Hidetaka Miyazaki Is the Godfather of Some of the Most Evil Boss Fights but Elden Ring Missed the Mark Many Times

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Hidetaka Miyazaki Is the Godfather of Some of the Most Evil Boss Fights but Elden Ring Missed the Mark Many Times

FromSoftware is one of the most respected and successful studios in the gaming industry. One of their most praised qualities is how the studio has made some of the most challenging and rewarding boss fights in gaming history. Hidetaka Miyazaki’s games are known for their difficulty, and they also have some iconic bosses. They’re not all perfect though.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Elden Ring came out in 2022 and is easily one of the best games ever made. While FromSoft hit a home run with this game, there have also been some misses, especially in the boss department. Ironically enough, the game’s most recognizable boss is the best example of this problem.

Elden Ring has some problematic bosses

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

? | Image Credit: FromSoftware

FromSoftware’s best bosses build upon mechanics the player has learned throughout the game. In Elden Ring, many of the bosses we fight teach us important new lessons. An example of this comes early into the game with Margit teaches us patience and that bosses can have long, winding attacks. But some bosses disregard all of these concepts. Malenia is the biggest one.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

from discussion

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Malenia is an optional boss who we can only find at the bottom of Miquella’s Haligtree. She is widely regarded as one of the hardest fights in Elden Ring. But why? On paper, she is everything a great FromSoftware boss should be: graceful, aggressive, and mechanically unique. But many players argue that she crosses the line from being “challenging but fair” to having outright broken design.

The Waterfowl Dance, in particular, has become one of the most iconic attacks in the Soulsborne franchise. The problem isn’t just damage but it’s how difficult it is to dodge. It’s easy enough if you’re already far from her but if she uses it in front of you, the dodge timing is extremely specific and often impossible.

Add that to the fact that she life steals and heals herself with every attack she lands on you and it’s like she may as well have her own healing flasks. One second you’re dodging the stupid attack and the next you notice that all your hard-earned damage has already been healed up.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

in

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

The worst part is that she isn’t the only boss in the game with these problems. The dragon bosses in Elden Ring are also extremely annoying to fight. But it has nothing to do with difficulty this time. Big and Giant bosses in the game work terribly with the game’s camera because you often have to go up close to them to avoid attacks. But this also makes it so you can’t see half the actions they’re doing.

Hidetaka Miyazaki and FromSoft probably didn’t see it coming

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

? | Image Credit: @thegameawards/

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

There’s also the example of Commander Gaius from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC who is just a stupid boss. We fight him on his big mount in an open area and he keeps spamming a charge attack that has an unusually big hitbox. So even if you dodge it, the tail end of his mount can still somehow hit you. Combine that with the fact that he keeps zooming around the battlefield and it’s just an all-round horrible experience.

A defining part of Miyazaki’s games is that bosses often serve as learning experiences. While a lot of people saw Malenia as the pinnacle of Elden Ring’s difficulty, she is also a good example of a mistake in FromSoftware’s otherwise masterful boss design. In the end, Malenia represents both the best and worst of Elden Ring.

Despite Elden Ring’s incredible success, it’s clear that some of its boss fights missed the mark. FromSoftware’s bosses have always been difficult, but some of Elden Ring‘s bosses miss the mark not because they are difficult, but because of poor design.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Hidetaka #Miyazaki #Godfather #Evil #Boss #Fights #Elden #Ring #Missed #Mark #Times

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

0

• Quote