I’ve been putting myself through a lot of punishment while playing some of these Souls / Souls-like games. I don’t know why, I actually know why — the bosses have patterns, they are in a way predictable which makes them feel doable; just that that’s not how it ever turns out.
There are a lot of reasons why I really hate a all of the Souls / Souls-like bosses:
- Large bosses that take over the entire screen (e.g., Radahn in base game)
- Attack-spamming bosses (e.g., pre-nerf Consort Radahn)
- Large bosses that spam attacks (e.g., pre-nerf Consort Radahn)
- Silly-shenanigan bosses (e.g., pre-nerf Consort Radahn, Placidusax, Black-rabbit fights)
- Arenas that are deliberately small
- Arenas that have water or liquid slowing me down (e.g., Elden Beast and Rennala)
The Anguished Guardian is the perfect boss I can think of. I think Messmer comes close; however, I find some of Messmer’s attacks to be silly-shenanigan-ish. Here’s why I think Anguished Guardian is the perfect Souls / Souls-like boss:
- The arena is big and empty with nothing to block you
- The attacks are well spaced, letting you heal, regain stamina, heal your weapon, or catch a breath
- The combos in P1 are 4 attacks max
- All attacks can be dodged or parried by a player with no skills (me)
- The animations for stagger attack is fabulous! Truly therapeutic
- You can actually see every attack
- Despite all the points above, the attacks still throw you off, you still get surprised with the plough or the chin