An Over-Analysis of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Boss Design

[@pichu2468]

The frailty of the Scadutree Avatar is completely thematic. The avatar represents the desperation of the Scadutree and the shadowlands as a whole, with it coming back each time throwing everything it has at you. In its final phase, the explosions use up all its energy in a final attempt to stop you, and it is really sad seeing it fall to the ground with exhaustion after the move. Combined with the music and arena, it’s an easy S tier for me.

[@TheAkasharose]

I had never thought about the boss's frailty in that way. The arena also helps a lot, with how much of it is destructible and sick, wearing away to a open, sick space.

[@ennayanne]

I cannot feel sad for a big sunflower. Fromsoft forgot how to put emotion into their boss battles since DS1

[@Mr.Starlight_gaming]

The 3rd phase with the sad music and all 100% delivers the fleeting desperation the boss is going for

[@oliverp3545]

​@@ennayanne Never played Blood Borne?

[@LAK_770]

​@@ennayanne this is a you problem. It's not the game's fault that you can't relate to a strongly anthropomorphic design that goes out of its way to convey emotion. Most people readily recognize and appreciate the body language as it slumps in exhaustion after its desperate explosion attacks, hanging its head as somber music plays. Sadness and guilt are extremely common reactions to this fight. And saying they've lost it since DS1 is an overly generalized and cherry-picked argument in the first place. You're literally just thinking of plin plin plon and maybe a couple other examples, and then discounting dozens of other encounters.

[@fidelcahflow8429]

Messmer completely blew me away with how good he was he’s absolutely my favorite fromsoft boss now

[@quasidingo7422]

I think the Tree Sentinels in the Hinterlands also act as a reminder as how far you’ve come in the game so far. These tree sentinels feel incredibly easy compared to everything else in the DLC, which is kind of insane considering how difficult they were when you first played the base game and saw one right outside the tutorial. With them acting as lore-important being outside the Shaman Village I enjoyed the fight quite a bit, liking them more then the ones in the base game even (except maybe the one in Limgrave.)

[@Flacidusax]

The moment i saw the tree sentinels i was overjoyed, i had been getting my shit kicked in for 40hrs at that point and i was so glad to see a familiar face.

[@Raggedstar]

@@Flacidusax Same lol. I was getting my butt kicked by most of the DLC and then I limped into the Hinterlands and went "Phew, it's just some Tree Sentinels" and stomped them. Good for morale.

[@evansteflik3576]

you CAN dodge through the rellana twin moon attack. Its harder than jumping, but you can do it.

[@vangod1]

This was such a great series. I don’t even know how many boss analysis videos I’ve watched for all these games but I can say without a doubt yours have been by far the best.

[@cincameron]

Few interesting things about the Scadutree Avatar that I'm upset you didn't note 😭: 1) The impenetrable thorns are similar in nature to the ones we see preventing us from entering the Erdtree. This gives more similarities to the Scadutree and Erdtree and does make you wonder who created it. 2) We know the Scadutree is falling apart, being brittle, so the same is reflected in its Avatar. The weakening tree is symbolized very well in this fight. The Golden attacks shrouded by shadow are representing the Scadutree's power, which brings my favorite point 3) In Phase 3, when the Scadutree Avatar uses the WoG-like attack with the holy beams coming out, it is unalloyed gold. The Avatar is using Miquella's broken rune in the fight, which still has some vestiges of Miquella's power in it, so it is using unalloyed gold and a fragmented Great Rune to empower itself in Phase 3.

[@Detriax]

I thing I don’t think Putrescent Knight gets enough credit for is his music theme. I personally think it is the best theme that Fromsoft has ever produced. It’s full of tragedy and triumph and power and it’s just so fucking good, man.

[@amcname8789]

I don't even like the fight and don't try to encounter it much, but you're damn right, the theme rocks.

[@enman009]

Funnily enough, I haven't paid much attention to his OST, despite the fact I always do that fight as soon as I can (the breaking of Miquella's Greatrune. Now I have another reason to replay.

[@amcname8789]

6:48 "the new aesthetic justifies at least the first encounter with the dragon." Foreshadowing is a literary device--

[@ok_ok_ok_ok_ok_ok_ok_ok]

knight of the solitary gaol honesty feels like a guts reference 😭

[@kalmkrew]

I got goosebumps when you said midras theme feelings like falling up, that's what I keep saying to people that it feels like falling into emptiness, no bottom, no top, and you're spinning as you drop.

[@jamzgamez3368]

FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO LOVES ROMINA ALMOST AS MUCH AS ME

[@Ghorda9]

you two aren't the only ones, i fought her as the first dlc boss just because i wanted the poleblade and the butterflies for the rest of the game.

[@anonisnoone6125]

I wish more effort was put into her. It feels like they just threw her in cos they needed a boss. She has very little lore, a walled arena she clips through, minimal moveset and no build up. I love her fight so it's disappointing how little FS seemed to care about her.

