Why is Fallout New Vegas considered good?

[Jack Of Owls]

Vanilla FNV was fun for a single playthrough way back when, and I could probably get a different experience if I re-played it again due to at least some C&C but when I attempted a playthrough with my favorite mods (including the brilliant RobCo Certified) last year I grew bored and quit third-way through. If I can't make the game exciting anymore even with mods, all I can do now is sing ♫The Thrill is Gone♫

Around the time I gave up on it completely I realized I spent way more time modding it than actually playing it. Same goes for all Bethesjank games, really. Spend 4 hours getting a bunch of mods working then get bored after an hour of playing.

There's also the severe footstink of things like the Frontier mod for FNV that have slightly contributed to my going off the Gamebryo Fallout games in general though the original developers should in no way be blamed for that. It just leaves a bad taste. Thank you and fuck you, FO/FNV modding community.

 

[Sigourn]

Without mods New Vegas would have quickly faded to obscurity, a footnote on a C&C chapter of RPG history.
It's a game with bad graphics, bad gameplay, questionable writing (not bad, not great, just questionable) and a fanbase fueled by Call of Duty weapon mods and furry fanction.

 

[Marat]

The writing in New Vegas is more than adequate you bunch of pretentious wannabes. Dumbass fucking hipsters, the lot of youse.

 

[Silverfish]

The writing in New Vegas is more than adequate you bunch of pretentious wannabes.

Ah, a fellow Mr. House acolyte.

 

[Sigourn]

So I saw Dune Part 2 the other day, and since then me and my brother won't stop talking about it. We got to the topic of Jodorowsky's Dune, and I think New Vegas would have been better off being that. Arguably, Van Buren was just that.

Case in point: the "artwork", the "concept art", the "idea" we were sold has nothing to do with what the game ended up being. The New Vegas that was released is David Lynch's Dune to the Van Buren that was teased, which is Jodorowsky's Dune.

 

[Lemming42]

It would have been better off as a new setting honestly, all Fallout games after the first one feel extraneous.

Then again it's Obsidian and their track record with creating new settings is dodgy, but still. I always wonder if the NCR/House/Legion conflict was repurposed from another project they were already working on and was adapted into Fallout, because it does feel at times like it could be very easily reskinned into some kinda generic space western thing set on some shithole colony world.

 

[Old Hans]

It would have been better off as a new setting honestly, all Fallout games after the first one feel extraneous.

Then again it's Obsidian and their track record with creating new settings is dodgy, but still. I always wonder if the NCR/House/Legion conflict was repurposed from another project they were already working on and was adapted into Fallout, because it does feel at times like it could be very easily reskinned into some kinda generic space western thing set on some shithole colony world.

I seem to recall I bunch of ideas were taken from Fallout Van Buren and repurposed for New Vegas

 

[9ted6]

if Unity annoys you then what do you find compelling in fallout setting? i always felt like master, fev, cathedral, mutants set the tone for the franchise almost perfectly. imo, devs covered red scare, post-apo, and sci-fi tropes well in FO. it was a mix of serious, wacky, and grimdark in good proportions. shit like barely explored psi powers is where its becoming a bit too much, but that was really a minor thing.

None of it anymore. I like the first one's setup but I feel like the rest of the series is disconnected from it. It was the first and only time they gave a shit and even then they fumbled it near the finish with the rushed ending.

 

[Lemming42]

I think the psi power stuff is okay. Like everything else in Fallout, it makes sense within the context of the game itself and only becomes awkward or unfitting if you take it alongside the sequels. Everything in Fo1 exists to tell one story, the story of the Unity and the journey of the Vault Dweller, and IMO there's nothing in the game that doesn't work to that end. Weird shit like the Glowing Ones and the psi powers and ZAX and the Deathclaw and the Nightkin all work brilliantly because they're there as striking ideas that define the mind-bending surreal horror that the VD experiences on his/her journey into the surface world, which plays out more like a half-comical half-sickening nightmare than a real place. But none of those elements work outside of that, so all the sequels just feel weird as hell, since they're desperately trying to write new and unrelated stories in a setting that was created for the purpose of telling one specific story that's already concluded.

 

[janior]

people like their little dialogue trees with skillchecks because they think its roleplay or something hence new vegas popularity

 

[agris]

the way you talk him into self-destructing isn't nearly as clever as the writers and some fans think it is

Did you know about the ending before you experienced it?

 

[9ted6]

the way you talk him into self-destructing isn't nearly as clever as the writers and some fans think it is

Did you know about the ending before you experienced it?

No and to be fair that did probably cloud my expectations. It seems like an ending I would've honestly enjoyed if I didn't see it coming, but I still think after the fact that with enough time I'd have come to the same conclusion that it's weak, rushed and doesn't make a lot of sense.

A mutated cyborg with supercomputer processing power who was obsessed with continuing the human race never once in any of his plans ever considered the #1 thing required for reproduction? He never even thought of it, or a contingency or something? And realizing that alone makes him immediately give up on all of his plans and suicide without a second thought.

