Fallout series, to play or not

[Ragnarokia]

So I'm a fan of Elder Scrolls games, namely Morrowind it being my favourite game. Yet I've never known whether or not to go for the Fallout series. I am guessing Fallout 1 and 2 are good to skip just like Arena and Daggerfall are never talked about and just to go with Fallout 3 / New Vegas / 4 when it comes out.

I once tried Fallout 3 briefly when a friend brought it over, yet I couldn't really get into it, but the same thing happened with Skyrim too, so I am thinking it may just be that I need to be alone when I play these games to get into them. So I am thinking of trying Fallout 3 again or New Vegas.

The big problem I see is the setting. The tragic depressing post apocalytic wasteland with you dying at the end (yea hard not to get spoiled of that) but I love the more happy fantasy swords and magic with you being the Neravine and becoming immortal and married to a Goddess and all that good stuff with saving the world and surviving the game with everyone loving you. So I don't know really if I can get into that sort of depressing life with knowing the inevitable death and stuff or whether I can still get into it and find enjoyment past that.

I also found the music only being available on radio thing with just ambient silence without it to be sort of uninviting also, I love the music that naturally fills the background of games so that silence if not tuned in is definitely atmospheric for sure, but also sort of putting off since I am someone who dislikes radio anyway so I'd probably not use it and thus have mostly silence.

So whether I can really "get into" Fallout I have no idea. Is it close enough to the feeling of elder scrolls that I will love it anyway, or could those negative aspects make it too unappealing, or does the unnappealing nature improve it sort of like Kratos makes god of war fun despite being a total fucking cunt destroying the world. Since anger makes me enjoy a game more than not getting angry ever at it also. But I haven't tried this with depression and saddness outside of Final Fantasy games which are like 40 hours and tend to get happier while these would be hundreds of hours and always bleak.

Also does New Vegas not work properly if not playing Fallout 3 first? Like is it basically an expansion pack sort of deal where even with a new story you would benefit a lot from playing Fallout 3 before it, or can I totally ignore Fallout 3 and choose New Vegas? Since this does come across my final problem which is that Steam states "Fallout 3 is not optimised for Windows 7 and later" on the store page as a huge warning and many people have commented in reviews that this ruins it and the like. So if there is no work-around on that I might need to skip Fallout 3 regardless and thus New Vegas would be the only possibility.

So yea. I'd be grateful for both advice and general discussion and interest in this. Whether you know about the things I have mentioned or whether you can think of other stuff which I might enjoy as a fan of Elder Scrolls that could make me love it still and stuff like that. I definitely gave this a poor chance which I can see now due to Skyrim since I only just started Skyrim for real and I am enjoying it far more than my initial taster made me think, so Fallout at least deserves another look for me but idk about buying it atm.

[MiroDK]

At 9/18/15 11:40 PM, Ragnarokia wrote:

I am guessing Fallout 1 and 2 are good to skip just like Arena and Daggerfall

You've guessed wrong. Tehy're both great games which can hold up to today just fine. Arena and Daggerfall are harder to get into because of the graphics and how they are very "what the fuck do i do". Fallout 1 is pretty hard when you first start because there's a 'time limit', although you don't really know that at first. Fallout 2 doesn't, so you have more freedom to explore. You sohuld at least try them out, you can probably find them pretty cheap on GOG.

I once tried Fallout 3 briefly when a friend brought it over, yet I couldn't really get into it, but the same thing happened with Skyrim too, so I am thinking it may just be that I need to be alone when I play these games to get into them. So I am thinking of trying Fallout 3 again or New Vegas.

I think both games start off pretty slow. Try 3, because I found NV's start to be somewhat boring,

The big problem I see is the setting. The tragic depressing post apocalytic wasteland with you dying at the end (yea hard not to get spoiled of that) but I love the more happy fantasy swords and magic with you being the Neravine and becoming immortal and married to a Goddess and all that good stuff with saving the world and surviving the game with everyone loving you. So I don't know really if I can get into that sort of depressing life with knowing the inevitable death and stuff or whether I can still get into it and find enjoyment past that.

<spoilers>

You pretty much can choose if you want to die or not on 3, if you've got the DLC, then you'll survive IIRC.

</spoilers>

I also found the music only being available on radio thing with just ambient silence without it to be sort of uninviting also, I love the music that naturally fills the background of games so that silence if not tuned in is definitely atmospheric for sure, but also sort of putting off since I am someone who dislikes radio anyway so I'd probably not use it and thus have mostly silence.

