Whether you regard it as a problem or not,the movesets are designed to be thematic. As with all games in the series, the movesets can seem amazing or underwhelming, but the developers get trapped once they've decided on the boss' theme. So many bosses aren't innately combat oriented, so the movesets have to reflect that. The bosses are trapped into fighting you as a player as they would any other creature in their environment or as their state allows. For example, the guardian to the painting world exit. She isn't innately combat oriented, her style and abilities are more geared towards assassination, potentially awaiting whilst hidden and attacking those who try to exit in one hit. But you as a player are different, she shows herself because she wants you to leave, but when you attack, you catch her in a position she's not equipped for: combat. They could give her a better combat moveset, but that contradicts her theme. It's quite similar for the butterfly. They could make it a more engaging fight to play, but they'd lose the theme. They could make it a more active fight and allow the player to get closer more often, but it loses the theme of it being a living entity in an environment and you're just an outsider entering it's territory. Thematically, it has to deal with you as it'd deal with anything else. The only catch all way to get out of this is to innately change the boss itself, thematically or design wise as an unfitting but good moveset is more jarring than it is good. I'm not saying there is nothing they could have done to make many bosses better, but it's not as simple as making a better moveset. They'd need to look at everything at once: the arena, the design and the context.
100% - game development is an absolute miracle, and the fact that the bosses succeed as much as they do is amazing. I always find it interesting to check out their cut bosses and wonder if it was time or as that central idea came to being, they realized it wasn't working.
Little mistake on the Capra demon segment tho. It uses a different theme compared to Asylum and Taurus, though it is later on re-used for the Centipede demon. Had to rush to the comments for this one lol.
You also read on his key that he's hanging out at the end of the lower burg (in the prettiest, most verdant spot) because he's essentially a mob boss that runs it and controls all the hollow bandits, his dogs are 2 more of his mooks.
Thank you for being the first person I've ever seen actually mention Gwyn's speed and aggression. He's as aggressive as manus but without the deliberately long punish windows. I see so many people try saying Gwyn is an easy boss fight "even without the parries" and uh No he isn't
Yeah, he’s „easy“ for as long as I don’t need to drink Estus because the window for that is shorter than for any other boss in the game. I don’t mind the final boss being hard but compared to Manus it’s just not fun hard once I‘m even slightly on the backfoot. Add to that a pretty tedious „old From“ runback and it can get frustrating. Still not as bad as DS2‘s final boss as Gwyn makes up for the shortcomings of the fight in atmosphere but I still wish it would be better and it feels like not many tweaks are needed.
He is easy... in so far that I can consistently fight him parryless, however he's not easy in the context of dark souls' normal challenge level. Only a handful of bosses are as difficult or more difficult than Gwyn (assuming we don't parry, if we do he's one of the easiest bosses in the game, I think that's a shame actually. He's a lot of fun parryless). Are there harder bosses? Absolutely (Sister Friede is harder, in my opinion). Are there harder bosses in Dark Souls 1? Maybe, depends on your playstyle and which bosses jive with you but I'd say... sure? Is [parryless] Gwyn objectively an easy boss? No, hell no. I think he's easy, but I've also fought him dozens and dozens of times. It should be mentioned that he's a really good boss because in spite of those dozens and dozens of fight's he's still fun and engaging, something I can't really say for a lot of other bosses.
@@The-Anathemahe's just so fast and aggressive and his sword is so massive. As the commenter above you pointed out, the second you get put on the backfoot he's a nightmare. The pillars in his arena lull you into think you can hide but his sword is so big he just hits you straight through them(or he's so fast he might just run around them and hit you that way). He's the only boss fight where healing feels legitimately impossible to do unpunished(unless you parry, but again, were talking gwyn without parries)
@@znerd3664He has a few safe healing windows, but they're hard to find. Easiest is to bait the grab, he's animation locked for quite a while if you dodge it (and if you don't, well on the bright side you don't need to heal anymore!)
if you dont like parrying then he is incredibly engaging encounter cuz of his aggression and moveset. he is not crazy fast but aggressive enough that you really gotta plan when to use your Estus. And the boss arena also weirdly works in his favor. the pillars lure into thinking them as hiding/cover/safe spots but trying to use them as such just lets Gwyn get some free hits on you. He is honestly one of the most fun boss in DS1 if you like melee duels and dislike parries
I've been playing dark souls for years. My wife and I recently decided to co op all the games. I always just jump right off the balcony into the Asylum Demon fight, but she looked at him for a little while. We very suddenly learned that if you linger on the balcony above the asylum demon too long, he'll jump up and swat you down. Somehow I've never seen or heard of this until now.
I got Dark Souls at age 13. The first time I was on that balcony I found out that “fun” fact. It scared me so much that I stopped playing the game for a couple days, lol
On the four kings and the seemingly inconsistent melee damage, I'm pretty sure it's based on what part of the sword hits you, so when you're up super close, you're getting hit by its arm and handle, while if you're further, you're getting the magic and the blade.
Holy shit this video is incredible. You will be blessed by the youtube algorithm soon my friend, have faith. Souls players love video essays. This kind of evergreen content will bring engagement to your channel for years to come. Your reaction to Manus' spells has me a bit worried about how you'll react to Elden Ring bosses though... You don't have to try to roll the rain or closing circle spells. The rain will miss you if you run in a curve, and the closing circle has a safespot right on top of Manus that can let you get a few hits in if you run at him when he casts it.
Thank you so much! And Elden Ring magic (for the most part) usually makes a bit more sense to me. I didn't know Manus' could actually be avoided via running. Gotta replay the whole thing again now!
I feel like not mentioning the way to instant kill Ceasless was an oversight in a video over analyzing the bosses. Great stuff though, loved the Bloodborne one too.
@@TheAkasharose I definitely thought it felt strange my first couple times too but if the camera allowed a better angle you can actually see that Ceasless is actually hanging over the cliff during that state. The hits on his hand make him lose grip and fall to his death. This is definitely not anyone's fault for not noticing as it's not very clearly represented.
@@TheAkasharose I mean the fact that it has its own dedicated animation sets(like iron golem falling off the roof of sen's fortress) is enough to prove it was intended by the devs Grabbing his sister's armor set and him ripping his locked-up arm out are also both required for it to work. Lore-wise he's so desperate to reclaim his sister's belongings that he jumps over a cloff to try to get to you. If both those conditions arent met he just hangs back and spams fire blasts at you
I’ve never finished dark souls 1, I was in the process of moving and I just forgot about it… but this video made me want to go back and give it another go.
the Capra Demon actually uses the sane soundtrack as the Centipede Demon! maybe you amend this later in the video actually, but just wanted to mention. very good stuff so far and i entirely agree with your thoughts on the first few bosses
Yeah idk how he made that mistake unless he's playing with the sound off tbh, that's a pretty small detail all things considered but also not really hard to fact check or even remember offhand imo
Now listen, I'm a big fan of the Taurus, so lemme pepper the discussion: all of its attacks are one hit swings, allowing novice players still relying on shields to learn the moveset from relative safety, especially if they bought the Heater Shield from MUM. All the numbers on equipment screens can overwhelm new players, so this is little crutch reward for those willing to explore and experiment. Doing so also shows the player, that just blocking isn't going to get them very far. Something the game otherwise takes a very long time to reiterate. As mentioned, the ladder sets up a plunge attack, but only if the player remembers they can do it. Where Asylum tutorialized it, Taurus reviews and tests it. It's likely been ages since then, and newer players likely haven't seen much reason, or even opportunity, to do a plunge. Plus, it's repeatable. The feet stomps, and gap between the legs, gives the creature a physical existence. It's not just a hitbox, it's a creature. You also got a super rare drop, most players can't use, but can look forward to. Makes repeat playthroughs a little more varied. Plus, there's the AI exploit that causes it to jump off the bridge; the boss isn't immune to gravity, something the player knows of themselves quite well. I gotta lobby for a B for my boi. PS - I think runs up to the boss are important part of the boss, or rather, the boss is part of the level, not something separate, so I hope as the video goes on, levels become part of the review process.
i think he undermined the taurus demon here in the video. if you are a new player taurus demon is good enough. his massive mace's attack has lingering hitbox(as it should) so you cant just roll into the weapon and comically not get hit by i-framing through it(ds3 fanbois hate this). it forces you to treat the taurus demon and its greataxe with respect instead of treating it like a mere hitbox/hurtbox which you can nullify with a button press but something that yu gotta physically traverse around deliberately. it forces you to learn the importance of positioning and focus on the direction of your dodges. if you dodge sideways you may just fall through cracks too. so the boss and the arena simultaneously teaches positioning and distancing, cuz so you dodge backwards and now you have to do sprint attack to utilize the punish window or change your starting weapon (scimitar or swords) and switch to utilize something with long range (like spears). otherwise you just end up getting cornered with your back to the wall/tower and boss still having almost all the HP bar. so for a newbie it simultaneously teaches the importance of utilizing your weapons moveset/range/hitbox and not just overfocus on only DPS like other RPG. and importance of utilizing punish windows not to mention, it again teaches you to utilize the elevation of boss arena like the tutorial asylum demon which may come in handy later in the fight against Capra demon as well if you lack poise. Taurus demon is not flashy, but for a souls newbie it forces then to learn or adapt some crucial gameplay lessons if they are planning to stick with the game or series in general. it also teaches you how to do boss runbacks efficiently something that you gotta master if you plan to do ds1. i honestly kinda love the Taurus Demon for all these.
