20 hours and 14 minutes.
That's what the game clock currently reads on "Kingdom Hearts II." Within the first few hours of turning the game on, however, I'd decided maybe I shouldn't be playing. Maybe Tetsuya Nomura went a little too crazy with his Disney sequel. Maybe a game's prologue shouldn't last more than three hours and have no bearing on the main storyline for the next 16 hours.
Stephen Totilo has told me I should just stop, comparing it to the kind of relationship that should have ended years ago. Former 1UP staffer Kathleen Sanders begged me to just say no and play what she calls a "good game." I've even considered deleting my save file to provide an ample amount of motivation.
They're both right. But, I'm still playing. Why?
Because "Kingdom Hearts II'"s game clock reads 20 hours and 14 minutes.
I'm not finding it easy to turn my back on something I've invested almost an entire day of my life into. I may not be enjoying "Kingdom Hearts II"'s style of "smash the X button" combat. And the storyline appears to be doing everything it can to not make a lick of sense (maybe that explains why I'm such a big "Lost" fan). But two or three times a week, I pick up the controller and immediately feel a sense of regret over it.
I've tried to rationalize my continued playing as a dedication to the fan service that a game like "Kingdom Hearts II" provides. Becoming part of a Disney world isn't possible anywhere else, but is that possibly worth throwing your controller against the wall?
Apparently. Earlier this week, I debated making Multiplayer's "My Enemy This Week" the boss fight against Demyx, a boss that appears halfway through the game. After failing to take him out three or four times, I succumbed to reading GameFaqs for help.
"Welcome to one of the most frustrating Boss Fights in the game! If you can survive the brutal second half of the battle, you're ready for anything the game will throw at you from here on out."
After about an hour of trial-and-error and screaming at the television (before I realized the windows were open), Demyx was defeated. That hour was the closest I came to truly shutting off "Kingdom Hearts II" and calling it a day. Unfortunately, I beat him.
Readers, have you ever finished a game out of spite? With so many better games out there, why am I wasting my time?
Yet, I'm still playing.