00:00I stumbled upon an interesting news today and it's all about how Obsidian might make fallout
00:05after 15 years but also how Xbox might consider to close them. Now the second part of this news
00:13has been debunked but as far as I'm concerned I'm more interested in the first part that is that we
00:19are going to see another fallout from Obsidian. Now this is an interesting one and I actually
00:25think there are good arguments on both sides as in they should or they shouldn't make the next
00:30fallout game. Also the key question isn't can Obsidian make another fallout it's mostly is
00:37today's Obsidian the same studio that made New Vegas. Spoiler alert it isn't but this is where
00:44the debate gets interesting. So if we are considering why it could be a great idea I can sort of
00:51give you
00:52couple reasons. The first reason would be that they understand fallout's RPG DNA. Even people
00:58who don't like modern Obsidian generally agree that the studio still prioritizes player choice,
01:04dialogue, faction politics and role playing. And these are exactly the things I feel have been
01:10de-emphasized since Fallout 4. So if Xbox wants a fallout that is closer to New Vegas than Fallout 4
01:17Obsidian could be the obvious candidate. The second reason is all about Bethesda being busy and I can
01:24say this is probably my strongest argument for this. If Bethesda doesn't make another fallout until after
01:30The Elder Scrolls 6 we are realistically talking about the early or even mid-2030s for the next
01:37fallout game. And I don't know about you but this is an enormous gap. I mean Microsoft has one of
01:44gaming's biggest franchises sitting idle while interest is at its highest thanks to the tv show.
01:51So giving another studio a fallout project makes perfect sense if you ask me. And as my final point
01:58I would say that they already proved they can do it. Whether people love or hate New Vegas today
02:03it has one of the strongest reputations in the series. Hell I would even say it is one of if
02:09not
02:10the best RPG ever made. Obviously this point is actually more nuanced than it first appears
02:16because there are really two different ways to look at Obsidian's history with Fallout.
02:21Which basically brings me to why this could be a terrible idea. And number one reason like I
02:28mentioned before is that this isn't the same Obsidian. I mean let's think about it. It has been
02:34over 15 years. Many senior developers have left. Writers have changed. Designers have changed.
02:41Leadership has probably evolved. And the studio has nearly doubled in size. So when people say that
02:48the new Vegas developers are making another fallout. I mean are they really? Because the logo is still
02:54the same but the people largely aren't. And this is true across the industry. Modern studios often share
03:00a name with a team that made their classics but not necessarily the same talent. Which brings me to
03:06my second point. It is fair to say recent Obsidian games haven't reached New Vegas reputation.
03:13And I'm mostly talking about The Wild and The Outer Worlds 2. For example the criticism that I would
03:19mention for these two games are as follows. Shallow exploration, safe quest design, limited player
03:26freedom compared to expectations. Writing that leans heavily on humor and combat that feels competent
03:32rather than exceptional. If those same design philosophies carried over to Fallout I can safely
03:39say without a shadow of a doubt that New Vegas would be disappointing as fuck. So if you want to
03:47see
03:47Fallout with Avowed and The Outer Worlds stuff I mean sure you can. But the question is especially since
03:55there is this huge restructuring at Xbox. If you don't make a game that sells like hotcakes
04:02that essentially means your corporate overlords will probably shut you down. So yeah like I said by all
04:08means experiment as much as you want. But if I was the head of Xbox I would probably say to
04:14them
04:14something along the lines of make the game that people like based on what you have in Fallout New Vegas
04:22and don't put any other bullshit that you normally put in your games. Because if you don't do that
04:27it's not going to be a party time for either Xbox or Obsidian for that matter. Now next point kinda
04:34goes
04:34together with the previous one and it's all about nostalgia being a dangerous benchmark. You see New
04:41Vegas is almost mythical game so people don't just want another Fallout they want to feel exactly how
04:49they felt in 2010. Now I could argue that this is not that hard to make but in today's gaming
04:56industry
04:57this is almost impossible to pull out. Even if a new game scored 9 out of 10, which by the
05:03way is
05:03meaningless, people will probably compare every quest, every faction, every dialogue choice to New Vegas.