[@Ghorda9]

@@anonisnoone6125 her moveset is perfectly fine, she's one of my favorite bosses

[@Firebee033]

hot-ish take here but Romina is my least favorite (remembrance) fight in the game, she just feels really "uncomfortable". the movement is unnatural but not in an interesting kind of way, the hitbox is sideways usually making her hard to hit, the attacks are mostly unsatisfying (save for the slam and purification move), the leg attacks are barely telegraphed and will sometimes hurt the player and sometimes just push them, she gets a remembrance despite having less presentation and lore than most of the wildlife, and don't even get me started on the phase transition. (please don't say skill issue I have 1200 hours in this game, it's just my opinion)

[@Ghorda9]

@@Firebee033 just because you have a ton of time in the game doesn't mean you learned anything, e.g The phase transition is easy to deal with if you just make distance and don't sit on a butterfly.

[@kingmachina1239]

when it comes to the fallingstar beast i genuinely wished it was an fulgrown version or possibly an elder version instead of just being the lame base version found throughout the base game. it would have been a rather refreshing thing to find a rarer variant of a repeated enemy rather than a 1:1 copy of one.

[@Erfsuit]

Let's goooo Yet another feature-length analysis of a game I haven't played. I can't wait🤩

[@Erfsuit]

It was an amazing journey, very excited for what's to come next :D

[@stonetimekeeper]

My favorite description I've seen of the Midra fight and the music is this: "Midra is the epitome of you opened Pandora's Box, now you will die trying to close it before the world ends."

[@revenge3265]

The ability to have vastly different opinions on bosses in Fromsoft games is always so interesting to me. Personally, I love Messmer's cutscenes. From his dramatic first words to his killer introduction, it was sick. Right up there with Rykard, Rahdan's Festuval, Consort Rahdan, and Renalla.

[@fulgurdraco7614]

I would love for you to rank the Monster Hunter bosses (monsters)! They are, (imo) alongside fromsoft, the leading contestants of brilliant bosses in the gaming world and have many factors and characteristics that would make for interesting discussions and analyses.

[@ignacio1784]

Messmer cinematic was amazing wdym!!!!, i got chills when i encountered him

[@burnettaj4156]

I like Metyr. I feel like she’s a ‘what if Rom was good’ kinda boss. Not what if Rom was great, mind you, but what if Rom just didn’t suck.

[@Firebee033]

absolutely, Metyr is one of the most hated bosses in the game for no reason, she is a top 10 boss in my opinion and is one of, if not the bess spectacle and lore bosses in the series, and is actually fun to fight.

[@user-pn4px5lr8w]

​@@Firebee033 She does have the worst attack in the game with that black hole laser spin. The first spin is nigh unavoidable unless you happen to have Raptor of the Mists, Vow of the Indomitable, or a combination of Miriam's Vanishing and Bloodhound's Step. Conversely you'd have to be significantly far away from her to start it up so you can sprint away, then run back in to avoid the second spin. Not everyone is going to have those tools I listed, be it cuz they missed it, or they aren't a sorcerer, or simple player choice. Being punished by something like that for simply making a choice before the fight even begins is pretty shitty feeling. I don't get the overwhelming hatred, but I can understand why people dislike her fight due to that one attack.

[@Gojira_uz]

Lamenter does NOT have only 12k health, he has around 36k. It's insane how the fextralife site still has that misinformation.

[@DaitylSword]

Predicting it now Scadutree Avatar gets a B grade. Scadutree avatar is honestly my favorite boss in the game not even kidding.

[@UomoPolpetta]

I still think it's criminal these videos don't get hundreds of times the amount of views they get.

[@cartergammage1540]

These elden ring boss videos were great. I’ll be supporting whatever you do going forward. Respect.

[@berkebus]

Great job on the video. I have a lot to say about Metyr. This might sound strange but I actually think they did not go hard enough. Metyr should've sent us to outer space in the second half of the fight. We should've been surrounded by horrible darkness and a sea of stars. Fingers moving in the edges of the arena (to make sure we actually knew where it was before the white wall of wind jumpscared us). Sometimes you can forgive a boss for having crappy moves when you can really understand what they were going for, but they just did not go far enough this time. They nailed it with Bayle, Midra and Radahn, but Metyr falls flat because it escalated purely, solely by getting new moves that people dislike, and a music track that though cool conceptually, stops fitting the environment you're fighting in.

[@gamefan553]

Honestly, I think Midra, Messmer and to a slightly lesser extent Romina, are some of the bosses with *the* best designed movesets fromsoft has ever made, they're genuinely the definition of hard but fair and so fucking fun to fight in every aspect. Also, another amazing video! :D (and as for recommendations for games that focus on bosses: Ender Lilies! a genuinely amazing 2d souls-ish metroidvania with ~10 dedicated boss encounters with their own complex movesets and several phases for each, I think you'd like it! especially if you liekd something like Hollow Knight. ALSO, the Blasphemous games if you've heard about them, also genuinely fucking amazing)

[@TheAkasharose]

I'd never heard of Ender Lillies - I'll check it out!

[@Mr.Starlight_gaming]

Shout out for the jagged peak for being the best build up to a boss i have experienced in these games. You climb higher and higher with hundreds of dragon corpses littering the mountain, acending far beyond the skies to find the culprit.

[@kizofio]

I'm so excited for this video for real. I really wish you have more subs and views because I genuinely believe your analysis of From's boss design is really good.

