So...in light of the Fallout TV show, which had its first season free on youtube, and with there being relatively thorough recaps of season 2, the subject of New Vegas comes up again, and which faction is actually best for the Mojave. It's been a debate that's been raging since the game came out, and I've been on multiple sides of the debate over the course of my life. And now the TV show basically canonized one of these endings, which leads to...even more questions about which ending is truly the best, given my preferred one ended up being the canon one and it...not turning out so great as we saw from Season 2 of the show. With that said, let's get into it.
NCR
The NCR is a faction I want to like, but am repulsed by. In a way, it reminds me of the modern democratic party. You wanna like them, but then you look at the details and you're just like "this ain't it dog." So...the NCR stands for the New California Republic. They're basically a liberal democratic faction based around bringing the old world back. In principle, they stand for freedom, democracy, rule of law, universal rights. All the good stuff. I mean, they're just about the first faction you come across (if you don't count Victor as being part of Mr House's faction, since you dont know that at the time), and they seem to be the good guys.
But then you start learning more about them. And here's the problem. Much like the modern democratic party, they're weak, inept, bureaucratic, slow to react to crises, spread too thin, and generally incompetent. Their presence in the Vegas area seems neutral to even negative. They can't properly defend their borders. Legion soldiers are regularly infiltrating their territory. You can't get law and order in primm because they're spread too thin. They got all those powder gangers (prisoners) escaping and it requires a whole subplot just to get them to retake that. And that's kind of the thing. Despite being an army, they need you, a courier with no ties to their paperwork and bureaucratic nonsense to do ENTIRE QUEST LINES just to get anything going. Nipton burned on their watch, and when you tell them about it the soldiers freaked out. Speaking of which, their morale is lower than a democrat in 2025. At least some of them still got some fight left in them. These guys? They dont. "WE'RE SCREWED, WE'RE SCREWED" seems to be the general vibe, and again, did I mention they seem completely and utterly paralyzed and unable to do ANYTHING unless you do it for them? It's like the represent the absolute worst aspects of liberal democratic ideals, while you never really see the best.
Then you got their actual downsides. Much like the real democratic party, and the real United States, despite being weak AF, they still seem surprisingly capable of...committing atrocities and doing black bag CIA crap that destroys their good will. Dont ask the Great Khans what they think of them because....well...they mightve massacred them a few times. And then the entire NCR quest line makes me feel dirty, like you're some CIA agent doing their dirty work like assassinating people who seem relatively benign and innocent in reality, like members of the Kings, that gang of elvis impersonators in vegas who actually seem to be trying to improve things in Freeside for the people there.
Meanwhile the NCR? Oh, we can't do anything, our hands our tied, we're spread too thin, you're on your own! But make sure you pay your taxes?
And yeah, a lot of libertarian types complain that these guys make you pay taxes. With law and order comes...taxes. And it's fine if you feel like youre actually getting security and a better life out of it....but you're not. Because again, much like modern democrats, these guys dont actually DO anything. They're overburdened, and spread too thin.
And yeah....I mean, while i didnt think of it like this during my first play through, I have developed left libertarian tendencies since first playing the game, and in subsequent play throughs, I've kinda become turned off by them. I mean, taxes, civilization...in the fallout universe, are we actually better off bringing that back? I kinda prefer my freedom, to be left alone, to do my own thing. You can probably figure out where I'm going with that and who I've actually sided with until now, but idk...the bombs falling seems to have reverted things to the state of nature, and while nasty brutish and short for many...let's face it, the NCR is so useless it isnt making things better, and quite frankly, I dont really want to be put under their rule so....yeah. I never really cared for these guys. Even if I'm sympathetic with them in practice.
Caesar's Legion
Okay, so...while there's a lot of debate about the other factions and who is best...one thing all iterations of myself would agree with is that the Legion is BAD. If the NCR are democrats, these guys are MAGA, a cesspit of regressivism and everything evil and unholy in the world. Caesar is a Roman cosplayer who is a dictator who rules over 86 tribes. He rules by force, and basically burns, oppresses, enslaves, and crucifies all who get in his way. He tries to come off as some ancient bad###, with views steeped in the pre enlightenment era, but in reality I just see him as another petty strong man dictator. I hate these guys, and go out of my way to just blow them up and attack them repeatedly. It's a good source of caps and gear.
Much like MAGA, their entire society is dominated by the cult of personality with one man. And when that one man dies, the Legion crumbles. Legate Lanius, his alleged successor in game, is just some meat head who likes fighting with swords. heck, the entire roman aesthetic goes too far. They kinda reject a lot of modern ways of fighting like...snipers, believing they're cowardly, and like to get up close and personal with melee guns, which are a semi viable option in game but in the real world, very much...aren't. In the first battle of hoover dam, they lost because they didnt have snipers. They believed them to be cowardly. Again if it doesnt meet their strong man bravado aesthetic, they dont do it.
