For the first time in a Bethesda game, the main quest is actually the most interesting one! Always preferred the simple mystery of this to Fallout 4's trite, restrictive, and crushingly boring parental angle. But the latter just smokes this in the gameplay department - playing this on PS3 feels like a constant ticking-clock battle to finish it before it corrupts beyond repair. Like others I was totally absorbed with this in high school but had to force myself to complete it this time around. Doesn't help that the number of worthwhile characters in this entire game you can count on one hand and its karma system - while intuitive for its day - is rather naive and feels like it limits this more than it aids it. Still sporadically fun in that Bethesda way akin to letting a kid into the PlayLand and telling them "Go nuts" but holy fuck is a lot of this map just abysmal to navigate - very 7th gen in that a lot of its ugly greens + greys completely blend into each other leading to samey areas alongside already generally terrible layout. Excels when it focuses on how pre-war preventative measures lead way to post-war malaise - and the different ways in which people's minds choose to preserve themselves in the face of it. One of those games where you start out wanting to do everything but check out quicker than you'd expect.