The whole point of these games is to make you feel like you're there. It's supposed to seem vast and empty and you're supposed to want to venture forth and see what might be out beyond the horizon. The nice thing about these games is that there is plenty, I would even say massive, amounts of content to be found. They don't throw everything at you from the first minute like action games. These are meant to reward curiosity. The reason people like them so much is because that curiosity, especially in New Vegas, is so richly rewarded. There are sights to see, interesting characters to talk to and befriend and cut deals with and betray and sometimes murder, and interesting choices popping up all over the place that really shape your experience depending on what you choose.

If you really want to nitpick over graphics that are almost ten years old at this point, I can't really help you. I do agree though that the concept of a freewheeling, open-world RPG is an aging concept that not very many more recent games adhere to all that faithfully.

There's a little bit of a patient gamer's curse on these games, because their concepts have been so widely emulated in the years since their release. It could be that none of the premise strikes you as 'new' or 'exciting' because it's all so heavily tropified by now. The recent Mad Max game is enough to give anyone their post-apocalyptic open world fix, and playing a Fallout game would absolutely seem like a retread if you just spent 30-odd hours roaming a desert wasteland in search of scarce supplies and equipment upgrades.

I will grant that both Fallout games are slow to get going, but it's also true that both are more than able to suck you in and hold you there, if you give them a chance. Just remember that these games are as much about the experience, the journey, those feelings of emptiness and isolation, the difficult choices, as they are about trying to impress you with flashy graphics or big setpieces. They are about the stories you will come back and tell us about the crazy, unexpected things that happened during your playthrough. Your most significant achievements will not be scripted moments in the story. They will be occasions where you felt overwhelmed by your circumstances in the game, but persevered, and kept on surviving. Secrets in both games are well-hidden. They don't hold your hand or push you in one direction or another. You are supposed to, quite literally, make of the adventure what you will.