Time to Defeat: Dark Souls (360)

After a 30 min travesty with Demon Souls, I expected Dark Souls to beat down my spirit and break me in a similar manner. It did, it just took longer.

After fighting my way to the same boss a dozen times and spending 4 hours playing the same sections over and over, I finally conceded. The repetitive grind of pattern recognition and trial & error is not for me, though it is fascinating to watch my step-son wind his way through the game. He grinds souls veraciously, leveling and releveling, immune to the fear of losing souls, but still afraid of every new area. Dark Souls is a triumph of game design for players immune to crushing defeat.