Sessler's Soapbox: War of the Open Worlds

Catfish27

I think the continuity of the world is just as important as anything The Sess (I would have used quotes on that but The Elements of Style says I can't) mentioned.

For example, I was having a hard time pinning down the reason that New Vegas doesn't seem as utterly fantastic as Fallout 3. I think it's the logical continuity, that Fallout 3 possessed and New Vegas lacks, that makes the difference.
SPOILER ALERT NEW VEGAS FANS

I'll give an example. I had infiltrated The Kings to try and stop the violence against NCR settlers. There's a scene where you have to save a specific Kings gang member-- a man who's assassination is an alternate option in the resolution of the very same quest-- from a group of NCR troops. The catch in the assassination quest line is that you have to make it look like an accident or place the blame on someone else to avoid a public relations disaster for the NCR. The first time around I the gang member instead of helping him, thinking that his death is going to get blamed on the NCR either way. When I go to return the quest, I get chewed out for being a moron and getting the NCR blamed for his death: no mention of the fact that the alternative was killing a half dozen NCR soldiers. The second time around, I killed all the NCR soldiers, got a mild reputation penalty, and earned a favor from the gang boss, which I used to stop the violence against the NCR squatters, many of whom I had just killed. When I go to return the quest, I get praised as a hero to the NCR.

Long story short. Fallout 3 had air tight logical consistency, New Vegas lacks in that quality, which I think is an important part of such open world games.