I remember there being music, but it's pretty much just ambience, I never used the radio and ended up enjoying it either way.

So whether I can really "get into" Fallout I have no idea. Is it close enough to the feeling of elder scrolls that I will love it anyway, or could those negative aspects make it too unappealing, or does the unnappealing nature improve it sort of like Kratos makes god of war fun despite being a total fucking cunt destroying the world. Since anger makes me enjoy a game more than not getting angry ever at it also. But I haven't tried this with depression and saddness outside of Final Fantasy games which are like 40 hours and tend to get happier while these would be hundreds of hours and always bleak.

Dude you can shoot and explode rats and shit, the game may be somewhat dark, but it has it's comedic moments, I didn't really feel like I'm playing a Nihilist game. It's not the same tone as Elder scrolls, but it's fine either way. Fallout has always been a sort of crazy series, with plenty of WTF moments, like the random encounter in FO 2.

Also does New Vegas not work properly if not playing Fallout 3 first? Like is it basically an expansion pack sort of deal where even with a new story you would benefit a lot from playing Fallout 3 before it, or can I totally ignore Fallout 3 and choose New Vegas? Since this does come across my final problem which is that Steam states "Fallout 3 is not optimised for Windows 7 and later" on the store page as a huge warning and many people have commented in reviews that this ruins it and the like. So if there is no work-around on that I might need to skip Fallout 3 regardless and thus New Vegas would be the only possibility.

If there's an issue with FO 3 on windows 7 and later, the mod community probably made a patch or guide to fix it, so don't worry. Either way, you can play New Vegas or 3 first, it won't make much difference, the story is unrelated and the gameplay is pretty much the same.

So yea. I'd be grateful for both advice and general discussion and interest in this. Whether you know about the things I have mentioned or whether you can think of other stuff which I might enjoy as a fan of Elder Scrolls that could make me love it still and stuff like that. I definitely gave this a poor chance which I can see now due to Skyrim since I only just started Skyrim for real and I am enjoying it far more than my initial taster made me think, so Fallout at least deserves another look for me but idk about buying it atm.

If you're having second thoughts, wait for them to go on sale at Steam, I remember Fallout 3 GOTY edition being 5 dollars a few months ago. The exploration is all there in true Elder Scrolls fashion, so you'll probably enjoy them.

[Ragnarokia]

At 9/18/15 11:57 PM, MiroDK wrote: You've guessed wrong. Tehy're both great games which can hold up to today just fine. Arena and Daggerfall are harder to get into because of the graphics and how they are very "what the fuck do i do". Fallout 1 is pretty hard when you first start because there's a 'time limit', although you don't really know that at first. Fallout 2 doesn't, so you have more freedom to explore. You sohuld at least try them out, you can probably find them pretty cheap on GOG.

I think I actually got them for free a while ago during some free give-away thing but I never get around to checking GOG, so could try them if they are. But I seriously don't like the idea of the "time limit" that is the thing I hate the most if wanting to take my time and explore a world. I can accept it in specific missions as a rarity and a boss fight as a super rarity (Oblivion's 12-15 minute Great Gate with it's visible huge looming threat being a solid example) but unless it is restricted like that I doubt I could enjoy it... I wouldn't say it is a fault with the game or concept so much as just the fact I hate such restrictions. It is also why I can't play many old adventure games which had time limits to them, Simon the Sorcerer, Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky and the like were all fine but anything with a clock and time limit I couldn't play.

You pretty much can choose if you want to die or not on 3, if you've got the DLC, then you'll survive IIRC.

From what I gathered I thought it was something like you die or make your dad do it and he dies and so it's totally a good thing to do it yourself instead or something like that, then again apparently your dad dies earlier according to some comment I saw earlier so I probably have no idea which character it which. But yea. I guess I would see if I played and got there.

Dude you can shoot and explode rats and shit, the game may be somewhat dark, but it has it's comedic moments, I didn't really feel like I'm playing a Nihilist game. It's not the same tone as Elder scrolls, but it's fine either way. Fallout has always been a sort of crazy series, with plenty of WTF moments, like the random encounter in FO 2.

I guess its my experience of my only real gameplay being going to the landed nuke town thing and then being advised by my friend to go to some penthouse and told to nuke the town and feeling like shit because I nuked a town and was like "I wanna be a hero~" so that sort of made me see the game in a depressing light I guess.

