Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard

 The sequel to Etrian Odyssey, and while Kazuya Niino had no involvement (opting instead to work on the first entry of the competing series 7th Dragon), it follows the same basic format - building a party, traversing a grid-based dungeon and constructing your own maps on the touch screen.  In addition to all the classes from the first game returning, three new ones are introduced - the Gunner serves as a strong ranged attacker, the War Magus as something of a "Red Mage" with healing, fighting and support abilities, and the Beast as a party-protecting animal companion.  Skill sets were tweaked seemingly as an attempt to address the awkward balance of the first game, but they severely overcorrected in this regard - the underpowered classes from the first Etrian Odyssey are now ridiculously strong while all the returning ones are nerfed, becoming average at best.  Case in point, the Ronin and Dark Hunter are now absurdly powerful damage dealers, while the lowly Hexer becomes the single most broken class in the entire series.  Inversely, the Landsknecht, Survivalist, Protector, and Medic have their skills and damage potential severely nerfed while the Troubadour and Alchemist are now almost entirely useless.  It puts the player in a strange place - the party they used in the first game is now almost entirely obsolete while all the classes they probably ignored now get the spotlight.  Some other questionable tweaks are made too; gathering skills are nerfed, topping off at level 5 and only allowing one use per skill per day, and when gathering you have a chance to randomly be attacked by a powerful monster, making it a risky enterprise.  FOEs no longer give experience, which eliminates your primary means of quick re-leveling from the first game.  The Boost mechanic, rather than adding five extra levels to whatever skill you use that turn, is now more of a "limit break" that varies by class - usually a powerful attack or a temporary party buff.  Another interesting, if underutilized addition, is that you can import your guild from the previous game, which changes a few story events and allows you to import the Town Medal or Town Crown if you earned it there (albeit with a major nerf to its stats so it's only really useful in the early game).  Etrian Odyssey II is a pretty standard sequel, though its lackluster balancing and minimal story earn it the unenviable reputation of being the black sheep of the series.  If you got it on the HD collection you'll probably give it a playthrough regardless, but it's definitely eclipsed by every later game in the series, especially its remake (considered one of the franchise's best!).

Developer: Atlus, Lancarse

Publisher: Atlus

Released: 2008, 2023

Platforms: Nintendo DS, Switch, PC

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance was a somewhat divisive game among the fanbase, but it garnered a lot of positive reviews regardless and was a strong seller besides (over 2 million copies worldwide), so of course a sequel was greenlit right away.  However, it ultimately didn't see a release until five years passed and a new handheld system became the market leader, leading to the awkwardly-abbreviated title.  While mostly the same game at its core, some criticisms of the original are addressed - missions have more variety now, and the much-maligned Judge system is also overhauled so that you don't have characters jailed when you break a law, instead just losing rewards and privileges (pre-selected bonuses) and being unable to revive fallen party members for that fight.  The game also utilizes the DS touch screen for more convenient menuing, and has higher-resolution visuals that allow for some flashier effects (like summons).  The story is decent enough for what it is, though the meta element of the first FFTA is largely absent and it once again lacks the heavy mood of the original game, just feeling like a by-the-numbers Final Fantasy plot sanitized just enough to keep it kid-friendly.  If you enjoyed the original FFTA you'll probably like this one too, but if you're still pining for another grimdark fantasy tale more akin to the original Final Fantasy Tactics, well, you're probably better off picking up the Tactics Ogre remake on PSP instead.

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: 2008
Platforms: Nintendo DS

Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice

Disgaea 3 made the leap to the Playstation 3, and things were now moved to an even-sillier setting - a twisted "academy" for demons where ditchers are honor students and those who attend classes are delinquents.  Befitting this, characters are now assigned to Class Clubs and get bonuses based on who they're seated next to in the classroom, and elements like the Class World exist to bolster character stats.  Characters can now mix-and-match unique abilities thanks to the Evility system, and monsters can temporarily morph into weapons with the new Magichange mechanic.  However, a less-auspicious element soon showed itself in the game's DLC, which infamously racked up in price to well over the sticker price of the actual game ($86 in total bought separately or $50 in an all-encompassing mega-pack).  There's still much to offer here for powergamers and those who love to grind out stats, but it's not hard to see why this is one of the less highly-regarded games in the franchise.  The main character being voiced by disgraced actor Vic Mignogna probably does it no favors either. 