You may not be a character designer, but your thoughts still matter. I'm currently studying video game concept art, and hearing what people have to say really does matter a lot!
Exactly, it's impressive cuz I usually run slower builds with colossal weapons and have similar likes and dislikes as he is using a quicker role heavy playstyle
I also think quelaag design is a big shock for new players. A horrifying fire spider comes into frame then it climbs up to reveal the naked form of a beautiful women's uper body attached to the spider.
First off, what a great video. Stumbled across this in my recommended feed today and it has earned you a sub. One thing I think you should have mentioned is how the Sif fight changes if you do the DLC and rescue Sif before you fight the boss. Sif will recognize you and the fight just becomes that much more mournful.
An excellent breakdown! I have to ask: where did the artwork for the tier list come from? I love the old-school monster manual look for the Souls bosses!
Finally a new face in the Soulsborne Scene wich does not try to be overly funny for no reason. Also a good voice and pattern of speech for my taste. 100% watch the rest of your series, thx and may the gods be with you \\[T]//
I loved your rankings and the observations behind them too. Your mention of control over Gwyndolin's fight versus the Moonlight Butterfly alongside other points like the leg hitboxes on the Taurus Demon and the poor camera, I love it... You're observant and so well said that it's so satisfying to listen and watch. I love your humor too. I hope you make more content, you deserve the best. ❤
If they had put the bonfire in Lost Izalith itself in that big empty area near the chaos eater pit, or made it so getting knocked off didn't kill you and just knocked you into a chaos eater pit or something that you could climb out of, Bed of Chaos might scrape its way into a low C. But my God, the runback and the instant death together are just so awful. Also Centipede Demon does have a neat thing where if you cut off its arm or tail, it becomes an independent enemy. However, they're not really a threat and die really easily, so it really only serves as a way to get the orange charred ring early. Seems like that would have been a better direction to explore with the boss. As you damage it, the centipede limbs break off and become independent threats in their own right. That'd at least be something different from "demon with big slam attacks".
I feel like you kinda forgot to mention alternate playstyles for a lot of these bosses. It feels like your assuming that everyone is doing a lightweight, roll heavy build when discussing these enemies. I know the video is already long, but I feel like how viable different builds and playstyles are should be taken into account, as some of the bosses in From's games can completely change based on whether you are blocking or rolling.
Especially as we move forward in the series - I've only done Heavy Armor/Shield builds in Dark Souls & Elden Ring, beyond that only ever watched Shield content as my more defensive friends played through the game (my wife uses Shields religiously - the choice of Shield often comes before the choice of a weapon) It's a strange contradiction, but (with the exception of Elden Ring), I end up always being afraid to block in the first Dark Souls games. I know that's 100% just me, but I've always felt so many of the attacks from larger bosses (Gaping Dragon, Bed of Chaos, Smough) need to be dodged. It's 100% a mental catch that didn't really click for me until Elden Ring.
My first build was a total mess and I ended killing Manus by shooting arrows at him from outside the arena, guided by the tiny red lights of his eyes. 10/10, would do it again
a mistake during the four kings segment , the sword swipes have a sweet spot . sometimes you take very little damage because you are hit by the hilt of the sword instead of the blade
About the damage of the Four Kings, it's actually very consistent but they have an additional element. They have a sweet spot mechanic, damage is maximum at the tip of their weapons, their hilt has the minimum.
When I thought the Taurus demon, it literally just walked off the bridge and killed itself. I didn’t even have the chance to get close enough to see it attack a single time.
29:20 I don't think I'll forget the first time I beat the Dynamic Duo, Ornstein and Smough. I don't remember why I singled out Smough first. I think it had to do with me having the Dark Knight Halberd, using a wide swing to hit a big, slow target. Maybe Smough was just easier to hit with my pyromancy. But after being caught by surprise when I was expecting Gargoyles 2.0, I felt that I made my choice and opted to take out Smough first every time. On my winning run, Ornstein was down to a pip and a half on his life bar and I was out of Estus. He got me with his impale and fry attack, and I thought I was done. I had only a few points of health left and got back up. I charged forward at the first chance I got and just went all in on offense, as not even my shield could save me at that point. The gamble paid off, and I emerged victorious. As for favorite/least favorite bosses, I think the Four Kings is my favorite. The disorientation, oppressive background music, and the fact it was a DPS check all just stewed together quite well. And it also helped that the Four Kings was one of the bosses that took by far the fewest tries on my first (and so far only) playthrough. While Seath was at least fun to plan around mitigating the curse (and I absolutely love the aesthetic, if not the design, of the Crystal Caves). Bed of Chaos was just completely unfun with getting backhanded into the pit. Again. And again. And again.
As a person with no editing skills whatsoever i would like if the amazing music was a bit lower in later videos, i find it getting a bit distracting at times.
I can't ignore those souls on the Moonlight Butterfly, sorry. Do you even Git Gud bro? Jk, great video! I never even noticed the boss music for Asylum, Taurus and Capra were the same before this video and I've played through this game like 20 times. I look forward to your next videos.
Great video. I largely agree with this, but had some comments/insights that I wanted to share. Moonlight Butterfly is by no means a great boss, but my experience of encountering it the first time near release was decently challenging. FromSoft games from DS2/Bloodborne onward really emphasize the importance of dodging, but in DS1, it was scary to learn to dodge, and it's very easy to rely solely on shields up to this point. Moonlight Butterfly is the first boss that chips 100% physical block shields in the game with all of its attacks. My experience was that this fight opened me to trying alternate shields with higher magic resist for the quick stabs, and was really encouraging learning dodge timings for the others. I appreciate that its teaching first-time players something valuable, even if it's pretty boring on repeat runs. Right on about the Stray/Firesage distinction. Stray Demon follows a long lineage of "return to the first dungeon" and "the first boss, but hard" tropes in video games, going back to FF1. Firesage just wears it too thin. I love your take on Gwyn. I didn't parry at all in my first playthrough since it seemed so risky, and was largely reliant on shields. Gwyn has massive chip through because of the fire on his sword, and with no way to effectively follow up on attacks, I found him really challenging - it can feel impossible to heal at time, and you can't wait out his string of attacks because of the chip. I am confused when people say he's intentionally easy - that's Allant's deal, not Gwyn's. From just underestimated how strong players would become at parrying. Interested in getting to the rest of the series!
I think playing Elden Ring first really soured me on a lot of Dark Souls bosses. A lot of stuff that would be novel or cool just felt a bit lame in comparison. I couldn't appreciate the work put in to make Asylum Demon cool because all I saw was just a slightly less cool version of the Erdtree Avatar, for example. Going from Asylum Demon, to Taurus, to Butterfly, to Gargoyles, to Capra was just a really disappointing display from Fromsoft to me. I know they have much more merit than what I experienced but to me they just weren't particularly interesting aesthetically or mechanically. Butterfly genuinely felt like a parody of Elden Ring boss design. The sewer area leading up to and including the gaping dragon is what really sold me on this game.
It definitely feels like moving in slow motion - particularly considering how much Elden Ring pulled from Dark Souls for move set inspiration. Even with it, though, I think there's something really satisfying about the deliberateness of Dark Souls that lets it endure for me. The bosses are simple, but every move is so clear and confidently animated, that it keeps me glued to the screen.
