Exploration is so conflicting for me.
It’s the main drive of the game, 85% of the time you are exploring. The key for me is the thrill of seeing a “hollow” indicator in the compass and getting closer and closer, until finally see what’s the new place I discovered. And there is a good variety of places, I give them props for it. There are parkings, supermarkets, museums, offices, farms, excavations, military installations, factories, warehouses, satellite uplink stations, crashed planes, swamps, churches, graveyards, wooden cabins, diner places, train stations, garage shops, hospitals, etc.
But after the first dozen of hours, the magic loses its shine, because it’s all the same. It’s all empty, desolate, and if there is something that moves, it’s something with a red name above their heads. So kill and loot, that’s it. The repetition settles in.
No quests, no stories, no dialogue no adventure.
I’m in the Northern part of the city. And 14 of 15 times I got to a new named place, it was enemies.
A small makeshift base between buildings? Maybe it’s a community trying to survive? Nope, raiders.
Some luxury offices? Two raiders.
A church with a named lonely guy dressed as priest? Enemy, red name, I couldn’t talk to him.
A fraternal house? Full of super mutants.
A Square in the college area? Full of feral ghouls.
A hospital? Raiders made it their base.
A electronic shop? Enemy robots.
A federal stockpile base? Moar raiders.
Apartments area? Rai…
Ideally, the game would change its pace alternating between combat heavy areas and more “narrative” areas.