izigame.me

Fallout was one of the first big isometric CRPGs from the Interplay/Black Isle guys and paved the way for many of the classics that followed. Even if it was at some point considered the spiritual successor to 1988's 'Wasteland', it surpassed its inspiration in every way. It's also no accident that it became one of the biggest IPs of today and I'm glad that Bethesda picked it up when they did.
Even though it became somewhat different over the years, I think the core of what makes it so popular today was already present in this first title: a very unique post-apocalyptic world in an unconventional 1950s Americana retro-future with quirky humor. Absurd while still managing to feel grounded. It's Mad Max coupled with space age design sensibilities. A lot of iconic elements, namely the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute system and perks, the limb targeting, the vaults, the pip-boy, the power armors, the bottle-caps, the dog companion... They really hit the nail on the head with the world building and it's all fully developed here.
The RPG system was based on GURPS as oppose to the 2nd edition D&D (AD&D) that was used on future Black Isle's CRPGs. The combat is also turn-based rather than the real-time with pause of the later isometrics. Unlike 'Wasteland' or the JRPGs of the time, the turn-base mechanic is that of a tactics game. In other words, you have action points that you can spend to move around in a hexagonal grid, but outside of combat it's real time.
Tim Cain and Chris Taylor created a very unique character system that emphasizes build freedom and creativity; really fun to play if you know what you're doing but very much flawed and easily exploited. There are a lot of ways to screw up your character without realizing, but that was on par with other RPG systems of the time. The real flaw in the system comes in the implementation of certain skills and their usefulness. Skills such as Science and Repair have very little opportunities of being used, while other skills are completely necessary and overpowered. Small Guns make up for something like 80% of your available guns and are the only available guns in the early to mid game. They won't do you any good in the late game though, so it's better to switch to big/energy guns at that point. It's almost like it was designed to be a progression system, but you won't know that when you start the game the first time and put all your points into big/energy and can't really progress. There's a lot of trial and error involved.
This trial and error philosophy seems to be present in other areas of the game as well. There are a lot of failure states that you can't avoid without previous knowledge, including quests and even game ending scenarios, in which you are required to load a previous save. Not to mention the time limit mechanic that you'll probably succumb to in your first try. This is not entirely a criticism, the game was designed with that in mind and there's a lot of replayability that comes from that. It also feels like there's more at stake knowing that your actions (or lack thereof) have consequences. My problem comes when the failure states are not communicated very well. Like when you choose a dialogue option that gives you a result you had no intention of acquiring. Of course, at that ancient time called the '90s, you were expected to save often and on multiple slots but I'd argue that there are more elegant ways of implementing this philosophy of game design. If you don't know that you're breaking something, and even after you break it you don't know what you broke or did that was wrong, it feels more like an oversight than purposeful design.
Some of these issues were later addressed on Fallout 2 and some were made worse. Regardless, this is by all means a flawed but great game, a gem in the rough, an unlicked cub as they say. When it's good, it's very good. When it's bad, it's frustrating but worthwhile. I started this game many times over the years, never going so far as beating it, mostly due to frustration or burn-out, but I always had it on my mind to return... and did, multiple times. Now that i finally beat it, it feels like an accomplishment. Few games do that, and that makes this one great.