(This play through was done using the Tale of Two Wastelands Mod, with a 250+ plugin list, and thus graphics and gameplay are changed and will not be accounted for in the review)

Fallout 3 was the first Fallout game I played fully back in 2017 as a teenager and back then I enjoyed it a lot, even calling it my favorite for the longest time. As I grew older, my opinion of it soured, and I grew a larger affinity for the older games + Fallout New Vegas for their more in depth RPG systems. However finally replaying Fallout 3 after many years has left me pretty satisfied.

As stated before I played with a large mod list which ultimately does not reflect the game that was shipped in 2008, so I will be judging the game solely on its world, story and RPG mechanics as those are unchanged and are ultimately the most important part of these games anyway.

Fallout 3's story, while simple and straightforward, is good enough. Nothing here will make you question the factions or their motives or what you're ultimately changing in the world, The Brotherhood are the good guys and The Enclave are the bad guys and that's fine. The main story questline is not very long and can be done in just a few hours. The sidequests also share that similar modern Bethesda feel, there's ultimately 2 choices, a good deed or a bad deed. The writing and humor however is on point. You can tell this was made by a different team than the original Fallout games, but they do a good job and going for the feel and look of Fallout. Unfortunately There's not a lot of depth to the game's world, however I feel the game was still satisfying to play. The quests were engaging, and it was fun to explore and loot the Capital Wasteland which as usual, Bethesda did craft a fun and enjoyable world to traverse. Another thing I noticed was how many cool setpieces there are in FO3 compared to FNV. The appearance of the Enclave, and Liberty Primes's assault are a few I can name which just felt awesome to see.

While it definitely is not the most in depth game, it certainly is not the most basic (Bethesda would triple down on simplifying everything in Skyrim, Fallout 4 and especially Starfield). I think Fallout 3 is a good game, and probably one of the best starting points for someone wanting to get into the series (provided you can get past the gameplay jank in the vanilla game). Give it a try and you may like it. 7/10

I love Demon's Souls (2009) and the 2020 remake is no different. I played the original game in 2022 right before Elden Ring released as it was the final game in the series I had yet to complete, apparently I did not write a review, so I will do so here.

Demon's Souls is the original souls game and defined the genre as what we know it as today. What makes the game stand out is its incredible atmosphere, it's unique when compared to Dark Souls. The similarities are there being a fantasy setting, but I think DeS has the best in the series. The levels are shorter here and the bosses are pretty weak compared to what you see later in the series, but I think for the first, it does a great job. A unique feature to this game is the world tendency system, which unfortunately is one of the game's only flaws. By defeating bosses and invaders, you gain white tendency, making the world a bit easier to traverse and also including some nice goodies exclusive to that side. However, dying in human form or invading others you gain black tendency which makes the world harder to travel through and also adds in extra enemies and black phantoms, some of which are ridiculously difficult. Luckily it isn't too hard to avoid getting pure black tendency, but it is a cool concept that ultimately didn't work too well. The remake does a fantastic job updating the graphics and especially the sound design, everything sounds like it has weight and looks incredible, still I think the best PS5 game in the visuals department. The remake does take some liberties and it being a more realistic approach it does lose a bit of the atmosphere of the original, however I do not think of the remake as a replacement over the original, more like another option as both play fantastically and will suit those with a preference for both. The remake being a lot newer still has online functionality and I for the most part played my game alone and a friend's game as a phantom. The coop experience does make the game a lot easier, and in some ways I think breaks the AI for some enemies and especially bosses. The music in the remake is also a bit more ambient, and I definitely prefer the original's soundtrack for its more dreamlike sounding melodies (listen to Maiden Astraea's theme for a good comparison). Overall the DeS Remake is a fantastic remake of an excellent game, you have to remember this is still a 2009 game and the remake is incredibly faithful to its mechanics and even glitches so be patient, and you'll have a great time.

