orumu
First time out of the vault
NOTE:
This isn't going to be a thread where I'm trying to aggressively coax you over to an opinion of mine, it's not going to be that, though certainly is up to you if you want to be moved by what I think. This is going to be a dive into my time with the Fallout series, at the very least the main series games, and my thoughts throughout the experience.
Now, how do I begin? Well I certainly didn't approach this series as like a little kid or some hypo-depressed teen wanting to find pleasure that isn't hanky panky from someone out on the streets, more like a casual stroll through Steam on a Saturday afternoon. The game I picked? Fallout 3.
Okay, put the torches and pitchforks down, people. Let me explain....
I was fresh out of playing Oblivion and Skyrim, and was in a bit of a crossroads actually. I was given a convenient choice between S.T.A.L.K.E.R and Fallout 3. I chose the latter, since it had a big fat "Role-playing game" tag on it.
Simply put, it was a bit of an introduction to the Fallout series for me. Fallout 3 was about as simple as it is, in regards to how black and white it is (for the most part.) My go-to Fallout build will always be a doohicky with a lever action rifle and capable of telling just about anything to kill themselves. That said, I expected to at the very least play through base game and DLCs once and left it to gather dust....
Then I remembered it was built in the Gamebryo engine, and certainly I can mod to the extent I've only ever seen in Minecraft and (ofc) Skyrim and Oblivion up to that point. I like modding my games, and I did not hold back with modding Fallout 3 to the best without breaking something, especially once I played through it again for the second time. No secret that Fallout 3 is nuttier than squirrel poop that doesn't have the conveniences of JIP NVSE and Johnny Guitar. And that was the problem: once I got done with Fallout 3, I felt modding it was somewhat limited. I was more or less spoiled by Skyrim, and looked to other horizons.
So I looked into Fallout 4.
Okay, I know, I know... Just hear me out....
I wanted to play through Fallout 4 on the PC, but a friend of mine was somewhat nice enough to hand me a PS4 version of the game to try it. I personally am more familiar playing fps games on pc than consoles (Thanks, Doom and Counter-Strike!), so I had to adapt playing fps games on a console. I never played something like Halo or Call of Duty on a console up to this point. It was shaky, but in regards to Fallout 4, it was certainly a next-gen Fallout game for the newer generation. The only nitpicks I have is more of a problem with Sony itself, because I think everyone knows you can't mod Fallout 4 or Skyrim on the PS4, like the Xbox One version. And that was it, I wanted to play Fallout 4 on pc, because there was a selection of quality of life improvements I can pick up if I didn't want to have a bad time. It didn't even matter anyway, because certainly my budget held me back from playing on the pc, so fresh out of luck there. Nevertheless, I may have played it in something that feels so wrong to me with the gameplay it has, but it was more of what Fallout 3 offered, at least in my opinion. After that, there was another drought, as I'd say. Can't mod Fallout 4, and certainly felt a little worn out playing modded Skyrim and Oblivion.
And then I discovered Fallout New Vegas.
Seeing the praise (and wounded) time it had, I made it a point to limit my mods to bug fixes and quality of life stuff to really get into it for my first time (Thanks, Viva New Vegas!)
I would be repeating what any other newbie has already said if I expressed how I loved New Vegas, but simply put, I felt in love with the freedom it offered, and the story, especially by the Lonesome Road DLC.
I did the dlcs in release order the first time.
Once I played it the second time, this time with more mods, I am more or less a fan of New Vegas now. I can't ever imagine going back to the Capital Wasteland after New Vegas... but I did anyway. Still fun, and felt like a larger game. (Thanks, Tale of Two Wastelands!)
Of course, this was my introduction to the West Coast side of things, and certainly it was genius. NCR supporter all the way, if not a bit tempted by the whims of Mr. House. I made two notable characters here, first one was an NCR heavy trooper basically with a well-maintained beard, and the second one was a catwoman type anti-hero for Mr. House with a soft spot for the NCR and Ulysses.
Overall, New Vegas I found a bit more masterful than FO3 and FO4. No surprise there. There was more liberty here, and the stories of the West Coast certainly intrigued me. So I looked into the first two Fallout games.
