Fallout: New Vegas Is Genius, And Here's Why

actually it's pronounced caesar

Even the caps that are in the game aren't just nuka-cola caps -- they're predominately sunset sarsaparilla caps which was more popular in Nevada before the war, making New Vegas feel like it has it's own distinct subculture and they're not just trading in generic wastelander money.

“Using bluff to convince [Lanius] there’s a trap up ahead” The best part about this particular moment is all the things you’re pointing out are like “Do you really think the NCR was this incompetent?” and he agrees “Hmm, you’re right, it was too easy.”, when really, yes, the NCR was just that incompetent. It ties back to how little the NCR leadership cared about the whole Mojave campaign, that all their issues with lack of manpower and supplies were so bad, you can convince an enemy general they were strategic choices.

I've put well over 500 hours into new vegas and I've never discovered the sewer people, so that just goes to show you that there's always more to explore in these games.

Thinking about it, Caesar ironically made two of the biggest mistakes Rome ever faced. He tried to expand farther than he could actually govern, and he didn’t set up a clear line of succession (even though he knew he was dying). It’s actually depressing that he read all that history and, instead of truly learning from it, he just repeated it, glaring flaws and all, on a smaller scale.

Game design example: they put a bunch of loading screens between you and the ncr embassy to encourage you to choose any other faction.

The water quest goes even deeper. When you investigate the cistern, there's even another party affected. Vault dwellers. And if you choose to save them, you actually find them later and they're very thankful.

I think it's worth mentioning a lot of the people who say they don't "like politics" in their games also think "politics" is when a woman or minority is a major character

in the fallout universe bisexuals are known for their ability to deal 10% extra damage to everyone.

Did you know, In the British version it’s called the “platinum crisp”

Fun fact: I actually stumbled upon the violin before meeting Agatha and didn't know what it was for so I donated it to the Rivet City archive guy. I lost karma but had no idea why. Once I finally met Agatha, I learned what I had done and felt so bad.

A prime example of just how good New Vegas actually is: You can clear Quarry Junction at extremely low level, basically as soon as you defeat the powder gangers, by using the landmines the gangers have all over their base. Turns out Deathclaws have legs too, and they get crippled quickly when they try sprinting over landmines. The game gives you have insane challenge right in your face, and a novel solution that requires engaging with the story and paying attention.

Rest in Peace Matthew Perry, thanks for shooting us in the head

“My favorite game ever, 84/100” That’s both a great joke and incredibly true.

Jorge "Obscuro" Salgadob is the real reason that game was amazing. He was an epic level modder. He spent years making and polishing the most popular overhaul for Oblivion, OOO. He was noticed by Obsidian and they recruited him to work on New Vegas. I think the addition of him to the team helped, not only due to his high level of coding skill and understanding of game design, but as a kind of interlocuter/mascot for the modding community.

I have never once played New Vegas without Hardcore mode. Best addition ever. Especially in the early game, food goes from being disappointing to, "Thank God I'm not gonna die!" and purified water becomes as valuable as it should be in the wasteland.

"Fallout: New Vegas is objectively the best game of all time. And for that, it gets my highest score ever: 84/100." That nearly killed me holy shit.

The thing that lives forever in my memory of New Vegas is my wife almost bricking our console by finding as many of the little plastic dinosaur toys as she could, bringing them to her hotel room, and dropping them one at a time. Once she finished, going into that room required almost half an hour of loading and everything in the room exploded in dinosaurs , often damaging her character with accelerated loose physics objects. What a good game.

I really wish you'd had a chance to cover the DLCs too. The Sierra Madre is easily one of the most difficult existential problems I've ever sat and thought about (once I was done getting wrecked by Ghost People). Living with unchecked desire and greed, and learning how to let things go before they consume you is something almost everybody has to go through in their lifetime in some way. Then exploring the tribal groups of Utah, and exploring the difficult moral choices of missionary work, whether or not you're actually helping anybody even if your holy book and your own seemingly more enlightened people say you are. Plus Old World Blues is just a legendary B-Movie put in game form. And then finally there's Lonesome Road, which ties back into the previous three by exploring the lingering ties to the past and present that have to be understood and let go of before we can really say we're moving towards a different future. New Vegas might be running on a clapped out engine under unfortunate constraints that even creativity couldn't quite get past, but the fact that actual honest to god storytellers wrung that much out of it that it's still being debated just means so much to me.

The fact you can make a feature film length video about New Vegas, and still completely leave out my favourite moment (the lottery) really shows just how incredible the game really is. Most games would be blessed to create just one moment of that calibre and this game has so much incredible stuff going on that it can easily be skipped over.