Four Kings dmg is not inconsistent, its based on where his sword connected with you, if he hits you with the hilt its does nothing, but if the blade hits you it explodes your health bar
Just some of my thoughts: I agree that O&S doesn't get nearly enough shit. It's definitely not a bad fight but the jank makes way less consistent and rewarding than it could be. It feels absolutely horrible when you die to unreactable instant charges from O or whenever S decides to spam his charge attack at close range. For Ceaseless you definitely should have mentioned the quick kill. I'm not sure it would affect the rating because it basically makes it so there is no fight at all but it's definitely worth mentioning. Demon Firesage is even worse than you said in the video. He's such a lazy copy and paste job that he doesn't even deal fire damage, he still deals magic damage with all his "magic" attacks just like Stray. For Centipede I have two things to add: first, there is another island in the far right corner of the room from where you enter. No lava surrounding that and more space than the first tiny spot. Second, you can get the ring early by cutting off his arm and killing the mob that spawns from that. None of this makes it a good fight though. Seath: you can absolutely see and react to his explosion in time to outrun it. It's annoying because you have to position your camera in a awkward way and if you already commited to a slow attack when he starts the animation you won't be able to get away anymore. Curse is problematic but it's fairly easy to avoid and having humanity on you alone makes the buildup very manageable. I'll add thise here because it fits but I wish you mentioned tail cuts. They're generally fine but Seaths (and to a lesser degree Priscillas) is really annoying: good luck getting around to the middle tail if you already broke the crystal and if you do, have fun with the tail slams and swipes. Sif: since you considered atmosphere I feel you should have mentioned the alternate cutscene if you do her DLC event first. Might help solidify her spot in S for you. The 4 Kings lock away one of your ring slots. You never explicitly stated that, so I thought I'd mention it here. Also the reason some melee attacks dealt low damage is because you're in close, which means they only hit you with the sword hilt rather than the blade proper. I find Manus a lot easier than the other three DLC bosses in some ways. Notably he gives you actually safe openings to heal which can't be said for the Guardian or Artorias. Regarding his magic, as another commenter stated two of his three spells can be avoided without even rolling and the one you have to roll is the most straight forward.
Good video. Most people think Gwyn is easy because of him being parriable, and that his easiness is what shows his degradation. But your point about Gwyn's parries being specifically animated to make him look pathetic is interesting. It's like beating up an old man.
Although i disagree about a lot of points , i still find it to be a great and impressive in depth look at one of my favs games of all time , definetly gonna check the next ones .
Appreciate the feedback - I quieted music down a bit in the later vids, tried -24 instead of -19 as a music decibel peak. Hopefully makes everything a bit easier to listen to!
54:30 The Four Kings' melee attacks deal more damage the further you stand from them. The depth perception with the arena is also a deliberate design choice
It should be mentioned that the moonlight butterfly is only a slog in melee, and it's literally free if you're using a ranged build (magic or bows) since the entire fight is a giant free damage opportunity and the boss can't really punish you in any meaningful way, so you can pretty much just spam attacks almost nonstop.
I recently played Dark Souls for the first time. When I got to the Centipede Demon, I stood on the first little island. When the Demon tried to attack me, it got stuck on the wall above me. I thought maybe it was supposed to do that, like the cheese with Ceaseless. So I just whacked it repeatedly until it was dead.
Great video! Your opinions are just like, the worst, but that's what makes it fun. I'm going to watch the DS2 video next, can't wait for you to say fume knight is terrible and ancient dragon and aldia are actually the best bosses in the game!
after about the length of time it takes pinwheel to spawn 7 clones simutaneously is also when his music track kicks into overdrive. if you are doing some sort of challenge run that drastically restricts your damage/armor, pinwheel will be both an interesting challenge and difficulty spike for those who thought this was going to be as easy as a normal run. honestly, even if it is a bit trollish, having an easy boss after a diffcult but skippable area to lead you to an impossible boss fog unless you made sufficient story progress and has possibly the most unforgiving runback ive seen in much any game. still have a pyromancer save file with a black knight sword stuck at the bottom tombs. also: seeth the scaless' lesson (which was the hardest one for me to learn personally) was also quite possibly the best, even if it took me 5 playthroughs to learn it. all the bosses in dark souls have lessons to teach, provided you arent too stubborn to learn it.
Couple of my own hot takes with the bosses. Gaping Dragon is easier than Pinwheel. If the latter had a healthpool that fit the point where most people face him or if you fought him and Gaping level 1 with an unupgraded dagger, you'd be at risk of being overwhelmed by Pinwheel more. Gaping Dragon is stupidly easy to manipulate and slow. Also Capra is worse than Bed of Chaos. BoC actually looks interesting, has a gimmick which while bad is at least unique and it was clearly the victim of time crunch. Capra on the otherhand feels like it was designed to be ass from the get go or was just put in there with the dogs by someone who had no idea what quality is.
I remember on my SL1 run of Dark Souls, I decided that I might as well jump down to Pinwheel first - after all, he was so easy. I tried him once, then went immediately to Undead Parish to come back later. He's got enough stats that you do need to be at least partially into the game proper. And I can see the argument for Capra Under Bed of Chaos. I definitely respect a unique idea that struggled to function over an idea that feels cheap for cheap's sake. It's only because I do like the moveset of the Capra Demon as an individual enemy that I gave him the slight edge in my final list.
I agree on both points. Pinwheel really suffers from his low HP and is a very demanding fight early. With low damage you'll struggle to kill him before he spawns a shitload of clones, at which point you have to play at your absolute best to not be annihilated. Of course there's Leeroy to help out but being at the mercy of NPC AI isn't fun and I've had Leeroy do absolutely nothing before because he kept going for the clones. BoC feels out of place to me because it feels like a puzzle boss with only one or two correct solutions. You can brute force it but there's a intended way to do the fight that makes it way less of a headache and pretty consistent. It's fundamentally different from other bosses in that there is a objectively correct approach and while it's definitely not good, it's better than the RNG gank fest that is Capra (at intended levels)
um, what does tomb of the giants have to do with the gwyndolin fight? whether it's sunny or dark for his encounter depends on if the player has killed the gwynevere apparition or not.
O&S fight is simultaneously the worst and best boss fight in DaS. The game’s overall jank really comes out in the fight-personally I feel like the camera was a third boss in this fight given how much I had to struggle with it-and the AI is fairly odd at times. The sheer difficulty is extremely frustrating, and if the return trip to the entrance weren’t so easy I think it would make many (or more) players quit. I also don’t think the bosses themselves are particularly interesting unto themselves nor in terms of their move sets. They both do plunging attacks despite having very different themes and bodies, which sort of detracts from the sense of duality that they seem to be implying when you see them. But there’s no other fight that’s as memorable and impactful in the entire series, partly because they’re from the game most people played having little Souls experience. If you’re coming back to the game after playing later entries, it’s probably not as monumental, but for those who played when this game was still slightly niche it really felt impossible. It epitomized the overall appeal of the game itself, that sense of almost masochism for devoting yourself to this stupid venture. Equally, the sense of accomplishment is exactly what players had been promised when they heard about this game or got that far in it. Without that fight, I don’t think the game would have the notoriety and fame that propelled it into… well, a Souls game. Also Capra is one of my favorites in the sense of the community early on in this game’s popularity, as “kill the dogs first” was a shibboleth amongst more veteran players and a sort of rite of passage for new ones. As you can probably tell, a boss being memorable is a key part of its success in my opinion. Most players aren’t analytical about things and it’s the impression they’re left with afterwards that gives meaning to the boss fight for them. Sometimes, a bad boss can be the best, similar to how a janky game can still have some of the best combat. Or an entire zone with single digit FPS can be among the most hated for reasons unrelated to the performance.
small point but I'm surprised you didn't mention how if you linger too long on the platform above the asylum demon, the demon will jump up and smash the platform and send you tumbling to the ground. its another way the game serves to encourage taking fast action.
what I don't like about gwyn is that there is no indication that he can be parried so if you don't know about it you can just assume it's not possible. Especially if you've tried to parry other bosses before like the gargoyles, the capra demon, queelag or orstein that look like they could be parried and can't you end up associating "boss" with "unparriable". I actually have this issue even more in DS3 where I did the whole game just assuming you can't parry bosses and turns out a lot of boss attack can be parried but it's totally arbitrary which can and can't and most still can't so you don't feel compelled to experiment. That's something I really appreciate sekiro for, it always tells you exactly what can be done to avoid an attack (while still leaving you open to other options if you find a better solution, like dodging), so you are never caught off guard by the result of an action you simply have to do things properly. Not that it would fit dark souls vibe, but if you go for the less UI intensive approach of dark souls you should simply not break rules you set up, except maybe as an easter egg. And so many souls boss gimmick don't work on me because I simply don't realize they're there. For exemple I would have never noticed the two demon in the dark souls 3 ringed city DLC lead to a different fight depending on which you kill first without the internet, so I see people praise this fight for that and the fact it let you chose which version to fight but when I played it I didn't chose shit, it's not a choice if you don't know you have it.
