FO: NV (General Discussion)

[sorophx]

if Im not mistaken, AGI does affect run speed, it says so on that diabolical contraption that lets you distribute ability points at doctor's.

[LadyCrimson]

The other major flaw of the game are the possible human companions. They suck and are not up to the usual Obsidian level.

I've only tried EDE & Boone so far, and I've liked both their stories and quests, even if the Brotherhood did make me mad.

 

What's wrong with the companions? I don't find them any worse (or better) than, say, Kotor2. Like in most games, most of the time they have nothing to say as they follow you around like drones, but when their story does come out, the two I've tried were fine. Boone's personal quest he was even making comments as I marched around (not a menu-dialogue) which gave it a nice feel and made me feel sad. EDE doesn't talk but he does have a nice chain. Are the other's not as good?

 

The one thing I don't like with companions is how easy it is/can be to completely miss gaining their rep. or notice you have. I imagine some people go thru the game never triggering companion quests or realizing they have any, at all. (edit:I constantly checked Boone's Talk menu after every quest to see if there had been anything...he doesn't always give a verbal clue)

Edited November 4, 2010 by LadyCrimson

[LadyCrimson]

if Im not mistaken, AGI does affect run speed, it says so on that diabolical contraption that lets you distribute ability points at doctor's.

Oh...I must've missed that. I do that a lot these days. Read something and space out on what it said right after. My brain doesn't like getting older...more than most perhaps...sigh. heh

[HoonDing]

Veronica & Cass are great companions, and the best voiced characters by far as well. I only used Boone to clear out Scorpion Gulch.

 

I never recruited the nerdy doctor, since he treated my low INT character pretty badly.

[LadyCrimson]

Veronica & Cass are great companions, and the best voiced characters by far as well. I only used Boone to clear out Scorpion Gulch.

 

I never recruited the nerdy doctor, since he treated my low INT character pretty badly.

Based (only) on the voice files of Veron & Cass, I'd disagree (Cass sounds like she'd annoy me a lot less than Veron). But then that's probably because 1-I tend to always prefer male NPC's in games and 2-liking voices is subjective. I love Boone's low pitched dour & gruff delivery.

 

I haven't even run into the geeky science guy yet I think.

[Enoch]

Veronica is way too "Whedon-esque peppy, nerdy, sarcastic chick" for me. That's more a writing than a voicing critique, though.

[Tale]

This game keeps making me want to buy Fallout 3 GOTY and hit all the DLC and stuff I missed when I first played Fallout 3. But I recall getting bored halfway through my last Fallout 3 replay.

[RPGmasterBoo]

The other major flaw of the game are the possible human companions. They suck and are not up to the usual Obsidian level.

I've only tried EDE & Boone so far, and I've liked both their stories and quests, even if the Brotherhood did make me mad.

 

What's wrong with the companions? I don't find them any worse (or better) than, say, Kotor2. Like in most games, most of the time they have nothing to say as they follow you around like drones, but when their story does come out, the two I've tried were fine. Boone's personal quest he was even making comments as I marched around (not a menu-dialogue) which gave it a nice feel and made me feel sad. EDE doesn't talk but he does have a nice chain. Are the other's not as good?

 

The one thing I don't like with companions is how easy it is/can be to completely miss gaining their rep. or notice you have. I imagine some people go thru the game never triggering companion quests or realizing they have any, at all. (edit:I constantly checked Boone's Talk menu after every quest to see if there had been anything...he doesn't always give a verbal clue)

 

I tried ED-E, Rex, Cass and Veronica. The first two are really only cosmetic companions. The latter two are shallow (veronica) and over exaggerated (Cass and her bloodthirstiness). But most of all they're incredibly boring and uninteresting to have around. Also their stories (and quests) are mundane "real world" emo troubles of the sort Bioware likes to portray. No mystique, charm or anything else.

 

Do I really want to hear about Veronica's failed lesbian relationship (wat?) and how horrible it is to be smarter than everyone else in the BOS? All of this delivered in a 21st century hip chick "I'm so cool" manner. Christ.