[@jeremytewari3346]

Lamenter deserves the F tier if you just never got how he worked. Endlessly frustrating dying to him like three times because his instakill mechanic is not communicated in any way to the player. Messmer is truly something special. You hit it right on the head when you said he never feels unattainable and you always want to go right back to fighting him. He was the third boss I fought in the DLC (I blitzed Rellana, Hippo, then Messmer it was insane) and I was horrifically underleveled but the fight is so perfectly balanced and every death felt like my fault so I absolutely knew I could beat him and I beat my head against the wall until I did (Same thing happened with Bayle for me too, he was like 4/11 on the Remembrances and I just fought him until he was dead). Messmer's Assault is my favorite attack to dodge in the game, it's Waterfowl done right, and his big 4 snake combo is the Malenia clone-jitsu done right. The gameplay in this fight is top notch I have never been more happy and more sad to finally kill a boss, and he beats out Owl for my favorite boss ever.

[@TheAkasharose]

The best From Software bosses are those bosses that walk that perfect line between feeling intensely challenging, but bring so much honestly and clarity to the fight and their mechanics that you never feel frustrated. Messmer and Midra joined alongside beasts like Gael, Ludwig, Owl, and Sword Saint for me.

[@EuriLochus]

Holy crap the fact that this video is longer than every other Elden Ring part speaks so much to the volume of this DLC

[@TheAkasharose]

Not only did it have more bosses than most of From Software's games in general, but the ratio of main to side boss is so much higher than the base game. Meant there was just a ridiculous amount to talk about - and even then, there was still stuff I didn't hit on! Loved this DLC.

[@EuriLochus]

@@TheAkasharoseI can totally agree there’s a ton of discussion to be had with these bosses, almost more than in any other fromsoft game. I loved this DLC too!

[@DouePls]

This is so underrated! Glad to see another Rellana fight enjoyer.

[@Chaskali]

Amazing video. I like that you do the reviews with authenticity and without relying on irony or sarcasm. Also good choice to use mob bosses to lighten the pace of the video where needed. See you in the future videos!

[@Meehanj]

Elden Ring: Sacabadabado of the Erdtree

[@hollahenderson9230]

I LOVE fights that once you've learned the moveset, they feel like a dance with the boss. Midra felt like a perfect example of this, and was the only boss that just felt so good to fight that as soon as I beat him, I went and told my friends how cool this hidden-away boss was. Truly lived up to the quick definition for S-tier, I wished I could just reload a save and do it again. As such, I'm happy to see Midra make the top of the list.

[@Battlefieldfan146]

I handled the last ghostflame dragon by swooping in on torrent, jousting down one or two enemies, and then avoiding the drake. I found it very fun!

[@Battlefieldfan146]

I really disagree on Messmer, he might have one of my favorite cutscenes and vocal performances in the game. The way he seems bored, surprised, confused, and then indignant, followed by enraged in phase 2 is just amazing and it all comes through his voice. It really speaks to Messmer's true motive without any item descriptions required

[@TheAkasharose]

I do love the voice acting - it creates an extraordinary feeling, and the dialogue works with the music to set some incredible stakes. It's just never felt visually intriguing to me, and on replays, I usually found myself wanting to skip the cutscene to get back to the fight - whereas I still watch Midra, Ludwig, Sword Saint, or Owl's cutscenes every time I replay. But hey - different things hit for different people! I can see a solid argument that the languid nature of the first cutscene helps draw out the melancholic boredom that defines him as he gets ready to kill you.

[@dingo1547]

Just want to point out, curseblade Labirith can turn invisible if you take long enough to kill it. If anything this actually makes the fight worse as it turns the encounter into an exercise of swinging wildly to kill it faster than it can kill you. No clue of the ghostflame torch works on it, but you would have no clue the boss turns invisible the first time you fight it so it’s not good design either way.

[@pbyfortress]

You are super fucking underrated for how good your vids are man. Gotta comment to buff u on the algorithm.

[@braynaguilar8567]

Nine sols has some great bosses you might want to make a video on

[@viggen88]

Huh, we had a surprisingly similar experience with Rellana. I also found her right after solitary knight, at blessing lv 2, and found her incredibly difficult at first. She took me 18 attemps total, the most of any dlc boss, but the learning process was one of my favourite things I've done in this game. Now I always do her early every time I play through the dlc, often underleveled on purpose

[@Zippien.m]

I think rellana is one of the best boss fights in the DLC alongside with Messmer. Once you learn her first phase moves, you already knew her second phase, she just has a few new moves.

[@malicetoaster1557]

Oh man, I was actually wondering if you were gonna do Lies of P. Another Crab's Treasure would also whip.

[@A.D.I.D.A.S-916]

I was wondering when the DLC boss video was gonna happen. Was looking forward to seeing it. Thanks dude 👌

[@yab3146]

FYI, malenia actually has 33,251 health across both her phases, 18,000 is just the amount for the first phase.

[@launcelotdulake8075]

Bro are we really complaining about the length of a skippable cutscene?

[@pietrocatalano4285]

The fact that it's skippable isn't important. It's how drawn out it is. Besides, the first time you fight a boss, you're going to want to view their cutscene.

[@launcelotdulake8075]

@@pietrocatalano4285 Yeah that's nonsense. If you're watching the cutscene for the first time, you shouldn't have one eye on the clock. Anyone who thinks Fromsoft cutscenes are too slow has the attention span of a goldfish.

