I have a friend. He was obsessed with Fallout 3. Obsessed. Hundreds of hours spent in the wasteland. When Skyrim came out I was like, buddy — you need to play this.
His response: nah, it’s dragons and shit. I don’t like dragons.
And it occurred to me, despite the fact that these games have an incredible amount in common, there are people out there that prefer one over the other.
It’s sort of weird, but I relate. I prefer the fantasy setting of the Elder Scrolls series to the post-apocalyptic setting of Fallout. I can’t really explain why. Maybe I just prefer spending time amongst virtual foliage as opposed to the dry dusty feel of Fallout, I dunno.
But, talking to others, I definitely get the sense that people tend to have a horse in this race. They have a favourite.
What’s yours?
Comments
85 responses to “The Big Question: Fallout Or Elder Scrolls?”
I prefer Elder Scrolls because it has swords and sorcery. I carry a gun for work and I don’t like it at all but it is part of the job so I do it.
Maybe you have the Dick Durkin problem. Your gun isn’t big enough… 😉
I tried both during the Fallout 3/Skyrim era.
Skyrim just seemed the more approachable. I got the GOTY edition of Fallout 3 but just bounced off it. I think I left Megaton too quick really.
Fallout New Vegas is in my Steam library untouched, does it…….still work?
If anything, I should tackle the old-school Fallouts I have on GOG.
New Vegas is made by completely different people and its a much more story driven role playing game.
It feels more like the original fallouts than Bethesda’s take and it has some of the best DLC available.
Definitely still works. I finished another playthrough of FNV just before Fallout 4 released. It’s a great game, I highly recommend it.
I’m not prepared to deal with ‘charming’ Bethesda stuff though. Best mods?
Someone else will have to answer that. I only really mod the Elder Scrolls games, not the Fallout ones. Presumably if there’s a SkyUI for FNV you’d want that, Bethesda’s inventory management has always been pretty average. If there’s a popular ‘unofficial bug fix patch’ like with Skyrim I’d grab that too.
You want the 4GB ram patch, the script extender and MTUI at the very least.
There is also EVE visual enhancements and NMC’s texture pack that really make the game look a lot nicer.
Some of the bugfix mods are more trouble than they are worth and can really mess your world up.
I like the one where you collect a bunch of shit that you can never throw away even though you know it’s completely useless.
That’s not a game, that’s real life.
Fallout
Played the original when it came out, loved it, couldn’t drag me away from it.
Loved Fallout 2 as well
For me, those two games (and throw in Tactics, Fallout 3, New Vegas and 4) are where I spent WoW kind of hours (where people have over a year/s of game time)
I like them both but love the Fallout universe so much more.
Let’s fight!
I’d say for gameplay-wise oblivion and skyrim are slightly more fun. But for setting, story, and immersion, Fallout all the way.
Red Dead has cowboys tho.
Damm straight it does lol.
Tough call, Loved different games of each series more or less so it makes it pretty even but It went down to uniqueness Fallout is the only post apocalyptic game with real style/aesthetic and satire that I enjoyed (plus the music), Dont get me wrong elder scrolls is deeply immersive but when you enter fallout suddenly Bingo bango bongo I don’t wanna leave the congo oh no no no nooooo
Should play Wasteland 2
I love both Fantasy and Post-apocalyptic genres but I haven’t played any of the Fallout or Elder Scrolls games because the length of them scares me!
I just don’t have the time nowadays to spend 40-100 hours on a game :’-(
I have Fallout 1 & 2 on GOG, Fallout 3 and Vegas on PS3, Morrowwind on original Xbox and Skyrim Legendary on PC all untouched!
None of the fallout games are particularly long if you don’t want them to be.
If you get immersed in them you can spend 40-50 hours but otherwise if you just want to play through the story you can be done in an afternoon.
Cool thing about Bethesda RPGs is the scaling difficulty, so you don’t need to grind out a million levels, you can just take the critical path to the end.
You won’t, but it’s possible.
The games a very similar (especially jumping from Oblivion to Fallout 3), I think the answer is going to be entirely down to guns vs swords.
For me, always swords. Elder scrolls over Fallout, Dragon age over mass effect, warhammer over 40k
Fallout for me. I loved #2 an unhealthy amount. I wasnt sure going into Fallout 3 but having only recently been to Washington DC, there was a lot of real-world familiarity to it which made it that much more awesome. New Vegas was alright, but sure felt like an addon pack. Admittedly a 100 hour addon pack.
Fallout 4 for me looked amazing, but suffered some serious balancing issues and was a good 20 hours before I started enjoying it. Glad I pushed through though.
