Baldurs Gate was really good, but I think people give it too much credit. Fallout 1$2 and Planescape Torment showed what really is a narrative-driven RPG game, they deserve more attention.
It's a good game and lord knows I played it enough to know it like the back of my hand, but people keep bringing it up like it is the Monolith from 2001 bringing us gamer-apes into the modern world.
It's still a first person shooter. A well-made one, but not revolutionary. Unreal came out six months before it and it also had story-driven gameplay and used environmental effects like lighting too.
The Fallout series isn't exactly obscure and Fallout 1 in particular is terrible. I got a game over 5 minutes into the game because I walked too far and the arbitrary timer ran out.
That's not an "arbitrary" timer, it's your character's core motivation. Why would somebody wander aimlessly about the desert searching for side quests when their friends and family are dying of thirst? You're supposed to be searching for the water chip, and if you pay attention to the clues you should find it in time. And it's possible to extend the time limit with no consequences in the patched version.
The secondary timer is harder to justify, which is why it was extended to 13 years in the patched version (more than enough time to do everything).
In all the many play-throughs I did on that game I don't think I ever hit the time limit. I always thought it was generous enough to enjoy the game fully.
If you really want to explore [sort of] unhindered Fallout 2 takes care of that, even letting you continue to play after you finish the game.
Yeah, I think it kind of is. I was 10 when BG2 came out, and that’s when I first played it too. It would have taken me far longer to understand what to do in all the quests, and how to be effective in combat, than any adult. I loved that I could just enjoy playing it slowly.
I remember loving the original Fallout, until it basically said “you didn’t find the water chip in time! Goodbye!”
Exactly the same story with Commandos 2 vs Commandos 3.