Developer: Nippon Ichi Software

Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software

Released: 2008, 2011

Platforms: Playstation 3, Vita

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

The third and last Castlevania game developed for the Nintendo DS, and the last of the "Metroidvania" styled ones, though it definitely puts much more focus on action this time.  Seemingly drawing inspiration from games like Contra, Mega Man Zero and Astro Boy: Omega Factor, your weapons are now more or less "sidegrades" to one another, being earned by defeating specific enemies or found in specific spots in dungeons, and all run off of your MP gauge, meaning you have to ration even your normal attacks now and getting cursed makes you completely unable to defend yourself until it wears off.  Bosses are huge, extremely sturdy and based around pattern memorization, as you die in only a few hits and they take dozens of blows to whittle down.  Leveling up and getting new armor only helps you to a point - you really do need to fight and die to each boss several times, learn exactly how to avoid each of their attacks, wait for openings and use the small handful of weapons best suited for each fight if you want to stand any chance at all.  Enemies will also "hard counter" many of your moves (Dracula himself famously instantly swats you down if you attempt to fly), so there really aren't any cheap exploits this time - you have to play by the exact rules it lays out, which takes away the element of experimentation present in most of the older Metroidvanias.  It's not without its charm if you like games with difficult marathon boss battles, but I would strongly recommend playing it on the Dominus Collection with a proper controller, as the DS's clunky D-pad really does not suit its style of gameplay whatsoever.

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2008

Platforms: Nintendo DS

Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden

There is a good reason I generally avoid playing, let alone reviewing, games made in readily-available game creation kits; by and large they tend to be boring, low-effort works with no concept of balance, design theory or even a hint of originality, swiping assets left and right and usually just aping other games' ideas with nary a fraction of their quality.  Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden is at least a competently-made game beneath its recycled assets, feeling like a 16-bit RPG with some creative combat mini-games reminiscent of titles like Paper Mario, but it quickly slips into another all-too-common pitfall indie developers fall prey to: sheer arrogance.  What could have been a fun game is dragged down by being packed to the brim with inane purple prose, excruciatingly unfunny jokes that go on five minutes too long, and each save point the player encounters triggering lengthy, self-serving rants about western and Japanese RPGs - acceptable content for a blog, perhaps, but it has no business being anywhere near an actual video game.  Basically, it's Family Guy's definitions of 'wit' and 'comedy' put into a game engine - grating dialog, unlikable characters, self-righteous preaching and endless intrusive "hey, remember this" references masquerading as 'humor'.  The author certainly seems to think all of this is very clever and makes him look like the coolest, funniest guy in the world, but I personally just got sick of it and threw the whole thing in the Recycle Bin after the first couple of hours.  It says quite a lot when a game is free, yet you still feel cheated after playing it.  Not to mention the fact that the real Charles Barkley is very vocal about not wanting to be viewed as a role model, so he probably finds the people who build a religion around quoting some unfunny moron's fangame that bears no resemblance to his actual life and post memes hailing him as some messianic figure a la Chuck Norris incredibly disrespectful. Way to show how much you care about a person you allegedly admire, morons!

 

Developer: Tales of Game's Studios

Publisher: Tales of Game's Studios

Released: 2008

Platform: PC, OS X

Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles debuted on the Playstation 3 as a new IP from Sega and it did surprisingly well, selling over one million copies worldwide on PS3 and another 500,000 on Steam within a year of its launch there (even briefly becoming the top-selling game on the platform), getting high marks from critics and gamers alike and kicking off a franchise that continues to this day.  But is this blend of real-time and turn-based combat in a low-fantasy world still worth a play today, or is it just lost in a sea of modern tactical combat sims? 

