The Moments in Dark Souls that Rob Me of My Humanity (Part 2)

THAT ONE F***ING SECTION IN ANOR LONDO

    Just like the previously mentioned Blightown, the golden city known as Anor Londo has a particular liking towards making the players travel on small platforms hundreds of feet above the ground with the slightest misstep that can turn someone from to is to a was. For the most part, it’s actually pretty manageable.

Until the Silver Knights pull up to tell you that you’ve stepped into the wrong neighborhood. The little brothers of the Black Knights can make for a dangerous adversary. But what separates them from the Black Knights is that have a preference for ranged weaponry. By that, I mean they use bows that are almost as big as they are and use javelins for arrows.

These knights become the bane of any player’s existence when they cross a buttress that is just barely wide enough just so their character doesn’t fall on. And two knights that have been trained to shoot anything that moves on sight. If you can’t get past them and they just hit you once, well you can guess what happens next.

Get past this short section of the level, however, and Anor Londo becomes much easier.

Until…

Ornstein and Smough

   This is it. The boss that separates the men from the boys. The peak of Dark Souls where it truly tests your ability to play this game. The stuff of legends. You get the point.

Explaining why this fight is hard is actually easy. It’s a gank fight. Unless you bring an NPC or another player with you, you will be going up against two of Anor Londo’s greatest knights in a fight to the death. Both of them sync with each other really well and both will require constant attention less you want to have one of them ambush you while trying to take care of the other one.

Kill one of them, and the one who is still alive will take the life essence of their deceased comrade and get even stronger. Orenstein in particular gets much bigger and has several new attacks to accommodate his size. And if you happen to die while fighting the surviving one, you’ll have to start the fight all over again.

Fighting them solo is difficult, but not impossible. Their arena is huge with plenty of room for the player to properly position themselves to prepare to attack or fend. There are also several pillars that make for great defense or provide brief opportunities to separate them. As hard as it can be, the boss is also extremely cathartic to overcome. Beating Ornstein and Smough is truly where Dark Souls hit its highest peak and the game more or less tells you that you are ready to face whatever awaits you in the second half of the game.

Tomb of the Giants

Pictured: Tomb of the Giants

Tomb of the Giants is such a polarizing level for me. On one hand, it provides for arguably the scariest segments to play as the players travels along near pitch-darkness with only brief glimpses of light shining through here and there. Walking through the Tomb of the Giants and seeing the tiny white eyes of any enemy is directly staring at you is genuinely chilling.

On the other hand…

YOU CAN’T SEE A D#MN THING!!!

Unless you come packing with light casting magic or use the skull lantern that the level provides you as some sort of mercy, you will struggle to make out where you are suppose to go. But all the enemies waiting to turn the player into an obituary. They get 20/20 vision because why not? And while the skull lantern is useful, it also means that whatever you had equipped prior had to be switched out in order to use it. And if it’s a weapon, having to switch back to it while fighting an enemy is the difference between life and death.

The second worse thing besides not be able to see are these giant skeleton beasts. They can hit hard and move deceptively fast. And if one is unlikely to get pinned by more than one of them, then feel free to get ready to throw that controller because it’s going to happen.

The Bed of Chaos

   So Dark Souls, right? That one game that was praised in particular for its combat? That one game where platforming is barely emphasized? Well how about a boss fight that throws the former into the trash can, and turns the game into a poor’s man platformer.

Several years ago, I wrote a post about bosses in Dark Souls 2. One trend you can find in that article is that I said that a lot of them weren’t very good for various reasons. There is one thing I can say as a positive. For all of their faults, they at least feel like a Dark Souls boss. I hate fighting them, but I won’t say they go against the game’s fundamentals.

There is no boss that is hated like the Bed of Chaos. Most lists ranking the series worst bosses will deemed it the lowest point in the franchise. Mine would too. In order to beat the boss, the player must destroy the shield guarding its true form by losing its roots on the far sides of the arena. Hitting the first one is simple enough. It is also when the player will find themselves in the newest circle of hell.

Because the arena will start falling apart, forcing the player to carefully walk along what’s left were praying that the boss will not use its now free arm and send them down the abyss. Hitting the second arm will make the boss venerable for a one-hit kill, but getting to it is not easy. You have to jump off the arena onto a branch in order to reach it and run as fast as possible before it unleashes a lava attack that can one-shot them if their health isn’t high enough.

The only good thing is that, unlike other bosses, your progress is saved so you don’t have to redo everything all over again. And that’s it.

