A DECADE! That’s how long ago the First Dark Souls game initially graced our consoles and what a decade it has been filled with Spinoffs and Sequels to this genre defining masterpiece, so I thought I would take a moment to appreciate the best of what the Dark Souls games has to offer: The bosses.
So sit back, relax and take a look at my 5 favourite bosses from the Dark Souls series. I will not be including Demons Souls, Bloodborne or Nioh here and instead just focusing on the 3 Dark Souls games themselves!
5. Seath, the Scaleless
This one is one of my favourite down to lore alone, as you see: Seath was born without the scales (hence the name) that make the Dragons immortal within this universe and as such was filled with a hatred of his own kind. So with the help of Gravelord Nito and a few other lords, Seath betrayed the dragons – bringing them to the point of near extinction with Seath being believed to be the last Dragon.
Seath then researched how to become immortal and succeeded! But with this his mind faded into madness so whilst he became immortal he also lost everything else.
It’s this tragic lore that makes me love Seath so much and I feel fully embodies the overall hopelessness that makes up the Dark Souls story.
4 Looking Glass Knight
Where Seath is in the top 5 down to lore, the Looking Glass Knight makes it in purely down to mechanics, you see the Looking glass knight features a great big mirror shield which he can slam down into the ground causing actual people to invade you during the, already tough, boss encounter.
Now, I hate this whilst I am trying to fight him myself but there is very little more satisfying within this series than invading someone who is in the middle of a boss fight and ruining their day.
I am a horrible person…
3 Nameless King
I love the nameless king, everything in this boss encounter just oozes coolness. From him initially riding into battle on the “The King of the Storm” right through to his hand shaking and hesitating when he has to sacrifice his friend for the next phase the boss battle with the ultimate dragon slayer is epic from start to finish.
Many people shout that the nameless king is the hardest boss in all 3 Dark Souls titles and whilst I agree that he is definitely up there in terms of difficulty, I would be remiss to mention the first “wall” everyone hits when it comes to Dark Souls…
2. Ornstein & Smough
Here they are, the first real hurdle for the Dark Souls games: Ornstein and Smough. These two absolute units will put everything you have learned up to this point to the ultimate test.
Firstly they will come at you as a duo, one massive hammer wielding but slower tank of a boss with a small, nimble but hard hitting boss on the side.
If you manage to finally whittle down their health enough that you slay one of these absolute monsters then the other will absorb the corpse of his fallen ally and gain their powers (with a totally fresh health bar) and begin attacking you, and your lack of Estus Flasks, all over again.
I know this is where a lot of people bounce off of these titles but to this day nothing has been more satisfying than when I finally overcame Ornstein and Smough.
1 Artorias, The Abysswalker
Artorias is just sick as hell. The lore behind this is hinted at throughout the entirety of Dark Souls 1. Artorias is the hero of the Abyss, having entered and destroyed Manus, father of the abyss with his loyal wolf companion Sif, saving the world from being completely enshrouded by the dark.
However, in the DLC to the first game you enter the past and learn that not all is as it seems and Artorias actually sacrificed himself in order to save Sif and instead was overcome with darkness – falling to Manus and becoming one with darkness.
It’s within this DLC that you actually kill Manus, with Sif by your side but the world still thinks it’s Artorias and thus you preserve this heroes legacy.
I love it
So there we go! Happy birthday Dark Souls – what are your favourite bosses in the series? Let me know in the comments below.