[@pietrocatalano4285]

@@launcelotdulake8075 I don't really think it's fair to criticize someone because they get bored when staring at a black screen for seven seconds on end. You're playing a high-adrenaline combat game, the cutscenes need to be functional and not distract from the action. For the record, I think Fromsoftware does a fantastic job at making cutscenes land, but the slowness of it all is just unnatural and does take me out of the experience a little. I have no problem with building up tension and taking your time, but this is a consistent problem with so many Fromsoftware games: the way 60% of the cutscenes could be trimmed down and they would look almost the exact same. With Gael, I get it. He's old, weak and starving. He's losing his mind and bleeding out on the sand. His own voice is ragged and lost. With Messmer? He's a demigod in his prime. In his second cutscene, he might be injured and tired, but if anything, I'd expect him to be moving faster because of it. At the very least, I'd appreciate it if he gets a move on, because the Tarnished is pretty damn generous in letting him go on a whole monologue and pluck his own eyes out without making a single move. Or take Placidousax's egregiously long cutscene, where the boss is literally doing nothing. Like, yeah, I see you there. I don't need a fourty second long cutscene to show me that. If anything, it would have made sense for Bayle, seeing how he actually dives into his arena, so it might have been interesting to see an angle from his point of view or something- something more dynamic and fast-paced that matches the kind of boss you'll be fighting. Because Messmer is not slow, not in the slightest. The whiplash of a minute long cutscene followed up by the immediate attack is just...odd, in much the same way that Malenia's immediate attack after her first cutscene is just an odd choice.

[@pietrocatalano4285]

@@launcelotdulake8075 Also, for the record, I'm perfectly capable of focusing on something for hours and hours on end. That is, if it's interesting. Fromsoftware has some great cutscenes out there, but they absolutely delight in making everything move with the same speed of a geriatric toad. Everyone and everything just...takes their time. In the middle of a life-or-death battle. There's some exceptions for sure, but it just doesn't make any sense in most cases, and it only incentivizes you to keep skipping those cutscenes later on. There's a whole list of games with cutscenes that I geniunely do want to rewatch, because they're tight, to the point and still set up who they're supposed to set up efficiently. Fromsoftware rarely makes that list.

[@launcelotdulake8075]

@@pietrocatalano4285 I see where you're coming from. It definitely is unrealistic, and I can concede that it's pretty silly having your Tarnished just standing dumbly around while the boss does their thing. My main defense of From's cutscene style really just comes down to aesthetic sensibilities. The deliberate, stagelike movement, the minimal use of dialogue and pregnant stretches of silence are all key to the atmosphere and tension-building we both appreciate, and in my opinion the cutscenes could only stand to become more stilted and awkward by quickening their pace. You'd have to change the writing style and cinematography and everything to make them work. The unrealism of it will affect some people's enjoyment more than others, because everyone's suspension of disbelief is a little different. While you feel whiplash from a slow cutscene followed by a swift opening attack, I feel the opposite way. The slow buildup of the cutscene enhances the impact of that first strike (like a really long delayed attack), and sets the intense tone for the whole battle. That said, my arguments don't hold up as well for phase transition cutscenes, since they can be jarring if they break your flow. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to explain your argument. Sorry for acting like a smartass earlier.

[@SquallNoctisGUX]

Midra was such an amazing fight that I’m STILL mad all these months later that he wasn’t a boss that came with a second ending to the dlc

[@JoseViktor4099]

22:27 Something that is worth to say. Malenia, while she has 18.000 hit points on her health bar, this mainly counts as her first whole phase. On the second phase she recovers aprox 14.000 extra hp. This means she has 33.000 HP. Now, if you count that is very likely to fight Rellana with a decent SB level (4 more or less), her health bar is the equivalent of what would be like 25k HP. Which is why stuff like Radahn having 47.000 hp is not a big deal because at that point you will deal like 200% damage thanks to the SB system, assuming you dont fight him underleveled.

[@Messmer-The-Impaler-n8i]

I actually managed to reach Bayle as my 1st Rememberence Boss at Scadu Level 2 or 3. I beat the Drakes using Scarlet Aeonia and then using Bloodhound Fang normally with Bloodflame Blade. I cheesed Senessax using Scarlet Aeonia and running away. 3 Rots for the win. I decided that maybe fighting Bayle as my 1st Rememberence was not the best idea. So I went back. Fought the Lion and Rellana. It's funny having Bayle as the 1st DLC Rememberence u encounter.

[@AnarchistArtificer]

I have had a very sad day and I opened KZbin to find a video to put on as I go to sleep and I was very glad to see your latest in this series - it's the perfect energy for what I need right now. I look forward to rewatching the bits I fall asleep for tomorrow also. Seeing your video waiting for me actually made my day. It feels almost embarrassing to admit that, but truly, it has been an awful day for me. I'm writing this comment because I think that if I were makign extremely thorough analysis like this, I'd be glad to hear I had a small positive impact on someone who needed cheering up. Making online content is a weird phenomena, because you never know who is going to find your stuff, and where they're going to be at. You just sort of throw it out into the void and hope people get something from it. Today, I am disproportionately grateful for this video, because it happened to reach me at a time when it was most useful to me. That small serendipity cheered me up, and was nice.

