Fallout Franchise

I enjoy the Legion for what it was.

The Legion has a concept was great. The idea of a totalitarian dictatorship of ruthless soldiers held together by cult of personality and a man with vision is pretty compelling. I particularly like Caesar's ability to recognise that the Legion in it's current form cannot and will not survive. He needs the conflict with the NCR to change his Legion into a force that can last, Vegas and the Hoover Dam will give him the means to do so.

The problem with the Legion is pretty much with the presentation. Namely, the game lacked far too much Legion related content. It needed it's own settlement, civilians, or more quests and characters (with the foresight/ability of Caesar or Vulpes) to give the player a glimpse of Legion life. All the player sees are war camps, which are understandably much more harsh. We're told that the Legion runs a tight, oppressive, but safe ship. Which is huge for the setting. Yet we never really see that. Making the case for the Legion that much harder to make. It doesn't mean that the Legion is supposed to be sympathetic or morally equivalent to the other choices of course, but siding with the Legion in the game feels like a dumb choice unless you're character is particularly inclined to evil. When it shouldn't have to be.

That's what you get when you have a game the size of New Vegas done in barely a year...

I generally go Independent because there's a heap of variety for the endings depending on your choices, but I have a soft spot for Mr. House, who's my second favourite. Hard to go against the Lee Kuan Yew of Fallout tbh.

House is awesome, he's the only way to go in Vegas.

I always betrayed him at the end. And the NCR too. The end game of NW is probably the thing I enjoyed the most, when you double cross the shit out of everyone it feels great 

Actually, J.E. Sawyer said on Formspring that Yes Man is changing his programming in order to make it so that only the Courier can give him orders, and the dialogue during the confrontation with the NCR indicates that the Courier will be in a position of leadership (which is also one of the points of choosing Yes Man since you are effectively replacing Mr. House). I choose the path of giving New Vegas independence myself.

I did enjoy killing Caesar and Lanius (I took Boone with me when I entered the Fort - "thumbs down, you son of a bitch"). Taking down a repugnant group of slavers and rapists was quite satisfying, as was defying the NCR (and having Oliver thrown off the dam).

Josh Sawyer said that Yes Man alters his programming so that only the Courier can give him orders. In case you're curious, Sawyer's quote on the reprogramming is: "That he will not just roll over for the next person to walk up to him in the Courier's absence. i.e. he will become a somewhat independent steward instead of a powerful tool for any random person to use for nefarious purposes."

There are a lot of illogical things that the Legion adheres to, particularly when it comes to technology. Although a malevolent group of rapists and slavers clearly aren't the most intelligent group of people, so the buffoonish aspects of the group shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

The endings don't indicate that the Courier leaves New Vegas indefinitely, though. We do know that a good karma Courier watches over Big MT as a steward, and slowly reintroduces beneficial technology over time, so it's obvious the Courier isn't at the Mojave 24/7, but I'd compare that to Mayor Hancock governing Goodneighbor and still being in charge even when he takes sabbaticals out of the area.

New Vegas recognizes the Courier as a hero (with good karma) so I can see the denizens of the area giving the Courier similar support that Hancock receives in Goodneighbor: "Supporting the ideals of independence, the Courier was recognized as the man responsible for a truly free New Vegas. He ensured Mr. House's tyranny was broken and neither Caesar's Legion nor NCR would ever gain control over New Vegas."

Well, I can see why you feel that way. I think every Courier is up to player interpretation, since it's the one Fallout game where we really get the most control over the protagonist by virtue of having no real backstory, aside from having been a courier for a period of time. New Vegas is, admittedly, my favorite Fallout game.

I do like Fallout 4, though. I feel like Bethesda was influenced by New Vegas in giving the companions more depth this time around, and giving us choices in choosing who to side with in regards to the main factions. I also like that things aren't black and white with them; the Brotherhood of Steel and the Railroad don't turn into one-dimensional villains or monsters if you oppose them, and you have companions who lament the loss of life if you side with one over the other. The Institute also isn't entirely villainous, as there are good people there who are trying to advance science in benevolent ways, and even Father believes that this is the best hope for humanity.

Admittedly, I think the Commonwealth Minutemen could have been fleshed out more. I also think it's a mistake to have tied Preston to the settlement quests because it interferes with you learning more about his character, and his depression. It causes him to become a source of annoyance rather than a companion you can learn more about and travel with because of the nonstop settlement quests.

Far Harbor was also good. The story manages to provide information that shows that the Brotherhood of Steel has valid reasons to be wary of the dangers of synths while also showing that synths are cognitive individuals. It's not black and white.

I think this is something that Bethesda and Obsidian did well - they allow the player to come to their own conclusions about things. I do wish Bioware followed their lead in that regard. I'm also excited about the possibility of Fallout: New Orleans, since some are reporting that Obsidian is making this game (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is true).