Or about Cass's caravan getting blown to bits and her bitching about it over a pile of whiskey. I mean, who cares? That's so.... "everyday"... in a violent post apocalyptic world.

 

I find KOTOR2's companions much better. Visually appealing, thoughtful dialog and most of all integrated into the plot. Okay, they're remarkably similar to Torment's characters but that can only be a good thing.

I honestly think you havent thought this through. Saying Kreia (for example) is on the same level as FNV's companions doesn't quite sound right.

At the very least K2's companions have much more to say.

 

Boo's guide to making interesting companions:

option a) give them a real crisis I can sympathise with eg: Dakkon, Fall From Grace / or a good romance eg: Jaheira

option b) make them humorous, charming, unique eg: Minsc, Imoen

option c) both. eg: Morte

 

If they are not a, b or c you're not doing it right. If there's no tragedy or comedy, you're in between, and thats where boredom lies.

Edited November 4, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[LadyCrimson]

If you haven't done it yet, I found this amusing: fire your companion far away from it's 'home' location and then follow as they walk back. They'll still fight enemies they encounter. Just save your game first since they can die when not your companion (not 'essential'). Which probably explains why some people can't find their companions to rehire...they get shot on the way home. LOL So if you want to 'fire' someone, better to do it when close to their home.

 

Saying Kreia (for example) is on the same level as FNV's companions doesn't quite sound right.

Oh that. Yeah, she was interesting, but I actually didn't use her much as a companion, so I guess I thought of her as more of a main-plot NPC rather than a companion, if that makes sense. I don't recall the others being all the integral to the main plot, tho. They had their influence bits and story cutscenes and stuff, but you didn't have to do them/could progress/win if they weren't there. (edit:it's been years since I played however)

Edited November 4, 2010 by LadyCrimson

[WorstUsernameEver]

To use a typical Volourn expression

 

FO:NV's companions >>>>>>>>>> KOTOR2 companions

 

Being a little more serious, I find the fact that FNV's companions have "real world problems" extremely refreshing since Obsidian's writers had been kind of prisoners of their own fantasy-ish trappings lately. Honestly, the KOTOR2 companions have all greatly interesting concepts but.. there's rarely more to their character than that concept. And it was also a Bioware game in structure, which means that the companions were pretty much forced on you. Forcing companion on you in Fallout is a no-no. Personally I enjoyed almost them all, though I kinda wish there would be more to some of their quests.

[LadyCrimson]

@WorstusernameEver - yeah, that's kinda my take on it too.

[RPGmasterBoo]

To use a typical Volourn expression

 

FO:NV's companions >>>>>>>>>> KOTOR2 companions

 

Being a little more serious, I find the fact that FNV's companions have "real world problems" extremely refreshing since Obsidian's writers had been kind of prisoners of their own fantasy-ish trappings lately. Honestly, the KOTOR2 companions have all greatly interesting concepts but.. there's rarely more to their character than that concept. And it was also a Bioware game in structure, which means that the companions were pretty much forced on you. Forcing companion on you in Fallout is a no-no. Personally I enjoyed almost them all, though I kinda wish there would be more to some of their quests.

 

Your refreshing is my boring.

 

I could whip up 50 of those stereotypical loss/revenge/cynicism back stories on my morning visit to the toilet.

Those are overused Hollywood movie tropes done no better than in an average flick. If you aren't tired of them I salute you.

[Tale]

I'm kind of happy that we don't see a single family member for any of the characters. We don't have to reunite any wives or siblings, mourn any of the companion's parents, or any of that. After DAO and ME2 I was getting kind of tired of that.

 

A lot of them are simply trying to adjust their place in the world.

 

I could whip up 50 of those stereotypical loss/revenge/cynicism back stories on my morning visit to the toilet.

Is Boone the only companion you met?

Edited November 4, 2010 by Tale

[WorstUsernameEver]

I could whip up 50 of those stereotypical loss/revenge/cynicism back stories on my morning visit to the toilet.