The Playstation 3 was a tough sell in its early days for many gamers, myself included; its ridiculously high price point, paired with a serious dearth of high quality exclusive titles owing to its cell processor being notoriously difficult to develop games for, had many people taking their chances with the likes of the Xbox 360 and its serious hardware issues instead.  It was also because of this that many of our favorite Playstation 1 and 2 RPG franchises wouldn't see a proper HD release on the Playstation, usually getting a downgraded port/sequel to DS or PSP instead. 

Valkyria Chronicles was one of the games that made believers out of some, though - an original IP by a well-regarded company on an HD platform was something Japanese RPG fans had seen surprisingly little of to that point. It was certainly one of the first PS3 games that really caught my eye as well, and it became one of the first I picked up when I finally got a PS3 myself circa 2010 or so. 

The game was certainly a pretty original concept at the time of its debut, taking place in a war-torn continent with many parallels to real-life events (in particular the second World War) and a dash of low fantasy on top - supernatural powers and forgotten civilizations playing prominent roles. Gameplay-wise, Valkyria Chronicles is a fairly unique blend of turn-based strategy and real-time action elements - when you activate a unit, they move around and evade enemy fire in real time, though pressing a button will stop the action (after a short delay) and allow them to take aim at the enemy; once they take a shot, their turn ends.  Additionally, you're allotted a number of actions each turn, and while you can move the same unit more than once in a round, their movement range will decrease each time you do.  Still, it's often worth it, particularly if a unit is in a good place to take out a dangerous enemy target (like a tank) but will require multiple shots to do so. 

Being a tactical game at its core, your characters are divided into five types of units, each of which serves a particular purpose in battle.  Scouts have long move and sight range but relatively weak weaponry and armor (making them good at outmaneuvering and picking off vulnerable units, but they get taken out easily by Shocktroopers and tanks), Shocktroopers are slower but carry heavier weaponry and are sturdy enough to withstand much more gunfire, Lancers wear heavy anti-blast armor and carry powerful anti-tank weapons but are extremely slow and vulnerable to bullets, Snipers can pick off enemies from afar but are sitting ducks at close range, and Engineers are weak fighters (light armor, low stats in general, though their move range is second to only the Scout) but disarm mines, replenish ammo and repair tanks and barricades, as well as carrying more grenades than any other class (able to use three per round rather than just one) .  Finally, Welkin (the game's protagonist) and one later character command tanks; as you'd expect they can shrug off damage from most firearms, deal heavy damage and roll right over barriers, but are vulnerable to mines and their engines are exposed from behind, requiring that you escort them with infantry to ensure their safety.  They also use two turn icons per move, so relying on them too much is a detriment.  The player can also spend multiple action points on "Orders" which give their units a powerful bonus for the rest of the turn - resisting interception fire, boosting accuracy, dealing extra damage to infantry or tanks, or even fully healing injured units; more of these are earned as the story progresses and the player levels up their classes, but also by visiting the graveyard between missions and paying the "Aged Gentlemen" to unlock them.

Adding another layer of strategy to the game, each character the player commands also has a unique set of advantages and disadvantages (called "potentials") that can activate under certain circumstances - being near another character, on a specific type of terrain, when their health falls below a certain threshold, and so forth.  Some of these can be quite powerful - getting a significant boost to aim or damage on a particular terrain type on a map that has a lot of them will definitely give you an edge. Thus, the strategy for each mission is not just in picking the right mix of classes, but the characters who will have the most advantages (and least disadvantages) on that particular map. Fortunately, this is made easier by the fact that classes, not characters, level up - spending points to upgrade the Scout class, for example, will cause all of your Scouts to power up.  Likewise, buying upgrades for weapons and armor will give them to all characters of that class, not just one. 

