I think the quality vs. quantity arguments are spot on.
Fallout 2 had a number of problems, so many that I have to walk
through the game in my head to even remember them all. I never even
finished the game (quit somewhere around San Fran), and I completed
Fallout five times (more so than any other game I've ever played).
Let's review Fallout 2:
Initial dungeon - we all agree that this sucked. Went on much, much too long, and the idea seemed silly to me. The most important part, though, is it highlights one of the largest flaws in Fallout 2 - combat filler. The original Fallout didn't have good combat, really, but it was fun because there usually wasn't too much of it (sans the military base), and it was designed decently. In Fallout 2 they keep the same flawed combat system, and add a lot more combat, so that it moves towards (but not nearly as bad as) JRPG level mindless combat. They have combat dungeons, that are just long, drawn out fights in a bunch of places. There didn't seem to be many in Fallout 1.
To this end, a bunch of new and boring fodder was created. Giant ants, giant scorpions (mini-radscorps?), killer plants, packs of wolves, aliens, yakuza, etc. The long, drawn out, and mostly mindless combat takes away from the game immensely.
Ok, so get a quest which is about the same as the quest in Fallout 1, then leave the village, and the first place you encounter is...a couple of people in the middle of nowhere. There are a few people in a bar, and a few guys you are told dress up like bugs. And you have a quest to kill 30 wolves. That's about it. No head of the town, no idea why the people are there, nothing, really. Feels like a half put together mod.
I should expand on the wolf quest (I think it's in this town). It shows how there's not just more combat, but worse combat. Fallout 1 always sucked when you had to fight a lot of people, because the system wasn't set up for that, so you'd have to wait 10 minutes for all 25 people to take your turn until you could move again, and that move might be "walk 7 steps towards the battle, wait for 25 more people to take their turn."
I don't remember this being a problem, though, in any place except
for the boneyard and a little in the military base. Most of the time
it seemed like the designers knew what they were doing, and made it so
you only fought 1-6 beings at a time. In Fallout 2, however, this seems to happen a lot.
Then you go to the second city, the Den. It is supposed to be lawless, and we see that, because there is no government. Well, as this is the second city and the first one was empty, there's been no government anywhere in the game so far, so it doesn't feel so much like a lawless area as another half thought out idea. It has the stupid ghosts, and this or the first town (or the next) has a boring quest where you have to slog through some mutant gecko cave. Oh, and it has a ghoul guy that is pretending to be a mummy for lulz.
Next area (that I remember), that stupid little town that has the shit bomb, pinky and the brain, and the shotgun wedding. I don't remember anything else from the town. Next (I think) is vault city. Another major flaw in FO2 shows up. The head of vault city asks you to turn in a spy; the spy asks you to help work with NCR to defeat vault city. OK, finally a choice! No, wait, I can do both without any drawbacks...what the fuck...
Then there's ghoul town (or wherever Harold is, I forget), which is another annoyance. Tandi NCR, Harold runs some ghoul town, man in Vault City sings the theme to FO1...yeah, I played FO1, I don't need you to keep reminding me of it.
Somewhere along here is the other pinky and the brain mouse. I think you have a philosophical conversation with him. Like the one you have with harold. And joe the supermutant. And tommy the talking deathclaw. Reminds me of anime where someone thought it would be deep to have 12 year olds in fighting robots randomly quote Kant.
Then there's mutant sheriff town. The crazy anti-mutant group was a cool idea. The talking plant that is jealous that his scientist master was now more focused on the chess-playing scorpion you have to beat was stupid. I think there's a combat cave in here? Don't recall.
Ok, now New Reno. Avellone is proud of this, aye? I have to say, some of the mafia quests were kinda cool, like being the bodyguard for the meeting with the enclave, or the one where you had to lie to the boss and pay out with your own money. And that's about the only thing I remember being "kinda cool" about New Reno.
It was pretty crazy that I was going on missions for all 4 mafia families at the same time - back to the lack of consequence part. They only get pissed off if you become a made man for one of the other families, and that only happens at the end of the mission string. You can accomplish every mission for every family up until the last one, and all the other families are still happy to make you a made man.
The "screw the guys wife, if you are a good enough fuck, she will tell you the secrets" part was lame. The game actually says something like: "she doesn't finish talking, but goes back to sleep. Perhaps if you were a better lover, she would have said more." People like this?
Oh yeah, and there's a porno theatre you can be a fluffer at, and a porn collect-a-thon. And the yakuza/goodfellas baddies that would randomly attack you outside of it.
Then there is that mining town, Red Hills or something. The only thing I remember from there is that aliens invaded the mines, and you had to slog through a very long and very boring dungeon to finish the mission regarding them. It made no sense, it was boring, and I gave up on it.
Next, NCR. It's supposed to be the capital of a huge state, the entirety of which - sans the capital - is just south of your map.
Then talking death claws. Scientologists. Bruce Lee. The Enclave area where you walk in, ask them for power armor, then leave. Another combat slog on a tanker, if I remember right. This is when I gave up on the game.
Also, it kept most of the problems of Fallout 1 (useless skills, poor combat, etc.). Even though I could move NPC's now, I found I got stuck more often with them because of the poor design.
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That about sums it up.
) but you can't honestly compare THAT to the (I think) smart references and offbeat dark humor of FO2. In fact for a lot of people the heart of the game is the combination post-apocalyptic world + CnC + GREAT HUMOR. Remember the giant brainy rat in a sewer? Yes even that!