It seems like one of those superficially clever gotcha moments to me and while he's a better written villain than Eden his ending is just as bad as the "Blow yourself up pls" scene. It doesn't ruin the game necessarily but everyone talks about that outcome as being an example of Fallout 1's great writing to the point people might not even know about the other endings.

 

[Lemming42]

I'd say it's worlds apart from Eden since Eden has no reason at all to blow himself (itself?) up. It makes even less sense given that in one option the player's argument is that Eden's actions are morally wrong... but then Eden kills himself and gives you the modified FEV. He agrees that his plan is evil and that he must die, but his dying wish is for you to carry out that same plan.

With the Master at least the themes are set up right, even if the specifics of the conversation don't make a great deal of sense. The Master is an obsessive idealist so it's plausible that he could make some grave oversight (though all female mutants being sterile, and apparently knowing about this themselves but never mentioning it to him, is a hilarious stretch), and from what we know about Richard Grey and his story, it's believable that he's not beyond being able to see how far he's gone and realise that he has to stop.

It kind of works if you squint - it's a common plot, a villain who genuinely wanted to make the world better, believed that the ends would justify the means, and then was finally forced to confront what he'd done and realised he was the bad guy, and so sacrificed himself to stop his own plans. All the story beats are good and work well, the only issue is the actual words exchanged between the VD and the Master, which are very odd and don't really convey the weight of what's meant to be happening, and also make the Master look totally incompetent.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

It would have been better off as a new setting honestly, all Fallout games after the first one feel extraneous.

Then again it's Obsidian and their track record with creating new settings is dodgy, but still. I always wonder if the NCR/House/Legion conflict was repurposed from another project they were already working on and was adapted into Fallout, because it does feel at times like it could be very easily reskinned into some kinda generic space western thing set on some shithole colony world.

I seem to recall I bunch of ideas were taken from Fallout Van Buren and repurposed for New Vegas

Yes, for Fallout: New Vegas, Obsidian had the immense advantage of being able to draw upon never-used material drafted for the long-ago abortive attempt at developing a Fallout 3, as well as various ideas generated by their relevant personnel since then.

 

[Barrow_Bug]

My God the Codex has really declined when we're allowing New Fags to make such retarded threads.

 

[blessed king of longing]

NV is a sturdy beautiful skeleton stuck inside the bloated 400lb body that is Gamebryo and the multiple Bethesdaisms that comes with it.

Even without gamebryo, it is shit because everything feels rushed, unfinished, uncomplete, and I'm baffled so many people praise it. There is simply nothing worthwile at all in this mess of the game.
I blame Codex Redditors.
Again not praising Fallout 2 but compared to New vegas, that game is infinitely less retarded in every areas.
At least in Fallout 2 The factions are real factions with more than 10 NPCs, at least the cities look like cities. I mean New Reno is bigger and more densely populated than Vegas.

it’s the atmosphere!! trudging through the mojave desert while listening to Big Iron and blowing up Geckos with grenades is a very unique and (to me) special experience.

as you get to the outskirts of new vegas you get the fallout 1 ambient music and walking among the ruined buildings actually feels like a true 3d fallout!! much more than 3 or 4.

And the writing of course is superb. Yes it’s unfinished and has a shitty engine, but its vision and atmosphere is great. also tons of mods to enhance the game. lots of your complaints are fixed by mods.

also the quests! beyond the beef is probably the most complex quest in terms of design I ever seen in an RPG.

ah yes.
1. "mods will fix it"
2. "fallout is about running around shooting stuff while listening to old music"



you'd be praising the shit out of fallout 3 if you were around for the launch, because thats exactly what toddler showcased. babbys first rpg, every single time. thats the true reason you redditrannies like this game.

 

[Socrates]

As long as Arcade Gannon is dead I can enjoy FNV.

 

[laclongquan]

the way you talk him into self-destructing isn't nearly as clever as the writers and some fans think it is

Did you know about the ending before you experienced it?

No and to be fair that did probably cloud my expectations. It seems like an ending I would've honestly enjoyed if I didn't see it coming, but I still think after the fact that with enough time I'd have come to the same conclusion that it's weak, rushed and doesn't make a lot of sense.

Why would you not know it first? Talk somebody/someone into suicide at end stage is a Fallout tradition. The Master, some scientist at Oil Rig, Eden and somebody that you talked into getting inside the purifier...