It is important to not fall into the trap of thinking the game is too easy, though; sure, you can win most by slowly advancing forward and taking few to no risks with your units, but your rank will also suffer for it and you'll get significantly less experience, money and items once you're done.  Finishing missions efficiently - using as few turns as possible - is key to getting a high rank and maximizing your rewards.  This starts to show itself at roughly a third of the way through the game, where lacking in money and squad levels will quickly begin to bite you - enemy troops become very difficult to overcome, shrugging off multiple headshots and taking out your units almost instantly once they enter firing range.  However, while you cannot replay story missions, you can undertake side missions ("skirmishes") to earn more experience points and money, so fortunately it never becomes impossible to progress; you may have to stop and grind for a while at times to catch up, though.

Like any good war epic, Valkyria Chronicles also has quite a solid story to enjoy, with a well-defined and memorable cast of characters, some surprisingly good voiceover and more than a few creative twists, which in turn lend themselves to creative missions (such as a stealth mission where you have to sneak out of enemy-occupied woods, or prevent a would-be kidnapper from escaping the city).  Seeing all the main cast interact, as well as go through some interpersonal strife (racism and manipulated history being prominent elements in the story) adds a lot of weight and some positive messaging to the game.

In short, it's easy to see why Valkyria Chronicles was so highly regarded, especially on a platform that had a severe shortage of quality Japanese RPGs during its early years.  With gameplay that blends real-time and turn-based strategy in a pretty innovative and fun way, a solid storyline and quite a lot of side content to experience, it stood as proof that the genre still had a foothold in the west that wasn't going to go away.  While its sequels and spinoffs had their ups and downs (with the third game never being officially localized, though a fan translation exists), the original game is a well-regarded classic whose popularity has only grown over the years.  Most gamers swore by Mass Effect or Dark Souls as the big definitive console RPGs of the 7th Generation; neither of those did very much for me, but Valkyria Chronicles is one I'd heartily recommend.

Developer: Sega, Media.Vision (Remasters)

Publisher: Sega

Platform: Playstation 3, PC, Playstation 4, Switch

Released: 2008, 2014, 2016, 2018

Recommended version: The remasters of the game (PC and later) run at higher resolutions and have all the content that was paid DLC on the Playstation 3 version, so any of those are good.  As ever, though, I would also recommend the PC version for some player-based mods that give balance tweaks or additional challenge if that's something that tickles your fancy.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

The fourth spinoff of the monstrously popular Final Fantasy VII, and it had a lot to atone for after the poorly-received Dirge of Cerberus on the Playstation 2.  But does this Playstation Portable outing prove to be worthy of the name, or is this just another bad outing for the world of Final Fantasy VII?

Final Fantasy VII was doubtlessly Square's breakout game, making them into a mainstream success and practically synonymous with Japanese RPGs in the west for many years.  So naturally, they sought to cash in on this popularity in any way they could.  Cloud and friends would cameo in numerous other games (Ehrgeiz, Final Fantasy Tactics, Kingdom Hearts, et cetera) and, several years after the fact, some sequels and spinoffs would begin to appear on various platforms.  The first was Before Crisis, a mobile phone game first released in 2004; this one has never been officially localized, though a complete fan remake was created in the RPG Maker 2003 engine.  Dirge of Cerberus followed two years after and was very negatively received by many fans, with gameplay essentially being a poor knockoff of Devil May Cry and the story feeling like a cheap cash-in sequel with little substance and an overuse of corny anime tropes.  Advent Children - a CGI movie - was released in 2006 as well, adding little to the story and overall feeling like little more than cheap fan service with a dash of Michael Bay-esque OTT action.

Thankfully, they seem to have finally gotten the message with Crisis Core, as the game both tries to be faithful to the tone of Final Fantasy VII's original entry, expands on its story in fitting fashion, and provide an action-driven style of gameplay that feels well-crafted and less derivative than Dirge of Cerberus.  Even some of its gameplay elements feel more faithful to the original, utilizing equippable Materia to allow for a variety of special moves and a constantly spinning slot reel mechanic (slightly reminiscent of Cait Sith's limit break) to keep combat dynamic.

