"you're a good man arthur morgan"

proceeds to kill 3 cops to free a prisoner, robs the prisoner, kills the prisoner, flees so fast that kills another person by crashing the horse into them, then kills the witness, then kills the witness who saw the killing of the first witness and after that, why not steal everything from that abandoned camp that happens to be just there? but the abandoned camp is not abandoned, so you have to kill the owner of the camp while the horse is frightened by a snake, so the snake must die too, you skin the snake and that's enough time for a guy to show up and ask you if you know how to shoot, you try to show them but you're so bad that you lose the bet, so there's no other way of solving this business than killing that guy... after 2-3 more witnesses die, you flee so fast blindly following "GPS" directions that you enter legendary animal territory, in which you kill a thousand pound bear, skin it, save its perfect pelt and feel so badass that you don't have to follow GPS no more, just to horribly die because of slippery rocks in the middle of a cascade while trying to get back to the camp

Great and it's a life-changing series, but this one pays the rent in the Masterpieces Suite with nostalgia bills. It has been absolutely surpassed by all of the FromSoft's games that came out after.

World-design? Often quoted as its greatest achievement, already surpassed by Elden Ring's magnificent open world. Bosses? Obviously Dark Souls III is far better and people say Bloodborne is very high in that regard. RPG and variety of items and builds? Well, Dark Souls 2 and Elden Ring says hello. Beautiful landscapes and biomes? Yes, but I prefer Elden Ring. OST? Also nice, but the most memorable tracks are in the other games for me. Lore? Yes, it's cool, but I prefer the unhinged madness of Dark Souls II or the complex intricacies of Elden Ring. Late-Game? This is by far the worst late-game in the series. Pace? No game in the series suffers a worst pace problem that what happens here after the O&S fight. DLC? Well, this one is nice, but Dark Souls II's DLCs are a masterpiece. PvP? Not my thing and I've played few minutes in each game, but this is definitely terrible in that aspect. Atmosphere? It might be its biggest strength nowadays, tbh, but as I said, I think Elden Ring or Dark Souls III captures everything this game does in a more polished, stylish manner.

There's a lack of special abilities for the weapons, a lack of RPG elements that have been added in future games, a lack of complexity in the way enemies work, there's no dual-wielding, the UI feels dated, the upgrade system feels convoluted, the weight system is a mess, the so praised interconnectivity ends up being a gimmick for the first quarter of the game to later disappear or be reduced to a few spots, and a big etcetera.

For me this stands as a great opening to the series (forget about Demon's Souls, which is the same as this but worse), but it's definitely far from being the definitive experience these games can offer. That's why I always recommend playing this one or Demon's Souls first, so you can look at the progress the series made and be awed at its growth. But if you play Elden Ring or Dark Souls III or Bloodborne before playing this, this will feel dated, clunky, devoid of useful features and lacking on the QoL department. Also, you would have to traverse Lost Izalith after having felt FromSoft's true design power, which must be a harrowing experience.

Another masterpiece. I have found those clickbait videos of Joseph Anderson and similar weak and ill-founded in their criticisms. Fair analysis and strong arguments will certainly never come out of YouTubers who are known to be contrarians just to please YouTube shitty algorithm.

I can understand not liking the moons thing, but you have to see the moons not like stars in earlier games, but a new way of rewarding player's actions. Some complain about games doing always the same and then a classic saga changes a little thing and they berate with no limit.

Everything in here is lovely, creative, and just fun to play. I usually don't finish a lot of games because they end up being weak or boring, but this is pure simple enjoyment all the way. I'm not even a Nintendo die-hard, since other things they do are not meant for my taste, but these 3D Marios are unique.

Kingdoms ranked: https://imgur.com/a/n7ZoQUj
Outfits ranked: https://imgur.com/a/zzJ13kj
Bosses ranked: https://imgur.com/a/zMGafZH

It might not be the best in mechanical terms, but nothing has come closer to the eerie, adventurous, colorful, diverse, creative aesthetic of it all. Each level has a unique personality, a unique feeling and atmosphere attached to it. You really feel you're traveling to different worlds.

Probably the best game ever just because it's the essence of a videogame taken to its limits: to use mechanical, visual and musical aspects to make you feel in control of things, while also delivering a special, diverse and unique aesthetic experience.

And I always consider a plus the community around a game. The fact that this game continues to be reviewed and analyzed, tier lists and speedruns and unique run ideas like the A Press Challenge (I recommend you watch asap Bismuth's video about such challenge) come out almost every week or the thousands of rom hacks available that add new and fresh ideas are just some signs that this hits the right spot and it does it in a way that shines above similar works.