 

[soutaiseiriron]

A few people mentioned FNV being easy, for that I'd suggest playing the game with Viva New Vegas and on the hardest difficulty on hardcore. VNV has JSawyer Ultimate as well as the Famine loot mod, and it makes FNV significantly harder as 1/8 NPCs don't drop 2 stimpaks anymore.
It kind of edges you as far as healing supplies, ammo, doc bags etc go so you'll basically be forced to juggle weapons around and won't have as much carry weight to sell trash to break the economy early.
Obviously you can still cheese whatever encounter you want to cheese, you can still go kill tweakers and fix up their energy weapons and sell them and work yourself up, but it adds a tactical element to much of the early/mid game and delays the point at which you can just +W into any combat encounter until much later.
The DT system also holds up reasonably well (imo) that it doesn't feel too health bloated except for Dead Money.

 

[Jacov]

JSawyer mod + finetuned Famine is what I use all the time. They are definetely a must.

I'd also recommend the following mods for an overhauled vanilla experience:
1) Mojave Arsenal — seamlessly integrates GRA into the game and updates loot tables to make ammo crafting and weapon mods more accessible;
2) NAWEMO — makes NPCs use special ammo types and weapon mods;
3) NPCs use Aid items — does what it says. NPCs will heal with stims and enemies like Fiends will chem up with whatever shit they have in their pockets;
4) Traps Tweaks — makes traps use skills other than Repair to disarm them. Mines use Explosives, Bear Traps — Survival, etc.;
5) Vicious Wastes Standalone Mechanics - Agility Affects Movement Speed. Agility is otherwise mostly useless and is only needed for a few perks. Better than any sprint mod because it also affects NPCs;
6) Vicious Wastes Standalone Mechanics - Perception Affects Ranged Accuracy. Same as Agility. Perception in vaniila is useless and only needed for literally one perk;
7) Vicious Wastes Standalone Mechanics - Barter Affects Repair Costs. Makes Barter a decent counterbalance to the otherwise rather strong Repair skill.

Also Stewie's Tweaks, but they require a lot of finetuning.

 

[Sigourn]

I wish Famine had options to disable container loot removal, period. Disabling locked containers is great, but containers were also handplaced by Obsidian and I wish you could leave those intact.

The equipment repair mechanic is something that needs addressing.

• In vanilla, just slap another weapon/outfit of the same type and you are done.
• JIP LN NVSE Plugin has an option to turn on FO3 repairing, which capped the extent of repairs to your Repair skill. I always enable it.
• Repair Kits requires a consumable repair kit to execute repairs. You can craft it from certain loot (a combination of wrenches, wonderglue, scrap metal, scrap electronics) or buy it ocassionally from vendors.
• Prevent Repair If Not At Workbench from Stewie's Tweaks requires you to simply be at a workbench to perform repairs.

These are the options I've found; I personally use Repair Kits but I'm considering switching to Stewie's Tweaks in my next playthrough and see how that works out. You can also run both at the same time if that's your thing.

For radiation being a joke in New Vegas, I find RAD - Radiation (is) Actually Dangerous - Overhaul to be a massive improvement. Even small doses of Raditation which wouldn't have made a difference in vanilla New Vegas chip away your max health, handicapping you from the get go.

Jacov Stewie's Tweaks include Agility Scales Movement Speed as well as Barter Affects Repair Costs.

 

[Jacov]

@Jacov Stewie's Tweaks include Agility Scales Movement Speed as well as Barter Affects Repair Costs.

That's great. I don't remember them there, but I haven't looked at Stewie's Tweaks in-depth for a long time. Will have to revise my mod list next time I will be replaying the game.

 

[agris]

I wish Famine had options to disable container loot removal, period. Disabling locked containers is great, but containers were also handplaced by Obsidian and I wish you could leave those intact.

The equipment repair mechanic is something that needs addressing.

• In vanilla, just slap another weapon/outfit of the same type and you are done.
• JIP LN NVSE Plugin has an option to turn on FO3 repairing, which capped the extent of repairs to your Repair skill. I always enable it.
• Repair Kits requires a consumable repair kit to execute repairs. You can craft it from certain loot (a combination of wrenches, wonderglue, scrap metal, scrap electronics) or buy it ocassionally from vendors.
• Prevent Repair If Not At Workbench from Stewie's Tweaks requires you to simply be at a workbench to perform repairs.

These are the options I've found; I personally use Repair Kits but I'm considering switching to Stewie's Tweaks in my next playthrough and see how that works out. You can also run both at the same time if that's your thing.

For radiation being a joke in New Vegas, I find RAD - Radiation (is) Actually Dangerous - Overhaul to be a massive improvement. Even small doses of Raditation which wouldn't have made a difference in vanilla New Vegas chip away your max health, handicapping you from the get go.

Jacov Stewie's Tweaks include Agility Scales Movement Speed as well as Barter Affects Repair Costs.

Is there a mod that dramatically cuts down the amount of junk loot? Not replacing it with actual loot, as that would make an already easy game even easier, but slash that shit by something like an order of magnitude

 

[soutaiseiriron]

I've never really seen FNV as a game with too much junk loot. Just get some mod(s) for tagging/autolooting valuable misc items if you really hate it.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

My God the Codex has really declined when we're allowing New Fags to make such retarded threads.