I suspect I can’t. One reason I’m doing this blog is because there are times I just want to talk this to death. This way I don’t have to be possibly beaten insensible by my housemate.
It looks like I’m heading towards the end-game now.
If you’re the sort of person that enjoys exploring, and trying to work through all/most of the quests, then this is an absolutely huge game. Some of the quests you get earlier can take quite some time, simply because you’ve yet to find or visit the correct locations. Some of the later quests are a simple matter of bouncing between found locations to complete some tasks and are relatively quick.
I’ve been taking my time, trying to work out the best order to do things in, trying to work out how to talk to people to get the outcome that I want, and that can take time too. Why rush when I’m having so much fun?
However, as I say, it looks like I’m heading towards the end game. As best I can tell, I know all the major players, and it seems to be coming to the time when sitting on the fence is going to be difficult, if not impossible. It doesn’t help that there is more than one fence to sit on, and those fences are starting to get twisted around each other. Ok, let’s leave the fence analogy there, shall we?
What I’m loving most right now, despite it frustrating me, is how (if you ignore the broken karma system) there is no ‘right side’. You can look at the goals of the various Factions, and their interactions, and find that nothing is particularly clear cut. One group you may have thought was ‘right’, can turn out to be less angelic when you find out more about them. On the other hand, a ‘bad’ group can turn out to be more human when you find out more about them. It’s absolutely fascinating me.
The conflicting requests and orders are coming in thick and fast, now. I’ve realised I’ve missed my chances to complete a few earlier quests as the story has moved ahead. Or rather, I can complete them, but they’ll conflict with the path I’m trying to take.
Much of the back-story is solid, and again, fascinating – especially a lot of the story around the mysterious Mr House.
One small area I’m loving is around the relationships in the game. While there’s no real “full on” relationships you can get into, there are a lot you can find out about, and some brief encounters that you can experience. The best part is that very few are gender stereotyped. Women can have relationships with women, men with men, and (if you’re into the bizarre stuff) women and men can hook up. Most of this is left up to the player, and not being forced into a role I don’t enjoy is wonderful. It’s a small issue to many, but after so many years of the stereotypical RPG relationships it’s something I feel I have to tell folks about.
Really, FNV beats Fallout 3 with regard to story. From the major story arc the game is based around, to the minor story arcs that you can interact with – or not, as you please – the stories are stronger, more human, and more interesting.
That very few groups in the game are inherently “good” or “evil” and are simply human, with the conflicting motivations humans have, is something I’d love to see more of.
Now, about those bugs …