Well, in case you haven’t heard, there is a new Fallout series on Amazon Prime Video. The show is incredible, and Walton Goggins is a seriously underrated actor who does an amazing job in it. I will not be discussing the show or its plot so that there are no spoilers. Besides, the show accomplished its mission of making me want to play a Fallout game.

I still have my old Xbox 360, and I wanted to go back and replay Fallout 3. Unfortunately, I do not currently own a copy of either Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas. So, I tried to play Fallout 4, but Steam was having a disagreement with my laptop. Eventually, I downloaded Fallout 76. This is the first time I have played a Fallout title since the aforementioned New Vegas.

For those who don’t know, I am from Ohio which is part of Appalachia. I even lived and worked in West Virginia for a little bit as well as graduated from West Virginia University. To have a Fallout title set in my neck of the woods was great, although I am underwhelmed by Fallout 76. Here is a hot take, it does not meet my expectations. The amount of change from New Vegas was substantial.

The main thing that annoyed me about Fallout 76 is the camping building mechanic. I know this was introduced in Fallout 4, but again I have not played Fallout 4, so this was my first rodeo with the system. I am getting fatigued of everything needing a camping and crafting system. I am alright with Palworld having one, but it just feels a little forced in Fallout 76.

I haven’t had too many weird experiences with the MMO aspects, although it is a weird feeling having a serious conversation with someone jumping up and down behind the NPC. I kind of missed the general feeling of a solo experience like having VATS stop the game to let me plan my attack instead of trying to deal with it in real time. I did enjoy the combat system but find myself becoming more resistant to change. I guess I’m getting older.

I know that developer Bethesda has made updates to Fallout 76, but it still feels empty. Both Fallout 3 and New Vegas felt like they had more thriving environments. There were more NPCs to meet in places like Megaton or the New California Republic. I wandered through Appalachia and found two NPCs and a bunch of deformed animals. In real Appalachia, I would easily run into a few drugged-out zombies, a hippy commune, and at least six unincorporated communities.

For those who are wondering, an unincorporated community is like a village without enough people to be a village. Fun fact, hall of fame wide receiver Randy Moss grew up in unincorporated Rand, West Virgina. And I commonly drove through Boaz, West Virginia along the Ohio River during my early college days, and all those places made their way into Fallout 76.

I will say, many people from Appalachia were disappointed with how Fallout 76 handled the area. People from that area don’t get a lot of love, and this could have been an amazing piece of culture. But there must be two sides of every coin. In this case, for every great Far Cry 4 (which perfectly represented Montana), there is a substandard Fallout 76.

I’m going to keep playing Fallout 76 and maybe join up with my friend Liam to see if that helps. The Prime Video Fallout show got me hyped, but Fallout 76 is not cutting it for me right now. I may post an update if I have a breakthrough with it. In the meantime, I’m going back to playing Football Manager, Against the Storm, and Palworld because they help to suppress my anxiety.

In terms of the new Fallout show on Prime Video, everyone who has not seen it should go and watch it right now. It’s really good.

I have still not finished Final Fantasy XIII, but I think we can call it a failed mission at this point.