I really like this. I kinda knew I would once I found out what it was made up of. I will do my best to explain quite why I like it.
Firstly the look and feel may be somewhat familiar (because it obviously uses the same game engine as FO4) but the game itself feels very, very different to any other Fallout title I have played. If you are not going to play it or don't want to then I suppose the best way to explain it would be to say it feels like FO3 into FONV. Like, the whole look and feel are totally different to anything before. And it's a very nice look and feel. Things are brighter, cleaner, happier. The sun rays (now they work OK) are actually really nice and make you feel warm and the fog (especially when coupled with the sun rays) make it look incredible. The fog was originally added in Far Harbor, IIRC, and definitely give it a nice feel. Also as you walk along you hear birds chirping and insect chatter. Which is nice, and really adds up to make it feel very different. Also a lot of the items you find and so on are new, as are a lot of the things you need to kill. Which again make it feel very different.
The gameplay itself? well tbh I don't really miss the NPCs all that much. I barely used to pay much attention to them before and was usually quite happy to skip what they were saying unless it was of crucial importance. I'm not one for small talk IRL, and prefer to avoid people, so Fallout has always given me the opportunity to be the real lone wanderer who just wanders around. However, whilst at one extreme end of the spectrum most reviewers have been calling for Bethesda's head over the way that the quests are done with holotapes and computer screens? then there is my angle of looking at it. Basically it feels like doing all of the secret/hidden/side quests in FO3. Things like the Sydney quest (Moon beam) and the quests for the secret weapons (Xuanlong Assault Rifle, those ones) and so on. Keller Family transcripts also comes to mind. And I enjoyed those far more than any of the main quests. So don't feel like this game will have nothing to offer you. It may even work out better than before.
The world itself is gorgeous. As I touched on before, it really does feel completely different to any Fallout game I have played. I like the new Pip boy, and I even quite like the auto targeting system (when it actually works). Oh and the music, the music is fantastic.
I also like how you have to eat and drink and don't get a choice in it. Up until now I have never eaten or drank anything at all in any Fallout game, I've usually just relied on sleeping, Radaway and Stimpaks. So this adds a whole new element which I really like. It's almost like the lord taketh away, but then giveth.
The bad stuff.
The auto targeting system is glitchy, and has caused the game to audio loop and then crash twice on me (I am 3 hours in)
The graphics use some sort of motion blur, but I really don't like it and it makes the distance look fuzzy. If you stand still and tap the controller it all fuzzes up and then goes clear again. You can't switch it off either, and it really makes me feel a bit Tom & Dick if I concentrate on it. FO4 was like it at launch, now it's as clear as a bell so I am hoping they can address this.
I keep dying because I can't get into VATS quickly enough to administer stim paks. I *think* there may be a controller button that does that, but I never used it. It's a bit odd not being able to pause (or heavily slow down) the action, though.
Every time I "exit to desktop" the game freezes and crashes. I have to end task to get rid of it.