My impressions. I would have posted last night, but I was too busy playing. 
The game world is too much brown and tan, but given that this is the desert southwest, I can hardly complain. I only got annoyed when they started putting in Washington and Chicago in other games, and they were still devoid of plants and dingy and brown.
Holy crap are there a lot of items. Maybe too many, but it’s nice to have all this stuff. Also neat that you can often buy spare parts and then assemble them into goodies. Holy crap is there a lot of stuff to make. Haven’t found any permanent player housing and I’m leery of using storage I find in the wasteland.
Hardcore mods kicks ass. It also kicks my ass. It’s not the hit points, but my poor arms have been broken, broken, broken again and again. It hasn’t been too difficult yet, but there are lots of things to think about. I am leery of using fast travel too much because I don’t want to waste my water. Sasparilla is a lifesaver, because while it’s sacrifices a little Thirst, it’s very easy-going on
I thank God in Heaven once an hour for my Lightweight Metal Armor. I thought I’d end up selling it for leather, but it need it. Badly. Also, when they say you get a mercenary grenade laucher - they mean it’s a goddamn GRENADE launcher. Do NOT use it anywhere close to you. That sucker a big spread and it will take out your limbs.
You don’t need that much food, so get resources and sell them. Food is plentiful and cheap. Water, though… keep your water.
More general notes-
You can ally with the Powder gang, but they’re not naturally your friends. There’s a quest early in the game (the starting town, in fact) which will ally yourself to them I think. Secondly, be damn careful of using disguises! They can be… dangerous depending on whom you show yourself to.
There are a lot of hints that this isn’t just a world full of old junk where people never build anything. There are ruins, sure, some of which are inhabited, but many small touches that let you know people haven’t just stopped doing things.
Holy Shit! Ceaser’s Legion are bastards… yet I can’t entirely say they’re wrong. The NCR, however brave and noble, are almost as bad for the local people. And they really are weak: they tolerate a lot of crap and fail to protect people, so I find myself really wondering what they’re worth in the end.
I don’t know what’s going on, but that robot is creeping me out.
I see a lot of tough skill checks early on. That’s good! I have a reason to come back to locations. And the game hints that you can rarely
I love the fact that you can often just give people the finger and wander on, ignoring their stupid problems if you feel like it.I like to explore and do things, so I do, but I don’t have to. I can even follow the plot by skipping steps and going onward past the trouble.