Is Ornstein the easier to take out? I have, on every playthru, done more damage to Smough each hit rather than Ornstein - so I thought the fight *was* working as intended, where killing the harder of the 2 rewards an easier phase two
Crossbreed Percilla, the Maiden in White. There are precisely 2 reasons to attack her. Lifehunt and her tail cut. If you stick her with a throwing knife, you can use that to track her. The amount of cut content around Percilla is sad.
Also you need to cut seaths tail if you want to get moonlight greatsword. Along with camera issues i find it difficult to locate and get enough hits in before seath turnes
I've been thinking about fromsoft's design choices, and how subtle they can be, yet when you sit down and really map out every element of them you realize how well designed the games are. I describe them as rivers vs. walls. Most games (especially modern games) use rivers to get the player where they're supposed to be. "hey here's a thing come get it!" "did you know crabs are weak to fire?" etc. There's nothing wrong with this, because the river is the path of least resistance, and so if you have a story you want to tell then you can just set the player down the river and get them there quickly. ez peazy, gg. FS wants to create games that require you to pay attention to what you're doing. The central bet the company made was that by forcing games that DO NOT play themselves, ever, they would attract people that would be dedicated fans of the series, and that bet has paid off. I really loved DS1 and DS2 when I played them, because they reminded me of playing games on my GBA as a kid and having no idea where I was supposed to go, what I was supposed to do, or even what was happening exactly, and so the experimentation that came with each new game was a core part of what I loved. My brothers are much younger, and they don't have the same experience. For them, games are supposed to be linear and tell you what to do, where to go, how to play them. I've watched them play a few times, and they just get frustrated after trying the same thing a couple times. I think FS uses walls more often than other game design studios, which you're meant to walk into as part of exploring the game. Players that aren't used to actively looking for such things call the games "hard", but I think the games become much easier (the early games, anyway) once you know that you're meant to observe the world around you.
There are so many playthroughs where I would just stop after beating O&S, once you beat them you know the rest of the game is gonna be easy but tedious. Bed of Chaos is just the worse, but you have the option to Tohki Bomb. 4Kings is just DPS check Seathe and Nito don't have anything noteworthy imo, once you know the right positioning they're fairly easy to beat. At this point most of the trouble is just getting to places instead of the bosses themselves. At the very least though, the Gwyn fight will always be satisfying despite being just a parry check because of the music and environment.
Capra is NEVER an issue for me cuz I do t leave Undead Burg without grinding out a bunch of lvls. Also for early game I ALWAYS break the dragon tail so I can get what I consider the best early game weapon. Also if I don’t get a Black Knoght GS, I’m restarting the whole damn game lmaooo
Maybe it's cuz I actively choose to fight 2nd phase Ornstein, but I find him easier to deal with cuz when close he doesn't use his lightning often and his grab is easy to dodge when not being jank. Smough is just tedious cuz he can spam the butt drop and his charge swing
I know tons of people have probably already commented this by now but in case they haven't, Capra Demon does NOT use the 'Taurus Demon' song, it uses 'Centipede Demon'. I originally commented before finishing the video but now my take on it is very different. For a supposed 'over-analysis' there are a staggering amount of missed details or just straight up incorrect things in it (More than just the song error above), such as Four Kings doing less damage when you're close to them, not random damage, both Gaping Dragon and Seath being dragon bosses before Kalameet (Even if you discount Seath), Bed of Chaos' 'beard' not actually having collision but the elbow of Izalith's arm being the thing knocking you off (Still stupid either way), being able to deal with the lava in the Centipede Demon arena by going to the bigger island to the right and by killing a severed arm/tail for the ring, Manus having three spells not just the storm and ring (Other being his version of Dark Bead) and O&S being better in their second phase??? Huh? Overall high C tier video, not the great one I thought it would be.
As a side-note on Gwyndolin working better in the sunlight, this is true but O&S work better in the dark (their cutscene is in-engine by the by, and that's improved too). It's just too bad that this isn't really doable in vanilla, if memory serves it can happen in fog wall rando though).
I Really want to like capra demon but the camera and clunk of DS1 is simply too much for such a tiny area, if they just had the demon wait at the top of the stairs watching while his hounds attack i think it would do a great deal to improve the atmosphere and gameplay, however all 3 are just too aggressive for such a small space
Excellent video, seriously i love nerding out dark souls. I got a ton of flak for calling O&S busted bosses with terrible dated ai and pathing. More often than not they are horrible bosses lmao. Cool deaign tho
I have some friends that have O&S at the very bottom of their personal lists. I love the overall design, I just wish the fight aged as well as some of the other bosses because that fight shows its age... a lot.
I typically always fight stray demon immediately after I ring the bells which may be the reason why I hate him and his stupid hp bar, which I makes sense as to why I feel like I have to resort to the ai exploit so often
This is the first time I fought him so early, and I never realized how much health he had until I tried to kill him without being over leveled. Wild experience.
Whether you regard it as a problem or not,the movesets are designed to be thematic. As with all games in the series, the movesets can seem amazing or underwhelming, but the developers get trapped once they've decided on the boss' theme. So many bosses aren't innately combat oriented, so the movesets have to reflect that.
The bosses are trapped into fighting you as a player as they would any other creature in their environment or as their state allows.
For example, the guardian to the painting world exit. She isn't innately combat oriented, her style and abilities are more geared towards assassination, potentially awaiting whilst hidden and attacking those who try to exit in one hit. But you as a player are different, she shows herself because she wants you to leave, but when you attack, you catch her in a position she's not equipped for: combat. They could give her a better combat moveset, but that contradicts her theme.
It's quite similar for the butterfly. They could make it a more engaging fight to play, but they'd lose the theme. They could make it a more active fight and allow the player to get closer more often, but it loses the theme of it being a living entity in an environment and you're just an outsider entering it's territory. Thematically, it has to deal with you as it'd deal with anything else.
The only catch all way to get out of this is to innately change the boss itself, thematically or design wise as an unfitting but good moveset is more jarring than it is good.
I'm not saying there is nothing they could have done to make many bosses better, but it's not as simple as making a better moveset. They'd need to look at everything at once: the arena, the design and the context.
100% - game development is an absolute miracle, and the fact that the bosses succeed as much as they do is amazing. I always find it interesting to check out their cut bosses and wonder if it was time or as that central idea came to being, they realized it wasn't working.
Little mistake on the Capra demon segment tho. It uses a different theme compared to Asylum and Taurus, though it is later on re-used for the Centipede demon. Had to rush to the comments for this one lol.
You also read on his key that he's hanging out at the end of the lower burg (in the prettiest, most verdant spot) because he's essentially a mob boss that runs it and controls all the hollow bandits, his dogs are 2 more of his mooks.
Thank you for being the first person I've ever seen actually mention Gwyn's speed and aggression. He's as aggressive as manus but without the deliberately long punish windows. I see so many people try saying Gwyn is an easy boss fight "even without the parries" and uh
No he isn't
Yeah, he’s „easy“ for as long as I don’t need to drink Estus because the window for that is shorter than for any other boss in the game. I don’t mind the final boss being hard but compared to Manus it’s just not fun hard once I‘m even slightly on the backfoot. Add to that a pretty tedious „old From“ runback and it can get frustrating.
Still not as bad as DS2‘s final boss as Gwyn makes up for the shortcomings of the fight in atmosphere but I still wish it would be better and it feels like not many tweaks are needed.
He is easy... in so far that I can consistently fight him parryless, however he's not easy in the context of dark souls' normal challenge level. Only a handful of bosses are as difficult or more difficult than Gwyn (assuming we don't parry, if we do he's one of the easiest bosses in the game, I think that's a shame actually. He's a lot of fun parryless).
