So, can one actually role play in this title?

Anarchosyn

Anarchosyn

Still Mildly Glowing
I remember the first day I heard about Fallout: I was in my teens and was waiting in line to purchase something PC related at a local Electronic Boutique or Babbages in Ohio. I'd long been a lover of RPGs and science fiction but had never discovered a game which embodied both. The counter jockey started to chat me up and motioned my attention over to Fallout 2. I didn't immediately purchase it -- I knew little or reactivity and didn't yet care about dialog depth. However, weeks later, marveling at the manual in hand, my eyes fell upon a passage which has haunted my memory ever since:

"...And why not have fun with your experience: Try playing a jinxed moron or a cripple with a penchant for science sometime!"

(paraphrased, of course)

Well, since those lonesome days I've used this general philosophy as a litmus for any game's depth. Pretty much every time I approach a title I attempt to push its envelope by generating the most non-combat oriented social savant I can get away with (to hell with difficulty, I'm a bright lad).

Of course, Bethesda titles fail miserably at this test and I had all but given up on them when New Vegas was announced.

Now, with all that said...

Question: How does New Vegas rate?

Can you get away with being a colorful, combat inept social savant and make headway in this title?

Can I really play out different builds or has the general taint of Bethesda eclipsed any sense of range Obsidian could have brought?

Should I rush out to Steam tomorrow or just boot up my beta tester copy of Arcanum and relieve my youth with a better title?

In essence, is it merely good for a 3d Fallout title or is it just good?

p.s. Just to put a little perspective on the subject of this thread, the ability to role play in a digital universe really hinges on being given a wide range of dialog options more often than not. Bethesda were abysmal at this but I hope Obsidian can offer better. Have they succeeded? Can I run the gamut of a wide eyed innocent to a battle hardened wastelander?
 
It rates at the same level as Fallout 3 and oblivion: not enough dialogue.

Fallout 1/2 had a lot of dialogue choices based on your stats and skills which led to different branches of said dialogues. In Fallout 3/NV it's either a common set of phrases or success/fail mechanic which has nothing to do with a complex dialogue system.

It doesn't mean you can't roleplay for yourself, but the dialogue system is lacking. Probably they didn't want to hire more scenario writers because it would require a lot of work, considering the number of NPC in these games nowadays.
 
Yeah, I agree that while the dialogue is not really complex, it's voiced perfectly and I didn't find any special silly cases, so dialogue writers did their job nicely.

And the new reputation system forces you to go with specific decisions (unlike the gimped "karma" system which means basically nothing but some numbers).
 
Thanks for the in-depth analysis, guys. You're both doing wonders to making me feel at home in this community.

All that aside, I'm sad to hear the dialog is more straight forwards, ala Bethesda's past ventures. Still, brevity aside, I imagine it's still a few notches above their schlock in the quality department, eh?

Sea -- I'm glad you reminded me about the Speech skill. In Fallout 3 it was primarily used to skip content (talking people out of the necessity to give you a quest, for example). From what you alluded to it sounds as if that's still the main outcome. No need to offer any concrete examples but, on the whole, you feel Obsidian did a better job of implementing rewards for this skill than Bethesda?
 
Yes, the skill checks are now more than to "skip dialogue", for example there're multiple quests which you cannot finish peacefully unless you have a speech skill 50+. I actually leveled speech to 50 during the first 5 levels because once I was in the game I've noticed that if I want to play a good guy, I'll need it.

Plus there're various non-quest dialogue branches which basically tell you more about situation, so while they are not necessary, it's still nice to have speech to learn about NPC stories if you're not playing FPS only and want some RPG aspect.
 
Not to shift the conversation again but, regarding the minigames, have any changes been made to either lockpicking or hacking?

I really hated those minigames in Fallout 3 (especially hacking). Funny, in Oblivion I smiled at the option to bypass the game and just do a skill check but never took such options. In Fallout I would have taken them almost every time, especially after the 50 hour mark.
 
Anarchosyn said:
Not to shift the conversation again but, regarding the minigames, have any changes been made to either lockpicking or hacking?

I really hated those minigames in Fallout 3 (especially hacking). Funny, in Oblivion I smiled at the option to bypass the game and just do a skill check but never took such options. In Fallout I would have taken them almost every time, especially after the 50 hour mark.
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No, they're the same, unfortunately. Lockpicking isn't so bad but damn i hate hacking...
 
I'm going through my first playthrough on hard, and hardcore as a fragile little girl with no strenght and no luck. I'll put all my skills into non-combat ones and see where it takes me.

So far I'm having trouble killing anything, and I find myself running away in fear when I meet a Giant Scorpion for instance. I'm only level 5 now, but I hope my character will have a hellish time all the way throuh :)

I'm gonna be a 'good' character though, since I can't back up my words with action if I try to be a badass.
 
aguds said:
I'm going through my first playthrough on hard, and hardcore as a fragile little girl with no strenght and no luck. I'll put all my skills into non-combat ones and see where it takes me.
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I love you.

No, nothing constructive to say or add to the conversation. I just wanted to let you know that when the No Mutants Allowed action figurine sets get released I'm buying 10 copies of yours.
 
Anarchosyn said:
aguds said:
I'm going through my first playthrough on hard, and hardcore as a fragile little girl with no strenght and no luck. I'll put all my skills into non-combat ones and see where it takes me.
Click to expand...

I love you.

No, nothing constructive to say or add to the conversation. I just wanted to let you know that when the No Mutants Allowed action figurine sets get released I'm buying 10 copies of yours.
Click to expand...

Why don't you have a seat right over here...
 
Anarchosyn said:
aguds said:
I'm going through my first playthrough on hard, and hardcore as a fragile little girl with no strenght and no luck. I'll put all my skills into non-combat ones and see where it takes me.
Click to expand...

I love you.

No, nothing constructive to say or add to the conversation. I just wanted to let you know that when the No Mutants Allowed action figurine sets get released I'm buying 10 copies of yours.
Click to expand...

Hahaha! I love you too :D
 
aguds said:
I'm going through my first playthrough on hard, and hardcore as a fragile little girl with no strenght and no luck. I'll put all my skills into non-combat ones and see where it takes me.

So far I'm having trouble killing anything, and I find myself running away in fear when I meet a Giant Scorpion for instance. I'm only level 5 now, but I hope my character will have a hellish time all the way throuh :)

I'm gonna be a 'good' character though, since I can't back up my words with action if I try to be a badass.
Click to expand...
I'm level 8 and even I still run from Giant Radscorpions. They aren't pushovers like they were in Fallout 3. They have stupid high DT and can four to six shot me through Metal Armor + Metal Helmet.
 
man, heck yes you can role play in this. since your actions actually have consequences this time around. i had to actually pause and take a few paces when deciding what to do with Helios 1...but not just what to do and what effect it would have...but more importantly what my specific character would do.

lovin' it!
 
Lockpicking seems a lot easier in FNV. I've only broken one bobby pin and that was when the textures bugged out and I couldn't see what I was doing.
 
I really like how this game follows the Fallout-2 style of playing.

I mean really, in F2 you could make a "hook" on a map, following towns and levelling up, and going further through the stroryline... Or you could cut a corner and go to the finish straight ahead.

Here there're deathclaws on that straight road to Vegas, and other nasty stuff, so now I see why they were there. But I was dragged away by the lights on the horison, so TADA, here's the endgame quest without any long story which is there if you make a "hook" move on the map... Just wow. It makes me to want to play again and play a "whole" story this time.
 
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