Tiny Tim
Still Mildly Glowing
Like many of my generation i got into Fallout through bethesda's fallout 3 ( which i now think more as a spin-off ) but it was new vegas that got me loving the series and playing the original games . I'm kind of new to gaming ( i'm mostly a film buff ) , so what i really liked about new vegas was its good writing . Till then i thought that poor writing was a thing to be expected in all games . Little did i know that games weren't always so shallow and commercialized .
Getting into the old games took some time getting used to , but it was something i really enjoyed .
These days i'm replaying new vegas for the 5th time or something , but it's my first time playing after the old games . And though i'm liking it even more than i did before , some aspects of it seem pale in comparison to the old games .
First thing i'm thinking of is the dialogue system . In New Vegas , 70% of dialogues ( so most that are not part of a quest ) consist of you questioning others . They don't seem to mind telling you their life's story while asking you nothing . What's more , in many cases your replies ( if any ) don't really mean that much . You just have to go through all the choices like you're questioning them or something . This was somewhat the case for the old games , but really not so much . If you went into a bar in fallout 2 , you'd have to actually buy a drink to get the bartender to talk to you . To talk to the customers you'd have to buy them a drink as well . People would often ask you who you are and where you're coming from , as they would in real life . And most importantly , you very often had the choice to piss someone off with your replies . In new vegas , you can kill everyone ( which is great , in bethesda's games you'd knock them unconscious or something ) but then your character would be a bit of a maniac, killing people for no apparent reason . In fallout 2 i did a walkthrough where i was rude bastard to everyone , which more often than not resulted in fights to the death . This kind of thing was missing in new vegas .
On a somewhat similar note , being a goody two shoes in fallout nv felt natural . In fallout 2 , while i'll admit that the game encourages a good player , you constantly feel like people are trying to fool you . So when someone says " hey , pay me my debt " or offers you alot of money , you have to choose doing the good thing , what comes naturally is " yeah give me my money " . More importanlty , in fallout 2 being bad is often more rewarding than being good . This gives you the " temptation " to do evil things .
Speaking of which , what became of robbery ? In NV you could only really rob the Van Graffs ( which a good character will usually do, seeing as how they become hostile even when you take the diplomatic path to Cassidy's quest, so it's not really robbery ) . Killing any other merchant would result in the merchandise dissapearing from their inventory. ( any mod that " fixes " that ? )
There are other things that i miss , particularly the crowded cities , though i suppose this is natural since nv takes place in the desert . And most of all the whole " underground " atmosphere of the old games , which felt like i was watching one of john carpenter's great films .
Overall , i've come to think of New Vegas as an excellent farewell tour . This even makes sense thematically . You have the remnants of some of the old factions ( mutants , brotherhood , enclave ) but they are finished and they know it . Even the NCR folks don't know what they're doing anymore and are missing their home . The families are secretly missing the tribal days . Mr House also is stuck in the past . Benny has the right idea about him ( this jerk is the only character that looks foward really ) . To say nothing of Ceasar's legion , immitating ancient rome . The khans too , finished . All this nostalgia really gets to me , because i feel that something really is lost and it will never be as glorious and strange . But we can still gamble in new vegas ( war never changes ) and it is lots of fun , something to be grateful for .
Sorry for the long post . So what are you guys missing from the old games while playing New Vegas ?
Getting into the old games took some time getting used to , but it was something i really enjoyed .
These days i'm replaying new vegas for the 5th time or something , but it's my first time playing after the old games . And though i'm liking it even more than i did before , some aspects of it seem pale in comparison to the old games .
First thing i'm thinking of is the dialogue system . In New Vegas , 70% of dialogues ( so most that are not part of a quest ) consist of you questioning others . They don't seem to mind telling you their life's story while asking you nothing . What's more , in many cases your replies ( if any ) don't really mean that much . You just have to go through all the choices like you're questioning them or something . This was somewhat the case for the old games , but really not so much . If you went into a bar in fallout 2 , you'd have to actually buy a drink to get the bartender to talk to you . To talk to the customers you'd have to buy them a drink as well . People would often ask you who you are and where you're coming from , as they would in real life . And most importantly , you very often had the choice to piss someone off with your replies . In new vegas , you can kill everyone ( which is great , in bethesda's games you'd knock them unconscious or something ) but then your character would be a bit of a maniac, killing people for no apparent reason . In fallout 2 i did a walkthrough where i was rude bastard to everyone , which more often than not resulted in fights to the death . This kind of thing was missing in new vegas .
On a somewhat similar note , being a goody two shoes in fallout nv felt natural . In fallout 2 , while i'll admit that the game encourages a good player , you constantly feel like people are trying to fool you . So when someone says " hey , pay me my debt " or offers you alot of money , you have to choose doing the good thing , what comes naturally is " yeah give me my money " . More importanlty , in fallout 2 being bad is often more rewarding than being good . This gives you the " temptation " to do evil things .
Speaking of which , what became of robbery ? In NV you could only really rob the Van Graffs ( which a good character will usually do, seeing as how they become hostile even when you take the diplomatic path to Cassidy's quest, so it's not really robbery ) . Killing any other merchant would result in the merchandise dissapearing from their inventory. ( any mod that " fixes " that ? )
There are other things that i miss , particularly the crowded cities , though i suppose this is natural since nv takes place in the desert . And most of all the whole " underground " atmosphere of the old games , which felt like i was watching one of john carpenter's great films .
Overall , i've come to think of New Vegas as an excellent farewell tour . This even makes sense thematically . You have the remnants of some of the old factions ( mutants , brotherhood , enclave ) but they are finished and they know it . Even the NCR folks don't know what they're doing anymore and are missing their home . The families are secretly missing the tribal days . Mr House also is stuck in the past . Benny has the right idea about him ( this jerk is the only character that looks foward really ) . To say nothing of Ceasar's legion , immitating ancient rome . The khans too , finished . All this nostalgia really gets to me , because i feel that something really is lost and it will never be as glorious and strange . But we can still gamble in new vegas ( war never changes ) and it is lots of fun , something to be grateful for .
Sorry for the long post . So what are you guys missing from the old games while playing New Vegas ?
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