slowpoke checking in: New Vegas

[Crevice tab]

Bethesda style open world games are so nonsensical as games that "challenge" (or strategy) has no meaning. It's like trying to understand "challenge" in Minecraft.

The Sawyer changes (in what you might think would be an Unsawyerian way) are about making it better for playing pretend hiker and managing the pacing (e.g by dropping XP rewards and cutting out the last 20 garbage experience levels that they didn't implement new leveled enemies or equipment to work with).

Open world games could be challenging if properly designed- I'd even say that they have more potential for strategic thinking than other RPGs. F:NV just didn't really focus on this preferring to take its cue from F3, with some added (quite understandable considering the vast amount of work that went into making the rest of the game).

 

[Commissar Draco]

Just type the TDM after clearing Dungeon and problem solved... no reason to experience another couple fed exes and constant crashes only for some BS realism... You want real realism and hardcore? Join the Army USMC. Also Boone is good companion with superb quest but dies like fly when pitted against Cazadores and Deathclaws he is not I win button. Slave or rather Quartermaster/Steward idea is great.... with added chance of him/her stealing for you and your supply depots and caravans being raided. Normal inventory should be your (magic) backpack in which you can send the items you don't need to your camp... When combat start you put it on the ground and have access to your Combat gear only... which means one riffle, back up weapon like combat knife/pistol and ammo you carry in your webbing... which of course can be upgraded and tailored to hold 6 magazines instead of 4 at the expense of grenades or water canteen.

 

[RK47]

This is true. But the survival aspect - which I looked forward to, vanished after reaching Novac.
Quite strange really.

 

[Zewp]

Well, you mention that you gain access to Boone, so then simply don't take on Boone as a companion. Boone is so overpowered the game might as well play itself.

 

[RK47]

Well, you mention that you gain access to Boone, so then simply don't take on Boone as a companion. Boone is so overpowered the game might as well play itself.

There's also a shitload of free stuff in REPPCONN that made cash a non-factor. These ghouls, a bunch of them are dead when I arrived - carry a Recharger Pistol - worth 300 caps each. Thats 250 caps too many.
Funny you mention Boone broke the game, in caves, he's not so hot. He died to a bunch of Nightstalkers. Oh well.

 

[DalekFlay]

My first playthrough Boone and I were both snipers and we wrecked everything. He finally died when I assaulted Caesar's camp, which the game did not ask or tell me to do, I just decided my character would take that sumbitch out no fucking around. Boone gave his head for the cause.

In short if he gets swamped with enemies he dies quickly.

 

[Zewp]

But if you give him the antimatter rifle he becomes god and you simply obey.

 

[Akratus]

Well, you mention that you gain access to Boone, so then simply don't take on Boone as a companion. Boone is so overpowered the game might as well play itself.

There's also a shitload of free stuff in REPPCONN that made cash a non-factor. These ghouls, a bunch of them are dead when I arrived - carry a Recharger Pistol - worth 300 caps each. Thats 250 caps too many.
Funny you mention Boone broke the game, in caves, he's not so hot. He died to a bunch of Nightstalkers. Oh well.

I'd give 300 caps for a weapon like that. The problem in Beth games, and NV, is the overabundance of loot, not their worth.

 

[Carrion]

All of the companions are completely and utterly broken and turn the game into a cakewalk, really. It feels like the game was balanced with soloing in mind and the companions were only added in later, because at least on Very Hard the difference between going solo and having even one companion with you is huge. Compared to, say, Ian or Cassidy, the companions in New Vegas are fucking superheroes. Chances are that they can deal more damage than you can (at least at low levels and not including criticals) and take multiple times as much beating before dying. They regenerate, have infinite ammo, serve as pack mules and give you free perks. Take two of them with you and there's no fight in the game that you can't win. There at least should've been some penalty to having companions, like having to keep them supplied with ammo and stimpaks or paying them for their services. They should've also been much, much weaker, but then again, having to babysit them in Gamebryo probably wouldn't have been that much fun either.

 

[DragoFireheart]

They should've also been much, much weaker, but then again, having to babysit them in Gamebryo probably wouldn't have been that much fun either.

And now we have discovered the game balance: having followers in the Gamebyro engine.

 

[Semper]

Chances are that they can deal more damage than you can [...] They regenerate, have infinite ammo, serve as pack mules and give you free perks.

the regeneration is gone in hardcore mode. for the rest there's the cco mod which cuts their dmg output in halves, erases infinite ammo and reduces their weight capacity.

 

[Carrion]

the regeneration is gone in hardcore mode.

I've always used hardcore mode yet I've never had to give the companions any stimpaks outside of combat. I'm pretty sure they get back to full health on their own in a matter of seconds.

for the rest there's the cco mod which cuts their dmg output in halves, erases infinite ammo and reduces their weight capacity.

Sure, but I wasn't talking about mods.

 

[kenup]

Boone is so overpowered the game might as well play itself.

I never got why people say this(then again, I never got Boone in an unmodded NV). As far as I know, all the companions are overpowered. And Raul survives encounters much easier than Boone in my game. In fact, Raul survived 4 deathclaws up close(2 were "young deathclaws") on his own, while in the exactly same situation Boone got owned.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I always thought personally Danny Trejo was the best companion out of all of them.
I mean, that guy took on El Mariachi several times, and numerous other heroes in films over the decades.
If that's not hardcore, I don't know what is.

 

[Semper]

I've always used hardcore mode yet I've never had to give the companions any stimpaks outside of combat. I'm pretty sure they get back to full health on their own in a matter of seconds.

my bad, i thought about the revival at the end of a fight.

 

[MicoSelva]

Just finished the game today, almost three years since starting this playthrough and over ten years after buying the game. This was my third attempt, I believe, and it took me around 150 hours, including all the DLC.
I decided to go for free New Vegas with me, myself and yours truly in charge.

The game has really amazing faction system/quests and reactivity - best I have seen EVER (I have not played Deadfire yet). Quests overall were pretty good and well-written and designed. This kept me playing and made me come back to the game (unlike some other 3D Fallouts from certain other well-known RPG developer). But damn, this engine... It's... It's... It's just not good. Combat is fucking awful, inventory is ugly (so is the whole game, honestly) and constantly wastes your time, the sheer amount of junk items you find destroys a lot of the joy of exploring and looting... The moment-to-moment experience is passable at best. I had to take breaks from the game when I was starting to get too fed up with it. Curiously, I have similar gripes with Arcanum (which however has the advantage of looking much better - both the inventory and the rest of the game).
But yeah, I kept coming back after those breaks, and I am really glad I finished this great game, even though I probably will not want to play it ever again.