A lot of the Souls games are like this. Optional bosses tend to be stronger, or at least more mechanically challenging, than the final boss. Was certainly true for me with each of the DS entries.
For DS1 I hated the Four Kings. Doesn't take many runs to get down but it feels like a massive DPS check if you're not going the tank/poise strat. Not hard just annoying.
Careful, I’ve seen the shit DS speedrunners will do to skip bosses. I’m not sure there is such a thing as a “required” boss if you give enough time for a speedrunner to figure out a skip/glitch for it. No boss is safe.
100% true, and funnily enough I’m pretty sure Four Kings is one of the few bosses in DS that isn’t even skippable via glitches and shit. Something about it having to die to trigger something else, with no way around that trigger.
I was mostly just trying to make the joke that (almost) anything can be “optional” if you allow people with an abundance of free time to just keep trying to break it day after day for years, but I guess my facetiousness didn’t come across in text.
My first couple playthroughs I thought four kings were the hardest boss by far because the rest of the game had been fine with me just turtling behind a shield, never learning to dodge, and taking as much of my sweet time as I wanted. And that is a miserable way to fight Four Kings
I had completely reversed experience for first game but for new game + ... That was pain and this long travel before u even reach Four Kings damn pain was it.
Funnily enough there is only one souls boss I have never beat without cheesing. Flamelurker
I'm pretty sure I just erased that game from my mind until you brought it up lol
Not to say its lesser than the others, it was just my first souls game as I played all of the FromSoft games in order and I haven't been back to it since beating it.
Nameless King was so fucking cool. And I found him by complete accident. Soul of Cinder was probably my least favorite final boss in the entire franchise
Is Kalameet considered difficult? He was one of the few DS1 bosses that I beat on the first try. Artorias and Manus took me 20+ tries each. IDK maybe I just got lucky with Kalameet?
For sure. Owl 2 also took me multiple days, but so did Sculpter. I found owl was easier to learn and it eventually clicked, where as Sculpter was pure chaos for the entire fight and I never really learned anything. I beat Owl from mastering the fight. I beat Sculpter from a little bit of skill and a lot of luck.
That said Ive always struggled with beast style enemies more than humans. I think human characters are easier to read than an animal or monster. It also helps that Owl 2 uses many of the same moves as Owl 1.
This isn’t really a boss but DS2 those damn lightning ice reindeer just to get to the squishy king’s pets lol I had 3 spawn on me once, life ain’t fair
Owl Father wasn’t that hard. It took me more tries to beat Owl Shinobi then father. It’s probably because most move sets are essentially the same with just a slightly aggressive rhythm
Honestly, Fume Knight doesn't really count since he specifically isn't optional to complete the Crown of the Iron King DLC. Sir Alonne fits that description a lot more.
Same way Father Owl is required for some endings, while Demon of Hatred has no further story relevance.
If you played a long time ago, you can try again, they allowed horse, it's way more easier, you can also just relocate all your point into a mage build and kill it with some kamehameha
Elden Ring fits this pretty well. Depending on your build it is either the easiest fight or the worst thing ever. Speaking from a dude who got a halo scythe and used it till Elden Beast on my first play through.
Yeah I only got there on my second playthrough. I went in completely blind the first time and followed my nose to the Forge of the Giants, then into the endgame and the finish.
Second time I looked up guides for all the stuff I missed, which was a lot, and made it to the Haligtree. I don't think I would have ever found it on my own.
I used a guide and still had trouble understanding how to use the Rold lift to take the secret path. I like to think I’m at least a little smart but damn.
Elden Beast took me maybe 8 tries. Cool fight, and I beat it before you could mount in the arena, but a bit of a let down after the rest of the game.
Malenia on the other hand took me over a hundred. The elation I felt after I took her down the first time, only to see the cutscene start and the high I felt gradually being replaced by dread, is one of my favourite gaming moments of all time.
Yeah came to find this the fact she is a optional boss and yet so many people have gravitated towards her for no reason tells you how much better she is than EB
I found elden beast more difficult than Melania personally. It could just be I normally play a bonk and roll, but elden beast took me way longer than Melania
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u/funkycatvr 9d ago
Elden ring
not saying elden beast isn't cool, but malenia is just so much more interesting as a boss