If there's an issue with FO 3 on windows 7 and later, the mod community probably made a patch or guide to fix it, so don't worry. Either way, you can play New Vegas or 3 first, it won't make much difference, the story is unrelated and the gameplay is pretty much the same.

I did notice some people had made comments on some of the reviews mentioning how it was broken on new windows etc. and they all said stuff which went over my head with a "do this duh its so easy what are you stupid?" sort of feel to it....so I guess if I did get it it I would get someone to help me out getting it to work.

If you're having second thoughts, wait for them to go on sale at Steam, I remember Fallout 3 GOTY edition being 5 dollars a few months ago. The exploration is all there in true Elder Scrolls fashion, so you'll probably enjoy them.

I'll keep an eye on the prices then if it goes around that cheap, I've got other stuff like Skyrim currently for the time being so wouldn't play it for a while anyway. Thanks for the advice.

[coaliscool42]

At 9/18/15 11:40 PM, Ragnarokia wrote: So I'm a fan of Elder Scrolls games, namely Morrowind it being my favourite game.

Interesting.

Yet I've never known whether or not to go for the Fallout series. I am guessing Fallout 1 and 2 are good to skip just like Arena and Daggerfall are never talked about and just to go with Fallout 3 / New Vegas / 4 when it comes out.

You're pretty much correct about that. Fallout 1 and 2 aren't needed at all to build backstory for the game.

I once tried Fallout 3 briefly when a friend brought it over, yet I couldn't really get into it

How far into did you play? If you didn't leave Vault 101 I can definitely see how you didn't get into it.

but the same thing happened with Skyrim too, so I am thinking it may just be that I need to be alone when I play these games to get into them. So I am thinking of trying Fallout 3 again or New Vegas.

You would be correct with that assumption.

The big problem I see is the setting. The tragic depressing post apocalytic wasteland with you dying at the end (yea hard not to get spoiled of that)

You do not in fact have to die at the end. Look up the DLC "Broken Steel".

but I love the more happy fantasy swords and magic with you being the Neravine and becoming immortal and married to a Goddess and all that good stuff with saving the world and surviving the game with everyone loving you.

Interesting.

So I don't know really if I can get into that sort of depressing life with knowing the inevitable death and stuff or whether I can still get into it and find enjoyment past that.

Again, you don't have to die at the end.

I also found the music only being available on radio thing with just ambient silence without it to be sort of uninviting also, I love the music that naturally fills the background of games so that silence if not tuned in is definitely atmospheric for sure, but also sort of putting off since I am someone who dislikes radio anyway so I'd probably not use it and thus have mostly silence.

This is just a guess, but I think you will like the radio in Fallout 3... for roughly a few hours. The music in the game after that point is just plain repetitive.

So whether I can really "get into" Fallout I have no idea.

You should play it to find out.

Is it close enough to the feeling of elder scrolls that I will love it anyway

Very close.

or could those negative aspects make it too unappealing

Not really, at least in my experience.

or does the unnappealing nature improve it sort of like Kratos makes god of war fun despite being a total fucking cunt destroying the world.

Yeah. Keep in mind though, you can always make the world better in Fallout by not half-assing things and keeping good karma. In fact, I think it is extremely rewarding to be the good guy in Fallout games.

Since anger makes me enjoy a game more than not getting angry ever at it also. But I haven't tried this with depression and saddness outside of Final Fantasy games which are like 40 hours and tend to get happier while these would be hundreds of hours and always bleak.

Fallout 3 is really not as bleak as you think it is. Pretty much what I just said above this text.

Also does New Vegas not work properly if not playing Fallout 3 first? Like is it basically an expansion pack sort of deal where even with a new story you would benefit a lot from playing Fallout 3 before it, or can I totally ignore Fallout 3 and choose New Vegas?

Play Fallout 3 first. It will really help with general understanding of the game mechanics and backstory.

Since this does come across my final problem which is that Steam states "Fallout 3 is not optimised for Windows 7 and later" on the store page as a huge warning and many people have commented in reviews that this ruins it and the like. So if there is no work-around on that I might need to skip Fallout 3 regardless and thus New Vegas would be the only possibility.