[@TheAkasharose]

I'm glad I could provide a positive note in a hard day - and I hope the rest of this week ends up turning around for you!

[@longlostluggage4604]

Did anyone else get the bug where Garrew just spams the tongue move? I swear, the first few times I died to him were just because I was laughing too hard.

[@mult1versal]

1:43:55 I have to HARD disagree. Romina's music is the best in the entire DLC for me, and I audibly gasped once the big part of the song plays when she enters her second phase (at least, thats when it played for me). It feels so big even for a boss like Romina, and it helps me specifically because fromsoft uses that song for the first DLC story trailer. it feels so good to me.

[@amcname8789]

I completely agree. Though it's actually Rellana's track in the gameplay trailer you're referring to I think, though heavily remixed.

[@mult1versal]

@@amcname8789 not gameplay trailer, but the story trailer. The one where it shows Messmer's army burning the Hornsent.

[@amcname8789]

@mult1versal hm, I know that at least in part had Elden Beast's theme, don't remember what else.

[@tank19768]

Disagree that Torrent is a trap for Gaius, in my opinion it's the intended way to deal with a lot of his moves, by tactically timing when to mount and dismount to create gaps. Having done so every time I've fought him, I've had very little trouble, and had no idea people had problems with his charge move before discussing it online. Comparatively I actually think Radahn is a much worse boss for Torrent, as many of his moves cover such wide angles, so all you can do is run away, and all Torrent is really good for is riding between summon signs.

[@zainabameen6155]

I am so glad you like Gaius, cause I really do like him 😁

[@Ben-qr4wx]

Glad to hear a Lies of P ranking is in the works. I'd personally love to hear your thoughts on Stellar Blade's boss fights or Kingdom heart's if you are up for another multiple game analysis marathon.

[@TheAkasharose]

Honestly, especially with Kingdom Hearts being on PC, a series replay has sounded pretty good!

[@rubythebee3958]

Chief Bloodfiend serves an interesting purpose I think, although probably not fully intentional. It punishes back dodging and panic dodging pretty well, considering often the best way to get hit by it is to dodge early and back (if you're already close up).

[@BornEvilXIII]

Have you ever played Shadow of the Colossus? It's basically the game that focuses it's entire existence to it's boss fights, it's very interesting and I think it would make a great boss analysis video.

[@TheAkasharose]

I have - one of my favorites, and for some reason I had never thought to add it to my short list!

[@BornEvilXIII]

@@TheAkasharose it would make a banger video fr I don't think there's too much crazy in depth boss analysis for this game.

[@pg3223]

Bro put the lion in B tier 😂😂

[@Budd631]

That’s about right.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

Shoutout to Mohg for being one of the few to actually beat the Allegations in 2024

[@xnflg3074]

he's still definitely sus

[@TitaRussellTrails]

@@xnflg3074 Oh yeah definitely still Sketch

[@revenge3265]

The crazy thing is, he didn't even beat the allegations because Miquella charmed him *after* getting kidnapped lmao.

[@thmistrapillay1811]

I love analyzing boss & combat design, and imo Bayle, Placidusax, Godfrey, Mesmer and Malekith are the best in Elden Ring. And this is coming from a Guts-Greatsword build Strength user

[@amcname8789]

Okay but holy shit some goddamned Romina appreciation! I genuinely love this series of yours, and I find our sometimes-conflicting takes to be a positive, but Romina's sections are my absolute favorite pieces of your work. You simultaneously expressed so much of what I felt about her, and made me think of the fight from entirely new angles, and I honestly love you for that. Gushing over a weird centi-scorpion momm---I mean lady, incoming: Romina being called a Saint, makes her relationship with Malenia, and the Outer God of Rot they're both avatars of, a really unique one. Malenia is an unwilling divinity, so a “Saint”, someone with willing and powerful religious faith, accepts the rejected offspring and once-willing worshippers of this failed goddess - the Pests of Rot. I think even her physical form is influenced by this: she's monstrous, but she has this hypnotizing synergy with her body (parts of which feel almost independent at times, but never out of control). We already well know that Scarlet Rot is fantasy radiation, with mutative properties. And while Malenia, this intended goddess, resists and loses nearly every part of herself, Romina embraces the sickly circle of life and decay the Rot represents (I think of it like Nurgle from Warhammer). Letting it take her, change her, and objectively, in a way, make her more. And isn't she beautiful? The colors of her area, arena and design itself - bright and deep pink and purple, with dozens of plants and butterflies growing, dying and returning and growing just as quickly. Compare that to the natural London landscape that is Caelid, or the sickly dark muck of the Haligtree. She and Malenia are genuine opposites in every conceivable way, but they're connected together as deeply as anything in the world, as I think her soundtrack represents. Besides the fact I fucking love it, its incorporation of the most iconic, dramatic cresendo from Malenia’s phase 2 track, when she's closest to the Rot, re-represented in the haunting church organ of Romina’s sound (I think it's an organ anyway). In phase two, when she's closest to the Rot as well, I think. Because that's how bosses in the game work, when they're in the most danger they tap most deeply into themselves, whether they want to, like Romina, or don't, like Malenia. So, yeah, she's a pretty good boss too lol. (She genuinely is an excellent boss-I love how you brought up the visual clue in her air plunge.) I genuinely wrote up half-a-dozen more paragraphs before writing above much of what I wanted to say. I'm genuinely writing these exact words in a Google doc so I don't lose it. Also, I could've sworn I commented this yesterday, so I hope I'm not accidentally reposting it.

