Sometimes I wonder what it is about death that I find so funny; why it is that I get such a kick out of teasing the idea of tangoing with the grim reaper. My mom would tell me it is the result of an ever present twisted sense of humor. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if I gravitate to the macabre because of unresolved conscious or subconscious issues. Thinking about it too much can be disturbing unless it wraps all the way around to being funny; a win-win for all, wouldn't you say?

Perhaps death has been a theme lately because the copious amounts we have been experiencing lately. It is well and good to want a challenging game, but I should probably have an appropriate skill balance if I want to clear all the checks these games want to cash. Between playing Dark Souls, Forced and a squishy melee class in Aura Kingdom, my poise and patience have been near nil. I love them all intimately though they do hurt me so; masochism for the win, apparently.

As such, I find it exhilarating to get to the point that you are Forced to walk away because frustration deems smashing the keyboard and/or controller into a million bits a good idea. You think, quite sensibly amid your raging fury, "No...I'm not a child" but if that were the case, why do I see my controller hurtling away from my body with tremendous force and velocity? You may want to duck; don't say I didn't warn you.

That frustration ends up leading down a path of no return because you don't have the cool to perform properly in that mental state and playing becomes a losing proposition. Hopefully you come back cool, calm, and collected; you make progress and you get that exhilarating feeling of accomplishment that, while short lived, is one of the best feelings when playing tough games.

That said, I am looking forward to completing Dark Souls, moving on to its sequel and getting back to Forced, which is reminiscent of an intense version of FF: Crystal Chronicles. Thanks to our good friend Kurtis for turning us onto these bleedingly tough games; he knows what gets us off (this mortal coil).