Fallout 3 is a bitch to run on newer systems, however if you google the error messages you get, I guarantee you can find a fix for your problems. I got Fallout running on Windows 8 two years ago, but it took a shit-ton of troubleshooting.

So yea. I'd be grateful for both advice and general discussion and interest in this. Whether you know about the things I have mentioned or whether you can think of other stuff which I might enjoy as a fan of Elder Scrolls that could make me love it still and stuff like that. I definitely gave this a poor chance which I can see now due to Skyrim since I only just started Skyrim for real and I am enjoying it far more than my initial taster made me think, so Fallout at least deserves another look for me but idk about buying it atm.

You should take a chance m8.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, you should probably disable DLC/mods on your first playthrough of both Fallout 3/New Vegas. They can/are very overwhelming and confusing for a person who is just starting the Fallout series.

Also, this is just a suggestion, but you might want to play these games before Fallout 4 is released. It might be kinda fun to be hyped for it.

[Jercurpac]

I think the actual gameplay of Fallout 3 is merely serviceable and the main plot isn't very gripping, but it's probably one of the best designed worlds of that style that I've ever wandered around in. Oblivion felt like Bethesda had gotten a bored with the swords and sorcery setting and Fallout 3 feels like they had an absolute blast putting in little areas all over the place that have their own story. It lacks some of that Elder Scrolls charm where you feel like you become part of the world and I was always aware that I was sightseeing, but the sightseeing is awesome and worth playing for in my opinion.

[Jercurpac]

At 9/18/15 11:40 PM, Ragnarokia wrote: I also found the music only being available on radio thing with just ambient silence without it to be sort of uninviting also, I love the music that naturally fills the background of games so that silence if not tuned in is definitely atmospheric for sure, but also sort of putting off since I am someone who dislikes radio anyway so I'd probably not use it and thus have mostly silence.

There's a mod that adds nearly 100 era appropriate songs to the radio. I don't usually mod games, but it's essential and everyone who plays Fallout 3 should download it.

http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/14946/?

[coaliscool42]

At 9/19/15 03:26 AM, Jercurpac wrote: Oblivion felt like Bethesda had gotten a bored with the swords and sorcery setting and Fallout 3 feels like they had an absolute blast putting in little areas all over the place that have their own story.

I agree with this. I hardly ever stopped to just listen to a characters dialogue in Fallout 3 (other than Fawkes). In Fallout New Vegas it seemed that all the characters were ten times more interesting to just listen to. I could listen to Hanlon ramble on about his shit for a while.

[Auz]

I think Fallout 1 and 2 are still worth playing. They're not in any way comparable to the Elder Scrolls games though. They're more like pen-and-paper RPGs with turn-based combat on a hexagonal grid. Fallout 1 was quite confusing to me when I first played it, but if you pick Small Guns as your main weapon stat and go clockwise-ish through the map you'll probably get through it fine on your first go. Maybe they're not your thing, but they're good games.

As for the Bethesda era: I would recommend Fallout 3 over New Vegas. I think "quantity over quality" applies very much to New Vegas when you compare it to Fallout 3. The game has more quests, more factions, more weapons, more everything, but not all of it is good. The side-quests sometimes involve nothing more than speaking to someone or delivering a package and the game really forces you to go in one direction since you'll face overpowering enemies in the other. Fallout 3 had more freedom, better quests in my opinion and every place has its own story. The vaults are interesting in particular.

I believe Fallout 3 has a problem with auto-saving and Steam doesn't record your in-game time properly, but I haven't had too many problems with it otherwise. An occasional crash maybe which is annoying, but it's perfectly playable on modern PCs. Just remember to save from time to time.

Anyway, I would highly recommend giving at least Fallout 3 GOTY a try. If you like Elder Scrolls I can hardly imagine that dislike it since it has all the elements of Oblivion but replaces swords with guns really. Also, you can pick it up for like five bucks nowadays anyway which is nothing for the potential 80+ hours of content. I got Fallout 1 and 2 for free on GOG, but that might have been a temporary deal. It's up to you if you want to buy them, but maybe check out Fallout 3 first and see if you enjoy the setting enough.

