I've been playing FNV on pc these past few months, and i'm blown away.
I first got into RPGs when i played SW:KOTOR when i was 12, back in '04. It became my favourite game ever, granted, i hadn't played anything like it before, but i knew it was brilliant. When i saw that a second one was coming out, i was ecstatic. I quite literally shouted when i saw the promo box in game (UK). Being a pre-pubescent 12-year-old, screaming like a little girl was really not cool. But i cared not for looking silly, because there was going to be a sequel to that brilliant game. When KOTOR II came out, i played it and saw what a bloody mess it was; buggy and unfinished. I was sorely disappointed and cursed the name of Obsidian Entertainment.
Three years and a lot of gaming passed and i suddenly see a familiar name in another video game. It was called Mass Effect. Being 15, i was a bit more ok with myself saying 'yay' in public, so i did, quietly. When it came out and i played it, i was blown away yet again. Even though the mechanics were much better, than KOTOR, i still regarded KOTOR as my favourite game of all time.
Fast forward ~four more years to late 2010, and a cross-atlantic flight back home to mexico, and i discovered reddit. A few months went by, i got myself an account and discovered /r/games, where the very same day i subscribed, saw a post on /r/games about kotor 2 and a certain mod there was for it. That was the closest i've ever gotten to believing in destiny. I went in and read the comments explaining what had happened originally to KOTOR II, and everyone was raving about how TSLRCM fixed everything and turned the game into the masterpiece it should've been. So i went ahead and downloaded the mod, and reinstalled KOTOR II. God damn, it was amazing. I went from beating the game in 30 hours and not knowing what the hell was going on, to finishing the game after ~55 hours, and just getting up from the computer thinking "Wow..." and slowly clapping with a huge grin on my face. It was amazing, it had taken 7 years to dethrone KOTOR, but it was finally done. Over the next two years i did a few more playthroughs with updated versions of the mod and i constantly discovered new things. I also built myself a desktop, and bought and played more games than i should have during the frequent deals i came across.
Which brings me to a few months ago, around my 21st birthday, when i picked up FNV during the steam summer sale. I spent two days modding the hell out of it, following the suggestions by a poster in the reddit thread where the sale was announced. After 2 days and something like 8 gb of mod downloads, I took the plunge. As it is customary with me and RPGs, the first 3 hours i had no bloody idea of what to do. So i did some research on builds and restarted my journey. I was overwhelmed at first, because i saw this huge map and i felt tiny. But my goodness. After the first 3 hours of gameplay (the second time), I felt that this game was going to be great. After the first 5 hours, i felt it was going to be amazing. After the first 10 hours, it was becoming my favourite game ever. After the first 15, it was. Now, after 80 hours, 1.5 DLC's, like 0.4 of all side missions and about 0.4 of a single campaign it will take a monumental effort to ever beat it.
New Vegas has gripped me like no other video game, book, film or series ever has. I'm happy to admit that I've laughed, sneered, been angry, been sad, been happy, and cried during certain films, books, series and video games (and tests too). But not all of them in a single cohesive experience. That is, until New Vegas. Not only that, but i've found myself swearing at characters, lowering my head, sweating and getting physically agitated during gameplay. I'm not like that, I'm always cold and calculated, even my career choice (chemistry) goes in line with that, and the specialisation i want (theoretical chemistry) is even more a reflection of my personality. But New Vegas does away with all that. It turns me into an emotional and reactionary being. I still plan ahead, especially when it comes to leveling up, but never when i'm The Courier. It's so very well realised that whenever I have the time to play it, i know i will leave this world and be transported into the compelling, rich, intriguing and vibrant world that is, the Fallout universe.
And for that I thank you so very, very much. Please, pass this along to the other staff at Obsidian.
KrunoS