The Ringed City is the final piece of Dark Souls content and it excels at tying everything together and keeping with the overall theme of the game, letting go of the past. The Ringed City itself contains some of the hardest hitting, and most brutal enemies in the game, you will die a lot even in lvl 100+ builds. The boss selection is also quite good, with the only stinker being spears of the church (a PVP boss, mileage may vary). Gael is one of the greatest bosses in the entire lineup of games, and will run your flasks dry and keep your anxiety high. Fantastic DLC for a great game, bittersweet to see this is the end, but we know how great a game outside of Dark Souls can be (Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring).

My entry into Fromsoftware's library and still my favorite to this day. Level design may not be as intricate as DS1 or have mechanics as deep as DS2 or even have the tight level design of BB, but what DS3 does offer is a spectacular end to the DS Trilogy. This game caps off the series themes and gameplay successfully, and the bosses and story really shine here. Dark Souls III is an excellent entry for those wishing to play one of FromSoftware's titles for the first time, and also those wanting more of what Elden Ring offered, don't miss out this game is an absolute masterpiece

Dark Souls II's final DLC, while not as strong as the first two, is still a decent time, containing a fun area and an excellent boss. The Frozen City is HUGE with many branching paths and initially blocked areas that I got a bit overwhelmed. It's still fun to traverse through, but the enemies here are pretty tough and deal a lot of damage. Enemy placement here was also just right, being maybe a little bit more difficult than Brume Tower and Shulva as you have multiple invaders (who are douches I might add), spellcasters and frozen knights coming after you, however I never found it to be a gank fest which is nice. The bosses here range from meh to incredible. Aava and it's two copy cats are nothing to write home about, very average bosses (maybe a bit below for the second fight as it's just the same boss copy pasted twice). However, this is all forgiven as the boss fight with the Burnt Ivory King is fantastic. Not only does it require you to explore the city fully for the knights to assist you, (which is awesome) the presentation here is gorgeous, which DS2 happens to already excel at. This boss fight is just below Fume Knight only because I feel that fight begins quickly and is a great 1v1. Otherwise, an awesome and unique boss fight that I loved encountering. Also, the fridged outskirts area is probably the worst area in the entire series, even more so than Shrine of Amana. Thankfully, it's optional and only leads to the copy paste cat fight I mentioned earlier. A solid way to end off DS2, the DLCs are a good time and I recommend them.

Dark Souls II's second DLC is a rather fun time much like the first, feeling more balanced and fair than the base game. Brume Tower is pretty challenging, however, each death felt awarded to me and not like a 20-1 gank fest. There are a lot of traps and the tower is decently long, but the prize at the bottom of the tower is one of the best bosses in the series, and for sure the best in DS2. Fume Knight was the first boss I found to be actually challenging and exhilarating to fight, he has a great moveset to memorize, and it took me a solid hour or so to defeat him. His design is also really awesome, and the story he contains is some of the best in the game. This is also followed up by another excellent boss for all the same reasons, Sir Alonne. The only dud in this DLC was the optional area containing a reskinned Smelter Demon, an already somewhat tedious boss. The runback is AWFUL and when it's for a boss you already fought, why even bother? I certainly didn't. Otherwise, another good addition to the game I enjoyed much more than base DS2.

Dark Souls II has some really neat ideas that worked great, such as bonfire ascetics, instant humanity, power stancing and great fashion souls; However this comes at a cost. It also introduced many awful mechanics and arbitrary difficulty that just reeks of the developers not understanding what made DS1 work so well. i-frames being tied to a stat, soul memory, stamina regen mechanics, and worst of all the enemy placement. I have not ever played the original DS2 but have played Scholar only twice because of how painful some of these areas are. 10 enemies that aggro on you instantly is not well thought out or interesting, it's plain lazy and just adds artificial difficulty, forcing you to either shoot every enemy down or pray you are a good zoner. This makes boss runbacks (which to be fair are laughably easy, so there won’t be much running back) a nightmare. Iron Keep and Shrine of Amana are some of the worst areas in any Fromsoft game EVER. However, when the game is fair, it's great. The story is interesting despite being disconnected for the most part and the combat is great, PVP in this game is a lot of fun and the many builds you can do give DS2 a lot of replay value. Not a bad game, but certainly a questionable one, and it's interesting to see what was and wasn't taken into DS3 and Elden Ring...