If the golden duo was the highest peak, then the Bed of Chaos makes for the lowest point in the entire game and arguably the trilogy as a whole. 

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The Moments in Dark Souls that Rob Me of My Humanity (Part 1).

There are various aspects of life that we come to expect to see, or hear whenever we wake up to a brand new day. The Sun rises. The water is wet. And Dark Souls is hard.

From the brilliant and potentially sadistic minds over from FromSoftware, their most ironic franchise has been both a blessing and the bane for millions of gamers worldwide. No matter who you are, Dark Souls will have likely left some sort of impression on you one way or another.

If you ask me, I think Dark Souls stands as a monumental achievement that redefined FromSoftware’s approach to their creations and will serve as a major blueprint for several other original titles as well as spawning two sequels. It’s only bogged down by its slightly weaker second half in comparison to the meretriciously crafted level design present in the game’s early to mid stages. However with taking it’s deep combat system, environmental storytelling, and it’s brutal, but fair difficulty, Dark Souls holds a special place in my heart.

But my god, can this game be hard.

The main defying reason for this is that both the game’s worlds and enemies are more than ready to dispose of any player that ill-prepared and taken off-guard by the game’s devious surprises. Enemies hit hard. There are traps around the corner. Mistakes can be punished severely. These factors can certainly motivate someone to turn the game off and play something else.

At the same time for those willing to persevere, the game can just be as forgiving as it is hard. Enemies do have set attack patterns and animations that are 100% learnable. What is and isn’t a trap can be made obvious with a little observation. Even better, the game gives the player total freedom in how they want to customize their build through the various armor sets, weapons, and magical spells players can pick up throughout the world. Being able to master these mechanics and conquering the challenges that laid before you is nothing short of gratifying.

But I’m not here to talk about what makes Dark Souls so good. I’m here to rant about the various times this series tempted me to throw my controller through the TV screen. Because as calm as I may be 95% of the time, there are always those moments that can raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels. This isn’t a ranking per se, but the times Dark Souls truly lives up to its reputation.

Fighting a Black Knight when you’re just starting out.

When starting a new game for the first time, you’ll believe that Dark Souls will at least ease the player into it’s diffcuitly by starting simple before throwing the hard stuff at them.

The Black Knights are you remind you of what type of game you’ll playing.

Spread throughout the game are some of its hardest enemies. They’re extremely aggressive and can deal huge damage to a player, which is bad because they won’t have much health with they first start out. If you plan to fight these guys, learning when to block and parry is a must, otherwise you’re going to be in for a bloodbath. Fighting them through conventional means will truly show how out how weak you are as whatever damage you do will be the equivalent of pinching their skin while they got a big shiny sword they would love for you to get familiar with.

For those with prior experiences, Black Knights will serve as a tough, but a workable obstacle. Fighting them for the first time, however? Prepare yourself.

Havel the Rock

He’s an armored tank armed with a club made from a tooth of a dragon that can one-shot you. Oh, and you fight him within the game’s first few hours.

Have fun.

The Capra Demon

Hey, remember when I said that Dark Souls is brutal but fair. Well, that still is true…most of the time. As much as I praise this game for being such a fun challenge, there are those times when even I have to call foul. And the Capra Demon is one of this game’s most infamous examples. Allow me to explain.

An early-game boss, the Capra Demon pits you in an extremely small corridor with him and two dogs ready to tear you into pieces. If can’t get out of the way of their attack within the first 15 seconds, then congrats you lose. If you can’t kill the dogs in time before the Demon tries to hit you again, say goodbye to victory. Ironically despite being the star of this portion of the game, the Capra Demon is rather straightforward despite how much damage he can deal. It’s the small arena and those savage mutts that really give people trouble. And what makes this fight feel cheap in comparison to the game’s more well-designed boss fights.

Balisks

Ever wanted to a fight an enemy that when it kills you, halves your health in half for the game unless you figure out how to reverse it?

No? Well, that’s a shame because this exists. Found within the Depths and the Great Hallow, Balisks make for a rather deceitful foe. Behind their big-eyed goofy appearance, lies a cold-blooded monster that can potentially make or break a playthrough. Attacking the player through spraying a cloud that causes a curse, getting caught with too much of this stuff will not only kill the poor victim but as stated earlier will reduce their health bar by half. There are ways to cure it but will require the player to go out of their way to do so and fight other dangers

Thus any encounter with Balisks must be treated with extreme caution. I’ll be lucky enough to not be cursed by these fiends, but the chances are never zero.

