The turn-based good ol' days

Playing Divinity:  Original Sin has reminded me of other turn-based RPG's that I have enjoyed.  My favorite series was the Fallout series.  Before the sprawling open-world Fallout games of today (Fallout 3, Fallout:  New Vegas) Fallout was a cool turn-based game.

The original Fallout came out way back in 1997.  Much of the story would be reconizable by players of the newer Fallout games.  The world is in chaos after a series of wars have destroyed much of civilization.  Some of the more fortunate people have retreated to large, underground bunkers known as "vaults."  The vaults are meant to be self-sufficient and the people who live in them are meant to stay underground until things are safe.  Unfortunately this seeme to rarely be the case--something always goes wrong and someone has to fix it.  In the original Fallout, you play as the "vault dweller" whose task is to find a water chip for your vault (apparently your vault failed to order a sufficient number of backup chips).  You must venture out from the safety of your vault into a dangerous and chaotic world populated by mutant animals and violent bandits.

The turn-based gameplay in Fallout was very enjoyable.  Depending on your chosen skills you learned how to manage your action points.  I usually picked perception based gun skills so that I could snipe things from afar.  This usually meant that I only got one aimed shot per turn, but it was usually for high damage.  A big part of the game was finding companions to accompany you on your task.  In Fallout these companions weren't playable characters, but they were handy to have around during combat.

Mmmm...Iguana Bits.

The series expanded into two follow-up games--Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics.  Tactics added in the ability to control an entire squad.  This was a big change since the initial games only allowed you to control your character.  This formula has become one that I enjoy immensely and it's really fun that this style of game seems to be making a comeback.  Modern games like Divinity:  Original Sin and Wasteland 2 (both Kickstarter games) are looking to ressurect this somewhat lost genre of gaming.

If you're looking for some old-school gaming fun or are curious to see what Fallout was before Bethesda, pick up the original Fallout series on Steam (you can get all three games for a low price).  If you're looking for a modern re-vamp pick up Divinity:  Original Sin or Wasteland 2.