On the Elder Scrolls side, I tried to get into Morrowind but never did. I played through Oblivion but despite its scale felt very much rinse/repeat. Town full of people that looked the same. Oblivion gates that had the same formula. I never fired up Skyrim, but I’m looking forward to the rumoured remaster coming to XB1. Problem is I’m really keen for all the sexy mods, but they disable achievements on console 🙁
If the poll was between Skyrim and fallout 4, id easily choose Skyrim, but if it was between Skyrim and New Vegas, well its easily New Vegas and its Fallout 3 over Oblivion, but Morrowind and Skyrim over Fallout 3.
I cant choose!
Skyrim
Fallout 3
Morrowind
Fallout: NV
Oblivion
Fallout 1
Fallout 2
Failout 4
Do you know who else likes these games
MY MOM!good for her
I vote Skyrim (only Elder Scrolls I’ve played)
I tried both Fallout 3 and 4 and could never get into it…
Spent a 100 hours in Skyrim until a game breaking bug screwed up my inventory and couldn’t be bothered after that.
I think it depends on the last best game from the franchises; imo Skyrim is still the better game vs Fallout 4. That said played Fallout 3 and NV to death and thought they were better than Oblivion.
New Vegas over Skyrim
Skyrim over Fallout 4
I just love New Vegas so much
New Vegas > Skyrim > Fallout 3 > Fallout 4 > most other games > Oblivion
Oblivion gets a lot of flack, but it’s a great game.
Why is it called Oblivion when it should have been called Tamriel?
I reckon it was a marketing thing.
Also, I think you mean Cyrodill
:3
I think you mean Cyrodiil, not Cyrodill.
:3
Couldn’t be, that’s what autocorrect says
New Vegas is among one of my favourite games ever made.
Let’s fight!!
I couldn’t get into Oblivion. My wife also hates that high fantasy crap, specifically taking issue with dragons like your friend. But eventually, a couple of months post-launch (and having thoroughly enjoyed Fallout 3) she agreed to give Skyrim a go. And she enjoyed it. We both did, for 100+ hours. But we still prefer Fallout. FO3, New Vegas and even 4 have just been some of the most interesting and satisfying gaming experiences of the last decade. FO4 might have been a bit pants in the story department but damn it was fun to get back into that world again.
I liked Fallout 4 more, but I will likely get into Skyrim again as its the only thing that can run under Linux atm in Wine, and I liked Skyrim more then fallout3, NV was good but still Skyrim felt a little more interesting.
Obviously both, but I seem to play Elder Scrolls for longer, possibly because guns are a bore to me
Also, New Vegas had the best writing, Skyrim the best atmosphere & F4 the best levelling system.
For my tastes, Bethesda seem to refine their games with each iteration.
I always thought Skyrim would be better if I had a shotgun.
Obviously I don’t want any of the enemies to have guns…
Maybe if magic scaled along with the insane melee weapons and bows you can make, that would stand in. Imagine blasting an enemy with a fireball at close range and watching his ragdoll corpse cartwheel away from you, shedding limbs.
Instead the magic is Skyrim did nothing but disappoint, I usually only used it as a novelty or for occasional healing. Even shouts, which were like that whole point of the story became a rarely-remembered backup. Like WHOOSH I blast some bandit with a fire spell until my mana bar is depleted and he’s still standing, whereas one daedric arrow from my enchanted dragon bone bow will tear his head off and pin it to a tree on the horizon.
My body is ready.
Damn you Kotaku, could you make it any harder. You might as well ask “Who would win Batman or Superman?” and break the internet, that is how hard you have made it…. sob. I DID NOT VOTE!
Spider-Man
Aquaman.
D-Man
Pepsiman.
YOO WIN
Chuck Norris will beat everyone up with his blink of an eye including Fallout and Skyrim.
I love the time ive spent with both series… I’d have to say that I like the asthetics of TES more while finding the Fallout universe more interesting as a whole. I’ll always love both.
Fallout 2
Fallout 1
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout Tactics
Skyrim
Oblivion
Fallout 3
Morrowind
Fallout 4
Daggerfall
Arena
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel does not exist.
I much prefer the world and aesthetic of Fallout, and the mechanics of the turn based Fallouts.
I’ve always preferred high fantasy as a genre and I’m not big into shooting stuff. I tried to get into new vegas but hated it, played skyrim several times for probably somewhere around 300 hours. I actually thought Fallout was the more popular series (the hype for fallout 4 was unbelievable, even though it underdelivered) so it’s interesting to see the poll results.
It didn’t deliver at all which is why 8 months after release there are still 700,000 people playing it on PC alone.
you’re right I misspoke: I didn’t like it and I don’t know anyone who is still playing it but I know that some people do who are very separate to my life and I failed to consider them in my comment.
I’m probably coming from the other side as I don’t personally know anybody who was super hyped for fallout 4 who was overly disappointed with it. The 2nd batch of DLC sure, but overall not with the game.