Around this time, I've begun lurking around here for a bit of help as I played through either of them.
When I stepped into Fallout 1, I was definitely alienated by the huge difference in the gameplay, though certainly something I'm still used to, to a small extent. Had a bit of a trouble with it the first time, but by the end I surely walked out of it, wearing a full suit of T-51, and a really big gun.... and also looking really bloody, because Bloody Mess perk. Oops. Sorry, Jacoren.
My second foray after that was Fallout 2 and wow, it was certainly longer than Fallout 1, and by this time I've been introduced to the West Coast mainstays I've seen before in New Vegas. Also, the main villain was a total powerhouse, I'm not gonna lie. Doesn't help that for my first time, I was the only one left to walk out of that fight. :S
Fallout 1 and 2 were good, but Fallout 2 has to be the silliest for me, and certainly there isn't anything wrong with that. Prior to this, I thought the Fallout series was a bit gritty, and gritty can be nice, but I think it's decent that Fallout 2 cemented the fact it can be silly at times too. Nice change of pace.
Now, overall I had a great time with the Fallout games. Fallout 3 and 4 were alright on their own, New Vegas was a blast, and Fallout 1 and 2 was a bit of a museum trip, and for once it wasn't a snoozefest. That said though, Fallout 1 and 2 are not my favorites. And neither is Fallout 3 and 4.
My problems with Fallout 3, and subsequently Fallout 4, is that compared to New Vegas and FO1 and 2, they were relatively not too complex. Certainly both 3 and 4 are easier to follow in my opinion, but it doesn't tell much about the other side, which Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas does in strides.
For me, I like to think that the actual main series are FO1, FO2, and FONV, with Fallout 3 and 4 being its own spin on the Fallout IP. It's not trying to be like the originals, even if initially Fallout 3 took from Fallout 1 and 2. They're their own thing. This is how Bethesda does Fallout, in my opinion. They may be shoehorning in the fact that Bethesda's Fallout games are in the numbered series, but to me its a spin-off with its own line of sequels (and you can bet that I believe FO76 is part of the Bethesda canon.)
Also, they're not all perfect. FO3 and 4 are buggy without mods, FONV is that, except even worse unless you got mods, and while I don't count it a bad thing, Fallout 1 and 2 are different beasts. Drastically different from what the general public knows, and I'm certainly from the general public. Still, had a blast with both games.
But I'm not done, because now for the elephant in the room: How Bethesda handled Fallout, compared to Interplay/Black Isle/Obsidian/whatever, and what do I think of it?
Again, I'm not going to be the one to tell you that I think Bethesda was masterful with how it did the Fallout IP, or how Bethesda is the greater of all corporate evils and should be crucified. Though I certainly think Bethesda's done Wolfenstein and Quake dirty the last decade with Quake Champions and Wolfenstein: Youngblood, but this is about Fallout, so-
Certainly, one has the right to think what makes sense and what isn't, have a right to have their own opinions, and I certainly found it odd about the "super mutants and bottle caps galore" in the East Coast despite what's been said in Fallout 1 and 2, but surely those can be justified with lore explanation, or even a bit of a headcanon. Regardless though, I do wish Bethesda justifies their existence in the East Coast at some point, and perhaps introduce new monsters and elements in their place. However unlikely that would be, according to some folks here :S
As for if I think Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 are real Fallout games? Within the context of Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas, they certainly aren't. Because to me, they're their own thing. I've seen plenty putting "lore-breaking" things like the Atom Cats, the Kid in the Fridge and the Cabot House quests, the entirety of Mothership Zeta..... BoS, Super Mutants, and the Enclave in the East Coast. And to that I say: you have the right to have either an alternate interpretation of them, or disregard their existence entirely.