Blightown

Do you like traveling across very thin platforms hundreds of feet in the air and knowing that the slightest mistake will lead you to end up in a closed casket?

Are you a fan of poisonous substances that you inevitably have to endure just to progress the level?

Can you handle walking at a snail’s pace while inside a huge lake that will also poison you?

If you answer yes to any of this, then congrats. I have the level for you.

Blightown is arguably the most infamous level of the entire game. Take everything I’ve just said and combine it into a slimy nauseating package. For a game as notoriously difficult as Dark Souls, many people will agree that this level takes things up a notch. Be it the enemies that can either poison or set you on fire, to the tricky platforming, you might be seen as a god among men if you play this level for the first time without a single fatality.

Personally, the most awful part of this level for me is the blowdart snipers that can give you the toxin status, which drains your health faster than the regular poison effect. They barely have any defense or health as a trade-off, but there is a reason the game doesn’t respawn them when killed. Often hiding from a distance and taking shots whenever the poor innocent target is in sight, these little devils make for some of the most annoying foes in the entire game.

Believe it or not, this entire topic gave me a lot to go over. And because this is getting a bit long as is, I’m going to split it into a two-parter. For anyone who plays Dark Souls, let me know what moments have given you the most amount of trauma. Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll hop to part 2 when it comes out.

Every Boss in Dark Souls 2 Reviewed in 10 Words or Less

I love the Dark Souls trilogy. There have been plenty of horror stories from players all over the globe on how much these games will give you quite a beating. And that’s true. These games do not hold back on their punches. They have been plenty of times where I wanted to throw my controller across my room from how much these games kicked my teeth in. However, staying persistent and fighting against all odds will reward you with some of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve ever had in gaming.

The difficulty made be tough, but it always because the game test your skills as a player and not because of broken mechanics or cheap additions(Most of the time anyway.). The mantra of being difficult, but fair is why I came back to this series time and time again. Amazing level design, fascinating lore, fun mechanics. These games are a complete package. And what a video game without the bosses.

In this post I will be going over the bosses from Dark Souls 2 in 10 words or less. From the base game and the DLC. At the end I will give my general thoughts on the bosses as a whole and a top five ranking for what I feel is the best and worst boss in the game. Each sentence will also be accompanied by an image(s) and/or clip(s) that I feel is representative of the boss.

And lastly why did I feel to start off this series of boss reviews with the second game in the series and not the first! Because good planning is for losers, that’s why!

Base Game: 

The Last Giant: Eh, he’s good enough. -6/10

The Pursuer: Now this is what an opening boss fight should be! -9.5/10

Old Dragonslayer: Not the same without Smough, but decently designed. -6/10

Dragonrider: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! -2/10

Felix Sentry: Wonderful concept, okay design. -6/10

Ruin Sentinels: Just your standard gank boss fight. -3/10

Belfry Gargoyles: A cheap, pale retread of the first game. -0/10

The Lost Sinner: Good lore, good move-set, good mechanics. Good boss. -7.5/10

Executioner Chariot: A decently executed concept if a bit underwhelming. -6/10

Covetous Demon: A joke of a boss, but charming lore. -3.5/10

The Skeleton Lords: It’s fun, but a complete pushover. -5.5/10

Mytha, the Baneful Queen: A good idea that could have been better executed. -5/10

Smelter Demon: Potentially brutal, but a really well-designed fight. -8/10

Old Iron King: Why couldn’t his design be as good as the lore? -3/10

Scorpioness Najka: Quaalang 2.0 is unique enough. -6.5/10

Royal Rat Authority: One of the worst bosses in the entire series. Yikes. -0/10

Prowling Magus and Congregation: The Pinwheel of Dark Souls 2. What a joke. -0.5/10

The Duke’s Dear Freja: Great lore is wasted on mediocre design. Again. -4/10

Royal Rat Vanaguard: I got some mileage out of slaughtering the vermin. -5/10

The Rotten: Those Old One fights should have been better. -4.5/10

Twin Dragonriders: A REHASED GANK BOSS!? An absolute disgrace. -0/10

Looking Glass Knight: A really well-designed fight set in a stunning arena. -8.5/10

Demon of Song: The area preceding it is more terrifying than this boss. -3/10

Velstadt, the Royal Aegis:  Solid lore and mechanics, but feels a bit samey. -7/10

