There are many moments of uncertainty in Elden Ring. For new players, knowing where to go next after toppling an end-of-zone boss isn't always obvious. For experienced heads, the barren wastelands of Caelid are never pleasant. And, no matter how accomplished you think you are in the Lands Between, Caria Manor's grotesque Fingercreepers will turn your stomach every time. Seriously, just the thought of those ghoulish bastards erratically zig-zagging around the place makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Brutal.
Elden Ring is more than well-served for boss battles – there are 13 mandatory main bosses required to beat the story, with many, many more as optional – but I don't think that same level of unpredictability, uneasiness, and ambiguity derived from some its more twisted run-of-the-mill baddies, and even its more outlandish locations, extends to its blockbuster conflicts. Sure, there's a specifically eerie atmosphere tied to each portion of the fight with Rennala; Godskin Duo is one of the weirdest combination showdowns we've seen in a FromSoftware game for a while; and optional opponent Starscourge Radahn is both super cool and hard-as-nails.
But I can't think of an Elden Ring boss fight that properly stopped me in my tracks in the same way as, say, Demon's Souls' Old Monk or Dark Souls 2's Looking Glass Knight. The recent Elden Ring DLC datamine suggested there could be as many as 30 new bosses flooding the Lands Between in the not too distant future – and while that final total remains to be seen, with those two champions of bygone FromSoft games in mind, I just hope one of them is a PvP boss.
Hate the player, not the game
If the datamine is legit, Elden Ring DLC could be Game of the Year material on its own
The first time I fought Demon's Souls' Old Monk I was so confused. Bosses in FromSoftware games are known for their difficulty, but one thing I've always admired about their structure and execution is that they're never unfair. If you falter, it's invariably your fault – it's you who mistimed a parry, or waited half-a-second too long to rush or dodge in attack and defense; moves you learn to perfect in these games' systematic, trial and error, learn-by-dying structures. In this battle, though, I'd barely stepped through the boss arena fog gate, and was backstabbed by what looked like a player-controlled Black Phantom. Stunned, I was then hit with a flurry of fast attacks, parried, and then brutally impaled. You Died. No shit.
Turns out, the Black Phantom who looked suspectly player-controlled was, in fact, player-controlled. The Old Monk, you see, either pits you against an AI foe who does their bidding, or summons another player to take you on – with the latter being expectedly unpredictable and, often, unfair. As I discovered, your suitor can hug the shadows and pounce before you've had the chance to settle, putting you straight on the back foot. And while there are ways to combat this – you can either simply roll immediately after traversing the fog gate, or cast certain area of effect spells such as God's Wrath to momentarily floor your opponent – no matter how your battle unfolds, the very fact that it's so hard to predict makes it unique, entertaining, and, once you finally prevail, great fun.
Dark Souls 2's Looking Glass Knight is less deceiving than Demon's Souls' Old Monk, but it's easily one of the best Dark Souls bosses of all time. What at first appears to be a straight-laced brawl with a faceless, Great Sword and Tower Shield-wielding armored knight quickly becomes far more complicated when the boss calls for backup. I first took on Looking Glass Knight with an NPC helper, and while my sorcery build proved pretty ineffective – the knight can deflect and reflect spells via its mirrored shield – my pal did plenty of melee damage up close while the boss was distracted by my ranged magic.
Things were going fine… until Looking Glass Knight tossed their sword, two-handed their shield, and thrust it into the ground – summoning a player-controlled ally through the shield's mirror, who then made light work of my friend before gunning for me. FromSoftware games are full of jaw-dropping moments, but this one is up there with the best, especially for first timers.
PvPlease boss
"What if the Fingercreepers get their own PvP boss battle? I shudder to think."
If we consider how popular Elden Ring is, and how increasingly busy its PvP scene appears to be today, a similarly-styled boss fight that sees the boss themselves calling for player-controlled characters to fight us could be fantastic. Now nine months on since release, it's fair to say players are seeking new challenges post-story mode, and with talk of new bosses, new PvP options, and potentially new PvP arenas seemingly incoming, as per the most recent exhaustive datamine, a dedicated PvP boss, for me, would be the cherry on the cake.
With Elden Ring working with far more advanced hardware than what Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 2 debuted on (the PS3 and Xbox 360), the thought of more than one invader forcing themselves into your game while you simultaneously lock horns with a hulking boss baddie is exciting and terrifying in equal measure – and given the sheer size and scale of the Lands Between (and whatever pastures new might accompany the first slice of Elden Ring DLC), how something like this might unfold could set new standards in thrilling action RPG boss battles. Or so I hope. I think. I'm still clearly unsettled by Looking Glass Knight and Old Monk, and I first felled them eight and 13 years ago respectively. What if the Fingercreepers get their own PvP boss battle? I shudder to think. Over to you, FromSoftware.
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