For my two cents of the opinion well, I certainly think the BoS in Fallout 3 worked for what they were: a Brotherhood chapter divided. The Outcasts are a thing, and there may be people who will go on a whim and say "That is what the BoS in Fallout 3 should have been!" and yeah maybe, but then who's gonna have the power to bring the Capital Wasteland out of a potential dark age with the V87 Super Mutants and the East Coast Enclave, had the Lyons' BoS not been a thing? Certainly not the Capital Wasteland's people on their own as it stands. Lyons' BoS at its own works with how FO3's admittedly unoriginal plot is, but they're certainly not the Brotherhood of Steel the West Coast knows of. And speaking of the Enclave:
"The Enclave shouldn't have been a thing again, let alone far out east. They were destroyed at the Oil Rig."
....There's an explanation that the Enclave remnants (Not to be confused with my fav ragtag group in New Vegas, the Enclave Remnants) stationed at Raven Rock are refugees from Navarro, namely led by grandpapi Autumn, and then later President Eden with sidekick Autumn Jr. at his side. Doc Henry and the New Vegas Remnants' existence certainly means that not every Enclave goon died on the Oil Rig that faithful day in the year 2242, so why should the Enclave as it stands in Fallout 3 not exist? Logically, with how the Enclave is structured, there should be more Enclave remnants still out there in the rest of the Wasteland, maybe not as a major antagonistic threat (especially after what happened at the end of Fallout 3's Broken Steel dlc), but more as sad gasps trying to bring back what's been long dead. I do think they've done their part in the story, and should at the very least be reduced to minor roles by now.
As for the gameplay side of things, well it definitely is quite a jump from FO1 and 2 to what it is now, but personally I don't mind the change too much in a negative way, in fact I think I like FO1 and 2's turn-based gameplay a bit more, even if I'm I guess uncomfortable at least initially with it? Don't know how to describe it, but I still like FO1 and FO2's gameplay, despite being different from what I knew from 3, 4, and New Vegas.
Overall, I love the Fallout games, even those made by Bethesda. They had their own merits, even if they have a fair share of sins that are agreed to be greater than the sins of the original holders. I had a blast through the series, might've gotten a difficult time with some of them, but they don't hurt my thoughts on the series as a whole, partaking in its community from other sides has been fun, and I'll be glad to walk through the American wastes again in the future with another game. Except for Fallout Shelter.
Now, what is this Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel thing everyone talks about....?
This isn't going to be a thread where I'm trying to aggressively coax you over to an opinion of mine, it's not going to be that, though certainly is up to you if you want to be moved by what I think. This is going to be a dive into my time with the Fallout series, at the very least the main series games, and my thoughts throughout the experience.
Now, how do I begin? Well I certainly didn't approach this series as like a little kid or some hypo-depressed teen wanting to find pleasure that isn't hanky panky from someone out on the streets, more like a casual stroll through Steam on a Saturday afternoon. The game I picked? Fallout 3.
Okay, put the torches and pitchforks down, people. Let me explain....
I was fresh out of playing Oblivion and Skyrim, and was in a bit of a crossroads actually. I was given a convenient choice between S.T.A.L.K.E.R and Fallout 3. I chose the latter, since it had a big fat "Role-playing game" tag on it.
Simply put, it was a bit of an introduction to the Fallout series for me. Fallout 3 was about as simple as it is, in regards to how black and white it is (for the most part.) My go-to Fallout build will always be a doohicky with a lever action rifle and capable of telling just about anything to kill themselves. That said, I expected to at the very least play through base game and DLCs once and left it to gather dust....
Then I remembered it was built in the Gamebryo engine, and certainly I can mod to the extent I've only ever seen in Minecraft and (ofc) Skyrim and Oblivion up to that point. I like modding my games, and I did not hold back with modding Fallout 3 to the best without breaking something, especially once I played through it again for the second time. No secret that Fallout 3 is nuttier than squirrel poop that doesn't have the conveniences of JIP NVSE and Johnny Guitar. And that was the problem: once I got done with Fallout 3, I felt modding it was somewhat limited. I was more or less spoiled by Skyrim, and looked to other horizons.
So I looked into Fallout 4.
Okay, I know, I know... Just hear me out....
