And now the inverse of Ashes. This is probably the best thing to come out of this franchise! As good as Miyizaki and Co have been at ending their games in the past, they never managed to match satisfying narrative closure with genuinely compelling and cinematic gameplay, until this of course.
Very consciously the grand finale of the entire Dark Souls series, but it works through sheer overwhelming force. I like its conclusion at the end of time immensely, how it ties into the circularity of the series' prior narratives and how it nicely deflates the slightly overcooked fanservice of the base game (benefiting both this and DS3 on the whole, for my money). But what I really like, and what everyone likes, is that these are the best areas and bosses they ever made.
Touching down into The Ringed City is a visual moment so jaw-dropping that it reverberates back through the entire series. Clearly, From must have felt this too, Elden Ring constantly strains for moments of visual splendour, and there are so many incredible ones, but none are this exuberant.
These gorgeous sights are matched with delightful challenges and my favourite recurring NPC in any of these games (weirdo bug man that jumpscares you with poetry recitals). And then there are the boss fights.
I think these bosses broke From's collective brain. They're desperately chasing the high these fights provided, to no avail. Sekiro one-upped this by inventing a new combat system whole-cloth but returning to the Dark Souls style, they've no idea what to do. How can you make a gank fight more exciting than Demon Prince? How can you do a traditional dragon fight better than Midir? How can you conceivably make a Souls boss that surpasses Slave Knight Gael? Answer: you can't!
Gael is a peak of the art form for me, a ferocious ballet that pulls no punches but takes no shortcuts, inviting you to either keep up or die. This is the ideal of this style of boss fight, and it justifies itself completely as the culmination of an entire cultural phenomenon.
Is it the hardest boss they'd ever make? No. Will they ever be able to surpass its perfect blend of difficulty, spectacle and escalation within the context of the Dark Souls formula? I'd love to see it. But if Melania is the kind of thing they're reaching for as the next step, it's never going to happen.
Minus half a star for the dip-shit 4th boss of the DLC. Probably forgot he was there didn't you? But I remember. A single, baffling, blotch on an otherwise perfect canvas.
Very consciously the grand finale of the entire Dark Souls series, but it works through sheer overwhelming force. I like its conclusion at the end of time immensely, how it ties into the circularity of the series' prior narratives and how it nicely deflates the slightly overcooked fanservice of the base game (benefiting both this and DS3 on the whole, for my money). But what I really like, and what everyone likes, is that these are the best areas and bosses they ever made.
Touching down into The Ringed City is a visual moment so jaw-dropping that it reverberates back through the entire series. Clearly, From must have felt this too, Elden Ring constantly strains for moments of visual splendour, and there are so many incredible ones, but none are this exuberant.
These gorgeous sights are matched with delightful challenges and my favourite recurring NPC in any of these games (weirdo bug man that jumpscares you with poetry recitals). And then there are the boss fights.
I think these bosses broke From's collective brain. They're desperately chasing the high these fights provided, to no avail. Sekiro one-upped this by inventing a new combat system whole-cloth but returning to the Dark Souls style, they've no idea what to do. How can you make a gank fight more exciting than Demon Prince? How can you do a traditional dragon fight better than Midir? How can you conceivably make a Souls boss that surpasses Slave Knight Gael? Answer: you can't!
Gael is a peak of the art form for me, a ferocious ballet that pulls no punches but takes no shortcuts, inviting you to either keep up or die. This is the ideal of this style of boss fight, and it justifies itself completely as the culmination of an entire cultural phenomenon.
Is it the hardest boss they'd ever make? No. Will they ever be able to surpass its perfect blend of difficulty, spectacle and escalation within the context of the Dark Souls formula? I'd love to see it. But if Melania is the kind of thing they're reaching for as the next step, it's never going to happen.
Minus half a star for the dip-shit 4th boss of the DLC. Probably forgot he was there didn't you? But I remember. A single, baffling, blotch on an otherwise perfect canvas.