Fallout Original Fallout Appreciation Thread

[NecroLord]

"War, war never changes..."
“My idea is to explore more of the world and more of the ethics of a post-nuclear world, not to make a better plasma gun." - Tim Cain


What made the original Fallout games so timeless in quality and prestigious?
What are your favorite aspects of these games? Having recently completed a Fallout run, it boggles the mind just how good it is to still play.
Whether exploring the terrifying and radiation bathed Glow, or the final showdown in the Los Angeles Vault, Fallout is just such a joy to play and experience. The Mark Morgan masterpiece of a soundtrack further enhances the atmosphere and fills it with post apocalyptic dread. The talking heads and voice acting.
Power Armor. Nuclear War. Secret and morally questionable government research facilities. Energy Weapons. Mutated and highly aggressive fauna.
What have the first two Fallout games got done so right?

 

[__scribbles__]

What made the original Fallout games so timeless in quality and prestigious?

Non-linear structure, reactivity, atmosphere, quest design. That's what Fallout did well, and is nearly unmatched in those areas to this day.

Oh, and the format. Isometric + turn-based is a winning concept.

Excellent games. It will be interesting to see if Fallout 1 finally manages to overtake Planescape: Torment in the next top RPGs vote.

 

[NecroLord]

It will be interesting to see if Fallout 1 finally manages to overtake Planescape: Torment in the next top RPGs vote.

I'm thinking it might.

 

[Funposter]

What made the original Fallout games so timeless in quality and prestigious?

 

[Zarniwoop]

It's not one specific thing. Almost any quality you can name about Fallout, there will be something that did it better. Especially according to Codex autists.

But a big part of it, other than the world building, is the open-endedness/non-linearity. You can kill pretty much anyone in the game and keep playing.

No character's death can sever the threads of prophecy or whateverthefuck.

 

[behold_a_man]

For the first one, apart from the obvious:
-> There is no more text to describe the world than what is needed.
-> Conciseness: no location feels forced or unnecessary; each of the three dungeons has some special, distinguishing factor; each place (except maybe Vault 15) has some story.
-> The game is short enough to make subsequent playthroughs pleasant.
In the second one, I think half of the midgame (including Broken Hills, Raiders Camp, and Wanamigo Mines) could be cut without the game losing quality.

 

[NecroLord]

For the first one, apart from the obvious:
-> There is no more text to describe the world than what is needed.
-> Conciseness: no location feels forced or unnecessary; each of the three dungeons has some special, distinguishing factor; each place (except maybe Vault 15) has some story.
-> The game is short enough to make subsequent playthroughs pleasant.
In the second one, I think half of the midgame (including Broken Hills, Raiders Camp, and Wanamigo Mines) could be cut without the game losing quality.

Broken Hills has Marcus, a great companion (just don't give him burst Big Guns) and tried to explore the possibility of former supermutants building communities with ghouls and normal humans.
I like the Wanamingo mines. You know, just a classic pest removal quest. Except the "pests" are friggin resistant to normal bullets and are an absolute pain to deal with if you don't have good armor and weapons.
Fallout 2 has more content. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your preferences. I like it, but the original Fallout was more concise and had better quest structure and worldbuilding.

 

[NecroLord]

Speaking of Talking Heads:




Fuck those soulless Bethesda face models and animations.

 

[behold_a_man]

I like the Wanamingo mines. You know, just a classic pest removal quest. Except the "pests" are friggin resistant to normal bullets and are an absolute pain to deal with if you don't have good armor and weapons.

This would not be a problem for me if Fallout had a good combat system; it didn't, so making a long, monotone dungeon filled with a single type of enemy was not a great idea from my perspective.

As for Broken Hills, I stumbled upon it by the end of the game and didn't feel like I lost something.

 

[Butter]

It will be interesting to see if Fallout 1 finally manages to overtake Planescape: Torment in the next top RPGs vote.

It will. Some of the PST vote will be cannibalized by Disco Elysium.

What made the original Fallout games so timeless in quality and prestigious?

Music/atmosphere, non-linear structure, and the perfect balance of darkness with humor (while Fallout 2 and New Vegas are both admirable attempts, neither one of them succeeded on this last point).

