I tried to play this game at its release- it was up against some crazy expectations and memories I had from Fallout 3- a few hours in I dropped the game. I recently returned to the game with the release of the latest DLC. I decided to dig in and take this crap seriously. I made a crazy old chinese man and stepped out into the wastes.

I realized about 10 hours in that my issue with NV to begin with wasn't any fault of Obsidian's- I was looking for a Fallout 3 in Fallout NV, which just isnt fair. NV will never have the iconic imagery of Fallout 3 as its an actual wasteland. Now months after release I've been able to appreciate the true wasteland experience NV has been able to provide. Characters and communities aren't as obviously bound as they were in Fallout 3 by quests n whatnot, but i think in some ways these connections in NV are more subtle and realistic anyway.

I'm about 28 hours into the game, 1 DLC finished- most of the main story finished- got my foul mouthed shotgun lady and cyborg dog. I've been assaulted by old ladies wielding rolling pins and dudes dressed like roman soldiers. NV's Honest Hearts provided me with some of the more meaningful set of choices in an RPG, and Fly Me To The Moon quest will go down as one of the more memorable once off RPG quests i've completed.

Shockingly the game launcher can still crash and sometimes it hangs when I try to load a saved game- but all of that aside it's clear I owe Fallout NV an apology. Of course I may take that back if I never find a decent way to deal with the deathclaws.