A great sequel to one of the greatest RPGs of all time.
While the original Fallout's first impression was legendary - you are left outside the Vault in a dark cavern, Fallout 2 does not start out very strongly. In the beginning you will have to play through the Temple of Trials, a sort of training level, which is actually surprisingly difficult for new players. After completing it, you, as the Chosen One, are assigned at leaving the village to find a holy item called G.E.C.K., which is needed to save your little village. Luckily, there isn't a time limit in finding the item like in the original Fallout, so the player can take their time in completing the main quest peacefully.
The game mechanics aren't much different from the original Fallout. It's still a point-and-click game with exciting turn-based combat system and a similar character customization to the first Fallout. None of these facts matter, however, because Fallout 2 has made a lot of improvements from the original Fallout. Fallout 2 has a lot more content than the first Fallout had, there are more towns to explore, more quests, more weapons, more allies, more everything. Fallout 2 isn't also as linear (not saying that Fallout was linear at all), as you can freely explore the towns in almost whatever order you like, and you can even skip some of them if not interested.
There are more recruitable allies you can choose from to follow you (with the maximum of 2, even 3 with a certain perk), and you can now actually give your allies some of your items in the inventory in case you can't for example carry anymore, and you can have it back without having to barter it or steal it back from them. The ally battle customization is also more comprehensive, as you can give them armor to wear and customize the weapons they should wield, etc. You can now also have an impact on the allies' behavior during battles, you can now choose more comprehensively whether they should rush towards the enemy like maniacs or keep a safe distance.
Another great thing about Fallout 2 is that it's still as much of a role-playing game as the first Fallout was. I actually find it great that the gameplay did not experience radical changes from the first game, because that way the feeling of a Fallout game has been maintained, unlike in Fallout 3. In other words, Fallout 2 is basically the same game as the first Fallout but in completely different clothes with a completely new world, a new storyline and lots of improvements.
Now we get to the question, why do I think the original Fallout is better? Well, first of all, I find the original Fallout much more atmospheric because all you had in front of you was an endless Wasteland full of raiders, mutants and radiation, but with only a few human settlements. Everybody's goal was to survive in one way another, and the feeling of the apocalyptic, dystopian world was able to maintained throughout the game. Fallout 2, however, does give me the feeling of a great Fallout game, but not the feeling of a post-apocalyptic world. There are pretty much human settlements everywhere, and the world has seemed to move towards a more... well, modern direction. While in the original Fallout humans were trying to survive in small shacks and houses made of debris, tin plates and wood, Fallout 2 offers big casinos, modern stores, an extended use of drugs and prostitutes and even a large city which seems to have survived through the whole nuclear war without a scratch. Shortly put, the first Fallout was, in my opinion, much more atmospheric and original.
I also found the story in the original Fallout more interesting, as the Master and the most intelligent mutants had some of the most interesting dialogue to offer about their actions and motives. Not say that Fallout 2 had a bad story at all, I just found the Enclave and the last boss to be a group of militarized bad-guys with the only goal to take over the world, while the original Fallout tried to create the bad guys, the Mutants and the Master, a more humanitarian nature. This is just my interpretation, however.
While Fallout 2 does not manage to reach the level of the original Fallout, it's still an excellent RPG. With a lot more content to offer and a whole lot of improvements, this is a true classic that should be found, along with the original Fallout, from the shelf of every RPG gamer.