I wanted to play through Fallout 4 on the PC, but a friend of mine was somewhat nice enough to hand me a PS4 version of the game to try it. I personally am more familiar playing fps games on pc than consoles (Thanks, Doom and Counter-Strike!), so I had to adapt playing fps games on a console. I never played something like Halo or Call of Duty on a console up to this point. It was shaky, but in regards to Fallout 4, it was certainly a next-gen Fallout game for the newer generation. The only nitpicks I have is more of a problem with Sony itself, because I think everyone knows you can't mod Fallout 4 or Skyrim on the PS4, like the Xbox One version. And that was it, I wanted to play Fallout 4 on pc, because there was a selection of quality of life improvements I can pick up if I didn't want to have a bad time. It didn't even matter anyway, because certainly my budget held me back from playing on the pc, so fresh out of luck there. Nevertheless, I may have played it in something that feels so wrong to me with the gameplay it has, but it was more of what Fallout 3 offered, at least in my opinion. After that, there was another drought, as I'd say. Can't mod Fallout 4, and certainly felt a little worn out playing modded Skyrim and Oblivion.
And then I discovered Fallout New Vegas.
Seeing the praise (and wounded) time it had, I made it a point to limit my mods to bug fixes and quality of life stuff to really get into it for my first time (Thanks, Viva New Vegas!)
I would be repeating what any other newbie has already said if I expressed how I loved New Vegas, but simply put, I felt in love with the freedom it offered, and the story, especially by the Lonesome Road DLC.
I did the dlcs in release order the first time.
Once I played it the second time, this time with more mods, I am more or less a fan of New Vegas now. I can't ever imagine going back to the Capital Wasteland after New Vegas... but I did anyway. Still fun, and felt like a larger game. (Thanks, Tale of Two Wastelands!)
Of course, this was my introduction to the West Coast side of things, and certainly it was genius. NCR supporter all the way, if not a bit tempted by the whims of Mr. House. I made two notable characters here, first one was an NCR heavy trooper basically with a well-maintained beard, and the second one was a catwoman type anti-hero for Mr. House with a soft spot for the NCR and Ulysses.
Overall, New Vegas I found a bit more masterful than FO3 and FO4. No surprise there. There was more liberty here, and the stories of the West Coast certainly intrigued me. So I looked into the first two Fallout games.
Around this time, I've begun lurking around here for a bit of help as I played through either of them.
When I stepped into Fallout 1, I was definitely alienated by the huge difference in the gameplay, though certainly something I'm still used to, to a small extent. Had a bit of a trouble with it the first time, but by the end I surely walked out of it, wearing a full suit of T-51, and a really big gun.... and also looking really bloody, because Bloody Mess perk. Oops. Sorry, Jacoren.
My second foray after that was Fallout 2 and wow, it was certainly longer than Fallout 1, and by this time I've been introduced to the West Coast mainstays I've seen before in New Vegas. Also, the main villain was a total powerhouse, I'm not gonna lie. Doesn't help that for my first time, I was the only one left to walk out of that fight. :S
Fallout 1 and 2 were good, but Fallout 2 has to be the silliest for me, and certainly there isn't anything wrong with that. Prior to this, I thought the Fallout series was a bit gritty, and gritty can be nice, but I think it's decent that Fallout 2 cemented the fact it can be silly at times too. Nice change of pace.
Now, overall I had a great time with the Fallout games. Fallout 3 and 4 were alright on their own, New Vegas was a blast, and Fallout 1 and 2 was a bit of a museum trip, and for once it wasn't a snoozefest. That said though, Fallout 1 and 2 are not my favorites. And neither is Fallout 3 and 4.
My problems with Fallout 3, and subsequently Fallout 4, is that compared to New Vegas and FO1 and 2, they were relatively not too complex. Certainly both 3 and 4 are easier to follow in my opinion, but it doesn't tell much about the other side, which Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas does in strides.
For me, I like to think that the actual main series are FO1, FO2, and FONV, with Fallout 3 and 4 being its own spin on the Fallout IP. It's not trying to be like the originals, even if initially Fallout 3 took from Fallout 1 and 2. They're their own thing. This is how Bethesda does Fallout, in my opinion. They may be shoehorning in the fact that Bethesda's Fallout games are in the numbered series, but to me its a spin-off with its own line of sequels (and you can bet that I believe FO76 is part of the Bethesda canon.)
