Fallout

The game is old, but the story and concepts of this game remain fresh. When I first played this game (way back when it first came out) I thought I was primarily interested in playing as a warrior. I didn't realize I was putting equal amounts of energy into my character's dialogue abilities until, in the final boss confrontation, I managed to actually talk him down from his evil ways and convince him to give up his fight ... my warrior was a warrior-diplomat and I ended the game peacefully. Absolutely floored me how much the decisions you make in the game influence the possibilities you could go down. The factions you can join and the end stories you generate are reflected by your gameplay. Still one of the most satisfying game experiences I've ever had.

What an amazing, painful experience! The game will not hold your hand and I love it. You'll go to different places trying to find your objective, and have different events where each action have consequences. You will mostly die in this game. It will make you mad, feel lost, lose hope. But when you finally managed to eliminate your enemies or managed to open a very important door, it's like a nice relieved moment where you can take a deep breath and move forward. This game is very hard and probably isn't for most people, but If you like a challenge I highly recommend it. I managed to beat it with little to no help and when I reached the final cutscene I laid back and appreciated my journey and all the good/bad memories I got from the Fallout wasteland.

Fallout offers a good old RPG experience. Okay, compared to the sequel, there's a lot less ... of anything, I guess, and not much variety or use of the RPG elements. There are a lot of perks, traits or skills that you never use because there are few occasions in the game where you really need them. So it seems like there are few builds you can really do (and forget the predefined classes), unless you want a really weird challenge (like having less than 4 in intelligence...you'll have trouble speaking at all). The downside is it is in a buggy and unfinished state. It really annoyed me that you can't really get a good ending for each settlement, because there are unfinished/not implemented quests in the game that you need to get the best ending. And I'm kind of a completionist. Not to mention all the bugs in the game: quests don't start properly, quests aren't crossed out, when they're finished, my inventory icon turns black and I can't click on it, etc etc. I could go on and on if I wanted to. There are even some exploits that could be considered cheating (getting unlimited XP or caps), but of course I didn't use them. But luckily there are fan-made patches for these problema. I already used a High Defnition patch to be able to play on a modern PC with high resolution, but there are also fan-made patches like Fallout Fixt that fix most of the complaints I had with the game. Too bad I only discovered this when I was halfway through and didn't want to start over. I just played with this patch for a while after finishing the game once and it was great. Companions can be pushed to get out of the way, aren't limited to weapons, can also wear armor, it has a better interface, various bugs have been fixed, ... Therefore I give a cautious recommendation to play this game, but not without this patch. Unless you're a purist, but then you know what you're getting yourself into.

I played Fallout many years ago. Decided to give it another spin for no particular reason other than I felt playing a classic RPG. It's actually very enjoyable. My current adventure is very different from the last two and either I forgot a ton, or I'm actually discovering a lot of new content this time around. I think the best part about Fallout gameplay is that unlike most other RPGs it does not have the dominant gameplay "style". You aren't expected to always fight, or always sneak or be a great conversationalist. Not within the same game and using the same character. You can try things and sometimes fail, then recover either by using brute force or running away. You can even partially compensate for your character deficiencies by using in-game objects (books, drugs, explosives, etc). So there are three separate ways in which the game is open-ended. You can chose how to develop your character at each stage of the game. This is somewhat standard for RPGs. Then you can chose how to approach a particular quest or problem. This less standard. Finally, you can largely chose where to go, when to go there and what to do. This is great. I like the diversity of non-combat or "helper" items. (Ropes, tools, books, water flasks. All are usable or useful in some way.) I like the fact that there are only a handful or armors and they provide drastically different levels of protection. Makes each one a meaningful acquisition. Weapons are a bit more varied, but not the same ridiculous level as in most fantasy games. Less is more. The setting is what this game is renowned for, for a good reason. The worst part about the game is probably the awful AI of your companions who don't level up, can't use armor, can't use most drugs and can't be directly controlled. (You can arm them with decent guns, though.) The second worst is the fact that at higher levels of combat it becomes more random. Someone can lend a critical hit that bypasses damage reduction. Hard to mitigate.

- Fallout was one of the first role playing games I ever played. It holds a special place in my heart, as I'm sure it does for many older gamers. - A clear indication of its success is the fact that DECADES later, fans still keep coming back for yet another playthrough, trying out different builds, installing unofficial patches and mods made by a very dedicated community. - That being said, I can't exactly recommend Fallout to newer gamers. Its dated graphics, clunky UI, severe lack of hand-holding when it comes to quests, frustrating RNG during combat, awkward companion A.I. - I'm afraid these are things only the older fans can look past. - It's definitely worth checking out, just remember to adjust your expectations before journeying into the Californian Wasteland.