Are there harder bosses? Absolutely (Sister Friede is harder, in my opinion). Are there harder bosses in Dark Souls 1? Maybe, depends on your playstyle and which bosses jive with you but I'd say... sure?
Is [parryless] Gwyn objectively an easy boss? No, hell no. I think he's easy, but I've also fought him dozens and dozens of times. It should be mentioned that he's a really good boss because in spite of those dozens and dozens of fight's he's still fun and engaging, something I can't really say for a lot of other bosses.
@@The-Anathemahe's just so fast and aggressive and his sword is so massive. As the commenter above you pointed out, the second you get put on the backfoot he's a nightmare. The pillars in his arena lull you into think you can hide but his sword is so big he just hits you straight through them(or he's so fast he might just run around them and hit you that way). He's the only boss fight where healing feels legitimately impossible to do unpunished(unless you parry, but again, were talking gwyn without parries)
@@znerd3664He has a few safe healing windows, but they're hard to find.
Easiest is to bait the grab, he's animation locked for quite a while if you dodge it (and if you don't, well on the bright side you don't need to heal anymore!)
if you dont like parrying then he is incredibly engaging encounter cuz of his aggression and moveset. he is not crazy fast but aggressive enough that you really gotta plan when to use your Estus. And the boss arena also weirdly works in his favor. the pillars lure into thinking them as hiding/cover/safe spots but trying to use them as such just lets Gwyn get some free hits on you.
He is honestly one of the most fun boss in DS1 if you like melee duels and dislike parries
Finally someone understands the massive letdown of Seath. Couldn’t agree more
I've been playing dark souls for years. My wife and I recently decided to co op all the games.
I always just jump right off the balcony into the Asylum Demon fight, but she looked at him for a little while. We very suddenly learned that if you linger on the balcony above the asylum demon too long, he'll jump up and swat you down. Somehow I've never seen or heard of this until now.
I got Dark Souls at age 13. The first time I was on that balcony I found out that “fun” fact. It scared me so much that I stopped playing the game for a couple days, lol
@@Turt3752this game truly keeps you from being comfortable haha
That happened to me once accidentally and scared the shit outta me loll
On the four kings and the seemingly inconsistent melee damage, I'm pretty sure it's based on what part of the sword hits you, so when you're up super close, you're getting hit by its arm and handle, while if you're further, you're getting the magic and the blade.
Holy shit this video is incredible. You will be blessed by the youtube algorithm soon my friend, have faith. Souls players love video essays. This kind of evergreen content will bring engagement to your channel for years to come.
Your reaction to Manus' spells has me a bit worried about how you'll react to Elden Ring bosses though... You don't have to try to roll the rain or closing circle spells. The rain will miss you if you run in a curve, and the closing circle has a safespot right on top of Manus that can let you get a few hits in if you run at him when he casts it.
Thank you so much! And Elden Ring magic (for the most part) usually makes a bit more sense to me. I didn't know Manus' could actually be avoided via running. Gotta replay the whole thing again now!
@@TheAkasharose Yes you can, except for the one where the dark beads come back to him, you need to roll that.
I feel like not mentioning the way to instant kill Ceasless was an oversight in a video over analyzing the bosses. Great stuff though, loved the Bloodborne one too.
I do agree - I should have mentioned it. It's always been funky to me, but it feels like it walks the line between a glitch and something intentional.
@@TheAkasharose I definitely thought it felt strange my first couple times too but if the camera allowed a better angle you can actually see that Ceasless is actually hanging over the cliff during that state. The hits on his hand make him lose grip and fall to his death. This is definitely not anyone's fault for not noticing as it's not very clearly represented.
iirc in an interview Miyazaki mentioned the Ceaseless Cheese was intentional.
@@TheAkasharose I mean the fact that it has its own dedicated animation sets(like iron golem falling off the roof of sen's fortress) is enough to prove it was intended by the devs
Grabbing his sister's armor set and him ripping his locked-up arm out are also both required for it to work. Lore-wise he's so desperate to reclaim his sister's belongings that he jumps over a cloff to try to get to you. If both those conditions arent met he just hangs back and spams fire blasts at you
@@znerd3664that explains so much. Thank you.
Thank you silly internet man for solving my nothing to listen to while at work problem. I shall now listen to all of your boss design videos
Agreed. I am at work now and so far enjoying it
oh, you forgot about the part that the demon firesage is weak to fire. Very intuitive, fromsoftware, thank you for that.
meanwhile queelag is 100% immune to fire, so no "pyromancy only" challenge run since she also can't be poisoned....
I’ve never finished dark souls 1, I was in the process of moving and I just forgot about it… but this video made me want to go back and give it another go.
At the very least, just to experience the DLC. There are some incredible fights in there.
The only upside to Capra Demon is you can kill him with toxic without ever entering his alley by just tossing dung pies over the wall
Tossing dung pies over the wall really meets the Capra Demon at his level of cheese.
the Capra Demon actually uses the sane soundtrack as the Centipede Demon! maybe you amend this later in the video actually, but just wanted to mention. very good stuff so far and i entirely agree with your thoughts on the first few bosses
Yeah idk how he made that mistake unless he's playing with the sound off tbh, that's a pretty small detail all things considered but also not really hard to fact check or even remember offhand imo
Now listen, I'm a big fan of the Taurus, so lemme pepper the discussion:
all of its attacks are one hit swings, allowing novice players still relying on shields to learn the moveset from relative safety, especially if they bought the Heater Shield from MUM. All the numbers on equipment screens can overwhelm new players, so this is little crutch reward for those willing to explore and experiment. Doing so also shows the player, that just blocking isn't going to get them very far. Something the game otherwise takes a very long time to reiterate.
As mentioned, the ladder sets up a plunge attack, but only if the player remembers they can do it. Where Asylum tutorialized it, Taurus reviews and tests it. It's likely been ages since then, and newer players likely haven't seen much reason, or even opportunity, to do a plunge. Plus, it's repeatable.
The feet stomps, and gap between the legs, gives the creature a physical existence. It's not just a hitbox, it's a creature.
You also got a super rare drop, most players can't use, but can look forward to. Makes repeat playthroughs a little more varied.
Plus, there's the AI exploit that causes it to jump off the bridge; the boss isn't immune to gravity, something the player knows of themselves quite well. I gotta lobby for a B for my boi.
PS - I think runs up to the boss are important part of the boss, or rather, the boss is part of the level, not something separate, so I hope as the video goes on, levels become part of the review process.
i think he undermined the taurus demon here in the video.
if you are a new player taurus demon is good enough.
his massive mace's attack has lingering hitbox(as it should) so you cant just roll into the weapon and comically not get hit by i-framing through it(ds3 fanbois hate this). it forces you to treat the taurus demon and its greataxe with respect instead of treating it like a mere hitbox/hurtbox which you can nullify with a button press but something that yu gotta physically traverse around deliberately. it forces you to learn the importance of positioning and focus on the direction of your dodges. if you dodge sideways you may just fall through cracks too. so the boss and the arena simultaneously teaches positioning and distancing, cuz so you dodge backwards and now you have to do sprint attack to utilize the punish window or change your starting weapon (scimitar or swords) and switch to utilize something with long range (like spears). otherwise you just end up getting cornered with your back to the wall/tower and boss still having almost all the HP bar.
so for a newbie it simultaneously teaches the importance of utilizing your weapons moveset/range/hitbox and not just overfocus on only DPS like other RPG. and importance of utilizing punish windows
not to mention, it again teaches you to utilize the elevation of boss arena like the tutorial asylum demon which may come in handy later in the fight against Capra demon as well if you lack poise.
Taurus demon is not flashy, but for a souls newbie it forces then to learn or adapt some crucial gameplay lessons if they are planning to stick with the game or series in general. it also teaches you how to do boss runbacks efficiently something that you gotta master if you plan to do ds1.
i honestly kinda love the Taurus Demon for all these.
I'm not a fan of the mentality "shields=bad" enough stamina and you can literally face tank the game
You may not be a character designer, but your thoughts still matter. I'm currently studying video game concept art, and hearing what people have to say really does matter a lot!
Exactly, it's impressive cuz I usually run slower builds with colossal weapons and have similar likes and dislikes as he is using a quicker role heavy playstyle
I also think quelaag design is a big shock for new players. A horrifying fire spider comes into frame then it climbs up to reveal the naked form of a beautiful women's uper body attached to the spider.
