oh damn, i just realized who you are. you're Willowhugger. i only remembered because i quoted you on Emhyr being a psychopath on the CDPR forums, back a few months ago.
i enjoyed your Witcher 3 analysis posts, but i gotta say, your posts here are borderline blasphemous... and your tolerance for being disagreed with is admirable.
Amazing to see you. Welcome friend from CD Projekt Red.
And yes, I was warned this place was two things by my friends on RPG.net.
1. That all who love Bethesda games should abandon all hope once they enter.
2. This was the place for people who truly truly love Fallout.
With the Bethesda forums having....well, died with their move, I realized I wanted to talk about Nuka World and needed a place to do it. So, I signed up. I also needed a distraction from my sick dog and air conditioning breaking down/power outage stress.
===
BTW, back to my reviewing method...another example of the problem with scoring is comparing Far Harbor and Nuka World.
Far Harbor
I generally hold Far Harbor to be quite a bit better than the main game. It's extremely tightly focused around its central ethical dilemma and the factions involved. The Harbormen aren't exactly a DEEP faction but they are entirely understandable, likable, and have plenty of interesting characters.
Dima is more interesting than the majority of Synths because he's NOT purely human and doesn't think like a human so the question of Synth rights has some weight. 3rd generation Synths are far more human than Super Mutants so the question of their rights is tired and boring but Dima is basically a rubber-skinned computer. The Children of the Atom are annoying because they're obviously a stupid cult led by a madman but they seem like decent enough people with an evil exploitative leader.
So the moral dilemma of doing the right thing and letting Dima face justice vs. the "wrong" thing of being a ruthless asshole for the greater good nicely makes the whole Institute vs. Brotherhood conflict better in microcosm. The island is spooky, well-written, and even if Trappers are just Raiders--they're kinda new.
10 out of 10
Which causes an issue because I think Far Harbor is perfect in the 10 out of 10 sense but Nuka World is BETTER....yet worse?
Nuka World
Nuka World is a game of near pure spectacle which doesn't have the same level of depth as Far Harbor. While there's an appeasement option where the Good OverbossTM just pays for everyone to give up their land and crops to the Raiders, it's less developed as an option than just kneecapping Settlers.
Despite this, the sheer fun of visiting the Fizziest Place on Earth drowns out all criticisms of its writing by the sheer sense of JOY I get in visiting the Faux-Disneyworld and seeing all the rides or variations of the rides I loved as a child. The Fun House, the Nuka Cars, the Space Mountain level, Vault-Tech: Explore the Stars, the RobCo Battle Arena which makes fun of Bethesda's re-skinning policy in the terminals, and Raiders with actual personalities.
Like Nuka Cola itself, the DLC is one long sugar and strontium-19 filled river of love to my heart. Do I think Ghoulrillas are stupid as fuck? Yes. Yet, I can't give a shit because I love the Grandchester Mystery House, the Hubologists, and the three major gangs. Gage is a tragic figure rather than an evil one and I wish I could bring him around to see how self-destructive his lifestyle has been to him. Plus, the return of Sierra Petrovita, who I am in a kind of weird love with because I thought *I* was the only person who loved Coca Cola that much.
How does one rate something which is such pure FUN when you, technically, know the writing isn't quite on par with Far Harbor?
10 out of 10
