Why is Fallout New Vegas considered good?

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Recently played this for the first time, never got around to it back in the day. As with most of these games it was pretty fun for the first couple of hours but I quickly became overpowered and the game became a bit of a chore. I was pleased to find a good number of locations unmarked on the map and an adequate amount of hand placed loot. However with no real danger it did not feel like exploration instead just like uncovering a map. And you can just click an icon on the map at any time so there was no sense of being on a journey or expedition.

The factions and quests all seemed fine until the Benny encounter, the reputation reset was really jarring, confusing, and immersion breaking. Log was spammed with a bunch of strange quests, with no context. Suddenly you are the chosen one for no reason, and any motivation you might have had for or against the factions is gone because they just forgot everything that happened thus far. After this point the game was just an ultra janky FPS, I couldn't suspend my disbelief.

The DLC with the beeping casino was atrocious

VATS was strangely useless, even at short range with precision weapons hit chance was low for some reason. So I never used it, which doesn't bother me except that VATS is the only unique thing about the game's gunplay, and the only thing that might make it feel more like an RPG instead of a standard FPS. So having it be useless was weird.

Did you play on Very Hard?
New Vegas isn't a hard game, through it has some pretty thorny moments (fucking White Legs are literally Veteran Rangers in drag).

The reputation reset is there to allow the player to choose any faction after the midgame, even if he fumbled up the other ones. This goes especially for the Legion, the early game is full of quests which piss the Legion off. The rep reset is actually a bit cheesy, I've seen people who literally nuke both the NCR and Legion before going to the Lucky 38, just so they can get the reset. Its probably meant to help the noobs/casuals.

Also, fulfill all the quests as anti-Legion and go talk to Caesar. Your rep might be reset, but the game definitively remembers what you did. That dialogue is VERY funny.

Also, the reason that "suddenly you are the chosen one" is because you just entered the Lucky 38 and spoke with Mr. House, which no one else ever did. Therefore, you are a person of interest, because you're literally the only guy who can get to House. Which is like a mail man getting a private audience Jeff Bezos for no discernible reason. Which means, whoever you are, you are very important, enough for all the major players to take notice.

Yes the FPS part is pretty janky, because it's made on top of FO3's iteration of the engine. FNV's biggest problems esteem from its short development time and the fact it's practically screaming and beating against the cage of being a Xbox360/PS3 title released on a DVD in the end of these consoles' lifetime.

Dead Money is great, but the part with the beeping collars always annoyed me too, there are a lot of moments where its pretty much trial and error with the collars.

You should try it modded, like with JSE.

VATS is not useless, but you have to use it at the right time. Unlike FO3 VATS, you only get like -30% damage resistance from VATS, so if you trigger VATS at the wrong time, the enemies fucking obliterate you. It's more like a special attack. The reason you can't hit shit with VATS is probably because you lack weapon skill.

Not being a fan of NV is whatever, but anyone who thinks F3 is a better game deserves the noose.

When the Revolution comes, people who think FO3 is better than New Vegas will be the first against the wall.

 

[Silverfish]

Not being a fan of NV is whatever, but anyone who thinks F3 is a better game deserves the noose.

I'll throw a curveball, then. Vegas is objectively better, but I prefer 3. With Vegas you get the disconnect between Obsidian's writing and player expression & Bethesda's engine and game mechanics, where 3 is bad all around, making for a more harmonious (and honestly, comedic) experience.

 

[Sweeper]

 

[Sweeper]

https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials...-of-the-trans-communitys-favorite-video-games

 

[Camel]

Weebs and Obsidian fans are at most danger.

 

[Sweeper]

Weebs and Obsidian fans are at most danger.

I'm just happy that Disco Elysium made the cut. I will now post this image at every mention of the visual novel.

