Post-nuclear California spreads out before you, and every line of dialogue can tip a fate.

No preference ranking, so we read the criteria, and each rests on a single vote: these are first signals. The picture is gorgeous all the same. The game you'd take to a desert island edges out more than four fifths of titles. Attachment, the wish to relive it fresh, the soundtrack: all above three quarters of the pack. The one off note is controller feel, dropping clearly, below the first third. Logical for a turn-based tactical RPG from 1998: its isometric controls were never built for today's comfort, and a criterion shaped around hands-on feel is bound to penalize it.

Against modern RPGs, Fallout 2 plays in another league: writing depth, freedom of choice, atmosphere. Not the smoothness of the inputs.

So, who's it for? You, if you love to read, decide, and dig through a dense world creaking with dark humor. Much less if modern, nervy controls are your priority.