And at the end of the game, as you face down legate lanius, you can have political debates with him if your charisma is high enough. The general gist of your argument is even if the Legion can hold the dam, they'd overextend to do it, and lose their rear flank to the east. So they kind of give up their ambitions and walk away if you can convince them to surrender. if not they'll fight you to the end.
This brings up a core problem with both the NCR and legion. The NCR's home base is in California. And in extending themselves into New Vegas, they overextend, and its unclear if they can even hold the territory if they win. They arent doing much for the people of New Vegas because they lack the resources. Legion is the same. But unlike the NCR who at least have the ideals and pretense of being "the good guys", the Legion is just pure evil. Again, instead of democracy, rule of law and....taxes, you get authoritarianism, tributes, slavery, and crucifixions. They're big on crucifying people they dont like. They even did it to the TV show protagonist in season 2 for pointing out just how stupid their whole rip off roman culture was and how inauthentic to the real thing it was. Well that and she wasn't a virgin so they couldnt just marry her off to someone. These guys hate women.
Speaking of gender roles, I think the Legion is a good example of why "masculinity" is bullcrap. In the real world, the NCR gives off "virgin" energy, while the Legion are "chads", but these chads are stupid muscle heads who wont embrace technology and sound battle tactics due to their code of honor, and they also seem to...well....hate women. They tend to play well into that "hurr durr Im a big strong man and that makes me alpha" mindset though. But it's dumb. it's just so dumb. I mean....no matter what faction you like...can we all agree that it shouldn't be this one?
Mr. House
So....full disclosure. My first play through, I was a Mr. House stan. It was 2010, I was still a republican/libertarian, and he really seemed to impress me. I mean, he was the man with the plan. While the NCR was overextending into Nevada from California, and the Legion was overextending from Arizona, Mr. House WAS vegas. He WAS nevada. He knew the bombs would happen. He had the technology and resources to save vegas. But...he was old and locked in a pod and attached to a computer and is 200 years old...and kinda needed a little help. Which is where you come in. You're a courier, your job was to deliver to him a platinum chip which would upgrade his army of securitrons with new firmware that made them more powerful. And he had an army of these things. Just a handful guarding the New Vegas strip seemed capable of blowing up any threats. And him interfering in any battle over Hoover Dam between the NCR and Legion would seem easy. HE'S not overextended this is his home turf. He can defend it well and has adequate resources to do so. So of the three factions discussed so far, he seemed to be a shoe in. I didn't even think of the downsides. I was just his loyal employee who helped him achieve his goals.
So what are the downsides? Well....let me put it in terms we can understand in 2026. This dude is elon musk, basically. Ya know, tech billionaire, super smart and savvy, but also kind of an ###hole. He ruled vegas with an iron fist. he provided security, sure, but he also only let wealthy patrons who would spend money into vegas itself. The areas around it? Left to fend for themselves. Free side was in poverty despite vegas being all lit up. Ya know, kinda like having a rich area surrounded by a slum.
Of course, back then I was a right libertarian/republican. And I was like....well....was House entitled to help out others with his wealth? No, not really. But at the same time, he largely left people alone. Like really, outside of the strip he minded his own business, and was mostly using his forces to fight the other factions. So basically, he was a right libertarian. Super big on protecting "his properteh", but otherwise he kinda just left people alone, even though they lived in poverty, and struggled to get by. He provided law and order in his immediate vicinity, but also did F all for the people of vegas too.
Again, I'm kinda selling myself on him here again. Because in my first play through, I was like "he's clearly the best steward of New Vegas." And...idk, maybe he still is. But then you gotta ask, should tech billionaires really be trusted with a private robot army? It's debatable.
Also, apparently my own take was oversimplified, in watching other peoples' takes, I learned that in the ending, Mr House does actually kill people in freeside himself in the ending. Removing factions like the kings and all. Everyone seems to hate the kings, even though they're a bunch of elvis impersonators just doing the best they can in this messed up world. Rubs me the wrong way.
House also seems to KINDA want the NCR to win, as they're his customers, but keep that in mind, he wants them to be HIS customers. NCR wants Hoover dam so they can run it and use the power for themselves. House wants it to sell the power back to them and make a profit off of it. What does profit matter in a nuclear apocalpyse? Apparently a lot according to House. Ugh. I swear, capitalism is a disease. And yeah, apparently his power rates are MEGA predatory. He can help you regain civilization, but at a very high price. This also rubs me the wrong way, as being a greedy ultracapitalist exploiting others isn't really ideal for me either.