 

[ds]

There's just a number of things that Fallout got right. Beyond what was already mentioned:

Getting the water chip is a timed quest which manages to convey a sense of urgency that is based on the realities of the world and not just arbitrary while still being forgiving enough to not be annoying. Crucially, you can pay for more time if you messed up.

Deathclaws are telegraphed early as a dangerous enemy and due to the non-linearity you can actually face them and get your ass kicked. That just makes the character growth so much more apparent once you can easily turn them into gibs.

The setting is unique which means on your first play-trough you won't know what to expect anywhere you go. But the world still feels consistent and not a lolrandom comedy show.

 

[ds]

Even Tim is participating in Fallout appreciation today:

 

[Ivan]

"time is money, chit chat is not money. you here about the job or what?"

 

[smaug]

Thread is worthless. I’ve never played Bethesda Fallout

Although I did attempt to play NV and that gave me PTSD.

 

[9ted6]

I like that Fallout 1 and 2 weren't woke despite Cain being gay and the other guy being I think an actual commie, even though certain fans call Fallout the wokest most pro-socialist game ever made.

2 went overboard on the jokes and pop culture references but there's stuff there and in 1 that would get the writers canceled today and it's a wonder reddit's Fallout fanboys never noticed them, probably because they never actually played 1 or 2.

 

[Catacombs]

That satisfaction seeing the blood pool under an enemy after finally landing the killing blow.

 

[Old Hans]

"War, war never changes..."
“My idea is to explore more of the world and more of the ethics of a post-nuclear world, not to make a better plasma gun." - Tim Cain


What made the original Fallout games so timeless in quality and prestigious?
What are your favorite aspects of these games? Having recently completed a Fallout run, it boggles the mind just how good it is to still play.
Whether exploring the terrifying and radiation bathed Glow, or the final showdown in the Los Angeles Vault, Fallout is just such a joy to play and experience. The Mark Morgan masterpiece of a soundtrack further enhances the atmosphere and fills it with post apocalyptic dread. The talking heads and voice acting.
Power Armor. Nuclear War. Secret and morally questionable government research facilities. Energy Weapons. Mutated and highly aggressive fauna.
What have the first two Fallout games got done so right?

one thing I noticed is how simple and to the point the dialog is, which is nice. especially after playing undertail which constantly has blocks of text for random, worthless npcs

 

[Jaesun]

What drew me first to play this many many years ago when it was released, was the sheer fact it was NOT another fucking Fantasy setting RPG. That and at the time, Interplay was known for good games. So I then gave it a try...

 

[Atlet]

What made the original Fallout games so timeless in quality and prestigious?

Non-linear structure, reactivity, atmosphere, quest design. That's what Fallout did well, and is nearly unmatched in those areas to this day.

Oh, and the format. Isometric + turn-based is a winning concept.

Excellent games. It will be interesting to see if Fallout 1 finally manages to overtake Planescape: Torment in the next top RPGs vote.

As much as I love Fallout, Jagged Alliance 2 should be the number 1.

 

[The Abominable Showman]

What made the original Fallout games so timeless in quality and prestigious?

I think a big factor is that the developers didn't get too overambitious and wind up overextending themselves like Troika and Obsidian would later do, over and over again. They knew where to cut their losses and make the most out of what they had.

 

[à chacun son dégoût]

Emphasis on quality and replayability over mere quantity and duration, unusual for an American game.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Deathclaws are telegraphed early as a dangerous enemy and due to the non-linearity you can actually face them and get your ass kicked. That just makes the character growth so much more apparent once you can easily turn them into gibs.

Nigga I found the Master by accident shortly after leaving Vault 15.

Stumbled into the END BOSS by fucking around in some staircase in a creepy church and got caught a little out of my depth to say the least.

10/10 would get critically hit by gatling lasers again.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Reactivity, actual sense of urgency, being able to do whatever/go wherever.

I'm not the most interested in the setting as a whole but Fallout 1 is as good as it got. Truly felt like exploring a post-apocalyptic wasteland with the beginning of new civilization.

I enjoyed there was improved/added features & content in Fallout 2 but the *lulz* really brought the setting/atmosphere down so I only ever go back to replay the first.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Hello, fellow kids. Yea that game was good.

 

[smaug]

I played Fallout 1&2 a year ago. Yea, they’re great games