@vriska I think the writing is quite good and like that it has a balance between a lot of real RPG mechanics while still being an FPS, unlike a lot of other FPSRPGs which are either something like STALKER (which is a series I really like to be clear) that have some RPG mechanics but are mostly FPS, or something like VtM: Bloodlines which are more RPG heavy and have really good writing but kinda shitty FPS gameplay. something that made me appreciate the design of NV a lot was a talk that Josh Sawyer did on designing the dialogue system and making the world feel dynamic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR4OxNfzTvU)

there's a lot of talent behind the development of New Vegas from people who know old school RPGs (unsurprisingly since Obsidian had people who formerly worked at Black Isle and made Planescape: Torment) and it's unfortunate that their publisher was a shitty company like Bethesda, but this is the exact same thing that happened to the devs of VtM:B and STALKER. there's kinda just a curse on the entire FPSRPG genre that hasn't been helped by Bethesda turning the genre into shit like Fallout 4 and Skyrim that aren't good at being an FPS or an RPG and basically get by on brand recognition from normies who soyface about a big empty map with stupid repetitive dungeons and badly written generic quests about being Dragon Jesus and having to save le world from Dragon Hitler

also regarding mods: it's honestly really easy these days to mod New Vegas if you just want to patch the bugs, but I won't lie a lot of why I like NV is because of the modding scene. unlike with something like Skyrim, I think NV is a solid game on its own ignoring the bugs and it being old and ugly. with Skyrim what you said is correct, you need to install dozens of mods to make it worth playing, but with NV mods feel pretty optional and just enhance the experience

I will also add to all this that I'm really biased towards NV for personal nostalgia reasons and because as is probably obvious I really like FPSRPGs in general when they're done well and not Bethesda slop. I don't expect everyone to agree with me about this or care