i feel like if you've been on the internet for some amount of time, you probably don't need another person yapping in your ear about how fnv is one of the best rpgs of all time and absolutely blows any other fallout game out of the water. but i'm gonna do it anyway.
this is not my first time playing fnv, but it is my first time in a while doing so. i think i probably last picked this up in 2015, somewhere around the end of high school, i think i re-played it in anticipation of fallout 4's release. i am definitely fo4's biggest defender and i don't think it deserves the hate it gets, but i cannot disagree that fnv is one of the most interesting and involved games out there, and 4 was a disappointment in comparison to new vegas. the story is fun, the worldbuilding is endless, there are a thousand choices you can make that really feel like they mean something. combat isn't the go-to and there are some situations you simply can't shoot your way out of. the perks and levelling system is a lot of fun, your build will decide what dialogue options you can chose and it does directly impact how the game's world reacts to you. most importantly, the player character, courier six, is a completely blank slate. there is no backstory to the courier, you are totally free to do whatever the hell you want without having to worry about a backstory narrative that the game is trying to shoehorn in (this, i believe, was fo4's biggest flaw).
is the game janky, unstable, and prone to crashing? yes absolutely. is my favourite companion voiced by a man who is now a blatant trump supporter and conspiracy theorist nutcase? yes, unfortunately. it is a 15 year old game and it isn't without it's flaws, but all that means is there's been 15 years of community to work out these flaws and make unofficial patches that make the game run smoothly today. if you've ever eyed it up but been hesitant due to it's age or endearingly ugly graphics, i strongly urge you to give it a go regardless. this is easily one of my favourite games of all time, i have loved it since i was 13 and get just as much enjoyment out of playing it now as i did over a decade ago <3