I think I'm the only one who hates NV's story.

[OpheliaNeoma]

FNV was a Fallout RPG, FO3 was a shooter with some RPG elements and vague references to the Fallout universe. Anyone familiar with the franchise before FO3 will have spent most of their first FO3 playthrough facepalming and laughing. Then there was the atrocious writing in FO3, it was awful even by Bethesdas low standards. Bethesda are great at building worlds, they're pretty much useless at everything else, FO3 is a perfect example of it.

I actually loved the main story of FO3 in comparison to NV. NV was just, like I said, politics. No sense of good or evil, everything was neutral in terms of morality. Fallout 3 was fun, and kept me interested and on my toes wondering what I would find and wandering around discovering new places, quests that actually felt like you did something, and had actual morality. NV felt so linear it seemed like I was playing Eternal Ring again.

[OpheliaNeoma]

Meh, Fallout 3 murdered the lore.

 

Well, Bethesda CAN do whatever they want since they own the name, and I would prefer future games to be more retro-futuristic, anticommunist nuclear everything than the extremely dull and lifeless cowboy flick that Obsidian did. Growing up with things like the Iron Giant, Full Throttle (the game, not the drink), Dark Forces and Captain America instead of Clint Eastwood is probably to blame, although I don't think NV is absolutely horrible. I play it more (obviously with mods, my load orders ar enever shy of 150) and it seems much more stable, but I stay away from the main storyline unless I have to do something in it for a mod or whatever.

 

And the DLC for NV was good, but not nearly as good as Fallout 3. Especially The Pitt and Point Lookout.

[hoofhearted4]

I think what they might have to do is push FO in two directions. FO4,5, etc pushes on with new things. new directions, places etc. and Obsidian and make FO4:Foo and FO5:Bar which cater to the original players. otherwise im not sure if either side will be happy. new players thought FONV was boring, older players thought FO3 was a joke. if they did it this way, i wouldnt be sad either. id still probably buy Obsidian's stuff, but at least id know what im getting into. (plus this could be a way for Bethesda to make much more money off one title lol)

 

as far as the story goes, i loved FO3s, much more the FONVs. again, im not sure why people seemed to hate it? what was so bad with it? i loved the fact that it brought up a "realistic" problem (water being irridiated) and then the plot being trying to solve it. and while youre just some kid trying to find his dad, the whole thing is much much more grand then you could have imagined. you have a history (rather your dad does) he was somebody out there in the Wasteland. people knew of him. people knew of the project, i loved how we were closed in the Vault, and then had to face the Real World. we were secluded, but no more. in FONV you had no history. you just wanted revenge on the "guy in the checkered suit" whoop de do. i had no reason to progress. there was no goal besides finding him. whereas in FO3, you had the goal of finding your father, the goal of Water Purification, the goal of figuring out the Enclave and what they were about, and the feud they had with the Brotherhood. The history of it all, as well as the goal of proving you werent just "some kid from the Vault" as well as making new friends to succeed in all these goals, and all these goals were intertwined with one another. you couldnt really progress with one goal, without grabbing check points for other goals along the way.

Edited August 6, 2013 by hoofhearted4

[Rennn]

I far preferred FO3 over NV. I agree with hector and hoofhearted.

[OpheliaNeoma]

Hoof, that's actually a really good idea. The best of both worlds!

 

And on the story, if I ever had to introduce the Fallout series to someone who's never played before, I'd go with Fallout 3, just because your background in the game would make much more sense, neither you nor the Lone Wanderer (essentially 'you' anyways) know about what's really going on outside the vault, and I remember the first time I left 101, I wasn't expecting perfectly normal society but it was still a shocker for me.

[Ironman5000]

I don't think the storylines of any bethesda games are particularly captivating if i'm honest, FO3 definately wins in terms of atmosphere/environment because you have the effects of post-nuclear war shoved in your face around every corner using picturesque scenery which makes it true work of art. NV is more a side-story to Fallout, and with it not being directly affected by the war is what let it down and let me down when I read about this fact pre-release. It was kinda like a 'meanwhile' scenario, which I will not deny is a lot more cleverly structured with several possible quest outcomes but there still was never a point where I felt a sense of commitment to anyone or relationship, I could quite happily help a companion out with all their missions then nuke them in face laughing as I do it...that's not how I should feel is it? Now comparing this to FO3 I did feel a slight connection with the dad, but could have been a combination of psychology and the fact it was the legend that is Liam Neeson :D

 

So overall I would say FO3 wins and FO4 should follow in it's footsteps, while keeping the quest structures and maybe even faction structures of NV.

 

EDIT: and fork out the cash to hire one or two decent celeb voice actors other than bloody chandler from friends

Edited August 6, 2013 by Ironman5000

[JimboUK]

I'd like Bethesda to build the world, something they're very good at, then have Obsidian fill it.

[hoofhearted4]

and the fact it was the legend that is Liam Neeson :D

this too. haha i meant to mention it, but i forgot.

 

also there was no real Good/Evil in FONV. it was there, but it didnt affect anything. you could be pure good and join Caesars Legion. granted most of their actions led to Bad Karma, but still, it didnt mean much.

 

i also wasnt a fan of the Faction system. mostly because what you were wearing affected your relationship. case and point, you couldnt wear the badass Ranger Armor if you didnt wanna be with the NCR. i try to wear whatever is best at the moment. i found that Faction armor was really good in the beginning, but i HAD to take it off at certain points, leaving me with nothing, or less then average stuff to protect me. i didnt like having to do that.

[Zewp]

One thing I'll grant FO3, it's DLC was a lot more interesting than that of NV. Most of the DLCs in NV were boring. Honest Hearts was a complete borefest from start to finish, Old World Blues was merely okay and Dead Money was pretty good, but not amazing. I didn't even bother with Lonesome Road because it simply looked boring.

 

In FO3 both The Pitt and Point Lookout were two amazing pieces of DLC.

[GimmeBackMyMoney]

Fallout 3 is an excellent sandbox FPS with RPG elements (which improve with mods) and the atmosphere and physical world depth are enough to make me want come back to it. However, the writing in New Vegas and the first two Fallouts is vastly superior. Having played very few turn-based top-down games, it did take a little time getting accustomed to the combat system of FO1/2 but once I got past that, I had a load of fun with those two..

 

Both New Vegas and 3 do have somewhat similar stories from the start. You're searching for someone and in both cases, the search is important to you. However, your actions would lead to meaningful consequences in New Vegas, which 3 almost completely lacked.

 

However, what I like about New Vegas is the choice to join a side, each with their strengths and flaws (though Legion are incredibly flawed and unrelatable). I think FO1 had an alternative option, though.

 

 

I'd like Bethesda to build the world, something they're very good at, then have Obsidian fill it.

 

That's one way of doing it. I recall your post in another thread - the developers at Bethesda are actually quite creative and the real problem is with Todd Howard. If he left, that alone would be a phenomenal improvement.

Edited September 1, 2013 by GimmeBackMyMoney