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Foreword
As the TV show was released on Prime and each Fallout content got a discount on Steam I decided to purchase this DLC. To be honest, I don't like when a game has many DLCs and when they are barely story-oriented. That is why I completed Far Harbor only with the base game. I was hesitant about Nuka-World, however, not only did the TV show appear on streaming but Bethesda also announced a free update with quality-of-life changes and new missions. I made the purchase right away.
The story
New story-oriented DLC means a new, separate map. We listen to the radio to get directions and we can head west immediately to transition to the next area. All this will lead to an ambush concocted by raiders but, interestingly, following the first boss fight we join them as the new overseer. So, we are the new leader and we are responsible for policing 3 different groups of raiders. All with different attitude, appearance and weaponry. And all having their base of operations in a big, Nuka-Cola-themed amusement park.
Gage is a central character when it comes to receiving our next (main) quest. First, it's all about capturing the entire park (getting rid of all kinds of monsters including old ones but some new, too) and distributing its sectors between the 3 groups then we can head out to Commonwealth and capture outposts. But this is a loose connection to the main map as the main quests focus on the new area.
The novelty
With new map come a lot of new quests, items and enemies. Imagine a crossover between alligators and deathclaws. They are the gatorclaws! We have new robots, too, as well as ants, bloodworms and even crickets. While the amusement park is the centerpiece of the map, once again it's worth exploring the entire section outside of it including taking long walks along the border of the map. You can always find some new establishment and, in some cases, even unmarked locations. You never know when you'll bump into a deathclaw protecting some very unique loot. Plus, with the 3 gang leaders we have infinite quests to complete.
By far, the best part of the DLC is the new set of colas we find. There is a lot of mixer machines to combine them and get even more special flavours. But first only half a dozen recipes are available - the rest are well-hidden just like the magazines we had in the base game. One relatively tedious achievement wants us to kill 40 (Nuka-World) creatures while under the effects of such soda drinks.
The bad
I wasn't particularly keen on making friends with raiders. Venturing (back) into Commonwealth territory to convert the settlements I made friends with to raider outposts? I didn't like it. Preston wasn't happy, either. The game mechanics are interesting in the sense of convincing folks to leave and other groups can be convinced to send us supplies. Plus, given these side missions you get to build raider-related objects. But if you read my Fallout 4 review you know that I appreciated the fact that we had bases but beside fortifying Sanctuary I didn't spend much time with this. Same here: I completed the bare minimum to advance the story.
The above doesn't significantly alter your alignment if that is what you're afraid of. Violence is not a must and settlers can be convinced to leave. Also, fun fact that one of the first missions you get as an overseer is to kill all raider leaders. Understandable as Nuka-World is also full of slaves (labelled as traders but they wear special collars indicating their special status).
Depending on who the least-favoured gang is the endgame can change but don't expect major decisions here. When I eliminated the boss I realised I couldn't enter the room where she was. The key to the door was actually on her. So with new content come new bugs. I was very annoyed and didn't want to go back to an older save which would have meant losing several hours of playtime so by using the no-clip cheat I managed to solve this issue. I'm glad I was able to unlock achievements later on.
The summary
Nuka-World is an interesting DLC with lots of new cola recipes, creatures and interesting quests. The amusement park by far is the best location to discover. I had fun but wasn't very happy to join the raiders and ask Commonwealth farmers to abandon their post immediately or else. I think this part of the game is fun mainly if you enter Nuka-World when doing a new walkthrough.
The bug I experienced towards the endgame made me really angry. I was actually very close to downvoting this DLC because of that but I was mainly annoyed given the news of the update. They could have patched some of these annoying glitches, too. Far Harbor remains the superior content for me but Nuka-World is, too, heaps of fun. My playtime was around 15-20 hours but this included the new quests with the latest update.
On the new update (April, 2024)
We get a handful of new missions in the Commonwealth. Some are centered around the Enclave. The new grenade launcher and Tesla cannon are both great weapons. The new quests often come with new terminals where we can read a lot of e-mails. For me it's always fun reading up on ongoing or past events. The game launcher managed to set everything to "ultra" when it comes to the initial launch (I'm glad next gen or current gen hardware are now recognised) but the game crashed just the same when weapon debris was set to anything else than "off". What a pity!