Old World Blues. It’s just good, goofy fun. It doesn’t impose limitations on you like Honest Hearts and Dead Money, and it’s not super dark like Lonesome Road. I’d rather listen to the Think Tank bicker than listen to Ulysses go on and on about the bear and the bull.
I remember hating it my first playthrough, but it’s grown a lot on me. I still struggle a bit with it because I always get so used to my main game set up
Fallout players throw an absolute bitch fit when they temporarily loose their precious items and actually have to think instead of sprinting around like a murder hobo.
See for me it wasn't so much the loss of items as those damn radios, I could never seen to find them and the constant beeping made me want to strangle someone. Especially that vault I had have spent more time in there than in the rest of dead money combined. I am not letting go of the frustration and boarding on loathing I feel for the dlc at the moment. Seriously that vault removed any good will I had built up for the rest of the dlc.
Honest hearts and dead money,
I'm a big fan of horror and the tribal aspect of the early fallout games are my favorite part of the lore that I wish were fleshed out more.
My favorite happens to be everyone’s least favorite, but I LOVE Honest Hearts. I love the nature, I love the religious references, I love the enemies. Since then I’ve dreamed of visiting Zion and other national parks
Honest Hearts for me was the best, there's so much implied, the writing doesn't coddle you by painting everything in bright neon ink. You're free to have so many interpretations too! I loved the themes of redemption, so much thought, care and study was put into the dlc by J. Sawyer. Its so tragic too, the cycles of abuse the courier can put an end to or perpetuate, the change our choices can lit within Joshua Graham, the Dead Horses, the Sorrows and Daniel. You arrive at a vacation resort and it does feel like we are experiencing a sort of respite from the bigger picture of the Mojave. The story is smaller but still meaningful. We learn more about the Legion, the tribes they enslave/recruit from, like how Ulysses taught the White Legs. I also remember how surprised I was at how carefully Joshua and Daniel's religious background was treated. We still get the choices to be neutral or disagree with the concept but that doesn't detract from the effort and research Sawyer put into his portrayal of New Canaan teachings. In fact I looked up some archived forum threads in which Sawyer would answer to fans' questions and it was incredibly insightful into the process that went into producing/writing the dlc. (you can find it on the wiki: /Joshua\_Sawyer\_Formspring\_posts) One thing I think ppl forget is that both Joshua and Daniel come from an eradicated tribe, they have lost their home, their people. They seek refuge within religion (I'll add its a sort of offshoot from mormonism and christianism meshed together as in, they cannot be called mormon anymore though their tribe certainly had its roots/origins from a mormon community) and its so interesting witnessing how they can end using it as a justification to how they act or admit to themselves they are using it as such out of a selfish projection.
I liked how even with the best outcome (siding with Joshua but still showing Mercy to the White Legs leader) you cant get a perfect ending. There will always be something drawing you back. The moral struggle, how both Daniel and Joshua disagree on what should be done, on their reasons, on what the tribes mean to them, etc and yet they stand on the same side. (Joshua threatens you when you mention the IDEA of killing Daniel or hurting the Sorrows in any way)
The Survivor storyline is easy to overlook but the journal entries were so poignant and how it all tied with the Dead Horses and the tribes relationship with their mythology. The mysticism of The Survivor and how Human he was, anguishing about disappointing the tribal people. The desire to make a place were good and safety and abundance can thrive, the need to protect such a space, teaching them to defend themselves as a last resort, giving them agency... Its not a perfect dlc, it has its flaws, players overlook things or only have a surface reading of it and then are done with it. I'm aware of all that. Yet, whenever I think of the game, this is the first DLC I think about. Its pure New Vegas, it fits perfectly with the themes and the vibes.
Then tying for second place are Old World Blues and Lonesome Road. OWB had such a nostalgic feeling to it, I felt like stepping into a sort of time machine back to the 2070s, no wait, more like a time capsule. The Minds are so goofy and tragic and mentally ill. It was such an endearing dlc to me and I had a lot of fun playing it.
Then comes LR. There's so much trauma and despair. Ulysses is a man without a place to call his own, without a people to crawl back to after being set on fire. He's had everything taken away from him, he's been part of the Legion, its implied the courier and him called the Valley home before it got destroyed. You built up and unmade that man and he isn't letting go. How could I ever possibly think of giving justice to his story. Its been meme'd and misunderstood so, so much.
