Hi there!
I'm on my first playthrough and I'm doing it like I did it in all Fallout games - Alone!
It's my FO-playstyle. I've always considered FO as the most perfect solo-RPG. The setting is just perfectly matching with being alone on your way through the wastes.

Believe it or not - even though I must have around a dozen FO2 playthroughs, I never had any companions!

But this time I'm hearing a lot about cool dialogue and interesting companion-related quests - so I'm starting to wonder if I should give it a try...

My question is: Are they worth it?
And this is a question to all you "hardcoe-Roleplayers" out there!
Why? Because athmosphere is very important to me and I need to know if the Pros are exceeding all the Cons - from an roleplaying perspective.

The fact that somebody is accompaning me alone, is already something which is killing a part of the "Lonely Wasteland Wanderer" feeling for me.
Besides that, if in many situations (especially combat), your companions act stupidly (which most NPCs in non specially party-based games do), it agains ruins a lot of the athmosphere.
And, on top of that, if the companions are making the game way to easy (combat-wise), it would be the next killer...

So - once again - the question:
Do I miss out a lot of remarkable moments, if I simply ignore all possible companions?
Are the quests related to them worth all the negative aspects?

Or is there maybe the possibility of a compromise?
Is it possible to recruit them, then immediately do their special quests and then kick them out? Or is it necessary to, at first, stay a while with them before their quests are accessible (giving them time to gain trust etc - which is more "realistic" RPG-wise, but also more annoying in regards to the negative aspects of companions)?

As a "hardcoe" roleplayer with special focus on the Lonely Wanderer athmosphere:
Should I give it a try - or stick to my longtime FO playstyle and simply ignore them?

Thanks!

Can't answer your general question, because I'm definitely not much of a 'roleplayer'...for me I'm fine with roleplaying someone who might meet and then wanders the world with one or two close companions vs. the constant loner....but I can answer this part:

Yup, you pretty much have to stick with them for a while. Rex the mutt's quest is fairly simple and quick to do, but all the others require more time. Some require you history, some require other things.....and without a walkthrough/spoiler it can be kinda tough to know what's what without some time investment. You can do more than a couple in one playthrough, however. Most of the time if you want companion quests it's best to pick them up fairly early rather than leaving until very late, although it does depend on which companion.

Also, yes, they can make combat too easy - they have no truly passive mode (won't attack at all). If that's going to really distress you there are ways around it, like telling them wait a decent distance away while you go do stuff, but even so they're going to probably feel like baggage. The only suggestion I can make is to play it through once your preferred way, then at least give a couple of the companions a shot next time. Most of the human companions do have good stories/quests if you're patient enough to reach them. (edit) You might even find yourself enjoying one so much you won't want to give them up.

Well, no companion is truly essential to the game, but personally, I find having them around actually enhances the game environment. I've played Fallout 2, the companions were terrible, Fallout 3, companions were terrible, Fallout NV, companions have their frustrating moments, but over all can be enjoyable.

Their combat AI is not brightest -not surprisingly. They will usually ruin stealth and have to be looked after when encountering tougher enemies (like deathcalvs, packs of nightstalkers, giant radscorpions). They will charge it to any opponent and never retreat or run from battle once initiated. Do not expect them to follow you if you do. If you run in to enemy which you want to avoid, you better to not have them with you. So they have good capacity to make things actually more not less difficult. Especially if you play on hardcoe as in such case they can be killed.

In hardcoe I also do not recommend giving them stimpacks. At first this might sound as good idea but in reality it just gets them killed faster. Their stimpack use animation take time during which they stop fighting and are absolutely vulnerable. And since in hardcoe stimpack is not healing instantly, its useless unless enemy gives them time to heal ...which he doesn't of course.

They can be of help on the other hand fighting mediocre, less dangerous enemies. And of course, they can carry your stuff. That is probably their biggest advantage ...not really compliment to Fallout designers.

Most attractive companion aspect are their quests. This alone is worth taking them on board. Each of them have its own story in to which you can get involved. Perks they give you also can be interesting in some cases and you do not loose such perk even if they are parked miles away (they don't have to be with you). You just have to have them recruited.

They escort me when I travel from place to place but I park hem at the safe spot before exploring unknown area. I take them in to the battle only if I know what I am against. When I want their help fighting some tougher enemies, I use sort of ambush tactics. I place them some distance from enemy with clear line of fire all around. I might place some mines in front of them. Then I either draw enemy towards their position or use that position as retreat spot if things get hot.

Also do not use them in combat inside interiors. They tend to charge on their own when they detect somebody, even if that somebody is on different floor or two rooms away. This they do despite been set to defensive tactic (in general they are way too aggressive even if set on defensive stance, I actually can not imagine how they behave on aggressive ...I did not had courage to try).

If their AI would be bit improved, they could be much more useful. Defensive stance should definitely be more defensive. I would expect them to stay close to me and never chase enemies out of my close proximity. I would also expect them to follow me if I run away from enemy even if that should mean they need to disengage their current target. Some kind of interface which would allow me to send them to some place without need to go there with them would be also great. Best would be some kind of point and click by cursor -both directly on terrain (or structure if I want then to enter it) and on map in Pip Boy.

Bad companion AI and controllability is what plague Fallout from its beginning. Only exception in series was perhaps Fallout Tactics -most likely because its emphasis on squad combat.

I love going out with the companions and although I've only taken Boone and ED-E out, I can say that you'll be missing a lot of the game if you don't try them all. You can always have them wait somewhere at any point and do things without them along. I've only had the two and what they've added for me has been huge. They have their own stories and I'm looking forward to learning the ones I haven't done yet. If you don't like a lot of pvssyr, Boone and ED-E keep it down while you explore. If you have high Charisma, I think that's why Boone owns everything but that may change in the next patch...we'll see. Personally, I hope not because I like having a bodyguard. I can't speak for the other companions but I found ED-E to be strong after a Laser upgrade at higher levels. He could take down scorpions alone.

High Charisma affects Companion Nerve from +5 at CH1 to +50 at CH10. That's a big range.

Boone and ED-E are better outdoors although they do fine indoors, while some companions are great in close range situations. Cass and Veronica I think.

Good luck!

I tend to go it alone in the originals as well. I do have companions I like for FO1 and FO2. I don't use them in FO3 because they are over powered and stupid.

Companions in FO New Vegas are well thought out. They aren't Gods like they are in FO3. They do have there own quests and dialogue. If you have Wild Wasteland as a trait and you enjoy Special Random ecounters then your in luck some come with special random ecounters. They can handle themselves in a fight but you do have to watch them because like the originals they can be killed pretty fast.

They can be annoying in battle, especially if you prefer a stealthy approach because they will more often that not charge on in if they detect an enemy.

Having companions on hardcoe adds another dimension to the game though, because you need to protect them. Personally I found it quite depressing when a well liked companion was killed.

Most companions have very interesting side quests and add a lot of gameplay value because of that.