The game is a marvel for the first 2/3 that I was thinking was literally the best of its kind ever. SO MUCH to do and see, and so much "lived in" world detail. Then I got to the last 1/3 and it became a boring, tedious slog. The last 1/3 is obviously rushed and really puts an unfortunate taint on the whole game. It needed another 6-12 months in development for that last 1/3, at least, by my estimation.

Also, the XBOX networking being borked from launch so summons were hard to pull off at times and invasions were almost nonexistent took away a key fun aspect of the game.

DO NOT continue buffing a faith character, go with your gut and abandon that path. You cannot finish the last boss with a faith character build. Giant game-end middle finger to players that chose that route with zero warning or clues along the way that I saw. I know they've changed stats on a lot of the bosses now with the last few patches, but pretty sure the final boss is still unbeatable with a faith-build character.

The last 1/3 of the game is where the shine came off a bit, mostly because it feels like they rushed the end of development to get it out. Another 12 months and it would have been close to a perfect game. As it stands, though, it's a very impressive achievement.

Can't believe the XBOX networking is STILL borked on it.

Turn them on. Some of them are very clever/funny. Like extreme haiku given the limited word choices to string together.