Ok, so I finished my favorite game for the nth time last night. It never gets old.
Sometimes, my time is improved, sometimes not. Sometimes I finish in six and a half, sometimes in twelve. My first try took me twenty. Ugh.
I don't fall so much.
I rarely die.
I know every corner, every twist and turn and drop.
Almost every line of dialogue.
I finally mastered that one move (D up, hold R, then A+B) where you run a bit, back up against the wall and charge off with your sword ahead of you - the one move that instantly drops anyone. Well, almost anyone. It doesn't bother those guys with the chains. They just block you. How I don't know. But they do.
This last time, I increased my health meter more than any time before.
I also had more attack capability than ever.
Somehow, the end boss took a really long time. Why?
I still got lost in the library. I always do. I finish 2/3 of it and then, when it comes time for the last bit, I get turned around and go the wrong way.
The only question I find myself asking is, "When one finishes a game however many times I've finished this game, and I've memorized almost everything about the game and the platforming finally seems easy and everything goes by in a blur - is the game really fun anymore? Is it possible to do the same things forty-nine million times and still enjoy it?"