[@sgooopy0901]

i didn’t realize miquella hugged radahn as they both died

[@topical6574]

GOD you're so right about consort. First phase is brilliant, but second ends up being me ONLY dying to a stunlock from the after-image attacks I still can't really get a grasp of. I don't mind the pillars of light, all I care about is the air after image slams (worst in his moveset by far) and the dashing slash. I don't think I've ever dodged those attacks without being hit or clipped by a pillar. My personal favourite fight in the DLC is the Dancing Lion, and I know that's an odd take. I personally never had issues with any camera problems over multiple playthroughs, I've always enjoyed its phase transitions of various elements and found the attacks pretty visible and intuitive to dodge. Its music is INSANE, and I personally think its design is perfection. There's just something interesting and weird fighting this thing.

[@superpanda5939]

Can’t wait for the Hollow Knight list! You should try Nine Sols as well. Parry heavy Hollow Knight is the best way I can describe it

[@user-pn4px5lr8w]

Midra is very simple, but has great mixups in phase 2, but the way you can express yourself in the fight is very enjoyable, keeping the tempo up without having to roll. You can jump a lot of his kit as theres plenty of low sweeps, as well as being able to strafe a bunch too. His ghostly spin can also be ducked under which is really funny, but is a nice window to get reprieve through healing or stamina recovery. Though, I wish Midra took more advantage of the flame of frenzy, similar to how Mohg did with his bloodflame, testing your object permanence/spatial awareness. But wanting more is a good problem for Midra to have. Messmer is similar despite having a more complex moveset. The decision making with rolls, strafes, jumps and the attacks you can weave in during the combo feels incredibly satisfying, and lends to a lovely feeling of rhythm and makes him probably my favorite, alongside Bayle, Gaius, Rellana, and Putrescent Knight.

[@sirwickel4240]

I find it so fascinating just how much people can have opinions that are so incredibly different. I really like Metyr, but I understand the flaws and why other people wouldn’t like it. What shocks me is how much you didn’t like the dancing lion. I swear I am not just saying this to be contrarian, but the death blight dancing lion is my favorite boss fight of all time. I’ve fought this boss four times now and only like it more every time I fight it. I think a core difference in playstyle is that I completely ignored the basilisks and treated them like an environmental hazard. I was forced to just be constantly moving, rotating around the arena as the dancing lion dove in and out of attack range. I should also say that before this boss my favorite was the other dancing lion, and before that Gael.

[@sirwickel4240]

My extremely subjective remembrance rankings are: Dancing Lion-GOAT Rellana-S Putrescent Knight-A Messmer-S+ Scadutree Avatar-A Gaius-B (No Music) Metyr-A (I just love the spectacle) Bayle-S Midra-S+ Romina-S Radahn-S

[@TheAkasharose]

The Divine Beast Dancing Lion with the Blight got a lot more love than I expected - and for me, it's just chasing those basilisks that turned into a mess. And that's one of my favorite thing about these games - there is so much detail and love poured into a lot of these bosses that there's very few that I think aren't loved by someone. Also, solid grades - and yeah, I really wish Gaius had music. I like him more than you seem to, but it's strange he's the only one lacking a track.

[@sirwickel4240]

@@TheAkasharoseWith regards to Gaius, I actually really like his move set and have no issue with his charge. I just personally value style, lore, and vibes very highly, and Gaius with no music feels a little limp.

[@glisteninggames2981]

@@TheAkasharose if you use the torch, the basilisks leave you alone

[@mfspectacular]

It's one of the few bosses where you can get invaded too. Happened a few times to me as a sunbro & it elevated the fight to one of my favorites in game

[@douglasparker1178]

Two suggestions for over-analysis: Furi and Black Myth Wukong. Furi is one of my favorites as a boss rush game with bullet hell elements. It has consistently great bosses and excellent progression through each boss built into it's mechanics. Hard mode would be to rank each boss phase independently. Wukong is interesting to me because I think it places slightly less emphasis on the boss to focus on the player character. It's less about learning boss movesets compared to Fromsoft games and more about maximizing your resource usage effectively. This means boss design takes a very different approach and I'd be interested to hear your take on it.

[@wheel-n-deal]

Loved all of the videos in this series. I have different opinions on some bosses but you've done a great job explaining your rankings. Also an editing note: don't worry about throwing up word corrections on screen if you mis-pronounce something while you're reading your script. Your writing style reminds me a bit of Noah Caldwell-Gervais, and like him I think you're worrying too much about those minor things (things that go away with experience). If people are going to complain about stuff like that, they are not giving constructive criticism, they are being pedantic assholes.

