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Which Souls game had the consistently harder bosses?
- Thread starter Baphomet
- Start date
They're Soulslikes. They're not Souls games as they aren''t part of the franchise.
Bloodborne was maybe the hardest in context just because a lot of the old tricks didn't work, there was a lot to learn. But in hindsight, most of the bosses aren't too bad given the toolkit you have access to.
Elden Ring is probably the hardest of the games listed just because so many of the bosses are intensely aggressive and have very complex movesets with heavy AoE. There's a reason why most checkpoints are immediately outside the boss gates....
I'm not saying they are unfair now but I will say in terms of design we've really come a long way from the Demon's Souls / DS1 / DS2 school of design where things were more.... logical. Like in DS1, a big enemy raises an axe over its head, you know there is a big downward swing on the way. In DSIII -> Elden Ring it's more like they raise a giant axe over their head and then do a triple spin move and then jump backward, slam it down, and then it explodes with fire... and then explodes again a second or two later. Pretty hard to beat a boss on instinct now.
Elden Ring is probably the hardest of the games listed just because so many of the bosses are intensely aggressive and have very complex movesets with heavy AoE. There's a reason why most checkpoints are immediately outside the boss gates....
I'm not saying they are unfair now but I will say in terms of design we've really come a long way from the Demon's Souls / DS1 / DS2 school of design where things were more.... logical. Like in DS1, a big enemy raises an axe over its head, you know there is a big downward swing on the way. In DSIII -> Elden Ring it's more like they raise a giant axe over their head and then do a triple spin move and then jump backward, slam it down, and then it explodes with fire... and then explodes again a second or two later. Pretty hard to beat a boss on instinct now.
They don't have Souls in the title, so that's obvious. I'm talking more traditional From game mechanics made by them and not a dev trying to make a Souls type game.
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Gonna go with Elden Ring because there's a few bosses bosses that I beat that I'm still not confident in my abilities to do it again
easiest -> hardest
Demon's -> Bloodborne (how is this winning?) -> DS1 -> DS3 -> DS2 -> ER -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> Sekiro
easiest -> hardest
Demon's -> Bloodborne (how is this winning?) -> DS1 -> DS3 -> DS2 -> ER -> -> -> -> -> -> -> -> Sekiro
I've had a very aggressive playstyle since DS1 that's all about staying close and piling on the pressure. I suspect that's why Bloodborne's Boss Roster is on the easier end for me. The game rewarded the way I approach FromSoft combat in spades.
Nevermind I fought Father G as my first boss instead of CB. If you can clear that wall (which took me most of an afternoon) the other fights are cake in comparison until the end of the expansion.
Nevermind I fought Father G as my first boss instead of CB. If you can clear that wall (which took me most of an afternoon) the other fights are cake in comparison until the end of the expansion.
Played Bloodborne about 4 or 5 times and am currently juggling a NG+ and new NG0 wretch save on Elden Ring, and I think it's Elden Ring.
But I look at it from the perspective of what it is like to fight these bosses if you aren't overlevelled and using helpers. I think tbh it's the way the fights should be looked at. Even though Elden Ring does make it easier to be overlevelled, and gives you more helpers. But you can still summon real and NPC summons in BB and get OP from chalice dungeons, so it's not like it's impossible there.
Combat encounter design wise, there's a level of ambiguity in how some of the enemies approach you in Elden Ring that demands you either go the OP route, or study the fuck out of these encounters. They are just way more technical fights now, with way more ways to approach it. Yes there are busted builds, but the effectiveness of some of those builds will be lessened overtime by patches anyway (software not Patches the dude).
It's the first one of these games where I've felt myself thinking about my positioning in a fight, the recovery on my high commit attacks and dodge rolls. I never had to square off to a boss in BB like I have to in Elden Ring. Something like Maria in Bloodborne would seem like a really easy and trivial encounter if designed in a similar fashion in Elden Ring, next to the rest of the cast (by which I mean a slower version of that fight, cause you're faster in BB)
Tbh, I don't think there's much that's monstrously tough in BB. Gascoigne is a fearsome skill check, but from that point on it's not an especially difficult game I think. I think Bloodstarved Beast is a bit fucked up. Rom has an annoying gimmick which is called 'wasting your time with a boring fight'. It gets well hard again for the last fight and the DLC fights. But I think even the very first 'main' boss in Elden Ring is already at an Ludwig level of difficulty if you fight him at a non OP level, where you're dealing a reasonable amount of damage and him to you. If you're just nuking the boss and he's doing nothing to you then I just think you're too high level for the intended encounter design anyway, that's how I look at it
But I look at it from the perspective of what it is like to fight these bosses if you aren't overlevelled and using helpers. I think tbh it's the way the fights should be looked at. Even though Elden Ring does make it easier to be overlevelled, and gives you more helpers. But you can still summon real and NPC summons in BB and get OP from chalice dungeons, so it's not like it's impossible there.
Combat encounter design wise, there's a level of ambiguity in how some of the enemies approach you in Elden Ring that demands you either go the OP route, or study the fuck out of these encounters. They are just way more technical fights now, with way more ways to approach it. Yes there are busted builds, but the effectiveness of some of those builds will be lessened overtime by patches anyway (software not Patches the dude).