Guardian Dragon: Too easy and familer for my tastes. -4/10

Ancient Dragon: Ten minutes of unfair, tedious boredom. Screw him. 0/10

Giant Lord: Great lore is wasted by mediocre design. Again. -3.5/10

Vendrick: A decent duel backed up by incredible lore. -7/10

Darklurker: A gank boss done right. Difficult, but fair. -7.5/10

Throne Defender & Throne Watcher: Decently designed gank fight, if a bit forgettable. -6/10

Nashandra: The fight doesn’t match up to the terrific lore sadly. -5.5./10

Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin: Amazing lore and buildup letdown by underwhelming design. Again. 5.5/10

Summary: The most disappointing lineup of bosses in the Souls Trilogy. -4/10

DLC:

Afflicted Graverobber, Ancient Soldier Varg & Cerah the Old Explorer: Lazy design, but I had fun beating these gankers. -5/10

Elana, the Squalid Queen: Well-designed gank boss, if somewhat underwhelming. -6.5/10

Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon: This is a dragon boss fight done right. -8.5/10

Smelter Demon (Iron King DLC): LAZY! LAZY! LAZY! WHY DOES HE EXIST!?– 0/10

Fume Knight: One of the best bosses in the series. No complaints. -10/10

Sir Alonne: Great lore, stunning arena, and an amazing duel. Simply brilliant. -9.5/10

Aava, the King’s Pet: Unique design and fair challenge. -7.5

Lud, the King’s Pet & Zallen, the King’s Pet: ANOTHER REHASHED GANK BOSS!? STOP! LAZY! -0/10

Burnt Ivory King: A thrilling set-piece that’s thematically engaging. Fantastic final boss. -9.5/10

Summary: A huge step-up, if with a few really bad bosses. -7/10

In Review:

The main game bosses are quite a letdown when all is said and done. Sure, they are a few that standout and are fun to fight against. The Pursuer, and Looking Glass Knight in particular are really solid. Unfortunately, most of the game’s bosses altogether shared major issues that are worth getting into.

First off, there are way too many badly designed gank fights. Sure, both the first and third game had a few as well. The difference is the difficulty was balanced with designs to ensured that the player wouldn’t be too overwhelmed despite being outnumbered. There is only so many times you can use the same bosses that share the same move-sets and do nothing special to make it standout before it becomes tiring. I’m looking at you Ruin Sentinels, and Twin Dragonriders. Not only is this lazy design, but it’s artificial difficulty added in to make the fight harder than what it really is. The only real gank fight that felt earned is it’s challenge was Darkluker. It started off with their just being one in the arena so the player could have time to learn it’s attacks before the second one would show up. Even then, said attacks would move at a reasonably slow pace so the gank wouldn’t be too overwhelming and unfair.

Speaking of difficulty, yikes. Normally in video games, bosses would have a rising curve when it comes to difficulty. Boss C is going to be harder to than boss A in theory. Not of course, that curve can always change depending on the player or the boss in question. Generally speaking though, the first and third game seemed too at the very least had that curve. It’s important for a game to have a natural sense of progression when it comes to difficulty. Not only to challenge the player with harder challenges, but to make the feeling of conquering those challenges more rewarding in retrospect.

Dark Souls 2 is just all over the place with this curve. In my most recent play-through, I’ve had gone through multiple bosses one by one without feeling that they provided any challenge. This really boils down to them having simple designs or mechanics that the player could take advantage of. Instead of feeling I beaten an impossible challenge, I just feel nothing. And that’s the worst feeling to have in game like Dark Souls. If it wasn’t that, I was resisting the temptation of throwing my controller because of how cheap a few of the other bosses, such as the Royal Rat Authority or Ancient Dragon. Bosses that punish the player through being poorly designed.

Speaking of poor designs however, how about them rehashes? Either their a callback to the first game that feels added on (Old Dragonslayer, Belry Gargoyles.) or just the same boss with a different coat of paint (Twin Dragonriders, Lud and Zallen, Blue Smelter Demon). They are here and are a mostly a chore to fight against. They don’t add much to the lore and are usually unfair when it comes to the challenges they provide. Dark Souls 3 would share these traits too when it came to it’s bosses, but the major difference is that they were far less of them in that game and would given something unique to them to make standout from the rest. Here, it played painfully straight. 

The most disappointing bosses in Dark Souls 2 are the lore fodders. Bosses that have amazing lore surrounding them only to be letdown by their fights being underwhelming. All of the Old Ones aside from the Lost Sinner, Giant Lord, Nashandra, and Aldia come to mind. The latter two in particular are buildup throughout most of the game as a pretty big deal only to provide a middling challenge in their fights when the time came. Vendrick is the only one I enjoyed, but he’s even not particularity great. That’s such a shame.