Her r34 goes crazy btw
@@Spectrum0122idk man, the r34 is the middest shit i've ever seen
shame too, cause she and the fairy lady have major potential
Thank you for the effort it takes to make such a long format video. I will be enjoying these baked out of my gourd, each day after work this week
Capra Demon does not use the asylum demon theme*
Yeah he uses the centipede demon theme lol
First off, what a great video. Stumbled across this in my recommended feed today and it has earned you a sub. One thing I think you should have mentioned is how the Sif fight changes if you do the DLC and rescue Sif before you fight the boss. Sif will recognize you and the fight just becomes that much more mournful.
Seath does have one positive quality: Moonlight Great sword tailcut
Aight, new channel to watch grow
An excellent breakdown! I have to ask: where did the artwork for the tier list come from? I love the old-school monster manual look for the Souls bosses!
Sadly, not sure. I found the template on tiermaker.com, and liked it a lot. Not every game has one, but the ones that did looked absolutely gorgeous.
Finally a new face in the Soulsborne Scene wich does not try to be overly funny for no reason. Also a good voice and pattern of speech for my taste.
100% watch the rest of your series, thx and may the gods be with you \\[T]//
I loved your rankings and the observations behind them too. Your mention of control over Gwyndolin's fight versus the Moonlight Butterfly alongside other points like the leg hitboxes on the Taurus Demon and the poor camera, I love it... You're observant and so well said that it's so satisfying to listen and watch. I love your humor too. I hope you make more content, you deserve the best. ❤
I love any video titled “over analysis”
Not sure if this has been corrected but 12:15 is incorrect, Capra Demon has a different soundtrack. Great video so far though!
This makes me very happy, 1 hour of boss design
I played this game countless times, and I never knew you can fight Gwyndolyn in the daylight.
Okay, I got a reason to do yet another run!
Also who are the 5 salty lads that disliked this amazing video
Surprised you never mentioned Sifs's alternate intro cutscene when you save her in the Abyss
Outstanding video. Excited to watch your other videos for the rest of the series
I wish this video was quiet enough to sleep to, excellent regardless
Smough was trolling you so hard in that fight. He heard you say he was easier and went "bet"
Posting this comment so the algorithm will pick up on this channel being awesome
If they had put the bonfire in Lost Izalith itself in that big empty area near the chaos eater pit, or made it so getting knocked off didn't kill you and just knocked you into a chaos eater pit or something that you could climb out of, Bed of Chaos might scrape its way into a low C. But my God, the runback and the instant death together are just so awful.
Also Centipede Demon does have a neat thing where if you cut off its arm or tail, it becomes an independent enemy. However, they're not really a threat and die really easily, so it really only serves as a way to get the orange charred ring early. Seems like that would have been a better direction to explore with the boss. As you damage it, the centipede limbs break off and become independent threats in their own right. That'd at least be something different from "demon with big slam attacks".
I feel like you kinda forgot to mention alternate playstyles for a lot of these bosses. It feels like your assuming that everyone is doing a lightweight, roll heavy build when discussing these enemies. I know the video is already long, but I feel like how viable different builds and playstyles are should be taken into account, as some of the bosses in From's games can completely change based on whether you are blocking or rolling.
Especially as we move forward in the series - I've only done Heavy Armor/Shield builds in Dark Souls & Elden Ring, beyond that only ever watched Shield content as my more defensive friends played through the game (my wife uses Shields religiously - the choice of Shield often comes before the choice of a weapon)
It's a strange contradiction, but (with the exception of Elden Ring), I end up always being afraid to block in the first Dark Souls games. I know that's 100% just me, but I've always felt so many of the attacks from larger bosses (Gaping Dragon, Bed of Chaos, Smough) need to be dodged. It's 100% a mental catch that didn't really click for me until Elden Ring.
My first build was a total mess and I ended killing Manus by shooting arrows at him from outside the arena, guided by the tiny red lights of his eyes. 10/10, would do it again
Yeah I med roll with greatswords and the slow attack recovery makes the game BERY different
a mistake during the four kings segment , the sword swipes have a sweet spot . sometimes you take very little damage because you are hit by the hilt of the sword instead of the blade
Incredible video!
I started souls with bloodborne but Asylum Demon was the first boss I fought because I could NOT get passed the damned village.
About the damage of the Four Kings, it's actually very consistent but they have an additional element. They have a sweet spot mechanic, damage is maximum at the tip of their weapons, their hilt has the minimum.
Happy to discover this guy before he gets a million+ followers
When I thought the Taurus demon, it literally just walked off the bridge and killed itself. I didn’t even have the chance to get close enough to see it attack a single time.
29:20
I don't think I'll forget the first time I beat the Dynamic Duo, Ornstein and Smough. I don't remember why I singled out Smough first. I think it had to do with me having the Dark Knight Halberd, using a wide swing to hit a big, slow target. Maybe Smough was just easier to hit with my pyromancy. But after being caught by surprise when I was expecting Gargoyles 2.0, I felt that I made my choice and opted to take out Smough first every time.
On my winning run, Ornstein was down to a pip and a half on his life bar and I was out of Estus. He got me with his impale and fry attack, and I thought I was done. I had only a few points of health left and got back up. I charged forward at the first chance I got and just went all in on offense, as not even my shield could save me at that point. The gamble paid off, and I emerged victorious.
As for favorite/least favorite bosses, I think the Four Kings is my favorite. The disorientation, oppressive background music, and the fact it was a DPS check all just stewed together quite well. And it also helped that the Four Kings was one of the bosses that took by far the fewest tries on my first (and so far only) playthrough.
While Seath was at least fun to plan around mitigating the curse (and I absolutely love the aesthetic, if not the design, of the Crystal Caves). Bed of Chaos was just completely unfun with getting backhanded into the pit. Again. And again. And again.
As a person with no editing skills whatsoever i would like if the amazing music was a bit lower in later videos, i find it getting a bit distracting at times.
I can't ignore those souls on the Moonlight Butterfly, sorry. Do you even Git Gud bro? Jk, great video! I never even noticed the boss music for Asylum, Taurus and Capra were the same before this video and I've played through this game like 20 times. I look forward to your next videos.
capra and centepiede are great actually great vid though, looking forward to seeing this channel grow
Thank you so much!
Great video. I largely agree with this, but had some comments/insights that I wanted to share.
Moonlight Butterfly is by no means a great boss, but my experience of encountering it the first time near release was decently challenging. FromSoft games from DS2/Bloodborne onward really emphasize the importance of dodging, but in DS1, it was scary to learn to dodge, and it's very easy to rely solely on shields up to this point. Moonlight Butterfly is the first boss that chips 100% physical block shields in the game with all of its attacks. My experience was that this fight opened me to trying alternate shields with higher magic resist for the quick stabs, and was really encouraging learning dodge timings for the others. I appreciate that its teaching first-time players something valuable, even if it's pretty boring on repeat runs.
Right on about the Stray/Firesage distinction. Stray Demon follows a long lineage of "return to the first dungeon" and "the first boss, but hard" tropes in video games, going back to FF1. Firesage just wears it too thin.
I love your take on Gwyn. I didn't parry at all in my first playthrough since it seemed so risky, and was largely reliant on shields. Gwyn has massive chip through because of the fire on his sword, and with no way to effectively follow up on attacks, I found him really challenging - it can feel impossible to heal at time, and you can't wait out his string of attacks because of the chip. I am confused when people say he's intentionally easy - that's Allant's deal, not Gwyn's. From just underestimated how strong players would become at parrying.
Interested in getting to the rest of the series!
I think playing Elden Ring first really soured me on a lot of Dark Souls bosses. A lot of stuff that would be novel or cool just felt a bit lame in comparison. I couldn't appreciate the work put in to make Asylum Demon cool because all I saw was just a slightly less cool version of the Erdtree Avatar, for example.
Going from Asylum Demon, to Taurus, to Butterfly, to Gargoyles, to Capra was just a really disappointing display from Fromsoft to me. I know they have much more merit than what I experienced but to me they just weren't particularly interesting aesthetically or mechanically. Butterfly genuinely felt like a parody of Elden Ring boss design. The sewer area leading up to and including the gaping dragon is what really sold me on this game.
It definitely feels like moving in slow motion - particularly considering how much Elden Ring pulled from Dark Souls for move set inspiration. Even with it, though, I think there's something really satisfying about the deliberateness of Dark Souls that lets it endure for me. The bosses are simple, but every move is so clear and confidently animated, that it keeps me glued to the screen.