Both?! The levelling system in Skyrim seemed perfect to me (hardcore RPG people scoff at this somewhere else), whatever skills you use you perfect. The lore of Fallout appeals to me a lot more than the Elder Scrolls though, but the Elder Scrolls gameworlds are a lot more appealing to explore.
Dammit Serrels, how hard is it to put a both button! I opted out of the last poll for the same reason. Why dont you ask me whivh is my favourite child while yer at it? (my daughter, fyi)
Neither, they’re both shit.
Ahahahahahahahaa!!!
…ok, honestly? I didn’t really enjoy the Elder Scrolls until Skyrim, similarly I didn’t really enjoy Fallout until New Vegas (that also includes Fallout 4, still not as good).
Both and neither.
They’re both good games, with very particular tastes in their sights. I think the common thread is the overall approach to the world, and the players place in that world. So there’s crafting, because the world lets you, there’s questing, because you’re the hero, there’s exploration, because the world is built for it.
But there’s no real focus on role play – in the sense that you can be an absolute tool or a nice guy, with subtle and overt consequences.
And therein lies my main issue with both games. They’re billed as Open World RPG’s. But they’re not. They’re Open World Action Games. And to me, that’s not really what Fallout was.
So while they’re good, they always seem to miss the mark for me.
I agree 100% but I still enjoy the immensely
I like the fallout series more. The goofy and wacky humour combined with the 1950s alternate reality, post-apocalyptic setting is great. Played a lot of Fallout 3, barely any New Vegas(heard it was really bad on PS3) and Fallout 4 is my most played game since it’s release.
I’ve never been able to get into many swords and scorcery games. Don’t know why
I love the Elder Scroll’s rich setting and storylines, and I love Fallout’s dark humour and style. I’ve spent about the same amount of time playing both Skyrim and Fallout 4, but most of the time spent in Skyrim was doing all the different storyline quests and side quests. A lot of the time spent in Fallout 4 was building settlements and wandering about. I love both games, but if I was forced to choose between them, I’d have to say Skyrim just because it has more depth to it.
That’s like asking me to decide between my two favorite beers, or my two favorite albums … or, I can imagine, choosing between my two children (if I’d been mad enough to have any).
Love both equally, they are reason I got back into PC gaming, and why I stayed.
The Witcher.
I’m a recent convert to the Witcher. Didn’t really get into 2 but have just started 3. And wow! This is how games should be made!
I’d love to see an RPG set in the Witcher universe where you create your character, rather than playing as Gerald.
Definitely prefer Elder Scrolls over Fallout, probably due to it being more alive. Fallout games always seem very dead and empty. ( I know its the setting).
In my opinion, high fantasy is a played out setting. There’s Elder Scrolls, Game of Thrones, Warcraft universe stuff, Might and Magic, Guild Wars, Witcher, bla bla bla bla. It’s everywhere. Fallout’s quirky atom-punk-cross-stuck-in-the-40s setting and dark humour set it apart quite well. On that basis alone, Fallout all the way.
This is a tough one as I’ve played more (good) Elder Scrolls games, but pretty much grew up with Fallout 2.
I generally prefer post-apocalypse to pure fantasy, so Fallout is my preferred series, if only due to the setting.
That said, I still adore both.
I enjoy Fallout a lot more, especially New Vegas. However, I think the lack of non-violent options and unique weapons featured 3 and New Vegas is the reason why I didn’t really enjoy Fallout 4. The energy weapons were just so much cooler in the older Beth Fallout games.
On a side note, I recently tried playing Fallout 1 and I couldn’t really get into it. Are there any tips that are handy to know when playing the older games?
Elder Scrolls universe > *
Why not both?
Given they own both franchises, why not merge them. Who wouldn’t want to play a post apocalyptic fantasy game where you get to shoot radioactive dragons using VATS?
Fallout. I own several of the Elder Scrolls games, i’ve tried to play them, but they never really appealed to me, I guess i’m just not a fan of that style of fantasy game.
Elder Scrolls for me wins hands down not because of the fantasy elements, but because the environments are not all the same sea of brown and grey like Fallout. They’re both open world games, and while the world of Fallout has interesting stories to tell, the backdrop against which they are set is so drab and monotonous.
Fallout has open plains of flat brown wasteland, with occasional smatterings of grey buildings that are falling apart. The Elder Scrolls has huge mountains, cavernous valleys, spectacular architecture… there’s some variety in the visuals and the landscape that makes it a wonder to explore rather than “oh look, it’s another abandoned settlement, I wonder what depressing way everyone in this place died.”
Im a huge fan of medieval/Fantasy so the elder scrolls wins for me, in saying that i totally love the recent fallout games as well :p
I like a good combat system, so, neither?
/runs away 😛
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