This summary of the video was created by an AI. It might contain some inaccuracies.
00:00:00 – 00:23:08
The video provides an extensive critique of the boss encounters in "Elden Ring," focusing on the design, difficulty, and player experience. The speaker argues that while "Elden Ring" has been highly praised for its open-world design and flexibility, its boss battles have been divisive. They highlight how the reuse and reskinning of bosses diminish the game's excitement and sense of accomplishment, drawing unfavorable comparisons with previous FromSoftware titles like "Dark Souls 2" and "Dark Souls 3."
A major concern is the overuse of similar mechanics and lack of combat complexity, as seen with bosses like Loretta and Godskin Apostle. The issue of "input reading" and unpredictable attack patterns, particularly with bosses such as Melania, compounds the perceived unfair difficulty. Additionally, the video touches on the imbalance created by powerful player builds and spirit summons, which can trivialize encounters intended to be challenging, thus contradicting FromSoftware's philosophy of fair difficulty and a unified player experience.
Overall, the video suggests that "Elden Ring," despite its innovations and commercial success, suffers from balance issues that threaten to undermine its long-term reputation among players. The speaker's deep admiration for FromSoftware's previous works underscores the importance of maintaining thoughtful and balanced game design.
00:00:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the pinnacle moments of adventure games, particularly focusing on boss encounters. They argue that boss battles are significant and memorable due to their design and the journey to reach them. The critique is centered on “Elden Ring” by FromSoftware, noting that while it has received universal praise and incredible sales, its boss encounters are polarizing. The speaker identifies that the definition of what constitutes a boss has become blurred in “Elden Ring,” with more than 80 unique encounters. Comparisons are made to “Dark Souls 2,” highlighting the high number of bosses in “Elden Ring,” and the divisive quality of these encounters. The video lists several examples of reused or reskinned bosses, such as Mimic Tear, Regal Ancestor Spirit, and Magma Worm, and notes that these repetitions have been criticized by the community.
00:03:00
In this segment of the video, the speaker discusses the reuse and reskinning of various bosses and enemies in Elden Ring, highlighting how this practice diminishes the game’s sense of accomplishment and excitement. Specifically, notable bosses like Loretta, Red Wolf of Radagon, Godskin Apostle, Godfrey Shade, and others are frequently reused with minimal changes. This multitude of repeated encounters, particularly with minibosses and standard enemies with elevated statuses, leads to a lack of combat complexity and variety. The discussion also touches on how gank fights in Elden Ring fail to balance multiple foes effectively, contrasting this with earlier FromSoftware titles where there was more strategic diversity in enemy types. The overall critique points to a reduction in the tactical depth and thoughtfulness of boss battles and enemy engagements in Elden Ring.
00:06:00
In this segment of the video, the discussion centers on the intricacies and challenges of boss fights in Elden Ring, particularly comparing it to Dark Souls 3. It highlights specific examples, such as the second phase of a boss where attacks are unpredictable and inconsistent, making it difficult for players to find openings to counter-attack. The video emphasizes how the hardest boss, Melania, complicates things further with her series of rapid, unpredictable attacks and occasional gaps that can trap the player. The discussion also points out an issue known as “input reading,” where bosses react to player actions faster than humanly possible, creating an unfair difficulty. Additionally, it examines how the game’s design leads to greater battles of attrition, amplifies mistakes, and puts players more on the defensive. Finally, it explains how Elden Ring’s design reflects the challenge presented by past difficult bosses, like Gwen Firstborn from Dark Souls.
00:09:00
In this segment of the video, the discussion focuses on the challenging aspects of Elden Ring’s gameplay, particularly as players reach the Giants’ Mountaintops, where both regular mobs and bosses deliver substantial damage. Key points include the necessity to memorize bosses’ delayed attack patterns to survive, and the importance of strategic play to counter their aggressive behavior. It emphasizes the value of building stagger via various in-game actions to exploit boss vulnerabilities. The segment also highlights the effectiveness of diverse builds, mentioning overpowered strategies like the Hor Frost Stomp and the significance of bleed damage. The impact of sorcery, particularly post-nerf patches, and its potency against bosses is also discussed.
00:12:00
In this segment, the video discusses how “Elden Ring” offers a more open-ended approach to world design, allowing players to get powerful weapons, stats, and upgrades earlier than in previous FromSoftware games. This leads to a power balance where prepared players can easily defeat bosses, aligning with Miyazaki’s intention for more players to finish the game. The flexibility to explore and return to challenges at will is emphasized as beneficial for a leisurely gameplay experience. However, concerns are raised about underwhelming weapons and builds, particularly with slower weapons like colossal swords which struggle against fast bosses such as Horolu and Melania. The video highlights the imbalance created by providing players with powerful tools to counter hyper-tuned bosses and questions how less powerful builds can compete. The multiplayer and spirit summon systems are praised for making the game more accessible, allowing players to summon help without significant penalties, thus bridging the difficulty gap and offering strategic advantages in combat.
00:15:00
In this segment, the discussion revolves around the impact of spirit summons on the game’s difficulty. The speaker notes that spirit summons, specifically mimic tear, make the game significantly easier by providing substantial benefits without notable strategic downsides. They argue that for a game to have balanced difficulty, every player asset should have strengths and weaknesses, but spirit summons do not adhere to this principle. Fromsoft’s philosophy has always been about not altering the game’s difficulty and ensuring all players have the same level of challenge, creating a unified sense of achievement. However, the introduction of spirit summons and easier multiplayer access seems to contradict this philosophy, as it lowers the skill barrier and makes overcoming challenges less demanding. This change appears to conflict with Fromsoft’s original vision of rewarding players with a sense of immense satisfaction for overcoming fair and balanced adversities.
00:18:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses how the introduction of spirit summons in FromSoftware’s games, particularly “Elden Ring,” affects the difficulty and overall player experience. They assert that spirit summons significantly reduce difficulty by taking aggro and dealing damage, contrasting with the traditional solo experience. The discussion highlights that bosses in “Elden Ring” have increased HP and damage output compared to past games to counterbalance the advantage provided by summons, which creates a skewed difficulty for solo players. The speaker argues that to align with FromSoftware’s vision of overcoming challenging odds for true satisfaction, it’s better to avoid using spirit summons. This imbalance leads to less thoughtful design as players progress through the game’s vast boss roster, presenting a disparity in the experience between solo play and using spirit summons. The video critiques the balance strategy, suggesting that the game can’t maintain a perfectly curated solo experience while also being more accessible through summoning.
00:21:00
In this part of the video, the creator expresses concerns about the balance and design of bosses in “Elden Ring,” arguing that the game has strayed from FromSoft’s hallmark of fair and satisfying difficulty. The bosses are described as either too easy or overly difficult in an unenjoyable way, resulting in a fragmented user base and a sense of disarray. There is worry that the game may be seen as an “imbalanced mess” once the initial excitement wears off. The creator emphasizes their affection for FromSoft’s previous work and the importance of maintaining thoughtful game design, despite “Elden Ring” being a commercial success. They announce upcoming videos featuring detailed thoughts on the best and worst bosses in the game, and invite the community to participate in polls and discussions.