 

[gooseman]

It's puzzling. At least it has an orange filter, instead of green vomit that 3 had. Main quest is sort of cool, with branching and stuff. But then just about everything else about the game sucks... Engine jank makes the game unpleasant to play. Most weapons feel like garbage. The lighting sucks. Ending slides are a cop out.
But what really kills the game for me is that it seems to be actively doing everything it can to destroy any immersion you might have had. Caesar will read wikipedia articles about what Rome was, in a monotone voice (some told me this is because he's autistic or something, but no, it sounds exactly like a voice actor who's not paid enough to give a fuck), like he's been begging you to ask him about his super cool fallout faction.
Most characters have shit or mediocre voice acting. NPCs that are supposed to be intimidating, aren't. The NCR sending their super elite rangers (who look like fucking dorks), to tell you how bad you are and how they're totally going to beat you up for being a bad guy to their faction. Player, you must improve your faction reputation, like, right now! Or else... these badass rangers are going to kick your butt! Was this shit written by an edgy 10 year old DM? Complete disconnect between gameplay and how the game treats you. The entire game is like this. You can foil every single one of Caesar's plans and he will write a seething social media post about how you've ruined everything the legion has been working on for years... and then he asks why he should spare you? And it's still possible for him to forgive you. It's like they tip toe around the consequences that everyone praises, just so the player can experience their incredible plot.
And you are the god entity. All these factions can't do shit without you. Nothing happens without your participation. No timed quests or anything. Clear sky had factions that actually fight each other in the world and capture stuff. Here, it's just quests, situations that only exist if you, the player, are there to take part in them. Characters aren't talking to the player character, it's voice actors reading their script to you, the player. Solipsism, the game. Maybe this is a high bar, hard to implement, etc, but this would be much easier to overlook if the rest of the game wasn't so bad. I guess I can commend it for the ambition and effort? But with all the smoke and mirrors, it's hard to tell if it was there. I'm not informed enough to know.

edit: i suppose we must ask... are any of the obsidian games good?

 

[Lemming42]

And you are the god entity. All these factions can't do shit without you. Nothing happens without your participation.

This always gets me when I replay it. The mid-game pardon is silly but even if we accept that everyone suddenly interested in you because you can access the Lucky 38, the amount of trust and responsibility you're given is downright comical. Caesar letting you at the Securitrons without having any of his soldiers supervise you (even if you've ruined the Legion's plans prior to that and actively murdered several top commanders), House similarly reckoning that someone he's just me who's possibly expressed nothing but disdain for him should be his sole agent in the Mojave, the NCR putting you in charge of the President's safety because you've been doing odd freelance jobs for them for a week.

When I first played it back in the day I was blown away by how real and vivid the world felt, but nowadays I don't know what the fuck I was talking about because it all feels like a dream. Obviously almost every cRPG is extremely player-centric and in most games nothing really happens until the player decides it'll happen, but New Vegas seems to make almost everything revolve around the player in a way that makes it feel like the most appropriate ending would be to reveal that you hallucinated the whole thing in a padded cell.

I think it's amplified by Obsidian's quest design which is excellent in parts but also gets pretty formulaic - there's almost always an optimal solution which is usually attained with a dialogue check, which makes everything feel even more surreal. When people do dare to act against the player character's whims, you can say "[Speech 40] Actually, no" and they're like "oh, well, okay" and submit to your will instead, which makes it feel even more like a dream going on in the head of a narccisistic lunatic.

The Khans quest in Boulder City is a perfect microcosm of it - there's a standoff between two groups that's about to escalate to all-out violence. Battle lines are drawn, the NCR troops are entrenched and the Khans are ready to fire. The player walks over and says "put me in charge of the negotiations", and the NCR guy says "alright". The player character walks unmolested across the battlefield and up to the Khans. "Free the hostages", "okay". "Surrender to the NCR," "okay". Then the player character walks out and the NCR guy says "oh, I just got orders to attack anyway." Player character says "don't do that," guy says "okay, I'll go with you over my commanders". You just walked in and shaped the situation to your will and everyone on both sides went along with you, both the NCR and Khan soldiers just all standing down in unison because you decreed it. It's so strange and unreal, and when you combine that with Gamebryo jankiness and the voice actors making everyone sound like a mannequin rather than a real person, it just feels profoundly strange.

