Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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Games: Another quick post for tonight since the son is still here, but I am quite proud to say that I just finished Demon's Souls tonight.
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For people who haven't played it yet or might not really care: It's a fantastic, superbly-designed game that has officially knocked my socks off. One of the best PS3 titles available, and at this point, my Game of the Year.
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For those who have played it or who do care: My character was a level 80 Temple Knight focusing on Attack and Defense for melee combat. My endgame weapons were a +7 Halberd, a +4 Dragon Sword, and a Lava Bow. All told, it took me about 35 hours, give or take. Too bad there wasn't a death counter, I would've been curious to see how many times I was revived.
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Anyway, I have to say it was a stiff challenge to not use magic at all (not recommended, really) but I was too attached to my character to begin a new one and by the time I realized that magic might be a good thing, I was too close to the end to really start grinding levels in order to get some.
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Besides those issues, the devs included plenty of options to let players tackle the the game any way they wanted, so why shouldn't I do it without spells? After all, the GameFAQs boards are full of players who beat the monstrous bosses by using the same few magic spells and I have to say that I got a small measure of pride by not relying on overused cheese tactics to get past the rough spots.
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Now that the game has been put to bed (no, not going for a New Game Plus, I actually have to spend time with some other games now. I am a reviewer, after all...) I can definitely say that Demon's Souls was an incredibly epic experience from start to finish, and certainly one of the most unforgettable games I've come across in quite some time.
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FromSoft... My most heartfelt congratulations on an outstanding, peerless, master-class title. You rocked my world.
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