Anyway, despite this, I'm kind of talking myself back into the house ending, but then not really. let's look at the 4th option.
Yes Man
Okay, so hate the NCR and how...decadent they are? Hate the Legion and all that they stand for? Hate Mr. House because he's basically in game Elon Musk warts and all? Well...I have a faction for you. What about NONE OF THESE?! You see, you know that guy who shot you in the head at the beginning of the game? Benny? He wanted to dethrone house and run vegas himself. He had a hacked securitron know as "yes man" who would help him do it...and after you kill him, his bot will help YOU. How? Well, you just take our mr house, upload him to house's computer, and BOOM, that massive securitron army? All yours! And then you basically choose what to do from there. Wanna get factions to ally with you? Take them out? Ignore them? Anything is possible with this ending.
Honestly, given how bad all the other options are, I go with this in more recent play throughs. Because let's face it, I'm a strong independent courier who dont need no faction telling me what to do. I kinda hate them all and want them to go away. I figure...if we just remove all three, we kinda get a status quo type option where the NCR Fs off back to California, the Legion Fs off back to Arizona, and then Mr House who is mr right libertarian dictator disappears too, and the wasteland just goes where it goes.
In my own head canon....the securitron army would still protect vegas, but you'd end up deciding what it does and where to go.
Now...a common criticism of this choice is that this will leave much of the majave wasteland...a wasteland. There will be no real civilization, people will just have to make it in a lawless area...and I'm kinda fine with that, in theory. I mean, they already kinda are. How are any of these factions helping? The NCR is supposed to establish law and order but lacks the resources to do anything. The legion is just psychotic. Basically just a glorified roman cosplay raider gang that ended up becoming the top dog in their region. Mr House is just interested in ruling vegas while doing F all for anyone else. Why do we need these guys? We dont, or so I thought.
Anyway, as I said, this has been my logic up until season 2 of the new TV show. What has changed since then?
How the TV show changes things
The TV show takes place around 20 years or so after the events of the game. The Yes Man ending is the canonical ending. The courier killed Mr House, and neither the NCR nor the legion took over the area, although both seemed to kind of circle it like hungry wolves, waiting for the prime opportunity.
With Mr House gone, the strip went to crap. Freeside is in ruins, overtaken by raiders and then...deathclaws. The strip...overrun with death claws. Yes man, still offline after it said it was gonna reprogram itself to be more assertive. Mr House...well....he had another backup plan. He uploaded his consciousness to the cloud basically but needed power to turn it on. Why not use Hoover Dam to power himself if he was gonna use the dam to sell power to the NCR? Who knows? But apparently he needed cold fusion from season 1 to reboot himself. And yeah, in the show....it looked like the BOS guy and the NCR cleaned up the deathclaws, the NCR is likely to take over the strip and people are cheering because they're actually bringing law and order this time instead of the area being dominated by raiders and deathclaws. There seems to be some debate of where the deathclaws came from. Early on it seems like it was said they came from Quarry Junction, which makes sense...in game quarry junction is overrun by the fricking things and it could be a good in world explanation that they just migrated north and turned vegas into a big deathclaw nest. But it's also argued the enclave brought them or something. Apparently the enclave is doing evil stuff behind the scenes. They're the remnants of the US government and unlike the NCR NOT the good parts. More the worst parts. And death claws appear to be created by them to kill their enemies. We see this in game too like in FO3.
Anyway, so...the Yes man ending kind of sucked. It left the strip in a state of disrepair and just caused more pain and suffering for residents over time. Which begs the question. If I assume Yes Man is a bad choice...what makes more sense? NCR or house?
NCR vs House
NCR seemed very incompetent in game. They were weak, overextended, and unable to do anything. And yet, when they did do their black bag stuff, it always gave me "US government overthrowing people they dont like in shady ways" vibes and I always just ended up just....NOT finishing the NCR quests as a result. They left a bad taste in my mouth.
But at the same time, while Mr House could keep the peace and serve as a buffer between the NCR and Legion, turning the area into a no man's land for the other factions and making vegas relatively independent, it's always been a soft NCR win. Because he doesnt truly want the NCR to go away. He wants them to patronize his casinos. And sell them electricity...which...he could use to power his brain in a computer, but doesnt...because the idea didnt exist yet and that whole idea feels like a plot hole the more I think about it, just a way to justify bringing him back. But yeah.
So it's kinda like...does NCR run things, or does house?
Well....in a way this ALSO is like republicans vs democrats. Do we want the rich business people who are techno feudalists in charge? Or do we want an actual democracy that is, in theory accountable to the voters, as grossly imperfect as it is?