Thankfully, the DLC would come along with a pretty big upgrade when it came to the bosses. They are a few that are awful, but the bosses that mattered to the story were excellent on the whole. Sinh, Alonne, Burnt Ivory King, and the Fume Knight in particular rank very high on my list when comes to this trilogy best bosses. Great lore and fights. They were difficult, but tested the player skills rather than through bad game design. Sadly, they are not enough for me to look over the disappointing lineup of the bosses in the main game when discussing Dark Souls 2 as a whole.

Final Verdict: Quantity over quality was the motto this game’s bosses. 5.5/10

Now with that out of the way, time to look over the bosses I felt were the best and worst to close this entire post off with.

Top Five Worst Bosses:

5. Lud, the King’s Pet & Zallen, the King’s Pet

Lud and Zallen represents the major issue with Dark Souls 2 bosses. It’s a rehash and it’s a gank. After going through the no man’s land that is the Frigid Outskirts, you have to go up against these two giant felines with appearance and mechanics taken straight from Aava. A boss that comes from the same DLC content (Crown of the Ivory King) mind you. Putting the copy-paste design aside, this fight is just cheap difficultly. The two of them move quickly around the arena and can easily pin you up against a corner. Do this boss with NPCs or other players, or you will suffer a brutal end. Or just don’t do this boss fight at all. That works too.

4. Twin Dragonriders

Oh look, a rehashed gank boss! This time, coming from the base game. The original Dragonrider is a complete pushover that you could easily beat under 2 minutes just by moving right around him. It’s not even a well-designed fight that had anything that made it stand out from the pack. So it really makes me wonder why did anyone behind the scenes thought this would make a good followup. It only increase the difficultly by a slight margin as one of them will be shooting from above with arrows while you fight the other one. Though at a certain point, the archer will come join his partner only to get murdered in five seconds because of how little he has in hit points. Once again, the difficulty is artificial.

While Lud and Zallen is terrible, that fight is an optional boss in a DLC. Twin Dragonriders is a mandatory boss fight that takes place in one of the game’s best areas. Just frustratingly lazy design all around for this boss.

3. Belfry Gargoyles

Man, this game really love it rehashed gank bosses doesn’t it? This time copied from the first game’s Bell Gargoyles, and done 10 times worse in this game. While the original Gargoyles was also a gank fight, it naturally taught the player the mechanics through gameplay for a period of time before adding the second Gargoyle. Here, all FIVE of the Gargoyles swarm you in the arena one after the other will little time for the player to have a grasp to understand what even is going on. Once again, difficult for the sake of being difficult and misses the point of what made Dark Souls the hit that it is.

2. Royal Rat Authority

When going through Dark Souls 2 again, I was sure for certain that this pest and his little minions would take the top spot. Played the game again, and it turns this boss is only the second worst thing ever in this game! That’s not a complaint towards this boss though. Far from it.

The difficulty for this boss is strangely uneven. It can end up being cheap as hell if you get swarmed by the little rats that showed up before the boss and inflict toxin on you. If that happens, then there isn’t much you can do as there will be too much to handle. If you kill the rats without getting toxin, then the big rat is stupidly easy. His attacks are very telegraphed and give you plenty of time to dodge or take advantage of. A dreadful boss that once again goes against Dark Soul’s mantra of difficult, but fair.

1. Ancient Dragon

Ancient Dragon is the type of boss that awakens the hidden rage within me.

I know I keep bringing up cheap difficulty in this countdown, but no boss goes further beyond in being the cheapest piece of garbage like the Ancient Dragon. In theory, his difficultly would make sense. He’s a gigantic dragon who’s kind could only be taken down by the might of gods. He should have a huge health pool and highly damaging attacks. It only the most logical route for a boss like this. So what’s the problem?

Well the problem is that he is incredibly boring.

First off. he doesn’t have a very interesting move-set to fight against. All he does is breathe fire, stomp and bite you. Again fine as a concept, but he doesn’t really get you that engaged in the fight. I don’t feel like I’m fighting a mighty dragon. I feel like I’m hitting a very big, angry sponge. Speaking of those attacks, most of them aren’t too bad to deal with except for when he goes into the air and covers a decent portion of the arena in fire. This attack covers quite a bit of ground and can be a one-shot even if you have a lot of health. Scholar of the First Sin did tone down the attack damage and range a bit, but it is still quite deadly.