[MiroDK]

At 9/19/15 12:58 AM, Ragnarokia wrote: I think I actually got them for free a while ago during some free give-away thing but I never get around to checking GOG, so could try them if they are. But I seriously don't like the idea of the "time limit" that is the thing I hate the most if wanting to take my time and explore a world. I can accept it in specific missions as a rarity and a boss fight as a super rarity (Oblivion's 12-15 minute Great Gate with it's visible huge looming threat being a solid example) but unless it is restricted like that I doubt I could enjoy it... I wouldn't say it is a fault with the game or concept so much as just the fact I hate such restrictions. It is also why I can't play many old adventure games which had time limits to them, Simon the Sorcerer, Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky and the like were all fine but anything with a clock and time limit I couldn't play.

Yeah, I pretty much feel the same way about time limits. But to be fair, in FO 1, if you do a certain quest, you can extend it to the point where you can explore everything and still have some time left. I think you can probably mod it to remove it. Either way, Fallout 2 doesn't have this, so you can play that game first to figure out how you feel about the game, and just screw around.

[iMini]

You've got some assumptions that are so wrong about Fallout.

It might be post apocalyptic, but this isn't The Road man, this is Fallout, it's not bleak, it's silly and comedic, like Mad Max or a toned down Borderlands.

They're fantastic games, just pick up 3 and start playing, New Vegas is technically better (as in the technical aspects are better) but just play 3 first and if you like it pick up New Vegas.

You die at the end of Fallout 3, but if you have Broken Steel DLC you get a whole new chapter to play that takes place after the end of 3 and you end up surviving.

Seriously, just get it, it's easily one of the best games in the last 10 years.

[Jackho]

Fallout 3 and New Vegas have absolutely brilliant ambient soundtracks, and when combat starts battle music kicks in too.

As far as I know Fallout 3 runs more reliably on Windows 8 and 10, though I played through it about two years back on windows 7 and didn't have any problems so it's mostly just luck whether the problems will hit you or not. I'd advise trying to start with Fallout 3 anyway. I like Elder Scrolls well enough but Fallout completely blows it away. Fallout 1 is great too but you're better off being familiar with the setting before you try to get into that one. New Vegas I just find much less enjoyable overall thanks to a plethora of shit design choices that seem bent on stifling the player and might just put you off.

The overall tone of the game is fairly bleak but moreso in a black comedy way than a genuinely depressing way, and most of the individual quests have happy endings as long as you direct them that way. I think about these games as being comparable to the Twilight Zone, the meat of it is in these little often bizarre episodic stories embedded in the people, places and communities you'll find on your travels. It's much more like a sequence of little stories than one overarching epic one.

[Auz]

At 9/19/15 09:46 AM, MiroDK wrote:

At 9/19/15 12:58 AM, Ragnarokia wrote: I think I actually got them for free a while ago during some free give-away thing but I never get around to checking GOG, so could try them if they are. But I seriously don't like the idea of the "time limit" that is the thing I hate the most if wanting to take my time and explore a world. I can accept it in specific missions as a rarity and a boss fight as a super rarity (Oblivion's 12-15 minute Great Gate with it's visible huge looming threat being a solid example) but unless it is restricted like that I doubt I could enjoy it... I wouldn't say it is a fault with the game or concept so much as just the fact I hate such restrictions. It is also why I can't play many old adventure games which had time limits to them, Simon the Sorcerer, Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky and the like were all fine but anything with a clock and time limit I couldn't play.

Yeah, I pretty much feel the same way about time limits. But to be fair, in FO 1, if you do a certain quest, you can extend it to the point where you can explore everything and still have some time left. I think you can probably mod it to remove it. Either way, Fallout 2 doesn't have this, so you can play that game first to figure out how you feel about the game, and just screw around.

The 1.1 patch of Fallout 1 doesn't have the 500 days time-limit any more.

From what I heard, for both Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 you have 13 in-game years to beat them but that is more than enough to do everything and leave lots of time for messing around.

I think Fallout 2 has a time-limit too but it's like 13 in-game years so you'll likely never reached it.

[DoctorStrongbad]

You should play it for yourself, and see if you enjoy it.

[xXSp1cyN1njaXx]

if you want a experience that's harder than a dick made of diamonds, play 1, 2, and NV

if you want like a little bit of wacky morbid humor, play 2 and NV

if you like creepy atmosphere and areas, play all of them

if you hate kids, play 1 and 2

if you like fighting giant hard to kill monsters, play 3 and NV

if you like a good story, play 1,2, and NV

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 9/18/15 11:40 PM, Ragnarokia wrote: So whether I can really "get into" Fallout I have no idea.

Let us know which game you decide to play, and your thoughts.