Since the runaway success of FromSoftware’sDark Soulsseries and its massive impact on gaming, many die-hard fans of punishing challenges are constantly clamoring for a fresh take on the formula. This led to other developers taking note and releasing theirown spin on the genre, giving players around the world the gift of theSoulslike.
There areplenty of titlesthat have nailed the key elements that make these games so popular. Whether it’s a moody and foreboding atmosphere, an emphasis on challenging combat and resource management, or an obscure story that requires a lot of investigation to unravel. A massive part of the genre is also boss fights, where patience and strategy take center stage over button-mashing. Sometimes these fights can be a bit…difficult. Below are some of the mostfrustrating bosses players can encounter in otherwise amazing Soulslikes.
Developed and released by Team Cherry in 2017,Hollow Knightis a creepy crawly 2D Metroidvania that takes more than its fair share of inspiration from theSoulsseries. Its combat requires patience and proper timing totake down challenges without dying, and the interconnected world is full of secrets to discover. One of those secrets is a hidden boss: theFlukemarm.
While she doesn’t initially appear like much of a challenge, players will quickly find that her infinitely spawning Flukefeys are more than a simple nuisance. Being able to dispatch these flying foes in one blow certainly helps, but some players can stumble across Flukemarm by accident before gaining any significant power, leading to a long, drawn-out fight that can infuriate even the most hardened of Soulslike veterans.
Taking Soulslikes away from grimy Medieval castles and into the colorful (if deadly) realm of Japanese yokai,Nioh 2was Team Ninja’s second entry in the genre. Anyone familiar with the formula will instantly feel at home with this game’s combat, whileutilizing yokai powersand exploring Sengoku era Japan adds a unique spin. However, none of that excuses the exasperation felt by players when coming face to face withLady Osakabe.
This battle is esthetically beautiful, taking place on a rooftop during a storm, and the boss itself has a fearsome and intriguing design. The problem — or problems — is that Osakabe’s multiple heads constantly fire projectiles. Turning to attack one of them leaves players blind to the others, making it nearly impossible to dodge incoming attacks. It’s a tedious and repetitive chore to keep track of what each head is doing, dragging down an otherwise gorgeous set piece.
Serving as a reboot of the franchise following a somewhat disappointing initial entry,Lords of the Fallencame out in 2023 to try and set things right. In many wyas, it did just that. Featuring a massive interconnected world, lots of mechanicallydiverse enemies and bosses, and online functionality, it was certainly more worthy of the Soulslike label than its predecessor.
That is until players reach the final boss:Adyr, the Bereft Exile. Design-wise, this demonic god definitely looks the part. It’s a colossal monstrosity ominously looming over the arena like a Lovecraftian nightmare. It’s unfortunate, then, that players instead have to fight through waves of regular humanoid enemies for the majority of the battle, instead of tackling the otherworldly titan towering over themGod of War-style.
Following the success ofDemon’s SoulsandDark Souls, an eventual sequel was all but guaranteed despite Hidetaka Myazaki’s infamous aversion to direct continuations of his work. EnterDark Souls 2, a title thatstill divides fansyears after its release. Despite the flaws and misgivings, it offers an expansive world to explore, endless character-build potential, and some of the best fashion in the entire series. Which is a shame, since it has a big problem with bloated enemy numbers and repetitive boss fights.
There are a few candidates for frustrating encounters - the Ancient Dragon and the Old Iron King, for example. Perhaps the boss that annoyed players the most, though, was the optional fight against three NPCs inThe Sunken CrownDLC. Not only is this fight a pain to run back to after dying, but their hyper-aggressive AI makes it a chore to deal any significant damage without running around the room to try and separate them first.
Kicking off theSoulsseries in style was 2009’sDemon’s Souls,the esteemed grandfather of the franchise and a shining example of what the genre should be. The impeccable level design, intriguing story, and build variety rightly earned it a beautiful and diligently faithful remake for the PlayStation 5 by Bluepoint Games in 2020. Though it is much shorter than its successors,Demon’s Soulsmore than makes up for it in pure, concentrated Soulslike fun that makes it almost infinitely replayable even today.
What’s even more interesting is that almost every boss encounter has some kind of unique mechanic that’s key to victory, rather than being straight up fights to the death. The Tower Knight, the Adjudicator, andMaiden Astraea come to mind.The Dragon God, however, is another story. The goal of this final battle in Stonefang Mine is to simply run through the arena and activate two magical ballistae, then attack his chin a few times. It’s more of a puzzle than an epic clash, which is disappointing since his design is one of the coolest in the game and definitely deserved better.
FromSoft President Hidetaka Miyazaki doesn’t like to do direct sequels. Instead, he prefers “spiritual successors” that keep the framework of previous titles and build a whole new experience on top of it. Hence, 2009’sDemon’s Soulswas followed byDark Soulsin 2011. It truly was an expansion of everything that came before it, from thevast interconnected worldto the epic and intensely memorable boss fights. The first half of the game is almost perfect in its execution, but most players agree things tend to fall apart a little after they have obtained the Lordvessel from Anor Londo.
The worst offender in many fans' eyes is Lost Izalith, which suffered the most due to time constraints during development. This is most evident when reaching the final boss of the area, theBed of Chaos. This flailing, multi-limbed demonic tree lays a lot of the technical problems in the game bare, such as awkward hitboxes that fling characters across the room for seemingly no reason. It’s also more of an annoying puzzle than an actual boss fight, requiring two orbs to be destroyed before the boss can be harmed. It’s little wonder players do everything they can to cheese this encounter rather than play it as intended.
