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WASTELAND

often gets described as proto-fallout, but that undersells both the incredible influence wasteland had and how strongly fallout pivoted to a space more tonally reminiscent of wasteland’s sneering irreverence as early as fallout 2. in this sense, fallout is fallout, but perhaps fallout 2 is wasteland 2 (not to be mistaken with the nominal wasteland 2, which is perhaps fallout 4, and thus wasteland 4 at bare minimum (tho this is open to interpretation)) in which case the series’ trajectory suddenly makes a lot more sense. this is to say fallout is the most fallout, certainly, but also the least, because it isn’t wasteland, which is fallout, or more accurately, because fallout is wasteland, except fallout, which is fallout, or was briefly for a spell in 1997