Summary
The actual combat inFromSoftware’sSoulsgames and Soulslikes has never been its true star. If intricate world-building, atmosphere, and level design aren’t, either, it’s surely boss fights. Indeed, boss fights have become one of the most popular features of Soulslikes in terms of how challenging they are, let alone how neat a boss’ appearance and lore are.FromSoftwarehas excelled with bosses time and time again, though gank fights could debatably be toned down in future games. They aren’t all egregious or irritating, but having multiple bosses to contend with in a single encounter is typically more trouble than it’s worth.
FromSoftware’s Gank Fights Rarely Hit a Sweet Spot Between Terrific or Horrendous
Some players may absolutely adore this boss design, but there’s an argument to be made about how effective they all are and how frustrating many can be.
Of course, players can turn the tide of nearly every duo/trio fight and bring in NPCs or other players to ensure they’re no longer outnumbered. But when that seems more viable or preferable to fighting alone, it isn’t because the boss fight itself is necessarily designed well. Players can certainly take onDark Souls’ Ornstein and Smoughon their own, for instance, but doing so effectively and reliably now usually involves awkward strategies where players position themselves in a way where Smough’s model is stuck behind a pillar base.
It isn’t as if players are genuinely combatting both bosses at once is all, at least with an optimal tactic at hand. Cheese strats like instantly sendingDragonrider lunging off the tiny boss arena platform inDark Souls 2aren’t necessary even though they save time and effort, but racing up the staircase and keeping distance atop a platform in the claustrophobic Capra Demon boss arena while dogs leap at the player inDark Soulsis almost a mandatory route if players don’t want to be swarmed and slain within seconds.
Again, many circumstances can ensure players are at a higher level or have a greater advantage when they finally do come across otherwise aggravating bosses. It’s seemingly small details such as these that compound and make boss fights against more than one enemy troublesome if not tedious.
Future FromSoftware Games Need to Distill and Barrel-Age Gank Fights
A FromSoftware Soulslike with no duo/trio bosses could get stale unless each boss has a vastly different move set to telegraph. On the other hand, if gank fights are perpetuated, which they most surely will be—especially if FromSoftware needs to fill another open world—they should at least take afterwhat makes most duo/trio bosses fantastic inDark Souls 3. Gank fights arguably hadn’t been refined well untilDark Souls 3, where boss fights against multiple foes actually became engaging chess matches rather than mad, uncoordinated scrambles.
This is usually due to some variable in the fight that regulates the overwhelming effect they commonly have; for Abyss Watchers it’s the fact that, despite two Watchers eventually attacking the player in the first phase, a third one spawns and attacks them, basically behaving like an unsolicited NPC aid.The Ringed City’s Halflight, Spear of the Churchhas the potential to be an infuriating boss fight with a handful of summons and can be intriguingly substituted for a PvP invasion if online, but almost all of these summons or phases can be dealt with individually if players are able to cut them down quickly.
Likewise, Demon in Pain and Demon from Below both fight players at once but there’s often enough space between them that players only need to worry about kiting them individually anyway, same as inSister Friede’s second phase when a bowl-wielding Father Ariandel uproots his chair. These gank fights circumvent an otherwise grueling and disproportionate confrontation, and more like them would be welcome if FromSoftware is hellbent on pitting players against more bosses where they’re outnumbered.
Dark Souls 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Winner of Gamescom 2015 ‘Best RPG” and over 35 E3 2015 Awards and Nominations, DARK SOULS™ III continues to push the boundaries with the latest, ambitious chapter in the critically-acclaimed and genre-defining series.As fires fade and the world falls into ruin, journey into a universe filled with more colossal enemies and environments. Players will be immersed into a world of epic atmosphere and darkness through faster gameplay and amplified combat intensity. Fans and newcomers alike will get lost in the game hallmark rewarding gameplay and immersive graphics.Now only embers remain… Prepare yourself once more and Embrace The Darkness!