Those are overused Hollywood movie tropes done no better than in an average flick. If you aren't tired of them I salute you.

 

Those were used in Kotor too so I'm not sure I see your point.

[Thorton_AP]

why did you take perks (and wear a helmet) that effectively improves your luck in combat? Because that's all you did.

because I didn't see it that way it says +5 critical chance, not +5 luck in the description.

 

point is, if I can get away with 3 luck, and only using one piece of gear (head, where you don't get anything useful 'til endgame anyway) can get steady criticals, what's the point of having a high luck and sacrificing END or PER?

 

+1 luck = +1 crit chance.

It also gives a small bonus to all of your skills.

 

It also you luckier in the casinos as well.

 

I'm not a 100% sure, but I also think luck improves the loot that you find in the game (I found a Laser RCW in Goodsprings with 8 luck which I didn't find with my luck 5 character).

 

 

Given all perception does is increase the range of your radar.....I'd argue Luck is a much more useful trait. It's also fun IMO. In reality I think almost all of the SPECIAL attributes have their place, and it's perfectly valid to play through the game with focus/deficiency in them, with the exception of intelligence which has always been the most useful attribute in my opinion.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Thorton_AP

[LadyCrimson]

A lot of them are simply trying to adjust their place in the world.

That's what I liked about Boone, and will probably like about some of the others when I try them, based on what I already know. It felt more like they were just plain ol' folk I might meet in such a world and decide to travel with as "we" all tried to figure out a way to survive/what to do in the crap wasteland the world has become. No save the universe and you are the foretold "one" type stuff...er, well, at least not yet, since I haven't actually finished the main plot myself.

 

 

 

Edit:

I'm not a 100% sure, but I also think luck improves the loot that you find in the game (I found a Laser RCW in Goodsprings with 8 luck which I didn't find with my luck 5 character).

I'm fairly convinced of that as well, but it's impossible to be certain since there's a random factor of a lot of the loot. But it sure felt/feels like I'm finding a lot more stuff/higher end stuff faster, and more of it, w/my higher luck chr.

Edited November 4, 2010 by LadyCrimson

[entrerix]

morte>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>every FONV companion combined.

 

 

edit: for serious, planescape torment had the best npcs in any video game ever. I expect them to remain the best for many years to come.

Edited November 4, 2010 by entrerix

[RPGmasterBoo]

I could whip up 50 of those stereotypical loss/revenge/cynicism back stories on my morning visit to the toilet.

Those are overused Hollywood movie tropes done no better than in an average flick. If you aren't tired of them I salute you.

 

Those were used in Kotor too so I'm not sure I see your point.

 

They were well voice acted, integrated into the PC's story, visually appealing and they had a certain mystique that was appealing even when there was no actual character development. They had (most but not all) implied depth which made them interesting. This is important when the game isn't long enough or large enough in scope to devote tons of time to a single (optional!) character. The player has to fill in the blanks to a certain extent.

This concerns Visas Marr, Bao-Dur, Atton Rand and Kreia. The rest were good and some I didn't like.

Edited November 4, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[Thorton_AP]

I liked listening to Boone's stories.

 

Boone plot spoiler:

 

The guy has clearly seen some rough ****. He shot his own wife so that they she wouldn't be raped and sold into slavery. Suffers with the nightmares of executing several women and children (and helping spawn the intense hatred of the Khans in the area towards the NCR) because he was drilled to unquestioningly follow orders.

 

 

 

I also enjoyed Veronica's stories. I think I'm in the camp of Worst Username in that I liked that they weren't overly grandiose.

[Jackalmonkey]

I do like that the companions are a bit understated, especially compared to the companion drama that's been steadily escalating in Bioware games since BG2. And come to think of it, I really appreciate that none of them are romance options.

 

Though I wish I knew how to quit Boone. And his 100-yard headshots.

[Orchomene]

I can support Cass but have a lot of issues with most of the other humanoids :

- Boone is overpowered and playing a sniper with Boone as a companion is not very good for me.

