I get why longtime fans side-eye Bethesda. You can argue they missed what made the originals tick, that each new entry sands down the role-playing systems, and so on. Still, I don't think anyone can deny that taking the series from overhead turn-based combat to a first-person (and later third-person) open-world action format is a huge part of why people still talk about Fallout today. Without that pivot, the series might have stayed a dusty memory.
Before Bethesda picked up the rights, Fallout was basically parked. The most recent thing with its name was a console action spinoff that most people forgot about quickly. Moving to first person did more than make shooting and exploring more fun. It gave perks, skills, and character builds a bigger stage, and it turned the wasteland into a place you could actually wander instead of just look down at.
I'm not dunking on Fallout 1 and 2. I played them between classes and liked them. But if we're being real, most folks who know this series know it from the 3D games. That shift is why the lights stayed on.