[Disclaimer: This blog does not represent the views or opinions of Enkido as he exists in a sane state and he cannot be held responsible for the content expressed in this article. For real, he takes all break tests at an unmodified leadership value, regardless of combat results. Also, cocks.]

First of all, I have to say that I am not one of those people who can pick up a game controller and pull of a three to one kill/death ratio in an FPS, I cannot five star any song on expert past the first set list in any rhythm game, and I can not do anything even remotely resembling this. That said, what could I write about for this months musing? I have yet to meet an opponent in Final Fantasy Tactics for PSP that can take on my team and I figured I could go with that, however I have only really played with my friends and a very small selection of other people through ad hoc party so I am not entirely sure. I do however have a save file with a group of 32 characters that have all achieved level 99 and have mastered every job, and that is no small feat.

This started me thinking, which is dangerous in itself, but I was able to come up with an idea. I came to the realization that there will never have a you tube video of myself absolutely dominating a game of Modern Warfare 2, five starring Through the Fire and the Flames on expert, or pulling off a comeback the likes of which one will find online. Instead, I fluctuate between above average and embarrassment in FPS games, usually managing to scrape by with a positive kill/death, when I play guitar hero it is on normal difficulty, and lets just say I would bet money against myself in any Street Fighter game. I say so what. I may not have a youtube video, but I have amassed a collection of accolades that would make casual gamers swoon and cause even hardcore gamers to hold their manhood cheap. When I decide to do something, come hell or high water, it will be done, and the heavens themselves will be helpless to prevent it.



Quick vote, how many of you knew there was a Master difficulty level for Super Monkey Ball? For those of you with puzzled looks, the game would reward players who completed an entire world without the loss of a life extra levels, for those who could beat the levels in a world on expert as well as the extra levels on expert, one was given the master level. I have reached the master level of every world in that game. THIS IS NOT BECAUSE I AM GOOD AT SUPER MONKEY BALL. I am stubborn. I have S ranked every mission in Valkyria Chronicles as well as every skirmish on Hard Ex mode. Those of you who have played Valkyria Chronicles know what this means, those who don't shame on you. I have found every treasure scattered throughout Uncharted 2: Among Thieves without the aid of a guide, a total of 12 playthroughs. I am stubborn.

In Okami for Wii I was able to collect every stray bead. Now I'm sure some of you have managed to do this as well but I have to ask how many of you had to cover your gaming system with a bag of ice wrapped in a towel to do it? My Wii has a problem where if too much is going on at once the system heats up and will eventually shut itself off to keep from erupting into flames. For those who have seen Okami, it is very graphically intensive. For the last stray bead I had to beat the last demon gate challenge in the game. This is a ten fight challenge consisting of large amounts of the most difficult enemies in the game, including rounds in which you fight multiples of bosses that are meant to be one on one fights. Needless to say my poor Wii, while fighting valiantly, was unable to keep from overheating after an hours worth of fighting and the game shut off in the middle of the second to last battle... a total of six times. Many would have given up and I would not blame you. I on the other hand am a glutton for punishment and would not allow this to stop me. I filled a ziploc bag with ice and wrapped it in a towel and put it on my Wii. Ten non stop battles and and hour and a half later, I had all one hundred stray beads, and what little sanity I had managed to keep. I am stubborn.

Now there is one video game that I can say that I am truly a natural at. The game Demon's Souls was made for me. I don't care what anyone says, that game was created specifically to be conquered by me. It a game that rewards stubbornness, an attribute I have in spades. You are constantly at a disadvantage throughout the entire game and at no point does the game become easier. If you mess up, the game will kill you for it. As well, for the truly stubborn it is possible to make the world tendency black, which makes your character hit like a pansy and take damage like a baby seal. This is the world tendency I play on. There is one particular moment in this game that serves to showcase my sheer will more than any other. The few of you who have completed the game, I say completed because some of you did play but did not have the strength of will to go the distance, you will undoubtedly remember the greater Demon, Old King Allant. I can here the curses now.

Before I go on those who are uninitiated should read the souls entry here. There are actually very few enemies in the level leading up to Allant but there is one big issue, the huge fucking blue dragon spewing flames at you throughout the level. It is possible to run past him but that is for pansies and I am stubborn. I was not going to allow that son of a bitch to live. One crappy bow and arrow and about 450, again 450 arrows later, I had killed the dragon, worth a couple tens of thousands of souls its self. On to Allant. Now Old Allant is a special kind of boss. He hits like a sledge hammer and has an area attack that hits most of the map that could kill my character instantly. As if that wasn't enough he has an attack that can drain a soul level from your character. That is right, he can steal your stat points from your character. If you beat him you get the amount of souls that went into buying that soul level back but if you die you have to touch your blood stain the next time you fight in order to get those souls back. I fight him for the first time I fight he steals three soul levels from my character, at this time an equivalent of about 100,000 souls and I die, losing the not insignificant amount I had just gained from the defeat of the blue dragon as well. No problem, I fight back to him and touch my blood stain during the fight gaining it all back. Only to die again. Reason would dictate that I may want to call in a friendly player controlled blue phantom to assist me, but no this was personal. I am stubborn. Twelve fights, sixteen soul levels, and three black phantoms later I am making another attempt to bring this guy down. This time is different though. With each fight, my character has become progressively weaker. I enter the room and begin the fight. He charges, hitting me with a sweeping area attack and knocking me back. I now have half of my health left and am trying to reach my blood stain before I do anything else. I run toward the back of the room. Another sweeping lunge, which I dodge, but he isn't done. He leads right into a three part combo which spells the end of my character, a mere feet from a blood stain containing by this time well over 1,000,000 (yes six zeros) souls. How many of you would have stopped playing then? How many would have thrown a controller through a wall? Well I went back and killed him in on my second attempt after this, a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one. There are still some trophies that I have yet to get but rest assured I will be getting the Platinum trophy for this game, most likely during the recently announced Valentines Day world tendency event. Of course I voted for black world tendency, I LOVE DEMON'S SOULS, because I am stubborn.



My most recent project is Final Fantasy XIII... in Japanese. For those of you who have read my bio you would know that I own and have completed every main series FF games as well as most of the spin offs 100%. For me however, FFXIII presents a new challenge to fight for. We all know courtesy of Mr.Nort's article, that it is one of the most difficult FF games yet and I agree. What I don't agree with is its placement in the "didn't like" article. Being stubborn means that the greater the challenge the more I enjoy it, and in FFXIII's case there is a special kind of difficult. I can't read Japanese. I can understand the spoken language well enough but not the written. There is a trophy in the game for having every accessory and weapon in the game, at some point during the game. In order to get this trophy I have to memorize the symbols for every weapon and accessory, figure out which ones I have, which ones I don't what items I need to break down and synthesize, which of those items I have and don't have and remember which items I have already gotten and may have broken down into components already. ALL IN JAPANESE. I am stubborn and this is going to be fun...

I believe that that is enough of a taste of my stubbornness for now. I have other horror stories as well but those can wait for later. So now, before you come to me and brag that you have a video on you tube of you dropping a nuke in Modern Warfare 2 or that you can speed run a game like no ones business, ask yourself, can you grind in an RPG for six hours to fight a boss? Can you repeatedly die and resist the urge to not only restrain yourself from throwing a controller through a wall, but continue to play that game despite the constant defeat? I can and I have, and that is why my area of expertise is stubbornness. If you think you can do this better than I can I will respectfully disagree and prove you wrong, no matter how long it takes. That is not a statement, it is a fact and I am stubborn.