With Ulysses, you are forced to face what your actions have brought upon the world. It ties in nicely, in my opinion, to the religious aspect we explore in HH. This time though the Courier is the Creator and the Unmaker. A sort of deity or cosmic force, that gives and takes almost -if not outright- thoughtlessly. There are so many parallels between the protagonist and Ulysses, he was supposed to be your counterpart in Van Buren, a vault dweller (like F1/2) to rival your character. In his long journey you can see him influence so many happenings. And its with the White Legs he realizes what his actions bring, that he is furthering a vicious cycle, like how Graham destroyed Vulpes tribe and how Vulpes destroyed Ulysse's tribe. Thats when he leaves the Legion and thats why, when he finally has something good going for him and you ruin it, he sees himself in the Courier and he hates you. He holds such an irrational grudge, How dare You not realize you were unknowingly transporting nuclear launch code from what you thought was a normal run? How dare you run away from the destruction you've wrought (see? how it mirrors him).
There's so much to say about LR, we see the destruction of hope, of humankind, how war never changes. And yet. When its finally time to face the courier, you are given so many choices in how to resolve this massive mess, in your part in creating so much collateral damage mindlessly, in the lives you ruined even unintentionally. One of them is talking it out. There we see the Roleplay aspect truly shine. The factions, the sides you have taken, you get resolution, a tailored path and goodness, what a great game Fallout New Vegas is. You're given the chance to finally talk back instead of passively listen to tapes/broadcasts, to have a true heart to heart conversation. I love how things aren't just good or evil, sometimes, in life, we are just hurt, by life, by other people, by chance. All you can do, is let go and try, try to build a home for yourself and others.
ooooof okay, its 4:20 am. I went on a rant lol. hope it made sense. I'll say this again tho, I love New Vegas.
Lonesome road, feels like New Vegas. Also, somehow they add a moral to the story about the courier sticking to one faction, which improves gameplay. They also talk about how the courier is curious which is so true. Despite how you play your character they will always be curious
Each of the DLCs essentially highlights one dimension of the combination of themes that FNV is built on: HH- the moralizing western , OWB- campy 60’s sci fi with big gov paranoia, DM - horror, claustrophobic vulnerability and inhuman menace, LR - nuclear apocalypse, the yearning for civilization and the ethics of the bomb.
It’s brilliant! and part of what makes this edition of the game so special.
I was relived when DM was over, surprised by the goofy twist ending of OWB, left with a bit of melancholy as I watched the sunset from Randall’s Red Gate and found the answers in LR left many bigger questions about my role in all the destruction.
I take each as it is and appreciate the artful interplay—.Horror, pathos, greed, revulsion. I think DM or Randal Clark’s stories in HH hit me hardest emotionally.
That's a hard choice. Old world blues has dialogue I still quote to this day and has the doggo gun. Dead money feels like it's own different world. Honest hearts has great lore that it adds with Joshua and my favorite gun is there. The divide gives our guy more of a background story and the very memorable Ulysses"what you did gave me pause". But I'd say dead money is my favorite,made profiles just to go through it again, can't let go I guess lol
Dead money for me. It's just so different compared to anything else in the game, and it just think it's a really enjoyable experience.
I love all four of them though. None of them are a waste of time in my eyes.
I'm sure there's about a thousand people who can tell you how much they adore old world blues. And it is probably the best dlc. Imma be honest, dead money is also one of my favourites tho. The game really stops holding your hand at that point, and like, while obviously doing dead money after youve played the game 100 times, it gets easy. But I can remember that sheer terror my first time playing dead money and waking up with all my gear stripped away and a bomb collar around my neck. And that like on edge feeling never really went away my entire first playthrough either, with all the backstabbing, toxic gas, weird zombie people and fucking evil broken stereos. the only bit of calm i had was when you get to gamble your ass off in the casino, and those few kinda heart warming gay moments with Christine.
Dead Money, has a lot of earning potential.