It's the first one of these games where I've felt myself thinking about my positioning in a fight, the recovery on my high commit attacks and dodge rolls. I never had to square off to a boss in BB like I have to in Elden Ring. Something like Maria in Bloodborne would seem like a really easy and trivial encounter if designed in a similar fashion in Elden Ring, next to the rest of the cast (by which I mean a slower version of that fight, cause you're faster in BB)
Tbh, I don't think there's much that's monstrously tough in BB. Gascoigne is a fearsome skill check, but from that point on it's not an especially difficult game I think. I think Bloodstarved Beast is a bit fucked up. Rom has an annoying gimmick which is called 'wasting your time with a boring fight'. It gets well hard again for the last fight and the DLC fights. But I think even the very first 'main' boss in Elden Ring is already at an Ludwig level of difficulty if you fight him at a non OP level, where you're dealing a reasonable amount of damage and him to you. If you're just nuking the boss and he's doing nothing to you then I just think you're too high level for the intended encounter design anyway, that's how I look at it
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It's pretty fun how mixed these answers are. It's the same for their bosses in general. What's easy for some is hard for other and vice vera. Which is not that surprising given the build variety and how some will grind to OP bosses, while others will make it a skill based fight.
BB bosses are hard but you get the toolset to fight them. Fast heals, counter heals, fast dodge etc. Elden ring bosses are about the same (hit hard, multi combo attacks, very fast and Delayed attacks) but you get none of the BB tools to deal with them.
So yeah, ER for me. Followed by DS3 DLC.
So yeah, ER for me. Followed by DS3 DLC.
Of course sekiro is a soulsbornekiro game
Answer is the game with the most multiple boss encounters
Answer is the game with the most multiple boss encounters
Overall I'd say Bloodborne.
Overall hardest single boss for me was DS3's Pontiff Sulyvahn or Bloodborne's Watchdog of the Old Gods.
Special shoutout to Melee only Radahn with no summons. I just reached the final portions of Elden Ring (just finished the capital) so maybe more will pop up. I heard Malenia is tough.
Overall hardest single boss for me was DS3's Pontiff Sulyvahn or Bloodborne's Watchdog of the Old Gods.
Special shoutout to Melee only Radahn with no summons. I just reached the final portions of Elden Ring (just finished the capital) so maybe more will pop up. I heard Malenia is tough.
I think it's easily Elden Ring, but IMO a lot of that is down to poor design more than anything else. if it wasn't for the mimic tear and other cheese, I genuinely don't know how I would have beaten malenia.
I'm surprised to see so many Bloodborne mentions, IMO it's the easiest souls game by a fair bit (though it's also my most played, so maybe that has to do with it). I can beat the entirety of Bloodborne, including DLC, in about a day with pretty minimal resistance, but I absolutely can't say that about DS3 (which I think is second hardest).
I'm surprised to see so many Bloodborne mentions, IMO it's the easiest souls game by a fair bit (though it's also my most played, so maybe that has to do with it). I can beat the entirety of Bloodborne, including DLC, in about a day with pretty minimal resistance, but I absolutely can't say that about DS3 (which I think is second hardest).
If you aren't abusing the parrying mechanic, I would say Bloodborne
Edit: also thank you for not adding Sekiro
Edit: also thank you for not adding Sekiro
Really surprised DS3 isn't running away with this, some of those fights feel designed for the "git good" crowd. It's you, the boss, and some iframes. Do it right or fuck off.
Elden Ring is a nightmare of course, but its so passively circumvented with summoning ashes and accidental overleveling, I don't think it deserves the credit.
Elden Ring is a nightmare of course, but its so passively circumvented with summoning ashes and accidental overleveling, I don't think it deserves the credit.
Sekiro, after it clicks, isn't that bad. On my 2nd playthrough, Demon of Hatred took about 90 minutes, and his stuff is all telegraphed once you know what to look for. You just gotta be patient.
I would say 2 and DeS are the easiest. 2 is very manageable once you level up the estus drinking stat and DeS only has a handful of "traditional" FROM boss fights.
1 is probably my favorite mix of bosses. It's slower paced, which I like. Things feel very deliberate here. O&S and the Four Kings were the most challenging for me.
Bloodborne, like people have said, is probably the most inconsistent. Base game isn't too bad, but then you get to DLC and those can be absolute nightmares. Kos took me longer than any other boss in the series.
3 can be challenging due to multi phase fights, but the roll there is the biggest Get Out of Jail Free card in the Trilogy. The toughest fights here were The princes, Pontiff, Friede, and the Demon Dragon for me.
I would say 2 and DeS are the easiest. 2 is very manageable once you level up the estus drinking stat and DeS only has a handful of "traditional" FROM boss fights.
1 is probably my favorite mix of bosses. It's slower paced, which I like. Things feel very deliberate here. O&S and the Four Kings were the most challenging for me.
Bloodborne, like people have said, is probably the most inconsistent. Base game isn't too bad, but then you get to DLC and those can be absolute nightmares. Kos took me longer than any other boss in the series.
3 can be challenging due to multi phase fights, but the roll there is the biggest Get Out of Jail Free card in the Trilogy. The toughest fights here were The princes, Pontiff, Friede, and the Demon Dragon for me.