Yeah Ik.
I just never liked it as much as Fallout 3, the opening didn't invest me enough to do anything beyond the opening area.
I felt like that too initially when I played it on release.
did not feel invested because the goal seemed so weak initially compared to fallout 3.
Back then I saw it as this, fallout 3 - clean water for all, new vegas - get a poker chip.
However, in recent years when I actually pushed past that opening, got the chip and saw what followed it, I was hooked to the plot and actually got invested with the factions, even the legion who I initially slaughtered for what seemed like clear moral reasons, got a lot more grey later on when I got to speak with Caesar himself.
Also the companions, I have a few favourites in Fallout 3 but only Fawkes and Charon seemed to have some sort of arc recruiting them and none after, new vegas's characters often had cold openings but their stories opened up after enough time travelling, Veronica's personal quest especially is one I got seriously invested in and felt quite downbeaten when I took a wrong turn in the quest and my underleveled character got trapped in a permanent death loop.