Elden Ring - Fire Giant - Review

Fire Giant was a humbling experience. I stated in my Guardian Golem review "I can't even think of an appropriate example on how to execute giant type enemies from the other six games, they been that bad. Perhaps later in the game they'll change my mind hopefully." I'm proud to say that From Software has done it. This boss is probably the best I've seen in gaming entirely and I can't wait to talk about it.

Here's one of my stretches but I believe this is the Ceaseless Discharge from Dark Souls designed properly. The attacks and arena are obviously different though the scale and subtle details just screams that older concept. Considering how poorly the Ceaseless Discharge is executed, I think From Software wanted redemption for this idea and they fully accomplished it with the Fire Giant however that's just speculation.

For phase one my goal is to reduce the amount of time spent in phase two and the reason why is because there's a small amount of RNG that occurs due to one attack. The boss typically scoops snow at the player during the walk up which requires a Nameless King Wind Wave dodge, the follow up isn't as consistent so I like stop after Snow Scoop and wait. Whatever attack eventually occurs I need to remove the bone splint then achieve another stun all within phase one. One of the most fascinating aspects of this design is how unpredictable yet very consistent each attempt can be. Some of my tries would flow very well however the other half of the time I'm having to adapt to the many variations of attacks and I never got tired of it.

The second phase is the most problematic and this is due to a fire ball that's summoned. This attack requires a proximity trigger to remove it unless there's another way that I haven't seen yet. The fire ball has the potential of creating RNG scenarios especially when the Fire Tempest is activated because you have too many damage detections that collides together including the incoming plate attacks. Most of the time it's avoidable thankfully but unfortunately like the Red Wolf of Radagon certain hit boxes will line up in a manner that is unavoidable.

Now we enter phase three which is a whole other monster to handle in terms of approach. At the beginning I start off hitting it's left hand during the Fire Tempest attack until the Fire Giant rises. Now there are a few outcomes possible however eventually the Rock Spew will occur if not directly after the starting Fire Tempest. The direct point of attacks move to the hands and you can attack other parts like the feet again though you're not going to achieve much damage plus staying in front allows more control of this beast. The Fire Balls are back in twos though using Torrent during the spawn animation to quickly trigger them solves the issue so I can get back to the frontal assault and for the rest of the fight I'm basically only striking after basic attacks however the thrilling speed bumps keeps thing interesting.

Another issue that's only a time waster is the fact that the Fire Giant rolls around often so it can be thirty seconds before you can inflict damage again and that's including attacks that do not have the appropriate recovery times. A positioning issue occurs when the Fire Giant comes across a stump or elevated landscape that cause the boss to change tracking. This is mostly annoying than anything else because I'm waiting to read the next attack and the boss suddenly turns so it can be a slight inconvenience and it's a technical issue that's been in every SoulsBlood title from what I've noticed. I've heard complaints about not being able to see attacks during the first two phases however it's actually very generous on the design with sounds to go by and simply understanding the behavior of attacks.

This boss was very intimidating at first and it was one of those fights I fell in love with as I understood how it worked. I wish more players took the time the study i-frames and become comfortable with boss fights they struggle with because there's usually a click moment that's turns the boss into a massively fun experience. I understand that people have less time than I do so I get it but if you have some spare time perhaps look at the Fire Giant a little closer and you may understand why restrictions are a ton of fun when fighting things that weigh a ton.