In terms of plot, Crisis Core is a prequel story starring Zack Fair - a character who is mostly just alluded to in the original game, and only seen at length in one relatively obscure scene.  This is used to good effect throughout, though, giving the player a chance to see firsthand several events that are only hinted at throughout Final Fantasy VII (such as the war with Wutai) and get a bit more of a human perspective from characters like Sephiroth.  I was personally glad they went this route, as it afforded them a way to expand on the series' lore and give more attention to characters and events that are only alluded to in the first game, and showing more of a character that played a large role despite his minimal screen time.  Simultaneously, this allows it to avoid the same pitfall the sequels fell into - trying to re-engage the audience with cheap nostalgia and little else.

In keeping with the company's penchant for high production values, Crisis Core certainly doesn't skimp on its presentation.  The game is downright beautiful to look at, with clear, high-quality FMVs (despite the low resolution) carrying the story at points, and well-rendered spell effects, environments and combat animations throughout.  Character models are surprisingly expressive, and the monsters are large, imaginative and vicious-looking as per series norms.  The music and voiceover sound remarkably crisp and clear too, even as they come out of the PSP's tiny speakers.  It's easily one of the most impressive games on the platform from an aesthetic viewpoint, if not the best.

Gameplay-wise, Crisis Core is a relatively simple action experience.  The main storyline is broken up into a series of short missions - roughly 45 minutes to an hour apiece - which is in line with the portable format of the game.  Numerous optional missions can also be undertaken between story-relevant ones - usually toughened up battles from the story that offer rewards if they are successfully completed.  Combat takes place largely in real-time, with you selecting an action via the L and R triggers and then carrying it out via the X button - either a normal attack or one of six equippable materia that grant spells or special moves like a spinning slash, as well as an ever-present items menu for when you need a quick boost.  You also have a dodge button (mapped to Square) and a block button (mapped to Triangle) at all times.  However,  I rarely used the guard since you have to wait for an attack or dodge animation to completely finish before a block will activate, whereas you can cancel into a dodge at almost any point.  Between battles, you're afforded some opportunity to explore, interact with objects and change up your equipment if needed; you're afforded up to four accessory slots to do just that, and items are frequently earned as bonuses between missions or as hidden items during them.  Another very prominent mechanic is the bizarrely-named DMW ("Digital Mind Wave"), which is essentially spells, limit breaks, level-ups and a gambling element all rolled into one.  This affords you the opportunity you to adapt new tactics on the fly, perform your most powerful attacks and earn bonuses that either last a short while or for the duration of the combat phase.    It also requires that you dispatch foes with a degree of efficiency as it consumes 10 SP every time it spins, and will do so constantly as long as the player has SP to spend.

Essentially, it works like this: three slot reels spin, each with a number from 1 to 7 and a character portrait; at first there are only two visible (Sephiroth and Angeal), though more portraits are unlocked as you meet key characters during the story.  The player can earn beneficial status effects from getting at least one 7 in any reel or matching three of the same number - temporary invincibility, immunity to physical/magic attacks (either for a short period or the entire battle) or reducing MP or AP costs to 0 (ditto).  Getting two matching pictures on the left and right reels begins a "modulating phase", stopping the action temporarily and moving the reels to center-screen for another spin.  At this point, if all three reels have matching portraits, you get a bonus to your HP, MP, AP and SP and do one of several limit break animations (depending on the character they landed on).  The numbers spin during this phase too, which can potentially power up one of your equipped materia - rolling two of the same number from 1 to 6 will cause a materia in that slot to gain a level, while rolling three of the same will give it two levels instead.  If you roll three 7s during this phase, Zack himself will gain a level, permanently boosting his own stats.  A triple-7 is not completely random, however - Zack does have a hidden experience counter and must hit a certain threshold before the reels even have a chance to land on it.  As the game progresses more modifiers are added to the modulating phase, allowing you to perform summon attacks or earn bonuses like free items or casting a number of beneficial status effects all at once.  It certainly keeps the combat dynamic, but having no real control over what effects you'll get or when you get them may be a turnoff to some, especially during some of the tougher missions.