 

[jackofshadows]

Yeah, Vegas is pondering way, way too much. It lacks the grit and uh, steadfastness regarding the player. It all just comes their way. Although dead money do something rather different in that regard, to a point.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

This wave of anti-Vegas contrarianism is to be expected given how long it's been championed as the anti-Bethesda game. This is funny given how much of its popularity is derived from its exceptional Bethesdian qualities, such as: 1. being unfinished; 2. coming packaged with fantastic modding tools that allow you to "make your own game". There's always been a great appetite for a good Bethesda style game that didn't feel like it was made by Bethesda and FNV fulfilled both roles quite well. Whether it's a true Fallout game will remain a scholarly question, as the main audience for the game hasn't played classic Fallout, or discovered it only after FNV. Even today you see people invoking the classics only as a polemic against Bethesda, while making it clear that they're fans of NV first and foremost.

 

[Lemming42]

Part of the wave of anti-New Vegas sentiment (if such a thing is happening) might just be the natural change in perspective that comes with over a decade of distance. It wouldn't be the first game which seemed extraordinary at the time but retrospectively looks kind of limp.

Other than that it's probably just familiarity - I'm sure if New Vegas was released now and I played it for the first time tonight, I'd enjoy it (although I suspect somewhat less enthusiastically and unreservedly than I did in 2010). It bowls you over on a first playthrough because, look, factions! Skill checks! A main quest that's got more going on than "kill the Enclave"! It's when you really sit with it and reflect on it that the excitement starts to wear off and the flaws start to show, and given New Vegas' extraordinary popularity, people have had a long time to reflect on it.

Also there's probably a lot of kids playing it for the first time who've had it described to them as the best game ever (bonus points if it's been described as a deep political manifesto, as it sometimes is) and they'll wind up playing it and just sitting there thinking "this is just Fallout 3 with more bugs". It was really in the right place at the right time when it came out but a lot of what made it feel exciting and, as you say, anti-Bethesda is sort of lost in translation in 2024.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

This wave of anti-Vegas contrarianism is to be expected given how long it's been championed as the anti-Bethesda game. This is funny given how much of its popularity is derived from its exceptional Bethesdian qualities, such as: 1. being unfinished; 2. coming packaged with fantastic modding tools that allow you to "make your own game". There's always been a great appetite for a good Bethesda style game that didn't feel like it was made by Bethesda and FNV fulfilled both roles quite well. Whether it's a true Fallout game will remain a scholarly question, as the main audience for the game hasn't played classic Fallout, or discovered it only after FNV. Even today you see people invoking the classics only as a polemic against Bethesda, while making it clear that they're fans of NV first and foremost.

Of those Codexers who ostensibly hate Bethesda Softworks' Open World RPGs, half are fans of Fallout: New Vegas.

Oblivion

Oblivion with Guns

Oblivion with Guns and Skill-Checks

 

[aweigh]

i liked fnv quite a bit

liked fallout 4 more tho XD

 

[Dark Souls II]

There are 3 good things about New Vegas:

1) Caesar (and Caesar's Legion as a faction in general)
2) Joshua Graham
3) melee weapons variety and melee combat on STR build

That's it. Without these 3 the game is a Soyrim/Soyfield level goycattle zogslop. Even with these 3, it is ostensibly a game for little babies. People within 90-105 IQ are the ones who would consider this a masterpiece. It's incredibly basic and juvenile, and can be a very bottom-of-the-barrel "fun" the first time you're doing it. Playing New Vegas is like fucking a slightly chubby 26 years old girl - it's palatable, but nothing to write home about. It would probably feel great if you never had sex before and have nothing to compare it with.

 

[Butter]

There's always been a great appetite for a good Bethesda style game that didn't feel like it was made by Bethesda

Pretty much this. It's an appealing style of game, but it's slim pickins out there, especially if you want one that's good.