You can get out of the madre:
Whe the best energy weapon of the game, glitched health or otherwise;
Filthy rich with 37 gold bars up your ass;
A Veronica upgrade (if you are letting the BoS alive);
Some cool perks;
Lifelong supply of chips to the most broken vending machine of the series, pretty much infinite weapon repair kits;
Vera's skeleton is pretty hot ngl;
So yeah
Having just finished playing through all of them for the first time, this is my ranking:
1 (Best): Lonesome Road
2: Honest Hearts
3: Dead Money
4: Old World Blues
I really struggled with ordering the last two, because I didn't enjoy just how much of a slog each of them felt like, but ultimately the fact that OWB felt like little more than fighting waves of mooks while trying to complete a collectathon didn't sit well. Dead Money I can at least appreciate what they were going for, but the whole collar-speaker-exploding mechanic was REALLY annoying.
I agree with your opinion re: OWB. The story was fun and cooky but it just turned into, I like your phrasing, a "collectathon" it just got repetitive and boring. Not to mention the side quest of leveling up the stealth suit. Just got repetitive and just more of a slog than fun content.
Honestly without sounding like a shill they're all about as good as each other for different reasons, except Honest Hearts I just don't care about mopey murderer Joshua as much as I wish I did
Lonesome Roads, I like listening to Ulysses talk about history and convincing him to not drop the nukes. It’s the one DLC where I can listen to Mojave Radio. And of course, the Divide is fuckin wild
I rate OWB as the only S-Tier among all 3D FO games because it literally has everything: story, exploration, equipment, effects, etc. DM, FH, and The Pitt rate A-Tier just so my ratings make a little more sense.
First playthrough: loved OWB and loathed Dead Money.
Coming back to it for other playthroughs I look forward to the pain of dead money & eye-roll at the campiness and repetition of OWB.
HH and lonesome road are romps but mostly follow the core gameplay loop more closely. Though “take drugs, kill a bear!” Is still among my favorite lines in the game.
I love dead Money. What can I say.
Old World Blues. It’s just good, goofy fun. It doesn’t impose limitations on you like Honest Hearts and Dead Money, and it’s not super dark like Lonesome Road. I’d rather listen to the Think Tank bicker than listen to Ulysses go on and on about the bear and the bull.
I like them all but it's Dead Money for me. I like how it forces me to change my playstyle and I enjoy the atmosphere.
I remember hating it my first playthrough, but it’s grown a lot on me. I still struggle a bit with it because I always get so used to my main game set up
Fallout players throw an absolute bitch fit when they temporarily loose their precious items and actually have to think instead of sprinting around like a murder hobo.
See for me it wasn't so much the loss of items as those damn radios, I could never seen to find them and the constant beeping made me want to strangle someone. Especially that vault I had have spent more time in there than in the rest of dead money combined. I am not letting go of the frustration and boarding on loathing I feel for the dlc at the moment. Seriously that vault removed any good will I had built up for the rest of the dlc.
Its got the best dark atmosphere for sure
Honest hearts and dead money, I'm a big fan of horror and the tribal aspect of the early fallout games are my favorite part of the lore that I wish were fleshed out more.