05:09And like I said based on the state of the gaming industry that's an incredibly high bar. I mean it's
05:16still doable and I would argue you can replicate what made New Vegas amazing. But the main question
05:23is this, do people who are now in Obsidian even know what made New Vegas amazing? Because as far as
05:30I'm concerned judging from the games they released recently I don't think they do. Now I talked about
05:35nostalgia but I would say the bigger problem from nostalgia is actually expectations because I mean
05:42it's Fallout New Vegas 2. People are going to jump on hype train like there's no tomorrow. Hell even I
05:49would do that maybe 10-15 years ago if I didn't know better. But just think about this. If New
05:55Vegas 2
05:56actually happens. I bet you that people will immediately expect stuff like Kaisar's Legion,
06:02NCR, Mr. House, the Mojave, same level of writing, same freedom, same atmosphere. And to be honest
06:10that's perfectly normal. I mean you are making New Vegas 2 right? So what we had in the first game
06:17you need to have in the second game and then some. So in that sense if the game delivers anything
06:23less
06:23you could say the backlash could be enormous. I should point out when I talk about these things
06:29that the biggest concern for me isn't gameplay, it's actually writing. Because let's be real,
06:34New Vegas' greatest strength wasn't its combat or graphics. That was basically there because it has
06:40to be there. The real reason why New Vegas was or rather is still amazing is that nearly
06:46every faction had believable motivations. There wasn't a clear good guy. And we are still seeing
06:53people arguing over Reddit about NCR, Legion, House, Yes Man and the choices that follow after you pick
07:01one of these factions. And the debate is still going on 15 years later. And that dear listener is called
07:08exceptional writing. So in that sense I don't think recent Obsidian games have consistently reached the
07:15level of moral complexity. And the recent writing of these games would be something along lines of
07:20more straightforward or more comedic. And if that tone carried into Fallout it could lose some of what
07:27made New Vegas memorable. But you know what's interesting here? Ironically my biggest fear isn't
07:33that Obsidian will make Fallout. It's that Microsoft told them that people love New Vegas so go make another
07:40one. And that is extremely detrimental. Especially if they don't understand that people who made Fallout
07:46New Vegas what it is now are not in your company anymore. And if you are trying to emulate the
07:51success
07:51that happened 15 years ago without the most important element which is human resources. And not to mention
07:58if people don't have a clue what made Fallout New Vegas special. Then you are basically going towards a cliff
08:05which
08:05you will never recuperate from. Because you will end up flying off that cliff like Wild Coyote. And then
08:12soon gravity will take over and you will probably make one impressive human pancake because you forgot
08:18to pack your bloody parachute. Now New Fallout or rather Fallout New Vegas 2 can spend all its time
08:25referencing the first game and bringing back old characters if that's possible given the fact what
08:31happened in the first game and the lore and all that stuff. And you can probably get certain points
08:36from fan service in that sense. But if the core design philosophy is lacking which is deep role-playing,
08:44meaningful choices, moral complexity, factions and player agency then you're not gonna make a good game
08:50that's 100% certain. So if you see Fallout New Vegas 2 being made by Obsidian or any announcement happens
08:59where Fallout New Vegas 2 is accompanied by Obsidian Entertainment logo. Know this. That is not the
09:07same studio that made the original Fallout New Vegas and that logo is just there for marketing purposes
09:13and to attract people who know nothing about first game or to kinda I would say bamboozle most of the
09:23people into hyping themselves without actually using their brain to figure out that things are
09:29widely different than they were 15 years ago. Because as far as I'm concerned Obsidian is definitely not
09:36capable of making Fallout New Vegas 2 and I will gladly eat my words if this thing ever becomes a
09:43reality
09:44but somehow I don't think that's ever gonna happen. And that's basically my take on this news. Thanks very
09:50much for watching and as always like, share, subscribe, comment all that good stuff. And that's it from me until
09:57the next one.
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