List of non-Bethesda "Bethesda style" RPGs made in the last decade:

* Kingdom Come Deliverance
* The Outer Worlds
* Cyberpunk 2077

Am I missing anything?

 

[Deadyawn]

* The Outer Worlds

I don't know if I would call it "besthesda style". It's generally lacking in immersive qualities. Take for example the godawful, segregated "stealth" system.

 

[Mauman]

I've heard of the mentally ill game meme before, but I was always curious how FNV got claimed by them.

I fail to see anything "trans" related in it.

 

[Old Hans]

* The Outer Worlds

I don't know if I would call it "besthesda style". It's generally lacking in immersive qualities. Take for example the godawful, segregated "stealth" system.

if outer worlds took anything from modern Bethesda games, it's the over reliance on pointless garbage looting, which has become an absolute cancer

 

[Deadyawn]

I fail to see anything "trans" related in it.

Me neither. It's just a very popular RPG with some online cred to it.

I think the general gist of the argument is that it was the game where they played as a female character, and due to the game's immersive design, it became an experience through which they explored that idea of themselves, and in turn made them realize they were trans.

 

[Sweeper]

I've heard of the mentally ill game meme before, but I was always curious how FNV got claimed by them.

I fail to see anything "trans" related in it.

The modding community is infested with troons and New Vegas has, quite possibly, one of the most active and largest modding communities out of any game.
Really blew up after The Frontier released, that and there's a Bethesda pajeet spamming the ever loving shit out of New Vegas threads on /v/ with tranny memes.

 

[gooseman]

"[Speech 40] Actually, no" and they're like "oh, well, okay" and submit to your will instead, which makes it feel even more like a dream going on in the head of a narccisistic lunatic.

What about Lanius, lol. He changes his mind on a dime, just because you pass a speech check. Oh, actually, the dam is completely irrelevant, and we can't conquer shit. So anticlimactic and feels like it was put in the game solely so reviews could say "This game is so cool and groundbreaking, you can talk your way out of a boss fight!". You don't have to roll for this incredibly unlikely option, don't have to choose the right dialogue to convince him (unless picking "I want to talk" instead of "Uhh me kill u" counts), no prerequisite quests/items for you to do/find. You just click [speech 100] a few times and that's it.

 

[d1r]

I've heard of the mentally ill game meme before, but I was always curious how FNV got claimed by them.

I fail to see anything "trans" related in it.

The modding community is infested with troons and New Vegas has, quite possibly, one of the most active and largest modding communities out of any game.
Really blew up after The Frontier released, that and there's a Bethesda pajeet spamming the ever loving shit out of New Vegas threads on /v/ with tranny memes.

No wonder why we got a Mental Stability System mod now.

 

[Just Locus]

This wave of anti-Vegas contrarianism is to be expected given how long it's been championed as the anti-Bethesda game.

I still think despite all of its flaws that NV is overall a good game. We can sit here for hours and discuss the problems with the game, but it did a hell of a lot more good than bad.

 

[Silverfish]

I've heard of the mentally ill game meme before, but I was always curious how FNV got claimed by them.

I fail to see anything "trans" related in it.

There's nothing inherently tranny-adjacent in Vegas, it's just that its contemporaries were all dumb dudebro games, and thus more difficult for that crowd to get their hooks in.

 

[General Disarray]

There's always been a great appetite for a good Bethesda style game that didn't feel like it was made by Bethesda

Pretty much this. It's an appealing style of game, but it's slim pickins out there, especially if you want one that's good.

List of non-Bethesda "Bethesda style" RPGs made in the last decade:

* Kingdom Come Deliverance
* The Outer Worlds
* Cyberpunk 2077

Am I missing anything?

Elex 1 released 2017. And if you are counting hub worlds / open world games as TOW we can count Outward as well. Hell if you are counting TOW and Cyberpunk 2077 as Bethesda style games you could throw in Mankind Divided whilst your at it, released 2016.
Greedfall should count as well.