Can someone explain where the New Vegas fetishism developed? I thought the game was decent, and enjoyed the extra Fallout experience, but I just don't get it. The whole "omg b-b-b-but the dialogue!" is becoming pretty meme-like.
I just feel like there's so much hype piled onto NV since it's Obsidian vs Bethesda.
edit: yes, I do appreciate that there are gameplay enhancements in NV. But I would chalk those up to natural sequel-level enhancements, not God Tier Developer Ultra Enhancements.
New Vegas is a direct sequel to FO 1 and 2, which were all written by the same group of people give or take a few depending on when you're asking. Chris Avellone, who wrote for New Vegas, literally wrote the Fallout Bible more than a decade ago and it showed in how grounded everything was in New Vegas... which in comparison to the rest of the series makes FO 3 read like fan fiction - especially in regards to the Brotherhood of Steel.
That aside, for me, the more time goes by the more I realize just how innovative the writing for FO1, 2, and to a lesser extent New Vegas actually is. If you try to dissect how quests branch out a lot of might feel tacked on (the interchangeable results of the boomers, BoS, omertas, khans, enclave remnants, NCR, Legion, and Securitron quest lines) but the fact of the matter is that when you start the game you can decide what kind of character you want to play and play through most of the game feeling like the decisions you make are informed and in-character instead of feeling like a victim of the story beats who is just along for the ride.
It might not seem like a major thing (partially because of how it wasn't pristine in execution) and it might seem like if they really wanted to any studio can write in as many believable branching paths into their games but the reality is that they don't. Not to the extent of New Vegas and definitely not surpassing it and that retroactively makes it look better and better as time goes by. It's a rare quality in an RPG to give you options outside of being an asshole or the messiah and though I am not blind to their faults it's something that FO 1, 2, and NV delivers on.
Also Arcade Gannon is a total hottie.
And I say this having had lots of fun with FO4. I put in 160 hours into it so far like a madman and I'm still not done with it. The story I made for myself that started off as a lowly Melon farmer is pretty rad but when it's over I'll probably forget it all whereas New Vegas will continue being one of my top 3 favorite games of all time.
Just that Fallout 3 was a cohesive world, that had soul. Yes, it had some flaws, and yes, New Vegas iterated on it and added many more features, however, the world building, and that elusive "soul" were gone.
How Fallout 3 was made - Bethesda liked F1 and 2 so much that they wrote a fan fic, bought the IP, and plugged it into Oblivion's engine.
How New Vegas was made - The devs of F1 and 2 were hired by Bethesda to make a sequel.
It's severely reductionist but it's how I feel.