Also, they're not all perfect. FO3 and 4 are buggy without mods, FONV is that, except even worse unless you got mods, and while I don't count it a bad thing, Fallout 1 and 2 are different beasts. Drastically different from what the general public knows, and I'm certainly from the general public. Still, had a blast with both games.
But I'm not done, because now for the elephant in the room: How Bethesda handled Fallout, compared to Interplay/Black Isle/Obsidian/whatever, and what do I think of it?
Again, I'm not going to be the one to tell you that I think Bethesda was masterful with how it did the Fallout IP, or how Bethesda is the greater of all corporate evils and should be crucified. Though I certainly think Bethesda's done Wolfenstein and Quake dirty the last decade with Quake Champions and Wolfenstein: Youngblood, but this is about Fallout, so-
Certainly, one has the right to think what makes sense and what isn't, have a right to have their own opinions, and I certainly found it odd about the "super mutants and bottle caps galore" in the East Coast despite what's been said in Fallout 1 and 2, but surely those can be justified with lore explanation, or even a bit of a headcanon. Regardless though, I do wish Bethesda justifies their existence in the East Coast at some point, and perhaps introduce new monsters and elements in their place. However unlikely that would be, according to some folks here :S
As for if I think Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 are real Fallout games? Within the context of Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas, they certainly aren't. Because to me, they're their own thing. I've seen plenty putting "lore-breaking" things like the Atom Cats, the Kid in the Fridge and the Cabot House quests, the entirety of Mothership Zeta..... BoS, Super Mutants, and the Enclave in the East Coast. And to that I say: you have the right to have either an alternate interpretation of them, or disregard their existence entirely.
For my two cents of the opinion well, I certainly think the BoS in Fallout 3 worked for what they were: a Brotherhood chapter divided. The Outcasts are a thing, and there may be people who will go on a whim and say "That is what the BoS in Fallout 3 should have been!" and yeah maybe, but then who's gonna have the power to bring the Capital Wasteland out of a potential dark age with the V87 Super Mutants and the East Coast Enclave, had the Lyons' BoS not been a thing? Certainly not the Capital Wasteland's people on their own as it stands. Lyons' BoS at its own works with how FO3's admittedly unoriginal plot is, but they're certainly not the Brotherhood of Steel the West Coast knows of. And speaking of the Enclave:
"The Enclave shouldn't have been a thing again, let alone far out east. They were destroyed at the Oil Rig."
....There's an explanation that the Enclave remnants (Not to be confused with my fav ragtag group in New Vegas, the Enclave Remnants) stationed at Raven Rock are refugees from Navarro, namely led by grandpapi Autumn, and then later President Eden with sidekick Autumn Jr. at his side. Doc Henry and the New Vegas Remnants' existence certainly means that not every Enclave goon died on the Oil Rig that faithful day in the year 2242, so why should the Enclave as it stands in Fallout 3 not exist? Logically, with how the Enclave is structured, there should be more Enclave remnants still out there in the rest of the Wasteland, maybe not as a major antagonistic threat (especially after what happened at the end of Fallout 3's Broken Steel dlc), but more as sad gasps trying to bring back what's been long dead. I do think they've done their part in the story, and should at the very least be reduced to minor roles by now.
As for the gameplay side of things, well it definitely is quite a jump from FO1 and 2 to what it is now, but personally I don't mind the change too much in a negative way, in fact I think I like FO1 and 2's turn-based gameplay a bit more, even if I'm I guess uncomfortable at least initially with it? Don't know how to describe it, but I still like FO1 and FO2's gameplay, despite being different from what I knew from 3, 4, and New Vegas.
Overall, I love the Fallout games, even those made by Bethesda. They had their own merits, even if they have a fair share of sins that are agreed to be greater than the sins of the original holders. I had a blast through the series, might've gotten a difficult time with some of them, but they don't hurt my thoughts on the series as a whole, partaking in its community from other sides has been fun, and I'll be glad to walk through the American wastes again in the future with another game. Except for Fallout Shelter.
Now, what is this Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel thing everyone talks about....?
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