Soldier Points have another important effect in the game too; namely, tying into the Materia Fusion system.  This operates a bit like the magic crafting system from Final Fantasy 15, having the player combine two materia together to get a new one with the effects of both.  Fusing a Fire and a Dark materia together, for example, will create Dark Fire, which deals damage and inflicts Poison and Silence status at the same time.  Some materia also grant stat bonuses when equipped, like a bonus to Vitality, Attack or Luck, and these can be carried over to other materia that they are fused to, creating a cumulative effect if they have the same stat bonus.  Later in the game, one can even mix in items to get more stat bonuses, though only up to a certain point - trying to raise materia stat bonuses above a certain threshold (generally around 40) can only be done by fusing similar materia to them.

Crisis Core is definitely the standout title among the numerous Final Fantasy VII spinoffs.  While I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, one can definitely tell that the team behind it had passion for the series and wanted to do right by its fans.  (In fact, they famously wanted to include more interactions between Zack and Cloud, though they had to drop the majority of those planned scenes owing to the UMD format's relatively low storage space).  Its gameplay is relatively simple, yet fun, the story does justice to Final Fantasy VII and rarely feels superfluous, and the materia crafting system definitely provides some extra play value for the die-hard stat-grinders in the audience (though the random element to gaining levels certainly makes it more protracted than it needs to be).  For a portable spinoff game to a beloved classic, Crisis Core didn't blow me away, but it certainly didn't let me down.

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: Playstation Portable, PS4, PS5 PC, Switch, XBox One, XBox Series
Released: 2007, 2008, 2022
Recommended version: The HD ports on various platforms are definitely the ones to play nowadays, though you should try to get the PC, XBox Series or PS5 version if you can; I encountered quite a bit of lag and hitching on the PS4 release.  The PC version also has a fan mod available to restore the original voice acting from the PSP version if that's your preference.

Fallout 3

Fallout 3 is a game that met with much skepticism among long-time Fallout fans, with concerns that its shift in development teams and change to a more action-oriented engine would ruin the magic the first two games conveyed.  But did Bethesda do an admirable job trying to build a new game in the Fallout universe, or is this the archetypal killing blow to the series that so many feared?

Fallout 3 is certainly an odd case among video game development cycles, beginning its life under Black Isle at Interplay during a time when they were facing severe financial problems.  Eventually Interplay closed down Black Isle and sold off several of their popular IPs in an attempt to avert bankruptcy, with the Fallout license being purchased by Bethesda Softworks.  Rather than use the work already done on Interplay's Fallout 3, however, they controversially decided to scrap it all and create their own game from scratch using the Gamebryo engine (already used in their earlier games Morrowind and Oblivion) and with their own original plot and mechanics.  From there, virtually every move they made on Fallout 3 was heavily nitpicked and criticized by long-time series fans, with many dismissing it as another "dumbed-down game" ruined by a shift in developers well before it was even out (not aided by the lackluster reception of Fallout Tactics and the extremely mediocre console spinoff, Brotherhood of Steel).

However, Bethesda took things in stride, and even made some genuine efforts to address fan complaints and criticisms.  Rewrites were made to better accommodate their game to series lore (with the discrepant Super Mutant designs and behavior being explained, for example) and some elements of Fallout's design were worked into Fallout 3, such as having damaged or crippled limbs hinder the player and even a slight "turn-based" aspect in the VATS system.  The latter essentially lets the player stop the action temporarily to take aim at a specific enemy, allowing them to target their limbs with as many shots as their AP gauge allows.  AP slowly recharges over (real) time, though, so one can't simply abuse this system constantly to pick off every enemy they encounter with heads hots.  Finally, they secured the rights to "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" - the song originally intended to be used in Fallout 1's intro (which was ultimately replaced by "Maybe" in that game); both songs, as well as several other era-appropriate ones, prominently feature on this game's soundtrack, adding much to the game's feel.

