That doesn't excuse that he doesn't know where they are. Just because YOU are writing your narrative of the PC saying he doesn't care about those places because he doesn't think they exist anymore, is pretty crappy. What if I'm roleplaying a guy who doesn't think like you? His house and other things exist, why would you not think the town next to yours is wiped out? Just silly to force those assumptions. I'd rather them have a legitimate reason why he doesn't know where things are than an opinion that he just doesn't care

If the PC has just come out of cryo-sleep & has no concept of time passed then in the PC's mind the pre-fallout world and it's locations would still be somewhat fresh in their mind.

This is assuming that no brain degeneration or damage has occurred in the course of that time.

The PC's mind will most likely be damaged or foggy due to the lack of stimulation during the cryo-sleep & their memories may be triggered by events/places/people.

Also, the initial shock of the seeing a once familiar place in ruins after being devastated by nuclear war would be a hard thing to process, all whilst believing you are possibly the lone survivor in a wasteland filled with god knows what.

Or maybe Tranquility Lane was the "ideal" simulation and what we face in Fallout 4 is actually a simulation which tests how humans handle adversity and being on their own....

Spoliers.

It has to be cryosleep. Fallout 2 had it, Fallout 3 has it with MZ, Van Buren would have had it as well. In Van Buren, many died after "thawing", it was a traumatic process. The player could attempt to thaw NCR scientist at Boulder Dome only if he had a very high science skill, even then there was no guarantee. I think many are not asking the right question. It doesnt matter how he survives 200 years but WHY? The purpose of that vault isnt to just have someone survive 200 years, there is a reason behind this, a purpose. We just don't know what it is.

Well, we don't know that he has forgotten at ALL.

Exactly. It may be like Skyrim, where you start off with major cities and landmarks already marked on your map, you just can't fast travel to them. And I'm with other people - knowing the location of things 200 years before a nuclear apocalypse isn't going to do you THAT much good. Sure, you'd know the general location of major cities and what-not, but you certainly wouldn't be familiar with all the imminent details.

I can tell you that if a nuke went off in my county and I was asleep for 200 years, I wouldn't have a firm grasp on where most things were. The major county city - sure. The little towns around it? Not so much.

Not sure if anyone considered this possibility in all the posts, I tried to read through them but may have missed it, but anyway... If the player was placed in a stasis unit of some sort, then as far as he/she would be concerned it would only be like a matter of minutes from the moment he/she walked in the vault until he/she was walking back out, which would definitely explain why he/she has a hard time accepting that 200 or more had passed and be totally disoriented by what they are seeing.

The ability to that to people was inferred when VR chairs were shown in FO3 in Vault 112, the occupants of those chairs weren't so much frozen as they were placed in stasis.