Four Kings dmg is not inconsistent, its based on where his sword connected with you, if he hits you with the hilt its does nothing, but if the blade hits you it explodes your health bar
This was great!!
Just some of my thoughts:
I agree that O&S doesn't get nearly enough shit. It's definitely not a bad fight but the jank makes way less consistent and rewarding than it could be. It feels absolutely horrible when you die to unreactable instant charges from O or whenever S decides to spam his charge attack at close range.
For Ceaseless you definitely should have mentioned the quick kill. I'm not sure it would affect the rating because it basically makes it so there is no fight at all but it's definitely worth mentioning.
Demon Firesage is even worse than you said in the video. He's such a lazy copy and paste job that he doesn't even deal fire damage, he still deals magic damage with all his "magic" attacks just like Stray.
For Centipede I have two things to add: first, there is another island in the far right corner of the room from where you enter. No lava surrounding that and more space than the first tiny spot. Second, you can get the ring early by cutting off his arm and killing the mob that spawns from that. None of this makes it a good fight though.
Seath: you can absolutely see and react to his explosion in time to outrun it. It's annoying because you have to position your camera in a awkward way and if you already commited to a slow attack when he starts the animation you won't be able to get away anymore. Curse is problematic but it's fairly easy to avoid and having humanity on you alone makes the buildup very manageable. I'll add thise here because it fits but I wish you mentioned tail cuts. They're generally fine but Seaths (and to a lesser degree Priscillas) is really annoying: good luck getting around to the middle tail if you already broke the crystal and if you do, have fun with the tail slams and swipes.
Sif: since you considered atmosphere I feel you should have mentioned the alternate cutscene if you do her DLC event first. Might help solidify her spot in S for you.
The 4 Kings lock away one of your ring slots. You never explicitly stated that, so I thought I'd mention it here. Also the reason some melee attacks dealt low damage is because you're in close, which means they only hit you with the sword hilt rather than the blade proper.
I find Manus a lot easier than the other three DLC bosses in some ways. Notably he gives you actually safe openings to heal which can't be said for the Guardian or Artorias. Regarding his magic, as another commenter stated two of his three spells can be avoided without even rolling and the one you have to roll is the most straight forward.
While talking about the Iron Golem's music, you forgot to mention that the choir literally tells you to "git gud."
Good video. Most people think Gwyn is easy because of him being parriable, and that his easiness is what shows his degradation. But your point about Gwyn's parries being specifically animated to make him look pathetic is interesting. It's like beating up an old man.
Although i disagree about a lot of points , i still find it to be a great and impressive in depth look at one of my favs games of all time , definetly gonna check the next ones .
10/10 video
Great vid! Audio mixing could use a little lower music volume tho
Appreciate the feedback - I quieted music down a bit in the later vids, tried -24 instead of -19 as a music decibel peak. Hopefully makes everything a bit easier to listen to!
54:30 The Four Kings' melee attacks deal more damage the further you stand from them. The depth perception with the arena is also a deliberate design choice
very cool thank you for the video. I am trying to design bosses for my game and this is helpful
Hey. Not bragging or anything. But I think I may have been the 1000th subscribbler. Just now
I’ve been absolutely loving your content so far, by the way, I’m really happy to have found your channel!
the four kings has an interesting gimmick where the weapon does minimal damage if you get hit by the hilt
It should be mentioned that the moonlight butterfly is only a slog in melee, and it's literally free if you're using a ranged build (magic or bows) since the entire fight is a giant free damage opportunity and the boss can't really punish you in any meaningful way, so you can pretty much just spam attacks almost nonstop.
I recently played Dark Souls for the first time. When I got to the Centipede Demon, I stood on the first little island. When the Demon tried to attack me, it got stuck on the wall above me. I thought maybe it was supposed to do that, like the cheese with Ceaseless. So I just whacked it repeatedly until it was dead.
Great video! Your opinions are just like, the worst, but that's what makes it fun. I'm going to watch the DS2 video next, can't wait for you to say fume knight is terrible and ancient dragon and aldia are actually the best bosses in the game!
We may disagree on everything, but there is one thing all living beings can agree on.
Ancient Dragon is a mistake. It is known!
For the 4 kings, just put on the Havel's armor. No need to dodge, just heal whenever low on health. Basically cheese the boss.
after about the length of time it takes pinwheel to spawn 7 clones simutaneously is also when his music track kicks into overdrive. if you are doing some sort of challenge run that drastically restricts your damage/armor, pinwheel will be both an interesting challenge and difficulty spike for those who thought this was going to be as easy as a normal run.
honestly, even if it is a bit trollish, having an easy boss after a diffcult but skippable area to lead you to an impossible boss fog unless you made sufficient story progress and has possibly the most unforgiving runback ive seen in much any game. still have a pyromancer save file with a black knight sword stuck at the bottom tombs.
also: seeth the scaless' lesson (which was the hardest one for me to learn personally) was also quite possibly the best, even if it took me 5 playthroughs to learn it. all the bosses in dark souls have lessons to teach, provided you arent too stubborn to learn it.
Listening to your critique through a 2024 lens is quite interesting.
Artorias and Sif together in S tier; two very good boys side by side as they should be.
Couple of my own hot takes with the bosses. Gaping Dragon is easier than Pinwheel. If the latter had a healthpool that fit the point where most people face him or if you fought him and Gaping level 1 with an unupgraded dagger, you'd be at risk of being overwhelmed by Pinwheel more. Gaping Dragon is stupidly easy to manipulate and slow.
Also Capra is worse than Bed of Chaos. BoC actually looks interesting, has a gimmick which while bad is at least unique and it was clearly the victim of time crunch. Capra on the otherhand feels like it was designed to be ass from the get go or was just put in there with the dogs by someone who had no idea what quality is.
I remember on my SL1 run of Dark Souls, I decided that I might as well jump down to Pinwheel first - after all, he was so easy.
I tried him once, then went immediately to Undead Parish to come back later. He's got enough stats that you do need to be at least partially into the game proper.
And I can see the argument for Capra Under Bed of Chaos. I definitely respect a unique idea that struggled to function over an idea that feels cheap for cheap's sake. It's only because I do like the moveset of the Capra Demon as an individual enemy that I gave him the slight edge in my final list.
I agree on both points.
Pinwheel really suffers from his low HP and is a very demanding fight early. With low damage you'll struggle to kill him before he spawns a shitload of clones, at which point you have to play at your absolute best to not be annihilated. Of course there's Leeroy to help out but being at the mercy of NPC AI isn't fun and I've had Leeroy do absolutely nothing before because he kept going for the clones.
BoC feels out of place to me because it feels like a puzzle boss with only one or two correct solutions. You can brute force it but there's a intended way to do the fight that makes it way less of a headache and pretty consistent. It's fundamentally different from other bosses in that there is a objectively correct approach and while it's definitely not good, it's better than the RNG gank fest that is Capra (at intended levels)
um, what does tomb of the giants have to do with the gwyndolin fight? whether it's sunny or dark for his encounter depends on if the player has killed the gwynevere apparition or not.
Fighting him while it’s sunny requires to get a ring from the Catacombs (not TotG, that was an error)
O&S fight is simultaneously the worst and best boss fight in DaS. The game’s overall jank really comes out in the fight-personally I feel like the camera was a third boss in this fight given how much I had to struggle with it-and the AI is fairly odd at times. The sheer difficulty is extremely frustrating, and if the return trip to the entrance weren’t so easy I think it would make many (or more) players quit. I also don’t think the bosses themselves are particularly interesting unto themselves nor in terms of their move sets. They both do plunging attacks despite having very different themes and bodies, which sort of detracts from the sense of duality that they seem to be implying when you see them.
But there’s no other fight that’s as memorable and impactful in the entire series, partly because they’re from the game most people played having little Souls experience. If you’re coming back to the game after playing later entries, it’s probably not as monumental, but for those who played when this game was still slightly niche it really felt impossible. It epitomized the overall appeal of the game itself, that sense of almost masochism for devoting yourself to this stupid venture. Equally, the sense of accomplishment is exactly what players had been promised when they heard about this game or got that far in it. Without that fight, I don’t think the game would have the notoriety and fame that propelled it into… well, a Souls game.