Fallout 3 still clearly plays to Bethesda's strengths rather than Black Isle's, however.  Their skill in world design definitely shines through here, with the ruins of DC providing a sprawling, vast area to explore.  Venturing through subways, ruined stores and finding the various landmarks about the area lends much to the game's charm, as does some of the occasional humor seen throughout - entering a particular convenience store sets off a lengthy Rube Goldberg trap that eventually blasts the player with a shotgun, for example.  Also included are a crude weapon-crafting system (letting the player construct a poisonous dart gun and a device that throws junk at enemies for surprising damage, to name two) and they do actually manage to make the world feel like a desolate, bombed-out hellhole in a lot of ways.  Unlike the first two Fallout games, radiation is a very real danger in Fallout 3, with nearly every consumable the player encounters adding to their overall count and slowly weakening and killing them.  Clean food and water is scarce, mutated animals are everywhere and there is quite a lot of bleak atmosphere, with radio signals revealing messages from long-dead people caught in the bombing raids and desperately trying to save themselves and more than a few other bleak stories told through the game's text and audio logs.  The game's overall mood and tone is easily its strongest suit, even if it's not entirely in line with the Black Isle produced Fallout games.

On the other end of the coin, Bethesda's shortcomings are also evident in Fallout 3.  In a reversal from Oblivion, the main quest of the game is easily its strongest element from a writing perspective; it's essentially a family drama with the player's character frequently being tempted by evil as they seek out their father and attempt to complete his life's work.  The rest of the game's quests, however, are relatively forgettable and handed out by characters that aren't really given much in the way of depth or personality.  Some just come off as rather silly (such as having to find a clan of "vampires" or destroy an entire town for no satisfactory reason) while others are relatively mundane (the Nuka Cola collecting quest).  They also seem to have taken note of the karma system from the first two Fallouts and implemented in the most literal of senses here, with quests only really being defined as boolean good-or-evil choices with no real depth or problem-solving element to them - basically, you're either a paragon of virtue or evil for evil's sake, with no real nuance or option for a middle ground.  A pretty disappointing turn for a franchise that formerly defined itself on questlines that often required genuine detective work on the player's part, where the most "evil" option often wasn't just to shoot everybody they could and where even being a "good guy" could prove troublesome for you down the road.

Most of the DLC for Fallout 3 is pretty mediocre as well.  While one can argue that Broken Steel at least provides a more satisfying conclusion to the game than the stock game did, the rest just feel largely by-the-numbers and unnecessary, not really giving the player much more to do than a few more generic quests and stronger enemies to shoot at.  The one I found most enjoyable was Point Lookout, which had a nice, creepy swamp area to explore as well as a rather twisted sense of humor that, at its best points, felt like something from one of the earlier games' better questlines made manifest in a 3D engine.  The rest mostly just consist of relatively small, 2-3 hour quests that add little to the overarching story and don't really provide a lot for the player to do other than shoot things, which is just a bit of a letdown from a company that built itself on crafting huge RPG worlds with intricate lore and mechanics.

When all is said and done, Fallout 3 is a valiant first attempt at a Fallout game from Bethesda.  While they did show some trouble cutting their teeth on the dense lore and the franchise's dark sense of humor, they did at least make an attempt to capture the feel of Fallout as they put their own spin on things, playing to their strengths of world design and giving it a bleak, almost horror-esque atmosphere.  It honestly gave me hope for future games in the franchise as I thought they would take in in more fan suggestions and continue to expand the vast, bombed-out America the franchise was set in.  It's just a pity that they didn't keep going in that direction with Fallout 4, instead focusing more on throwing in countless ideas and gameplay elements with no real direction or integration between any of them...

Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platform: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Released:  2008
Recommended version:  Once again, I have to go with the PC versions, which add in modding capabilities.  This allows for an even more bleak and harsh survival experience, more fluidly animated characters and even letting you remove that ugly green smog that permeates the entirety of the game, letting you view the capital wasteland in its full splendor.