- Arcade is ok for the few I've seen him.

- Veronica. I don't really appreciate her attitude.

- Lily is exhausting when sneaking, she says the same sentence every 30 seconds.

- Raul. I've not really tested him, but didn't feel attracted by him.

[LadyCrimson]

- Boone is overpowered and playing a sniper with Boone as a companion is not very good for me.

Even set on passive? He doesn't strike first then...but if you don't crit/kill on your first shot, he does tend to finish for you.

Sometimes I take away his big Sniper Rifle too, since later in the game that default rifle of his really isn't that strong. He still crits semi-frequently since he is, after all, an aimbot, but will often complain about needing a bigger caliber & takes a lot more shots to kill things. Or you can give him good armor, a sword, passive-mode and then he's your defensive tank. The other thing I use him for is to tell him to 'wait' a little distance away, and then if I get in trouble I can easily run back towards him and he'll react/help me out.

 

 

I've decided companions are great for people like me who don't like to use VATS but aren't super-skilled at close range combat. I don't know if it's my fast PC or what, but chrs. in combat move/run/turn so fast that once they're close-ish I can hardly respond fast enough to target them accurately in real time. It's almost eye-blink fast, heh. Even in the few shooters I've played + Borderlands, enemies were a lot slower/I could do better at it than in NV.

Edited November 4, 2010 by LadyCrimson

[HoonDing]

Something+ that is admittedly annoying with companions is their constant remarks like "Waste of ammo!", "Should I take that away from you?" or "Keep it in your holster", even if you one-shot-kill enemies.

 

I've decided companions are great for people like me who don't like to use VATS but aren't super-skilled at close range combat. I don't know if it's my fast PC or what, but chrs. in combat move/run/turn so fast that once they're close-ish I can hardly respond fast enough to target them accurately in real time. It's almost eye-blink fast, heh. Even in the few shooters I've played + Borderlands, enemies were a lot slower/I could do better at it than in NV.

I have the same problem. Real-time gunplay is Counterstrike all over again... the way enemies twitch around the screen at high speed. And trying to snipe a cazador gives me motion sickness (I suppose Boone could be really helpful with these things).

 

But it's generally pretty easy to one-shot-kill everything, at least on Normal/Hardcore difficulty. Ratslayer for lesser enemies, hunting rifle for radscorpions & deathclaws, and the sniper rifle/AM rifle for the really big ones.

Edited November 4, 2010 by virumor

[RPGmasterBoo]

Something+ that is admittedly annoying with companions is their constant remarks like "Waste of ammo!", "Should I take that away from you?" or "Keep it in your holster", even if you one-shot-kill enemies.

 

I've decided companions are great for people like me who don't like to use VATS but aren't super-skilled at close range combat. I don't know if it's my fast PC or what, but chrs. in combat move/run/turn so fast that once they're close-ish I can hardly respond fast enough to target them accurately in real time. It's almost eye-blink fast, heh. Even in the few shooters I've played + Borderlands, enemies were a lot slower/I could do better at it than in NV.

I have the same problem. Real-time gunplay is Counterstrike all over again... the way enemies twitch around the screen at high speed. And trying to snipe a cazador gives me motion sickness (I suppose Boone could be really helpful with these things).

 

But it's generally pretty easy to one-shot-kill everything, at least on Normal/Hardcore difficulty. Ratslayer for lesser enemies, hunting rifle for radscorpions & deathclaws, and the sniper rifle/AM rifle for the really big ones.

 

The mouse and movement lag that's inherent to the damn engine is what makes real time shooting annoying. You cant strafe or move fast enough to really play it like a shooter.

 

Well that was a fing nightmare. I got invited to see Ceasar and at the same time I got Houses quest to get inside the bunker. Which would have been fine if not for the fact that I got Villified with the Legion in the meanwhile which meant that I couldn't get to the bunker without killing a lot of guards.

I basically broke the game.

Edited November 4, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[Aram]

So kill a lot of guards. Game fixed.