It’s hard to pick just one
Yesterday, we talked about From Software Director Hidetaka Miyazaki’s favorite boss fight from the Souls series. Interestingly enough it was the Old Monk from Demon’s Souls, an encounter that blurred the line between a solo and multiplayer event. He had to fight to get it included in the game, and I’m glad he succeeded, as it’s still one of the most unique boss fights to date.
Even having played Dark Souls II and Bloodborne after writing this particular Memory Card, I think I’m still going to have to go with Ornstein & Smough from the first Dark Souls. Take a look at the choices of some of our staff and sound off with your own!
Chris Carter: Ornstein & Smough
I’m already a sucker for humanoid encounters already, so a dance with two of the most fearsome warriors in all of Lordran is pretty much a perfect situation for me. It helps that they were sufficiently tenacious in taking me down, leading to the source of most of my deaths in all of Dark Souls.
It wasn’t just the fight that was memorable though. Forging on to Anor Londo for the first time and seeing the stark contrast of brightly lit skies was breathtaking, and felt like a brief respite from the challenging areas that lied ahead.
Stephen Turner: Capra Demon
The Capra Demon scared the shit out of me. Then I realised he had a problem with stairs. He didn’t seem too scary after that. Also, Moonlight Butterfly because I made the ghost witch with the big hat do all the hard work while I cowered in the corner.
Honestly, I gave up after the Gaping Dragon and stopped at the gates of Blighttown. Never went any further than that. I heard there was a lot of poisoning going around and it was a bit rundown, so I imagined it looked exactly like Swansea.
Occams: Gravelord Nito
Talk about doing more with less?! Just a writhing ball of skeletons wearing darkness like a cloak. And it’s arm ending in that wicked scythe. For such a simple design, it conveys a lovely sense of dread and power.
From Software could have made Nito some undead Lord and gone the ornate route. Instead, they focused on making it a primal force of nature. For me, this elevates Nito to one of the most memorable designs in a series rife with amazing bosses.
Mike Martin: The Asylum Demon
Meeting him for the first time set the tone of the game and showed you what you were in for. His size, his design and his moves all seemed to be designed to intimidate.
It’s not a hard a fight at all, but it really sucked me into the world. From the moment he crashed down from his chicken-like flight, swinging his hammer, destroying pillars I knew this was a game I was going to be absorbed and challenged by.
Best tutorial ever.
Ben Davis: Tower Knight
I think the Tower Knight from Demon’s Souls will always be my favorite Souls boss, although a few other bosses from the later games, like Sif and the Looking Glass Knight, come pretty close. The Tower Knight was the second Souls boss I ever fought, and it’s all thanks to him that I fell in love with Demon’s and the series in general.
The Tower Knight beat me to a pulp so many times that I didn’t want to play the game anymore, but everything about the battle (aside from the losing) was so awesome that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The music, the sheer scale of the giant knight, the knowledge that I could die in an instant if I made even the slightest mistake…something about all of this made me feel like this was a game I needed to beat, a game I would love if I was ever able to master it. And so I came back and finally beat the Tower Knight, and promptly fell in love with Demon’s Souls.
Nic Rowen: Black Dragon Kalameet
There are more imaginative bosses (Smough and Ornstein), ones with better atmosphere (Nito, Gwyn), and better soundtracks (Seath), but Kalameet is the one and only dragon I’ve ever fought in a videogame that actually felt like fighting a dragon.
After watching Kalameet douse the entire battlefield in black flame, snatch an adventurers life away with a quick swipe of his tail, or pound through a knight’s tower shield with relentless tearing claws, who could ever go back to the listless, floaty dragons of Skyrim or even the immobile Dragon God of Demon Souls?
Jordan Devore: Gwyn, Lord of Cinder
As you push through the fog gate leading into Gwyn’s ash-covered domain, he’s off in the distance, waiting patiently. It’s all come down to this. Somber music fades in and the Lord of Cinder charges at you, culminating in a massive leap with his fiery sword aimed at your chest.
After fighting and slaying so many huge bosses that looked scary at first glance but ended up being clumsy or easy to read, Gwyn intimidates. He’s not much bigger than you, but he’s swift and persistent. For me, the hardest part of this duel wasn’t timing individual blocks, or rolls, or sword strikes during vulnerable moments — it was remaining calm throughout the entire fight.
And when I finally did kill Gwyn many attempts later, any satisfaction I felt was quickly replaced by another feeling: guilt. From Software somehow made me feel guilty for killing the final boss.
Kyle MacGregor: Tower Knight
The encounter with the Tower Knight is far and away the most indelible moment I’ve experienced in a From Software game. Just crossing paths with the hulking warrior means charging across a bridge patrolled by a giant fire-breathing dragon and a small army of men armed to the teeth with crossbows and other instruments of death. And it gets no easier upon reaching the end of the line. The Tower Knight is an utterly massive, imposing figure. He stands two stories tall, greeting players with a stomp of his colossal solleret and impenetrable tower shield. Behind him a clown-like man chuckles, as dozens of crossbowmen flank the player from the surrounding ramparts.
The battle figures to be a short one where the player either ends up riddled with crossbow bolts or flattened under the behemoth’s boot. Then the music kicks in. It’s an eerie chant accompanied by unsettling horns and strings that heightens the mood. It’s harrowing. Death seems all but certain. More so than the Phalanx before it, the Tower Knight sets the tone of what players can expect out of Demon’s Souls and the rest of the series. This doesn’t feel like a fair fight. Not in the slightest. But if you keep your wits about you and are persistent you’ll eventually triumph. It’s an incredible challenge, but a totally surmountable one. And that victory is all the sweeter for your hardships.