just about every form of power armour that was standard. and probably the warbirds and various other machines.
So there was no real need for S/He to learn.
You do not remember correctly. Nora (or whatever you name her) was a lawyer, not a soldier. I can see Nate being able to wear power armor, as he might have had some training. But certainly not Nora.
Or all the followers you get that you can then make wear power armor.
Or all the bandits that have power armor.
Or literally any human/ghoul NPC that can just hop in whatever power armor is laying around, so long as it has a fusion core.
Heh, in the fallout series power armor was endgame armor for all but the latest installment and was something you kinda permanently wore.
In 4 to wear it all the time requires a bit more planning and luck with getting the fusion cores, but it's still possible.
I don't know that in Fallout 3 or New Vegas I would consider them "end game" armor, but you definitely did have to work at getting access to training for the armor in both games. But I guess the problem is more how you define "end game" with relation to sandbox rpgs like Fallout. I mean you can definitely encounter power armor users, kill, and take their armor relatively early on. But getting trained to use it is another matter entirely. And usually requires a more diplomatic approach.
In Fallout 4 you immediately can use power armor, but due to fusion core use and requiring repair (compared to other armor in game) I literally never used it except where you have to walk through the incredibly irradiated area. I found it to be too much of a hassle. The power armor mechanics of Fallout 4 were really poorly implemented IMO.
And I think it was all because they wanted to have you fight a Deathclaw 10 minutes into the game so they give you power armor to make sure you don't die. Or they could have kept the mechanics like it was in all the other games, make it rare (instead of freaking everywhere), and make the fusion cores actually last effectively forever. And they could have made you fight something that is terrifying and deadly but still able to be beaten by a low level character with some help (they could have had more people to follow you to Sanctuary if they survived) a fight with something besides a Deathclaw.
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Fallout is what people think of for futuristic power armor? Really?
Not Doomguy or Master Chief? :v
There is one TTRPG that I immediately think of when I think of power armor, and I've mentioned it here before. Deadlands: Hell on Earth. And I think Starfinder is going the same route that it did. In the base book, there were only a couple power armors, the drain on them was huge, and it was a very situational thing.
However, in a later splat book, they upped the number of power armors from 4 all the way up to 13. And they ran the gamut from the big Stahljeager (with a drain of 1 power/minute and a total of 200 power) that was meant to hunt and destroy heavily armed cyborgs and other power armor to the LRRP (with a drain of .05/minute and 200 power) that was designed for long-term scouting and recon and even came with it's own solar power collector blanket as standard to keep charged while still.
They also added in a *ton* of add-ons to the power armors. Weapons, jump-packs, medical sensors, speed or power upgrades, flight packs, etc. One thing that stood out for those who don't like power armor having to be situational is a Canister.
"Canisters were designed specifically for battlefield recharging of Armored Infantry. Canisters are basically an armored fusion engine with four power couplings evenly spaced around its perimeter. The size and shape of a beer keg with two stout handles on the side,a canister weighs roughly 300 pounds so a trooper carrying one has her hands full. A canister can produce an unlimited amount of power, and each port can supply a battle suit 30 units of power per minute. The canister is AV3, Durability 20/4. If destroyed, the fusion reactor shuts down harmlessly."
(Devs, if you're reading this, seriously check out the Denver book for Deadlands: HoE.)
Maybe it's a lack of exposure to the actual games and their Lore, but when I think of stuff like Master Chief and Samus I see that more as Starfinder's Heavy Armor. Which... to be honest Iron Man is pretty much Heavy Armor too. Heavy Armor with a lot of upgrades (including an Armor equivalent of the Called Weapon Fusion in Iron Man's case) and some strong reflavoring of carried weapons sometimes.
Just a matter of how technologically advanced were going with and what direction technology moved in.
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I personally think of Starship Troopers (the book) when I think of powered armor, and I'm pretty sure the developers were, too. In the Heinlein book, squads of Mobile Infantry (i.e. "Mobile Army" Armor Storm style feature) would be dropped from orbit separately, maraud for a few minutes using armor-mounted grenade racks, rockets, etc. (including launching tactical nukes) and then meet up and a rendezvous at the dropship. "On The Bounce," which is the ultimate style feature for Armor Storm, was a phrase actually coined by Heinlein in this book. Earth uses their power armor squads as basically shock and awe, to essentially demoralize enemies with their nigh-indestructible juggernauts of destruction that are gone almost before they arrive, leaving massive amounts of devastation in their wake.
So... while there were a multitude of inspirations for power armor in Starfinder (spider armor seems like it's definitely a Ghost in the Shell reference, and the Battle Harness is probably an Edge of Tomorrow thing), I think the overall intent is to have the suits be incredibly situational... not something you're just going to dungeon crawl in.
That said, as an Armor Storm soldier myself, I would love for there to be more power armor options and tactical improvements, like being able to drop the suit from orbit like a torpedo onto a specific space, squashing anyone unfortunate enough to not make a Reflex save and allowing me to jump into the fully-charged suit mid-battle if it becomes necessary.
(yes I do know that I would need the quick-entry/exit upgrade for both the power armor and my heavy armor; it would still be slick as hell).
Using a quantum power battery would solve the power issue and just have to manage the power used each round. Something like it worked for another game that had nuclear batteries that lasted a couple of hours so it was redone. lol showing my age.