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.