[@Bliss467]

People gotta stop calling it “hollownest”. It’s “hallownest”

[@brentramsten249]

scadu level 13 for relana? i hit promised consort at level 20 and i was barely 7 for rellana: she was my favorite fight. her being resistant to slash attacks explains why i was doing so little (i thought it was the fire she was resisting). turns out guard counters from katanas were right in the sweet spot for punishing her moveset and the only one i had upgrade was rivers of blood. that i had a mage build and basically only fought her with a weapon i barely had the stats to wield is a testament to her captivating moveset also her most punishable attack is the double overhead crossswing, you can guard counter it twice for style if you want. being summon and keeping aggressive enough to tank for the host and often guaranteed posture breaks which could be further safely punished with 2/3rds of a rivers of blood weapon art was a heck of a couple days. still terrible damage, but it sure was fun

[@squigy2006]

Another series you might enjoy with some cool bosses is the devil may cry games, I would love to see you analyze those bosses. Great video as always, keep up the good work.

[@TheAkasharose]

I love Devil May Cry, but I do feel like I'm not quite good enough of those games, having only beaten 3 and 5 on the standard difficulty. I don't think someone needs to be an absolute master to have a valid opinion, but I definitely will need more playthroughs to really differentiate between decent and good bosses. Vergil's beyond incredible though, I'm good enough to recognize the near-perfect game design with him.

[@squigy2006]

@TheAkasharose I understand that because I feel like the devil may cry games are at there best when you have a few playthroughs under your belt and really understand your weapon's move sets. And yeah Vergil is so crazy, he's the whole reason I started playing the games in the first place.

[@Izak_Klark]

Definitely did the Lamenter dirty here. At least Death Knights got to shine

[@rapptimes226]

Well there goes at least an hour and a half of my sunday

[@dumbname1961]

IF ONLY michaelzaki gave us Crucible: Tongue.

[@andrijadavidovic6210]

Can't wait for me to disagree with alot of take

[@sm3argleliker]

erm…. waiter! waiter! more 3 hour elden ring videos please…….!!!

[@crispycade4444]

The Lamenter Main body can literally be seen in the video dude. He's got a red loincloth

[@vaughnwagner4466]

2:17:47 cat in your voiceover??

[@Marluxiaify]

2:25:28, rip Mimic Tear, their heart was stolen.

[@TheAkasharose]

We shall salute him.

[@JustinTaylor-y9f]

Not gonna lie, was not a fan of the base game boss design (I still liked a lot of bosses). But the DLC was a huge improvement for me in boss design. My ranking pre DLC was Sekiro, DS3, and then a three way tie between DS1, BB, and ER. ER was deeper but didn’t reach the highs (for me) of Maria, Orphan, Manus, Artorias, etc. The DLC separated ER from DS1 and BB and put it in a virtual tie with DS3. Messmer, Midra, Bayle, Romina, the Death Knights, Scadutree Avatar, etc were all great. There were still some bad bosses and remnants of the base game boss design I didn’t like, but SOTE made me see what other people were praising about ER’s combat.

[@Ghorda9]

i'm not really sure how the base game remembrance bosses don't match up to those other bosses if not surpass them. The end game remembrance bosses beat all of those except Sekiro with Melania being the best one.

[@JustinTaylor-y9f]

@ I actually think the end game line up for ER, other than Godfrey, is mediocre or terrible. Placidusax is a decent spectacle but kinda like an upgraded Seethe the Scaleless, and Elden Beast is honestly one of the worst final bosses Fromsoftware has ever made. Fire Giant, Godskin Duo are both awful as well. Malenia is one of the best boss fights they have ever done that is ruined by one move. I’ve beaten Malenia on level 1, but I still think Waterfowl is awful. Basically imagine giving Sister Friede a fourth phase and it is the Bed of Chaos, that is how I feel about Malenia.

[@TheAkasharose]

I think the biggest thing for me is that playing the DLC of Elden Ring made me better at Elden Ring in a way that the base game never did. It put such a great emphasis on using jumps to dodge, and has bosses that really push parrying or shield counters in ways the base game never quite did.

[@Ghorda9]

@@JustinTaylor-y9f to me Fire Giant is fun when you stay in front of him and only go for his hands when he attacks, he only spams rolls when you're behind or next to him and the fire breath is easy to avoid if you're not too close and have torrent at the ready on the quick slot. Waterfowl is fun to deal with using the run and jump method or even just blocking for certain builds.

[@Ghorda9]

@@JustinTaylor-y9f Godfrey, Malleketh, Melania, Radagon, Mohg all beat the Dark Souls bosses for me, they all just have more depth do them.

[@thomasmoore3421]

If you're looking for more boss focused games I'd really recommend Furi. It's a game that is literally just one boss rush there's no basic mobs it's just one boss then the next. It has great music and quality bosses.

[@TheAkasharose]

It's actually on my list - while making this video, I finally finished an S Rank Furier run (3 K.O.s and 210 Hits without The Star, so not incredible, but pretty good!)

[@AtopDoomedMoons]

Any plans to cover Nightreign when it’s out? I understand it’s a very different type of game and thus the boss design may diverge too heavily for the sake of the co-op design to be analyzed solo, but I do think some opinions on the unique (or re-used dark souls) bosses could be interesting to hear.

[@TheAkasharose]

Honestly, depends on the game when I play it - I'm definitely interested in checking it out, that's for sure.

