There’s a boss in DS2 which is similar in the way that it kind of requires a certain stat to be leveled or you’ll be too slow to dodge & heal, similar kind of bs.
There’s another boss in DS3 wt that kind of “if you know the solution you can win easily”, I don’t wanna spoil you, but it’s been implemented way way way better (even tho I hate how it’s again kind of impossible to know without several tries/checking the web)
Spoiler
Imo Yhorm could be as is, but the sword should have been outside of his lair and it should have come wt a very straightforward description e.g. “said to have destroyed Yhorm before” or maybe some NPC could hand it to you wt those details (as I forget to read a lot of descriptions tbh)
I have fought all main game bosses already and as I said in my previous Pontiff rant some of them have “correct” ways to deal with which trivialises the fight but not in any way like the Yhorm fight, it’s always about you doing the right things and open to most if not all otherwise viable builds.
NPC quest line spoiler
If you complete a certain NPC’s quest line he invites himself to the fight without you having to summon him and supposedly shows you to use it. It still wasn’t very well done though.
I was just about to mention this and if you ask me it’s pretty epic and hearth warming scene if you follow this quest line. It really reminds me of another fellow knight in DS1
Yhorm isn’t that hard if you go with normal gear because you can stagger him as well. Far better way to deal with him than to just use the game cheese.
If I’m not mistaken, you can actually use the special attack of the Storm Ruler without having the correct stats to actually wield the weapon. Also, gimmick bosses have always been a thing in the souls games (can’t talk for soulsborne as a whole as I haven’t yet played Bloodborne) and even if they’re different from the rest of the bosses in these games, I wouldn’t necessarily call them (especially Yhorm) bad. Not everything needs to be a fair fight, one way or the other either.
I’d say he was a good fanservice boss, both due to how the fight rewarded those who are interested in the lore (e.g. read item descriptions) and also because it gave me another fight where I could unleash the true power of the Storm Ruler (from Demon’s Souls). I guess you could also see it as a nod to Dark Souls 2 too. I can’t remember if I ever did kill him without using the Storm Ruler, but I have a faint memory I did it that way too as as @onLooSe points out you can stagger him.
You are correct you can use the sword without any requirements … it’s 0/0 … it just has a D/D scaling in both str/dex initially and C/D scaling after +4 upgrade
The problem is not it’s stat requirements, but that it weighs a ton and anyone who isn’t geared to lugging around a gargantuan piece of steel is going to have to change their whole set up to wield it.
I still maintain that they could have made the fight a proper fight even if they wanted to put in a lore key to unlock it.
8.0 points of Weight isn’t a small amount, but a lot of swords weight more. I’m just used to play half the game naked maybe I take all armor off before bosses so we can go close and personal!
Not only that … I just got to go fast and I put some light gear only when traversing dangerous areas where you can get accidentally hit. Else armor doesn’t do miracles in DS3 (I won’t mention the poise :D) , but everyone has it’s own ways
Sure they could’ve, but the question is rather if they should’ve, isn’t it? And that’s just a matter of opinion/preference. I don’t think they’re in the wrong for including gimmick bosses in the souls games.
Perhaps they were already testing the waters towards more cinematic gameplay, such as that one might see in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice?
About that … there’s still not a worse gimmick than the bed of chaos, so they improved on them I don’t like them at all, but it seems they put them near the end game content just to create a little breather + probably a small puzzle for the player to relax a bit. I can’t justify those fights in any other means.
Sekiro looks amazing so far and I can’t wait to see what it has in stores. Only one complain though … where the fuck is the PvP Miyazaki? Only time will show I guess.
I’d say the worst gimmick boss, if it can be called that, is the initial encounter with Seath the Scaleless… But Bed of Chaos is a close second .
Edit1. I also dislike Ceaseless Discharge.
Edit2. There are some cool gimmick bosses too: Old Hero from Demon’s Souls, Burnt Ivory King from Dark Souls 2 and Abyss Watchers from Dark Souls 3 come to mind. The Old Monk from Demon’s Souls (similarly to Mirror Knight from Dark Souls 2!) is a neat idea too, but I never got to experience it “properly”.
I haven’t really kept up with Sekiro, but I think it’s pretty obvious when one looks at DS3 and especially when comparing with DS2 with its different development team that Miyazaki is all about that PvE experience.
Yeah Seath the Scaleless is even worse at breaking game convention. It’s a right travesty! But don’t take MY word for it, when this fellow can explain it much better than I would. Dark Souls Critique - Part Five - YouTube full of spoilers.
Ah yeah, I honestly completely missed like…all the quests by accident lol
I mean I followed most a bit and then I simply overlooked important bits so in the end I mostly got nothing.
Am totally wt you, the yhorm fight might as well be a QTE.
What’s your favourite boss in DS3? (excluding the DLCs cause you know… can’t play those yet)
It’s not far better than to use the weapon which is only in game to be used to defeat him.
Well excluding the DLC it’d probably have to be Pontiff Sulyvahn for reasons I’ve gone into earlier in this very thread.
Flashback
There are a few bosses that share those qualities and comes a close shared second place, the reason I think Sulyvahn gets the top spot is because he was the first boss that really clicked for me. Up until that fight I didn’t feel like I was really conquering the fights, I didn’t feel like I was getting gradually better until I finally had the skill to match the challenge.
Bosses before Sulyvahn I mostly felt like I either got lucky or beat on a fluke or they were just easy encounters that didn’t really require much learning and improving.
On an afterthought the Abyss watchers could have been a favourite as well, didn’t feel like it at the time though. It’s a few months ago now so I do not fully recall what I was thinking at the time. Sulyvahn stood out and for some reason his fight is where I started to really properly enjoy the game.
The Nameless King is a great fight too, much for the same reasons, but he had been a little hyped up for me and I felt a little disappointed when it ONLY took me 3 days to beat him. Prince of Lothric could also have been a contender but that fight was far too easy and over much too quickly unfortunately.
Finally I must stray from your restrictions to say Ashes of Ariandel final boss offered me a very similar experience to that of Sulyvahn with a few extra flairs that edges him out to get on top for the full game.
GET THE DLCs, it is SO worth it!
Ah, as I said earlier am not too fond of sullyvan, but the nameless King was quiet satisfactory for me. Really fun fight and it’s great that it’s a real 2 phase fight, not like some others which simply hit harder in phase 2.
Lothric also was super fun, while I think it’s great that he doesn’t insta kill (always feels kinda cheap to me, everybody makes mistakes), he does feel a little too easy. Could have had maybe a third phase (lothric alone or maybe he calls in 2 lothric knights before continuing the bashing [so it doesn’t become a gank fest]). But I generally really enjoyed that fight.
Believe me I want the DLC rly badly, I had a blast playing DS3 in the last fortnight or so and I reaaaaally wanna play both DLCs before going into NG+. Gonna have to wait for at least a slight sale ._.
Again, I have to add, DS3 destroys DS2 in basically every category for me (never playing online).
In my desperation for DLC for DS3 I started downloading DS1 even tho I hate how awful the port is and how shitty so many parts of the gamedesign are. The only journey that is ahead of me is my own madness (that’s what you were referring to when you said Darkness right?)
NVM those 30 FPS gave me a bad headache in just 30 mins or so. And so the wait for a sale continues lol
I take all armor off before bosses so we can go close and personal!