Just thought I'd announce to the world that I finished Devil May Cry 3 last week. I feel the need to brag because it was hard as hell. I did not use the unlimited devil trigger cheat (although I was tempted). This is probably the hardest game that I have played on PS2. It was hard, but not cheap.

So I finally finished Nocturne about a week ago. I had leveled up so much that even Lucifer posed no real threat even though i only had one character that could deal damage to him.

As some of you might know, Dante from DMC appears in this game as a boss and you can recruit him in a bonus dungeon toward the end of the game. Originally, I did not recruit him because he was level 80 and most of my party was lvl 95+ and I didn't feel like babysitting him while he leveled up. However, after finishing the game, I went and got him and was almost impressed. He's a pretty good offensive character and has decent immunities, but no ability to regenerate HP/MP after or in between battles which makes him dead weight in long dungeons where random battles occur every five steps. Most of my party can at least regenerate MP after battle or while walking. But his attacks look cool as hell so I can't really hate on him. If I had got him earlier, I could have leveled him up and used him for offense while my main character healed his MP during battle, but against the last few bosses that would have been a pain because my main character deals the most damage and can penetrate all defensive immunities. On my next run, I will recruit him as early as possible and see how it turns out. Some people say he's one of the strongest characters in the game. I agree, but I think he's rather one dimensional.

My PS2 has been showing signs of dying for months now. Slow disc reads and occasional freezes have been the symptoms. However, I have discovered that the cooler I keep it, the better it works. So I have resorted to laying cold compresses on top of it during long sessions. You know those bags of blue stuff that you keep in the freezer to put on your knee or ankle when you injure them? Athletes should know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I use those on my PS2. Works wonders. My PS2 is the closest thing to an athlete in my house anyway.

Summer's are typically the worst time of the year for me. School's out. That's cool. But I always find myself either underemployed or unemployed. Either way, I have time on my hands. So what do I do? Play games. Right now, I'm playing Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, a long a*s RPG. It's pretty cool though. It has a very mature plot and theme. Actually, it's a great alternative to Final Fantasy or other RPGs that tend to be somewhat sappy at times. Ain't no love story here (at least so far). One cool thing about this game is you get to fight along side mythological characters from various cultures. Depending on how you look at it, it can be kinda disturbing. Right now my party consists of characters such as: Beelzebub, Lilith, Shiva, Michael, Thor, The Harlot, among others. If you are familiar with some of these characters you'll see that they range from archangels, to Adam's "first wife" who fell from grace, to one of the devil's many incarnates. 100+ hours into this game and I'm just approaching the end. I think I'm getting my money's worth.

I ran by EB games today and scored an offbeat bargain purchase: Sonic Adventure (DC), Starlancer(DC), DOA 2: Hardcore (PS2) for around $10. They had Mortal Kombat Gold in there for $5.00 but that game kinda sucks. But I will return and pick up Samurai Warriors: Extreme Legends for $12.99