I'll still try it out for myself, but your post has diminished my interest in Demon's Souls substantially. I like a challenging game, but a well-designed challenging game isn't repetitive. If you're not good enough, you simply won't be able to pass the difficult parts (without playing on an easier difficulty level). What you're describing is the opposite of this - being forced to replay long sections of a game just tests your patience, not your skill.
I actually have a lot of patience. I've played and beaten punishing games before, and done boring grinds in MMOs. It's just not fun. At the end, I don't have that sense of accomplishment, that I was skilled enough to defeat a serious challenge. I simply feel like I wasted my time for no real purpose.
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