And I guess when I put it like that...I guess I'm more sympathetic to NCR? I think they'd do more good than house. House might have delusions of grandeur about how he'll eventually send people to space but who gives a crap if the people of freeside are starving? Let alone the rest of the wasteland. I like NCR based on their ideals. I just understand they're a very weak and ineffective faction in practice that regularly falls short of them. Much like certain real world equivalents I keep alluding to.
One thing I gotta say, by the time we get to the NCR retaking the strip in the TV show, they seem to be welcomed as heroes. People are cheering for them and they seem to be like FINALLY SOME LAW AND ORDER AGAIN. I guess life without a government really is nasty brutish and short, especially in a wasteland full of mutated abominations that otherwise kill the native populations. I guess anarchy isnt viable here and we kind of NEED a government after all. And it's best we get the democratic one.
But what about the Brotherhood of Steel?
So...one thing that always bothered me about New Vegas was the BOS being relegated as a minor faction. They're normally a MAJOR player in these faction fights. But in New Vegas, they're a minor faction. Apparently they had more substance at one point, but then they fought the NCR over helios one, another power plant, and they lost. And they retreated through scorpion gulch to establish their base in the hidden valley as a result. And they kinda just sit there....doing nothing. Many factions fear them. Youre expected to destroy them in a lot of the quests because they're otherwise expected to F you up. I think only NCR gives you an OPTION at peace, although Yes man faction is just...yes man faction.
But for a while, after FO3, I kinda wanted to be a BOS guy. I liked the BOS after 3 and I'd choose them over the other three at one point. Mainly because they're technologically advanced, and in FO3 were very humanitarian. However, at the same time, the BOS didnt have the ability to project power in New Vegas. Hence why they were a minor faction. However, let's say they connected with the other factions and we could make it work. Would I want them?
That's gonna be a resounding NO.
So...the Brotherhood of Steel...they come off as humanitarian and the good guys in FO3, fighting the enclave, trying to bring clean water to the wasteland, but the BOS under Elder Lyons there was a branch that betrayed the core values of the brotherhood and was excommunicated from the rest of the organization. The normal BOS are much nastier. They're obsessed with scouring technology from the wasteland, believing its dangerous and they're the only one allowed to have it. So they are these technologically superior super soldiers while everyone else lives in squalor because they cant be trusted with tech. Lovely.
And apparently Elder Lyons in FO3 was kicked out for...being the good guy? Yeah so...let's rethink that.
The fact is, that same faction under Elder Maxson in Fallout 4 is exactly what the BOS always was. A more technofascist organization that massacres mutants, even like...the ones that dont try to kill you, they're pure human supremacists. Theyre militaristic. And again, obsessed with hoarding tech. Tech for me but not for thee.
And if another faction has tech, as we saw in FO4, they'll go to war with them. Not saying the institute is perfect (although I am an institute stan tbqh as far as 4 goes), but yeah, they really seem to operate out of fear of everyone who isnt them and are quite militaristic as a result. And they kill those they dont like. And they're basically very authoritarian in a militaristic kind of way.
I dont vibe with the military command structure for one. One reason I never liked joining them in 4. And second....yeah. Again, all of the above.
The fact is, the TV show doesnt make me like them any more. I mean, that raider lady ended up being the good guy wanting to give cold fusion to everyone. The BOS wanted to hoard it. And vault tech...well...they're basically enclave and evil by this point. But yeah. And the way they treat Maximus doesnt rub me the right way either. Anyway, they seem like they're in the middle of a civil war by season 2 of the show as all of the different factions are now trying to kill each others, and the new vegas faction doesnt even seem to exist by the TV show....probably because destroying them was canon. So...not really a good option. Not really helping here. Again, I kinda view them as techno fascists. Maybe preferable to the legion, but that's not saying much. MAYBE preferable to the yes man ending but even then...are they really? Not really.
Conclusion
So where does this leave us? Well....F the legion. They've always been the worst faction to take over.
BOS...if we count them I'd put them above legion, but below the others.
The Yes man ending, anarchy, was my preferred option but seeing it 20 years on it doesnt seem to be working out.
Mr House and NCR both have flaws, but at least the NCR has accountability to the people...so I'd go for NCR.
They're decadent, corrupt, slow to act, overextended, a bit shady, but they still seem like the least bad faction. As Lucy said once, the legion is trying to enslave you and the other guys are just...vaguely problematic. And yeah, vaguely problematic indeed. They have flaws, but much like the democrats they're the lesser evil. Kinda in a "ugh are they REALLY the lesser evil" kind of way...but yeah...they are. So that's my analysis of New Vegas and its factions. I guess the TV show shifted me from "none of the above" (yes man) to being a reluctant NCR stan.
Im tempted to play new vegas again, but I kinda got outer worlds 2 sitting there and havent played it yet. So I'm probably gonna do that instead.
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