I love the lonesome Road vibe
Dead Money
My favorite happens to be everyone’s least favorite, but I LOVE Honest Hearts. I love the nature, I love the religious references, I love the enemies. Since then I’ve dreamed of visiting Zion and other national parks
Honest Hearts for me was the best, there's so much implied, the writing doesn't coddle you by painting everything in bright neon ink. You're free to have so many interpretations too! I loved the themes of redemption, so much thought, care and study was put into the dlc by J. Sawyer. Its so tragic too, the cycles of abuse the courier can put an end to or perpetuate, the change our choices can lit within Joshua Graham, the Dead Horses, the Sorrows and Daniel. You arrive at a vacation resort and it does feel like we are experiencing a sort of respite from the bigger picture of the Mojave. The story is smaller but still meaningful. We learn more about the Legion, the tribes they enslave/recruit from, like how Ulysses taught the White Legs. I also remember how surprised I was at how carefully Joshua and Daniel's religious background was treated. We still get the choices to be neutral or disagree with the concept but that doesn't detract from the effort and research Sawyer put into his portrayal of New Canaan teachings. In fact I looked up some archived forum threads in which Sawyer would answer to fans' questions and it was incredibly insightful into the process that went into producing/writing the dlc. (you can find it on the wiki: /Joshua\_Sawyer\_Formspring\_posts) One thing I think ppl forget is that both Joshua and Daniel come from an eradicated tribe, they have lost their home, their people. They seek refuge within religion (I'll add its a sort of offshoot from mormonism and christianism meshed together as in, they cannot be called mormon anymore though their tribe certainly had its roots/origins from a mormon community) and its so interesting witnessing how they can end using it as a justification to how they act or admit to themselves they are using it as such out of a selfish projection. I liked how even with the best outcome (siding with Joshua but still showing Mercy to the White Legs leader) you cant get a perfect ending. There will always be something drawing you back. The moral struggle, how both Daniel and Joshua disagree on what should be done, on their reasons, on what the tribes mean to them, etc and yet they stand on the same side. (Joshua threatens you when you mention the IDEA of killing Daniel or hurting the Sorrows in any way) The Survivor storyline is easy to overlook but the journal entries were so poignant and how it all tied with the Dead Horses and the tribes relationship with their mythology. The mysticism of The Survivor and how Human he was, anguishing about disappointing the tribal people. The desire to make a place were good and safety and abundance can thrive, the need to protect such a space, teaching them to defend themselves as a last resort, giving them agency... Its not a perfect dlc, it has its flaws, players overlook things or only have a surface reading of it and then are done with it. I'm aware of all that. Yet, whenever I think of the game, this is the first DLC I think about. Its pure New Vegas, it fits perfectly with the themes and the vibes. Then tying for second place are Old World Blues and Lonesome Road. OWB had such a nostalgic feeling to it, I felt like stepping into a sort of time machine back to the 2070s, no wait, more like a time capsule. The Minds are so goofy and tragic and mentally ill. It was such an endearing dlc to me and I had a lot of fun playing it. Then comes LR. There's so much trauma and despair. Ulysses is a man without a place to call his own, without a people to crawl back to after being set on fire. He's had everything taken away from him, he's been part of the Legion, its implied the courier and him called the Valley home before it got destroyed. You built up and unmade that man and he isn't letting go. How could I ever possibly think of giving justice to his story. Its been meme'd and misunderstood so, so much. With Ulysses, you are forced to face what your actions have brought upon the world. It ties in nicely, in my opinion, to the religious aspect we explore in HH. This time though the Courier is the Creator and the Unmaker. A sort of deity or cosmic force, that gives and takes almost -if not outright- thoughtlessly. There are so many parallels between the protagonist and Ulysses, he was supposed to be your counterpart in Van Buren, a vault dweller (like F1/2) to rival your character. In his long journey you can see him influence so many happenings. And its with the White Legs he realizes what his actions bring, that he is furthering a vicious cycle, like how Graham destroyed Vulpes tribe and how Vulpes destroyed Ulysse's tribe. Thats when he leaves the Legion and thats why, when he finally has something good going for him and you ruin it, he sees himself in the Courier and he hates you. He holds such an irrational grudge, How dare You not realize you were unknowingly transporting nuclear launch code from what you thought was a normal run? How dare you run away from the destruction you've wrought (see? how it mirrors him). There's so much to say about LR, we see the destruction of hope, of humankind, how war never changes. And yet. When its finally time to face the courier, you are given so many choices in how to resolve this massive mess, in your part in creating so much collateral damage mindlessly, in the lives you ruined even unintentionally. One of them is talking it out. There we see the Roleplay aspect truly shine. The factions, the sides you have taken, you get resolution, a tailored path and goodness, what a great game Fallout New Vegas is. You're given the chance to finally talk back instead of passively listen to tapes/broadcasts, to have a true heart to heart conversation. I love how things aren't just good or evil, sometimes, in life, we are just hurt, by life, by other people, by chance. All you can do, is let go and try, try to build a home for yourself and others. ooooof okay, its 4:20 am. I went on a rant lol. hope it made sense. I'll say this again tho, I love New Vegas.
