Essentially the most unintentionally enjoyable challenges within the Souls collection

With the unique Demon’s Souls, FromSoftware reinvigorated the notion that good boss battles elevate video games as a complete. They haven’t, nonetheless, at all times completely nailed each single boss encounter they designed for the Souls collection, so let’s speak about essentially the most apparently dumb ones.

Mergo’s Moist Nurse (Bloodborne)

Bloodborne options a few of the greatest boss battles in your complete collection. Sadly, it additionally hosts certainly one of its weakest. Mergo’s Moist Nurse’s largest downside isn’t even certainly one of design, however somewhat certainly one of timing.

This lackluster and predictable enemy might’ve made for an fascinating boss within the early a part of the sport, however it does little greater than decelerate the participant a bit as an endgame boss. It nonetheless seems to be nice, although.

Covetous Demon (Darkish Souls 2)

The commonest criticism individuals throw on the bosses in Darkish Souls 2 is that they’re all simply “one man in a go well with of armor.” Truthful level, however not fully appropriate. Whereas DS2 tends to characteristic bosses that act and costume in a knightly method, many of the worst boss encounters within the sport don’t put gamers up towards “dudes in armor”.
One might argue that Covetous Demon, a Jabba The Hutt-like creature, is each so far as it will get to a “dude in armor”, and in addition one of many worst bosses within the collection. He doesn’t know the that means of the phrase pace, he options no exceptional strikes in anyway, and he barely even appears to know the participant is within the enviornment with it.

We solely know he’s a boss as a result of he has a boss-sized well being bar.

Prowling Magus And Congregation (Darkish Souls 2)

Nothing about this enemy ought to make it a boss. It’s only a common enemy with some goons and a big well being bar. Did they scrap the actual boss on the final minute and had it changed with this? Hardly, since not even its room seems to be like a correct boss enviornment.
Simply essentially the most baffling excuse for a boss in your complete Souls Sequence.

Ceaseless Discharge (Darkish Souls)

Although many name Darkish Souls the very best sport within the Souls collection, they’ll’t deny it options just a few questionable boss fights. Ceaseless Discharge’s identify appears to level at a actually crappy encounter, however fortunately it’s only a figurative factor.

Ceaseless Discharge requires gamers to bait it into an space the place it should fall to its loss of life, although nothing previous to this encounter factors out what gamers needs to be doing. Hell, chances are high many gamers gained’t actually know what it’s that they did proper even after having killed the beast.

Moonlight Butterfly (Darkish Souls)

Regardless that enjoying as a mage arguably makes many of the video games within the Souls collection simpler, the overwhelming majority of gamers choose a hand-to-hand method. The builders of Darkish Souls both didn’t know or simply needed to piss gamers off, so that they got here up with a boss you would solely harm from afar. Fortunately, gamers can summon a helper that may make brief work of this enemy, however most gamers could not even enter this combat conscious of that reality.

This one isn’t even arduous, it’s simply not enjoyable.

*It was solely when proofreading this piece that the author realized that his headcanon isn’t appropriate and that this boss known as Moonlight Butterfly and never “Moonlight Moth.” That’s how a lot he cares about this thign.

Dragon Rider (Darkish Souls 2)

Okay, a few of the “dude in armor” bosses from Darkish Souls 2 actually do suck. We have now no higher instance than the primary Dragon Rider.
The primary bosses within the Souls collection at all times depart an impression. The Dragon Rider does that, sure, too unhealthy it’s in all probability not the impression the builders had needed. Gamers can — and may — defeat this man not through fight, however through a easy dodge. Sure, merely ready for his first assault and dodging to the appropriate will trigger the Dragon Rider to plunge to his loss of life.

FromSoft has by no means patched this: in all probability as a result of it’s too humorous to take away.

Dragon God (Demon’s Souls)

FromSoft might have failed at designing lots of Demon’s Souls’ bosses since they have been going for a really experimental try at an unproven style. Nonetheless, the sport that began all of it solely ever falters in terms of the Dragon God boss.
Designing gigantic bosses sucks as a result of you’ll be able to’t simply count on everybody to purchase that the tiny playable character might deal deadly harm to a colossus. Most boss battles towards gigantic enemies both go down the ridiculous route of displaying a David-esque determine killing Goliath-Zilla by reducing off its toe, or they go for foolish gimmicks to make issues look a bit extra credible. The Dragon God has us play a sport of conceal and search with a god whereas we attempt to take him down with stationary ballistas. It doesn’t make sense that the sensible Dragon would resolve to reside in an enviornment stuffed with contraptions that would kill it, however the worst half is how the entire affair simply isn’t enjoyable.

The strangest factor of all is that this very sport had a greater thought for coping with big and distant enemies all alongside! Simply take a look at the Storm King (the flying manta rays) battle. The participant will get to strike them down with a sword magically imbued with long-range talents. Does that make sense? Is it life like? We don’t know! But it surely makes for some extremely satisfying gameplay.

Sekiro additionally obtained dragon-slaying proper by simply telling gamers that the hero has turn into empowered by super-lightning, or one thing. That’s how we need to kill each dragon to any extent further.

Simply kidding, please carry on innovating — even once you take dangers that finally don’t repay.

Historical Dragon (Darkish Souls 2)

The one factor worse than gimmicky fights towards giants are the aforementioned fights towards big enemies nobody appears to have put any thought into. That appears to be the case with the battle towards the Historical Dragon in Darkish Souls 2. It looks like the devs have been fully conscious that this battle could be no enjoyable for anybody as this boss stays pleasant and talkative up till gamers hit it simply manner too many instances.

Regardless that the Historical Dragon barely strikes, most gamers may have a tough time dodging its assaults courtesy of whack hitboxes. At his most athletic, lifts off to spit a fireplace barrage that’ll hit a big floor of the play space and kill gamers in an unfair method. The most effective technique to cope with this creature is to actually simply keep close to his foot and hit it till the massive residing factor hooked up to it one way or the other perishes.

Disclaimer: don’t let all these dragon-related failures depart you with the fallacious thought! Most dragons within the Souls collection slap.

Tiago Manuel

Tiago is a freelancer who used to put in writing about video video games, cults, and online game cults. He now writes for Destructoid in an try to search out himself on the profitable aspect when the robotic rebellion comes.

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