Like most people writing here Fallout 2 was one of those games that I played to absolute exhaustion; not because it had the graphics, or intuitive game play, or any of the things that cost billions of dollars to the gaming industry.. but because it got under my skin. It's for that reason I find it stands up well over time.
Every conversation made me wonder what would make it go differently; what if I was more intelligent? What if I could fix this? What if I were stronger, dumber, sneakier, more or less aggressive? What if I were scientifically minded, or a doctor? What if I could beat this guy in hand-to-hand combat?
Most of the time I ignored the story entirely and pursued my personal "quick start" method of completing several high-level non-combat quests immediately after leaving my village.
I was a made man for four different families mob.
I was a defender and destroyer of every town on the map.. all at once or one at a time.
I was an expert in explosives and heavy weapons... I was a surgical sniper.. I was an actual surgeon (and I ended up with a certain number of self-designed cyborg implants and immunisations as a result). I was a porn star (which takes a lot more effort than you might think!), a power plant mechanic, a violent thug, and an eloquent diplomat. I even spent a bit of time as a thieving street-rat.
And each one of those incarnations reacted differently to almost every situation, and had different options open to them.... although they all had a wicked modded Highwayman fusion-powered car.
If Fallout 2 gets under your skin then you and I will share one of the most expansive, enjoyable, and often hilarious gaming experiences I've ever had. I dread to think how many collective years have been lost to it's charms.
Fallout 3? Well, somehow the smart jokes (where you can find them) work less well when the apocalypse is made more real... and it's about a hundredth as adaptive and expansive.
Still, also a good deal of fun to be had there.