Also Capra is one of my favorites in the sense of the community early on in this game’s popularity, as “kill the dogs first” was a shibboleth amongst more veteran players and a sort of rite of passage for new ones. As you can probably tell, a boss being memorable is a key part of its success in my opinion. Most players aren’t analytical about things and it’s the impression they’re left with afterwards that gives meaning to the boss fight for them. Sometimes, a bad boss can be the best, similar to how a janky game can still have some of the best combat. Or an entire zone with single digit FPS can be among the most hated for reasons unrelated to the performance.
12:23, Capra demon does not have the same theme as Taurus and Asylum demon what are you on
Manus is the best boss in the game for me, but maybe im a bit biased because DS3 was my 1st souls game
small point but I'm surprised you didn't mention how if you linger too long on the platform above the asylum demon, the demon will jump up and smash the platform and send you tumbling to the ground. its another way the game serves to encourage taking fast action.
Great video 👌
what I don't like about gwyn is that there is no indication that he can be parried so if you don't know about it you can just assume it's not possible. Especially if you've tried to parry other bosses before like the gargoyles, the capra demon, queelag or orstein that look like they could be parried and can't you end up associating "boss" with "unparriable".
I actually have this issue even more in DS3 where I did the whole game just assuming you can't parry bosses and turns out a lot of boss attack can be parried but it's totally arbitrary which can and can't and most still can't so you don't feel compelled to experiment.
That's something I really appreciate sekiro for, it always tells you exactly what can be done to avoid an attack (while still leaving you open to other options if you find a better solution, like dodging), so you are never caught off guard by the result of an action you simply have to do things properly. Not that it would fit dark souls vibe, but if you go for the less UI intensive approach of dark souls you should simply not break rules you set up, except maybe as an easter egg.
And so many souls boss gimmick don't work on me because I simply don't realize they're there. For exemple I would have never noticed the two demon in the dark souls 3 ringed city DLC lead to a different fight depending on which you kill first without the internet, so I see people praise this fight for that and the fact it let you chose which version to fight but when I played it I didn't chose shit, it's not a choice if you don't know you have it.
Alright fine I'll take the Seath criticism, but the music too? Nahhh that's a fun soundtrack
12:16 he doesn't. He uses Centipede Demon's ost instead
Is Ornstein the easier to take out? I have, on every playthru, done more damage to Smough each hit rather than Ornstein - so I thought the fight *was* working as intended, where killing the harder of the 2 rewards an easier phase two
With four kings, the attacks do little damage when you are right up in front of them. Its because they are hitting you woth the handle of their sword.
If you play the DLC before Sif, there is a secret cutscene that adds emotional damage to the it
Good job
Backhand? Bro, that's POCKET SAND!
Crossbreed Percilla, the Maiden in White. There are precisely 2 reasons to attack her. Lifehunt and her tail cut.
If you stick her with a throwing knife, you can use that to track her.
The amount of cut content around Percilla is sad.
Also you need to cut seaths tail if you want to get moonlight greatsword. Along with camera issues i find it difficult to locate and get enough hits in before seath turnes
You havent mentioned how sif becomes an S tier + if you do it after the DLC with its unique heartbreaking cutscene. Its def my fav boss in DS1
I've been thinking about fromsoft's design choices, and how subtle they can be, yet when you sit down and really map out every element of them you realize how well designed the games are. I describe them as rivers vs. walls.
Most games (especially modern games) use rivers to get the player where they're supposed to be. "hey here's a thing come get it!" "did you know crabs are weak to fire?" etc. There's nothing wrong with this, because the river is the path of least resistance, and so if you have a story you want to tell then you can just set the player down the river and get them there quickly. ez peazy, gg.
FS wants to create games that require you to pay attention to what you're doing. The central bet the company made was that by forcing games that DO NOT play themselves, ever, they would attract people that would be dedicated fans of the series, and that bet has paid off. I really loved DS1 and DS2 when I played them, because they reminded me of playing games on my GBA as a kid and having no idea where I was supposed to go, what I was supposed to do, or even what was happening exactly, and so the experimentation that came with each new game was a core part of what I loved. My brothers are much younger, and they don't have the same experience. For them, games are supposed to be linear and tell you what to do, where to go, how to play them. I've watched them play a few times, and they just get frustrated after trying the same thing a couple times. I think FS uses walls more often than other game design studios, which you're meant to walk into as part of exploring the game. Players that aren't used to actively looking for such things call the games "hard", but I think the games become much easier (the early games, anyway) once you know that you're meant to observe the world around you.
There are so many playthroughs where I would just stop after beating O&S, once you beat them you know the rest of the game is gonna be easy but tedious.
Bed of Chaos is just the worse, but you have the option to Tohki Bomb.
4Kings is just DPS check
Seathe and Nito don't have anything noteworthy imo, once you know the right positioning they're fairly easy to beat.
At this point most of the trouble is just getting to places instead of the bosses themselves.
At the very least though, the Gwyn fight will always be satisfying despite being just a parry check because of the music and environment.
Capra is NEVER an issue for me cuz I do t leave Undead Burg without grinding out a bunch of lvls. Also for early game I ALWAYS break the dragon tail so I can get what I consider the best early game weapon. Also if I don’t get a Black Knoght GS, I’m restarting the whole damn game lmaooo
Maybe it's cuz I actively choose to fight 2nd phase Ornstein, but I find him easier to deal with cuz when close he doesn't use his lightning often and his grab is easy to dodge when not being jank. Smough is just tedious cuz he can spam the butt drop and his charge swing
I know tons of people have probably already commented this by now but in case they haven't, Capra Demon does NOT use the 'Taurus Demon' song, it uses 'Centipede Demon'. I originally commented before finishing the video but now my take on it is very different. For a supposed 'over-analysis' there are a staggering amount of missed details or just straight up incorrect things in it (More than just the song error above), such as Four Kings doing less damage when you're close to them, not random damage, both Gaping Dragon and Seath being dragon bosses before Kalameet (Even if you discount Seath), Bed of Chaos' 'beard' not actually having collision but the elbow of Izalith's arm being the thing knocking you off (Still stupid either way), being able to deal with the lava in the Centipede Demon arena by going to the bigger island to the right and by killing a severed arm/tail for the ring, Manus having three spells not just the storm and ring (Other being his version of Dark Bead) and O&S being better in their second phase??? Huh? Overall high C tier video, not the great one I thought it would be.
No mention of Ceaseless discharge having multiple ways to defeat him?
Dark Souls 2 next please❤
For quelaag I don’t like to stand in the legs but just attack the legs themselves. Cause you get trapped in the legs.
Kalameet and manus under sif and gwyn….
Gwyn is kinda ass but yeah Kalameet and Manus are both better bosses than artorias
@@rigorm136 gwyn is in the top 3 WORST bosses in the game
@@vit-t680 Nah I wouldn’t say that but he’s definitely top 5
@@rigorm136 gameplay wise gwyn the second worst boss
Awwww I liked Seath 😢
As a side-note on Gwyndolin working better in the sunlight, this is true but O&S work better in the dark (their cutscene is in-engine by the by, and that's improved too). It's just too bad that this isn't really doable in vanilla, if memory serves it can happen in fog wall rando though).
The worst boss are the 4 kings.
Everyone says it's a DPS test, but have fun when one of them stuck in a grab attack loop and all the others spawn in.
Alternatively another mean thing 4 Kings can do is with the incredible homing of its projectile eventually trapping you into getting exploded
@@eratinuwu1952 and you never know when to roll xD
I Really want to like capra demon but the camera and clunk of DS1 is simply too much for such a tiny area, if they just had the demon wait at the top of the stairs watching while his hounds attack i think it would do a great deal to improve the atmosphere and gameplay, however all 3 are just too aggressive for such a small space
minor nitpick, not sure how this slipped through but capra uses the centipede demon's theme, not asylum and taurus's theme
Excellent video, seriously i love nerding out dark souls.
I got a ton of flak for calling O&S busted bosses with terrible dated ai and pathing. More often than not they are horrible bosses lmao. Cool deaign tho
I have some friends that have O&S at the very bottom of their personal lists. I love the overall design, I just wish the fight aged as well as some of the other bosses because that fight shows its age... a lot.
I typically always fight stray demon immediately after I ring the bells which may be the reason why I hate him and his stupid hp bar, which I makes sense as to why I feel like I have to resort to the ai exploit so often
This is the first time I fought him so early, and I never realized how much health he had until I tried to kill him without being over leveled. Wild experience.