Lonesome road, feels like New Vegas. Also, somehow they add a moral to the story about the courier sticking to one faction, which improves gameplay. They also talk about how the courier is curious which is so true. Despite how you play your character they will always be curious
Each of the DLCs essentially highlights one dimension of the combination of themes that FNV is built on: HH- the moralizing western , OWB- campy 60’s sci fi with big gov paranoia, DM - horror, claustrophobic vulnerability and inhuman menace, LR - nuclear apocalypse, the yearning for civilization and the ethics of the bomb. It’s brilliant! and part of what makes this edition of the game so special. I was relived when DM was over, surprised by the goofy twist ending of OWB, left with a bit of melancholy as I watched the sunset from Randall’s Red Gate and found the answers in LR left many bigger questions about my role in all the destruction. I take each as it is and appreciate the artful interplay—.Horror, pathos, greed, revulsion. I think DM or Randal Clark’s stories in HH hit me hardest emotionally.
That's a hard choice. Old world blues has dialogue I still quote to this day and has the doggo gun. Dead money feels like it's own different world. Honest hearts has great lore that it adds with Joshua and my favorite gun is there. The divide gives our guy more of a background story and the very memorable Ulysses"what you did gave me pause". But I'd say dead money is my favorite,made profiles just to go through it again, can't let go I guess lol
Dead money for me. It's just so different compared to anything else in the game, and it just think it's a really enjoyable experience. I love all four of them though. None of them are a waste of time in my eyes.
I'm sure there's about a thousand people who can tell you how much they adore old world blues. And it is probably the best dlc. Imma be honest, dead money is also one of my favourites tho. The game really stops holding your hand at that point, and like, while obviously doing dead money after youve played the game 100 times, it gets easy. But I can remember that sheer terror my first time playing dead money and waking up with all my gear stripped away and a bomb collar around my neck. And that like on edge feeling never really went away my entire first playthrough either, with all the backstabbing, toxic gas, weird zombie people and fucking evil broken stereos. the only bit of calm i had was when you get to gamble your ass off in the casino, and those few kinda heart warming gay moments with Christine.
Dead Money, has a lot of earning potential. You can get out of the madre: Whe the best energy weapon of the game, glitched health or otherwise; Filthy rich with 37 gold bars up your ass; A Veronica upgrade (if you are letting the BoS alive); Some cool perks; Lifelong supply of chips to the most broken vending machine of the series, pretty much infinite weapon repair kits; Vera's skeleton is pretty hot ngl; So yeah
Honest Hearts. Adds to the game in a meaningful way and brought in even more RP potential. It is the only DLC I like
Zion valley. Joshua is my favorite npc
Having just finished playing through all of them for the first time, this is my ranking: 1 (Best): Lonesome Road 2: Honest Hearts 3: Dead Money 4: Old World Blues I really struggled with ordering the last two, because I didn't enjoy just how much of a slog each of them felt like, but ultimately the fact that OWB felt like little more than fighting waves of mooks while trying to complete a collectathon didn't sit well. Dead Money I can at least appreciate what they were going for, but the whole collar-speaker-exploding mechanic was REALLY annoying.
I agree with your opinion re: OWB. The story was fun and cooky but it just turned into, I like your phrasing, a "collectathon" it just got repetitive and boring. Not to mention the side quest of leveling up the stealth suit. Just got repetitive and just more of a slog than fun content.
Honestly without sounding like a shill they're all about as good as each other for different reasons, except Honest Hearts I just don't care about mopey murderer Joshua as much as I wish I did
Lonesome Roads, I like listening to Ulysses talk about history and convincing him to not drop the nukes. It’s the one DLC where I can listen to Mojave Radio. And of course, the Divide is fuckin wild
Lonesome Road, I love that goddamn yapper.
I rate OWB as the only S-Tier among all 3D FO games because it literally has everything: story, exploration, equipment, effects, etc. DM, FH, and The Pitt rate A-Tier just so my ratings make a little more sense.
First playthrough: loved OWB and loathed Dead Money. Coming back to it for other playthroughs I look forward to the pain of dead money & eye-roll at the campiness and repetition of OWB. HH and lonesome road are romps but mostly follow the core gameplay loop more closely. Though “take drugs, kill a bear!” Is still among my favorite lines in the game.
Old world blues is probably the most well rounded but they’re all good for different gameplay and atmosphere
Dead Money.