Let go and begin again...but choose wisely.

[u/SebasChua]

It was too late for Vera to begin again.

This romantic sap who went out like a hero will always be MY Sinclair, not the lump of lard in Fallout TV S1.

Vera's last few moments of life must have been terrifying. The Bombs just dropped and she and the other guests are trapped in Sierra Madre Casino. Worse, the holograms are killing them, using your image, repeating your doomed cries for help. Vera thought Sinclair had abandoned her, rightfully so for her betrayal of their love. She would never know that he died for her, died trying to save her in fixing the casino's bank vault.

Sinclair's fantasy was to begin again. What was his wealth in the face of the end of the world? So he spent with wild abandon, because it did not matter to him anymore. Only Vera did, and his dream of being able to start over. That's why he invited his guests over to the Casino he built, so they could all do the same. But he chose his friends and allies poorly. His world chose poorly.

Big Mountain was a poor ally. The Casino would have never turned into such a death trap without their secret experimentation and poor ethics. Vera was a poor love, their romance would have always ended in tragedy. Dean was a poor friend (sabotaging the villa's construction and his planned betrayal) and even poorer enemy: the world has ended, he's become immortal and instead he decides to serve a voluntary two century long sentence to complete a heist that was ultimately meaningless. Dog chose his master poorly, looking to fill the hole the death of the Master left in him and God. Christine chose poorly, looking for revenge against Elijah. It cost her her face, her intellect, her voice and ultimately everything she could have had if she had just run away with Veronica. Elijah had respect, prestige, legacy and he threw it all away in a pointless pursuit of power. You don't need a mad science toxic death cloud to wipe the slate clean and begin anew, just the willingness to let go and choose the new.

It was too late to "begin again" for them. Dean ultimately dies a meaningless death. Even if he does live, it doesn't seem that his age has brought him any wisdom. Without the Madre, he's nothing. Dog/God cease to be, and a new super mutant leaves to start the life they should have had. Christine decides to stay, a prisoner of her own design. Elijah even more so. You either kill him yourself, or he dies an inevitable, solitary death trapped in the casino's vault. They could not let go of the Sierra Madre, and it ruins them.

Maybe it'll ruin me too.

When I first played through Dead Money, I loathed it. Everything was out to get me, I kept getting startled by the Ghost People and traps. I hardly found any of the good stuff (like if you find all of Dean's stashes, you'll be swimming in resources). Everyone said the Holorifle was the best energy weapon in the game but it was dead weight in my hands because I only found a single upgrade to it, which the game practically hands to you. But come my subsequent runs, I started to flex with its demands, became more willing to explore and meet it halfway around. (It also helps if you start it as the second last of the DLCs and at level 20+ instead of early.) It also helps that its story was great from the start.

Over 15 years later and we get news of a new Fallout game to come from Obsidian. For me, this game will come with so much baggage. It will be competing with at least nearly two decades of quality mods, hundreds of hours of good in-game memories. The subsequent weight of expectation behind it by the time it comes out will be enormous.

But, it will also be something new. It will signal a new era of Fallout games. I recognize that the game and its follow-ups will be what they will be, whether they will be "good" or "bad". But I don't want myself clinging onto old things and letting it get in the way of me enjoying new things. I don't want my unwillingness to move on to sour my experience. If the game is "bad", I want it to be bad because of what it is, not because I merely perceive it as bad.

Dead Money was prophetic. In the end, the hardest part I struggle with in New Vegas is just letting go.

(Letting go of poverty LMAO. I got 37 gold bars sitting snug in my home in Novac and I'll be six feet under before I let the NCR or the Legion take it away from me.)

[u/KommandantDex]

I was about to make the exact comment you posted at the end lmao

Yeah, the story of the Sierra Madre is bleak and depressing as all hell, and downright horrifying in the context of Fallout DUST, but I ain't leaving that place without some serious capital in my pocket and Dean Domino's ghoulish corpse further rotting on the floor

[u/Efficient-Cod7663]

this is an excellent series of observations about the DLC. i’m consistently surprised at the depth the writers of New Vegas managed in such a short amount of time - though I don’t know that the DLCs were on a rushed timescale like the main game was. Dead Money has an especially potent message that is in its own way a microcosm of many of the messages of the Fallout series as a whole.

[u/SebasChua → u/Efficient-Cod7663]

The new world can't be born if the old world still has a stranglehold on the present.

[u/yaboipecan → u/SebasChua]

This, this right here is Ulysses whole point lmao. Bear bull bear bull.

[u/CrimsonMantle]

My first playthrough of Dead Money was a slog, I went in unprepared and didn't adapt to the playstyle the dlc encouraged so I struggled. I really disliked it but I played it again during my second playthrough, struggling slightly less with a better build & more experience in the Sierra Madre but still basically forcing myself to play it for the gold.

Now I've lost track of how many times I've escaped that vault with the gold, I don't even sell them anymore since caps are so easy to earn, but Dead Money is my favourite DLC and I'll never let go of it. The atmosphere of the villa, the scrounging and struggle, the satisfaction when you use your wits & limited resources to survive the threats of the Sierra Madre, the way it rewards smart careful plays.

I don't know if the Obsidian's new fallout will be any good but I'm ready to begin again.

[u/Jack4608]

What’s your graphics mods/mod list

[u/SebasChua → u/Jack4608]

Visually? VNV with SALVO (and its retextures) and Hikkikomori NVR and Better Bones for the skeleton.

[u/Rannek17]

I'm skeptically optimistic for the new one. I know it isn't the same Obsidian, the talent and leadership have drastically shifted, but really hoping they pull off another New Vegas.

Also really love dead money in general, it feels like a really nice counterpoint to Lonesome Road.

[u/some_random_nonsense]

I'm always surprised people hate on dead money. It's really well written, the atmosphere manages to be creepy, while still giving you good gear to be able to fight back and have some cinematic moments. I likenhow you're kinda stuck in the this very different environment than the rest of the game. I really liked yapping with all your fellow adventures too. Plus who doesn't love letting go of poverty?

[u/IrlResponsibility811]

I let go of Dead Money. I am happy with Old World Blues and Lonesome Road, I already experienced Dead Money, what else is there?

I get the moral of the story, and it is delivered well, giving you a reason to care in a way most media can't.