i completely agree that the actual game is better; the writing is much better yes (the fo3 story i didn't care about at all), the new added gameplay mechanics are great, just everything overall is what fallout 3 should've been. the setting though? fucking kills it for me. the setting of fallout 3 is what makes it stand out in my mind, i love exploring the capital wasteland, finding all the places, meeting all the characters, just totally feeling post apocalyptic. in new vegas, i really didn't. it just felt like traversing the desert and going to a bunch of towns i didn't care about at all. some of it was cool and the strip was pretty legit, but overall really the setting just fucking killed it. having the capital wasteland with the gameplay and writing of new vegas would've been perfect but unfortunately it did not work out that way.
i remember in one interview/question they said something about the setting of fallout 4 like "you enjoyed exploring the mojave right?" to which i promptly went FUCK NO. if theyr'e making it another desert or something like alaska (which would fit with the lore perfectly) i will be highly disappointed. the landmarks and locations in fallout 3 along with the setting were fucking perfect, as well as the green filter that gave it personality (i know many don't like that) whereas new vegas had none. nothing could be a better setting for a post apocalyptic game like that, and i'm really hoping for fallout 4 they get another cityscape and really interesting area and make it even more brooding and dangerous with all the great gameplay elements combined together. hell, los angeles or new york woudl be fucking great, traversing broken down buildings, the subway system, all the neighborhoods; it'd be like the philip k dick novel dr bloodmoney but instead of in the bay area out there. PLEASE BETHESDA, DON'T FUCK IT UP.