If you're on this Steam page, looking at this review you're a certain type of gamer. We share a desire, you and I; a desire for that next amazing gaming experience. They may come from the latest AAA titles, with their fancy graphics. Or maybe from a beloved 26 year old title.

I'm sadly here to tell you that your next great experience is not this game. Let me explain why.

In any old game it's expected for there to be gameplay problems. The game's old. The question becomes whether the other elements of the game world make up for it.
Well, Fallout's world is excellent. Or perhaps "horrific" would be a better word. Mutants and radscorpions are hardly the worst denizens of the wasteland. All manner of colourful characters struggle for survival. Vicious thugs and raiders would stab you for a handful of bottle caps sooner than they'd blink an eye. The common folk try and soldier on, simply hoping for enough water for the next day. In desperation they may be drawn into the clutches of brutal gangs or dark cults. Or, perhaps, they will simply expire somewhere in the wasteland. A stray holodisk might share their final thoughts, or they could simply be left as irradiated skeletons, even their name forgotten. The backdrop for this grim desert is Mark Morgan's excellent soundtrack. I was a huge fan of Planescape: Torment and the ambience here bears many similarities.

If only it was possible to really become immersed in this vivid world. It isn't. Or, at least it wasn't for me. The game is just not pleasant to play. It too often reminded me of point n' click adventure games. And not in a good way. Wondering what method I was intended to use to solve a puzzle or quest. Only to realise it was correct, I just didn't succeed the first time. Yes, one must be the definition of insanity sometimes in this game. Just because something doesn't work the first time, doesn't mean it won't work the 5th. Then again, maybe it does. Who can say?
There are many other general QoL issues that make the game un-enjoyable. Poor inventory management. Inconsistent item use (maybe it needs to be in your inventory, maybe it needs to be equipped, maybe it needs to be actively used on an object). Night time visuals that made me turn up the brightness just so I could see the muddy pixels just a little better. Unclear what is interactable and what isn't. Limited numbers of NPC models making it impossible to determine which NPCs are important.
The combat, at least, is serviceable. 1-shot crits are nonsense, but since I'm already paranoid and saving every few minutes, it isn't the end of the world. That's not the only rote work you'll have to subject yourself to either. Your pip boy only contains the most rudimentary of notes, you'll have to take your own. If you aren't prepared to fill several pages with details on characters, locations, and quest info, then you're in for a bad time. Even so, you'll likely need a walkthrough handy - did I mention the obtuse puzzles?

Maybe I'm not giving the game a fair shake. Certainly it's possible that some things I looked up in the walkthrough I could have done myself. But... at some point early in the game I lost trust in the devs. I didn't believe that they'd give me the information I'd need. Which perhaps wasn't fair, considering I read about Vault 12 in a book in The Hub which directly led me to the Necropolis and the water pump there.
Likewise I needed to play it over a shorter period of time.
I needed to take more notes.
But I play games to have fun. Too many times this game felt like it demanded too much effort on my part to pull me into the world and the story. I use walkthroughs because I've spent too much of my life on incomprehensible puzzles and trial and error. I don't enjoy it. A vicious cycle, where the effort required to play the game drove me away, thus increasing the time span between sessions and eroding the experience further. The cool moments - like when I realised The Boneyard wasn't just a ruined city, but the remnants of Los Angeles - were just enough to keep me coming back.

4/7 - At the end of the game I was left feeling... like I missed something. That a fantastic treasure lay buried in the sand, but I was asleep on the back of a water caravan and never even noticed as it passed by. But who's to say that treasure was there at all? Perhaps it was lost, many, many years ago, and now only a rusted husk remains.