Fallout 2

The original Fallout was a good game that I found fell short of some its more positive aspects. The world and atmosphere were great, but not as fleshed out as they could have been. Fallout 2 comes and fixes all of that! The settlements are diverse and filled with details. Each one has its own history, culture, economy, and relationships with others. Most importantly, there are many interesting NPCs that have something to say in all of them. Indeed, characters were very one-dimensional in its predecessor, but Fallout 2 turns around and remedies that, most importantly in the companions department. John Cassidy, the gun-toting bartender with a heart condition. Sulik, the melee expert of a vision-ridden tribal. Marcus, the eloquent, polite, badass super mutant. The writing is also a lot more colorful and consistent in my opinion. Some have criticised FO2 for its frequent breaking of the fourth wall and outdated references, but I personally like it more for them. The original took itself very seriously and it made its comedic moments feel out of place. FO2 instead makes as much fun of the misery of the wasteland as it can, all the while making you consider the implications of society there are there. It feels a lot more balanced to me and the serious moments still have weight behind them, yet being evil does not feel as cartoony as it previously. The side quests and main storyline are fantastic, even if the final boss could have been written a little better. Unlike the previous game, there is proper set up here to all the events that transpire. I genuinely found the main antagonists to be terrifying. One major flaw to me is still the combat. While you can change the AI patterns of your companions, it only helps so much. The pace is the worst aspect, ruined further by the increased amount of enemies that tend to be present. Waiting for each and every single being on the map to move is not the most fun to have. All in all, I loved the game. Once it got going, I was hooked.

I’ve heard conflicting things about Fallout 2. Some people said it’s significantly better than 1, and others said it kinda loses the spirit of the original. And while I myself sit in the former camp – that is, I enjoyed Fallout 2 more than 1 – I can also kinda see what the later group means. Generally speaking, Fallout 2 is certainly more grand than Fallout 1. It took more more than twice as long to finish, and while random encounter trash fights were a not-insignificant part of it (more on it later), there were certainly many pretty interesting quests to do in a variety of cities and villages. But on the other hand – Fallout 2 is a lot more „wacky” than Fallout 1, to the point where it may interfere with your enjoyment of it, because at points it’s difficult to take it seriously. Anyway, the main reason I preferred Fallout 2 to Fallout 1 – albeit slightly – was that in the end I found there to be more interesting side-content in 2. There were a variety of interesting sidequests. The area that I found to be the most interesting in terms of it’s worldbuilding and atmosphere implications was probably Vault City. Vault City is a walled community of fiercely independent Vault Citizens, disdainful and mistrustful of the ones they call „outworlders” beyond their walls. From the technical standpoint the game was quite a bit improved – especially in the way companions handled. Given you could actually give them armor to equip this time, and freely force them to carry your burdens without the need to BUY it back, a „party” approach was fully viable and actually kinda enjoyable this time. Anyway – if you want to see a newcomer handle Fallout 2 blind for hte first time, taking an inquisitive, epxlorative attitude and talking often at length about the plotpoints and ideas he found interesting while playing, you can check out my blind playthrough here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-qZ5_hL3jQ&list=PLp4TpsJ7HUWXZ8R3HJw7azXPLueDseIel&ab_channel=LittleDwarf

Personally for me FO2 was way more enjoyable than FO1! I think the game have improved almost in every aspect from the first game. Most location that you visit are way more engaging, side quests are much more interesting. Places often have small story arcs related to something bigger which makes them memorable (the main quest is still quite simple very much like in FO1). The writing in general is very very good. Companions were also much better having better control over them. There are new options to interact with them. There are many new gameplay improvements! The balance of the game was relatevely good - you can feel the progression while leveling when it comes to equipment and enemies but I can't say the same for the skills. For example I was relatively early not even mid game when I started needing 70-80 for lockpicking which felt high at the time. I had to keep unused skills points all the time just in case I needed them for any other skill. Skills in general were more useful in this game - not just lockpicking and speech like in FO1 but also repair, science, doctor and even the unarmed have quite a few unique uses. I managed to reach lvl 24 just before the last 1-2 zone(s) after exploring everything so keep that in mind if you want to get the best perks (they come at 24). I was a bit disappointed with the perks - nothing really new worth getting. I had like 90% the same build as in FO1.. A small recommendation at the end! You should update the sfall mod that comes with the game to the latest version, read everything it does and use it (even after you've started playing)!! This mod has so many options to make your game experience better - for example animations for combat and trade screens can be made almost instant (this one was my fav), highlighting lootable corpses and containers, more saves slots, skip weapon unequip animation when doing stuff and many more. FO2tweaks is another very useful mod! And while I was writing this GOG updated sfall!

Story: 5/5 Worldbuilding: 5/5 Art Design: 5/5 Graphics: 4/5 Sound: 4/5 Gameplay: 4/5

Fallout 2, in my opinion, was not quite as good as Fallout 1. Sure there were a lot of improvements. New weapons, larger map, better companion control... but the story of Fallout 1 was just soooooooooo good. That is why I think Fallout 2 is the "second" best RPG... Fallout 1 was, still is, and always will be, the best video game ever made lol. With that being said, Fallout 2 still deserves 5 stars. If you loved Fallout 1, you will love Fallout 2 just as much. The newer Bethesda Fallout games are complete crap compared to the originals. Brian Fargo was (and still is) a genius.