GayCharlie88

Mad Pumpkin Head, there's not much to say other than why couldn't they add more moves or at least make it appear to be different from the ones outside in some way. I heard that there's two of them you get to fight which sounds better however pacing needs to work properly like in the Shadow of Yharnam or the Headless Ape fights. I love the look of the boss at least, the helmet seems to have a rise in popularity. Other than that another wasted opportunity to experiment.

Cemetery Shade is a step in the wrong direction and takes boss quality back to Soldier of Godrick but at least the Heartless inspired design looks nice. This fight plays out about the same however due to the running only strategy I was applying, there wasn't many openings for me to attack or backstab. Before this boss there were others that were backstab capable however I wanted to explore the hitboxes instead of using them too much. Since the recovery time was very quick I decided to use this small moment where the boss walks slowly distinctively with a untrack posterior. I switched back to the club in this fight because I wanted to display all of the attacks however one attack never activated which was a projectile that was simply to evade by running directly to either without adjusting the distance. This fight should have been shorter but I assumed the club would be just enough for a minute of battle however I overestimated the pacing of backstab openings. One combo in particular was very deadly to get caught in and was the main reason why the running approach wasn't viable for me along with the teleporting. This boss would have been better if it was bigger and like the Old Hero from Demon's Souls. To wrap up, I wasn't a fan of this boss. The move set is shallow and the Risk vs Reward is underwhelming to the point where I needed to create a challenge to make it more interesting.

Stonedigger Troll is one of the best fights I've done so far and I thought this recording would be shorter but that just tells me how much I loved the fight. This is exactly the type of boss encounters I enjoy. A design that doesn't force certain playstyles and instead is open for any build to have fun in. The arena this time is outstanding and works very well with the move set, the aesthetics are also very claustrophobic which is what I love when designed properly. Unfortunately the music is a repeat I believe so it doesn't out again this time. There's a lot of manipulation in this fight especially when I need to go underneath the troll for a light hit and then wrap around for a heavy strike. There are subtle reads so adjusting accordingly is crucial when it comes to avoiding damage. My biggest challenge was finding the right windows from the shockwaves to avoid jumping which has been a personal challenge so far in the game. I want to see how far I can go without jumping however dodging seems to do the trick just fine and I'm also testing to see how little I can use that aspect as well. There's one move that comes in about half way through the fight and it's a huge slam combo and this was my biggest road block along with finding the right window with the troll's legs maneuvering. I ended up staying behind the boss at the half health point and this causes the slam strikes to track away from me which usually cuts off the second phase of the slam combo. A solid strategy that was very satisfying after the final blow. I believe there's a visceral opening if you strike the troll's face enough but by the I saw that I didn't need it because it would interrupt the established method I created. I hope to see it again later in the game.

Grave Warden Duelist definitely has potential conceptually however the fight demands aggression which is something I'm personally not a fan of but of course I applied the necessary accommodations mainly so the fight doesn't last too long with my highly restrictive approach. This boss can be exploited to oblivion due to the stagger sensitivity that causes nearly every attack to be interrupted including the jumping attacking which isn't displayed here unfortunately. I felt conflicted with this battle, I wasn't sure if my approach was making the fight feel diluted in some way however I realized that it's mostly a parry focused design which explains the many strikes the boss performs consecutively. After the basic attacks are finished the patterns switches into wider strikes until the jump attack which cancels if you're too far. I'm not sure if the basic attacks are parryable only or not, it would be an interesting detail if they stopped being parryable after the attacks got wider. I have more to learn about this boss and my final video doesn't serve the fight design justice I feel however I had to move on with Elden Ring in general so I hope this presentation wasn't too exploitive or sloppy for video display purposes. The fight is very engaging then there's the negatives I'm always bringing up. The boss also looks a lot like Hades from God of War 3. I really liked this boss and hopefully I'll see it again as a variant later in the game.

Erdtree Burial Watchdog is definitely the creepiest boss I have ever seen in all of From Software games with it's stiff and interval animations makes it visually appear like a possessed statue. Why can't they make monsters this horrifying in movies? I hate to sound like a broken record but these arenas just don't seem to be getting better so far however the music is so much better here and adds to the already haunting boss design. Even though the movements are visually appealing, there's a big problem with attack openings. Now this is coming from someone that's using a club in this fight so someone using ranged attacks wouldn't find my next criticism relatable. Most of the attacks rewards finding the i-frames and the rest doesn't. I referring to the basic swings like the horizontal and vertical strikes. which isn't a big deal unless the boss decides use them in a loop. I understand jumping is now a mechanic however I like to explore the damage detection as thorough as possible within reason, some attacks simply will not reward running only reactions which is understandable because the game wasn't design to be played like that however it's something that brings a whole new level of satisfaction to boss fights like I've never experienced before in gaming. You'll see a further a example of this with the Grave Warden Duelist which will lead to another subject of my personal approach. I'm giving this boss a 7/10, what saves this boss mainly is the haunting uniqueness that I've never seen before but if only the attack patterns were more satisfying for risk and reward.

Soldier of Godrick is obviously weak and one the first bosses to be fought however lets look at the fight a little deeper. I'm one handing my weapon because the fight would be over way too quickly and I wanted to see the majority of attacks if not all of them. Running in circles may look silly however its an effective way to bait and explore attacks from my experience with the From Software games. There's no complexity with this fight since every attack I saw could require the same follow up. I remain outside the general damage detections then react with a attack which is basically it. There's no special patterns to be concerned about. The arena vaguely reminds me of the second Guardian Ape fight in Sekiro so it's pretty ordinary at this point, the music wasn't memorable and the whole fight is basically a basic enemy which isn't necessarily a bad thing but the health amount is incredible low even for such an early boss. I think adding smaller enemies would have made the fight much better and a larger move set. I understand it'll be the first boss for newcomers however it barely teaches the player anything about how future bosses will work. To keep things simple I'm just going to rate 1 through 10 and Soldier of Godrick gets a 4/10. I still had fun with presentation however overall very mediocre.

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Beast of Farum Azula is a huge improvement from the Soldier of Godrick with satisfying patterns and openings. I noticed vague similarities to the Guardian Ape again but not with the level design which is slightly better than the last boss. The move set of this boss shares animation designs mainly with the second phase of the first Guardian Ape encounter. It's more apparent with the sweeping combo and long thrust attacks which is where the I see the inspiration. Definitely my favorite boss so far and from what I've so far in the game these optional bosses will have variations like smaller enemies which is what I mentioning how to improve the Soldier of Godrick. The music still doesn't stick out to me and the level design is an improvement like previously stated but it's mainly because of the obstacles placed to trip your strategy and personally I love that because it teaches the player to mind their surroundings. I'll give this fight a 7/10, it displays exactly what players need to expect from bosses when it comes to reading patterns and arena hazards, my only issue is the unspired arena and mundane music. I really hope to see a variant of this fight because it was really fun.

SOLO4LIFE Podcast Test #2 This is a test video for a weekly podcast we want to start. I hope everyone enjoys our conversations and please comment your opinion on what we discussed in the video.

Should a Dark Souls movie or TV show be animated or live action? This is a test video for a weekly podcast we want to start. I hope everyone enjoys our conversations and please comment your opinion on what we discussed in the video.