The only reason I beat this boss in my recent play-through was simply due to RNG. He positioned himself towards a corner of the arena and would not move towards anywhere else on the arena. I used that to get some free hits and move back to avoid getting hit by his fire attacks. Back and forth without nothing else happening until the boss is dead. And you want to know how long this lasted?

TEN MINUTES!

Ten minutes of pure boredom until the fight was over. At least with all the other bosses on this list, the pain was short. Here, this fight felt like it was never going to end. Doing the same thing over and over. It’s one of the most tedious experiences I’ve ever had in a video game.

He can set himself on fire for all I care.

Top Five Best Bosses:

5. Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon

Leave it to the DLC to provide an actual worthwhile dragon fight. Sinh is similar to the Ancient Dragon in that he deals high damage and has a lot of hit points. So what the big difference? Sinh is actually well-designed boss. He has plenty of attacks to keep players on their toes be it on the ground or in the air. What important though is that his attacks cover a fair amount of ground, but give the player enough room and time to work around. Unlike a certain other dragon…

There also the fact that during the DLC(Crown of the Sunken King) he has quite a nice bit of buildup that demonstrates his power and how cause the city of Shulva to fall apart. The lore of him being the city’s center of worship until an idiot decides to stab him with a spear causing the dragon to unleash toxic flumes is the type of foundation you can build an entire game around.

Just a really great fight. Why cant the dragons in the base game be this good?

4. The Pursuer

Well done Pursuer, you’re the only boss from the base game that ended up on my best of list! It really says something about the quality of that games bosses, but also about how great of a boss you are!

I do mean that too. The Pursuer is an excellent opening boss. Sure veteran players can work around his attacks with ease, but his attacks do a good amount of damage for an early game boss and require paying close attention in order to not get hit. For new players, The Pursuer provides a great opportunity for them to learn shield parrying and using the environment to their advantage.

There is also his simple, but effective lore. He hunts down Curse bearers(You) to claim their souls. Scholar of the First Sin takes it up a notch by having multiple Pursuers show up randomly throughout you’re travels to add a bit of pressure on the player.

Such a shame that the peak of Dark Souls 2 main game bosses was the second one, but oh well.

3. Burnt Ivory King

Talk about a spectacle. Descending down to his arena with the Loyce Knights you recruited throughout you’re adventure and battling the Ivory King knights is thrilling. The King himself is just as thrilling. Requiring precise movements and dodging, this is a remarkable duel. Made all the more memorable by the lore.  Being the one who puts him and his knights to rest after he gave his being to the old chaos is thematically compelling and a lot of context to the fight. The perfect note to end the DLC end on.

2. Sir Alonne

Samurai in my Dark Souls? Yes please!

An eastern knight who aided a lord who he saw potential in. This lord would become the Old Iron King with the Knight’s help. When the curse would plague the lord kingdom, the king started to resort to morally questionable methods to get rid of it. Distraught with the Old Iron, Alonne parted ways to look back on his own decisions. This is where we found him at mediating in what is one of the best boss arenas in the series where he will accept your challenge. 

Oh dear, those pretty colors! It’s also perfect place for what this type of fight is. A duel between two warriors seeking to prove who’s strongest. And what a duel it is. Sir Alonne is quick on feet and unrelenting. Do not underestimate him, for he will punish you player will absolute precision and force. It’s hard not to get sucked into this intense fight. 

1. Fume Knight

For all the flak I given to many bosses in Dark Souls 2, when the game gets it right. Well, it really gets it right. And there is no boss that demonstrates that better then the Fume Knight. He’s has everything you want in a Dark Souls boss.

Great mechanics and move-set? He comes packing with many combos to catch unwary  players off-guard and punish others for poor positioning. He demands you’re complete attention throughout the entire fight and will not stop his assault for a split-second. 

Great lore? Originally one of King Vendrick most trusted knights until his heel-face turn. He fought and lost to Velstadt in combat. Deemed a traitor, the Fume Knight would travel to Brume Tower in search of greater strength. They he would find such strength. His weapons infused with darkness of Nadalia, the Bride of Ash. 

Fume Knight is just the perfect challenge and demonstrates what makes Dark Souls work so well. He is quite challenging, but is fair. There really nothing in the fight that comes from him that I would describe as unfair. It’s a pure test of the players skills. Plain and simple. Fume Knight isn’t just the best boss in Dark Souls 2, but one of the best bosses in the trilogy.

You did good Fume Knight, you did good.