[@GargantuanD]

Scadutree Avatar is the best boss of the DLC. Probably because he reminds me of older fromsoft bosses

[@AK-tr6lo]

If you want a new game to add to your list: 9 Sols is an indie game from this year which is often described as being to Hollow Knight what Sekiro was to Dark Souls. While that comparison is a little reductive, it is true that 9 Sols has some great parry based combat and excellent bosses.

[@TheAkasharose]

Nine Sols looks so good! Definitely been on my watchlist for the past years building up to its release!

[@anonisnoone6125]

Most people don't seem to know this except people who played the review copy but Radahn used to have many more combos in the review copies of the dlc that FS completely cut out or altered for the final version. It's honestly a bummer cos some of those combos looked really cool. Don't believe me? Go watch FightinCowboy's Let's Play ep44. You'll easily notice just how much more ridiculously hard and overtuned Radahn used to be.

[@HennessyandSailormoon]

You can run and even walk sideways to evade the clone attacks expect the dash to right double swipe. I can appreciate your effort but honestly a lot of this is just surface level knowledge, which all isn’t even true. Very enjoyable video though.

[@Boc_theSeamster]

That's what I'm saying. I was pissed the whole time he was saying there's no consistent way to avoid any of them, and yet here I am avoiding them all consistently each time. Just continue running backwards and dodge the main hit for the clone attack after the meteors, run to the right and dodge the main hit for the non-meteor version of that attack, for the dashing clones just spam roll forward, and for the horizontal swipe clone attack just dodge forwards twice with good timing. It's really not that hard.

[@buckyhurdle4776]

@@Boc_theSeamster For the dashing forward clones you can literally just crouch in front of him

[@TheBrixHub]

I love the Scadutree Avatar too 😊

[@anonisnoone6125]

I really wish Messmer had more hp. It goes down so quickly. And I wish he had more mix ups and combos in phase 2 especially. I saw a mod that did just that. It didn't add any typical bs you'd see from a mod but actually improved the fight even more imo. I still love his fight tho.

[@NamedNameless1]

Have you played the Binding of Isaac: Rebirth? Because I personally would love a video analysing the bosses in that game at some point.

[@captainzachary2477]

I’d personally love it if you could do a video like this analyzing the God of War Greek and Norse games and Cuphead and Shadow of the Colossus

[@pietrocatalano4285]

Shoutout to my glorious queen, Count Ymir, Mother of Fingers, for being an epic trans icon even in this harsh and oppressive world. Anyways, Ymir's ass. He's geniunely bizzare as a fight, both in-game and story wise. In game, he plays like no other NPC, even summoning other enemies to help him. He blurs the line between a traditional boss and an NPC boss. Story wise, though, this fight makes no sense. What is Ymir's plan here? He's just sent you after one of the most powerful beings in the history of the Lands Between, a creature that can summon *black holes* like it's nothing, and he expects to win against you? I'm sorry, that doesn't make him look insane, it makes him look like an incoherent idiot.

[@kizofio]

Metal Gear Rising boss analysis?! Gosh, I'm really looking forward to that

[@TheAkasharose]

There will be blood.

[@kizofio]

@@TheAkasharose 👀

[@cecefuss]

Leda and Allies isn’t a boss fight. Other than that, remarkable video and you should be proud. Black Myth Wukong would be a good boss analysis series

[@amcname8789]

I'd say the only reason it's not a boss is because having as many as around half a boss dozen health bars on screen would be unplayable. And if Bayle isn't a remembrance on a technicality, then Leda and her allies aren't bosses on a technicality.

[@cecefuss]

@ yeah I agree on the reasons, but after seven/eight games we ain’t changing the criteria. Otherwise we’re going back through all the games and relabelling all the minibosses we deem worthy. Havel is iconic and more fitting of a boss bar than a large chunk of DS1 bosses BUT no boss bar at the bottom? No boss. There have been amazing minibosses throughout the series, I don’t know why KZbin creators are so desperate to change the rules for this one. There’s no shame in being a very memorable miniboss. And I don’t really see an issue with bayle being a remembrance or not being a remembrance? Bayle gets loads of prizes back at dragon communion for defeating him, his own dedicated hypeman NPC summon and an epic run-up comprising of basically a whole region. He operates on another level of prestige. Not having a remembrance doesn’t make one not a boss. Not having a boss health bar DOES make one not a boss. None of the other 400 odd bosses he’s put in these videos lacked a boss health bar so it’s very weird to change that rule on your penultimate entry

[@kanba_0]

I'm sad you didn't mention the DBDL's grab as it's imo one of the most interesting attacks in the game mechanically

[@awesomewott5137]

Some games I think would be fun for you try a stab at Bayonetta series The naruto ninja storm series Sekiro shadows die twice Lords of the fallen And finally metaphor refantazio Look forward to more videos! Keep up the great work!

[@TheAkasharose]

I've already got a Sekiro video up if you want to check that out - but doing the rest of the Bayonetta series and potentially jumping into the Lords of the Fallen series.

[@zainabameen6155]

Honestly i got to say consort rahdan is kinda boring, it feels like there is only 2 or 3 combos, but i do like the boss still

[@Ghorda9]

on replay i don't think he's boring anymore, he has a lot of other attacks in second phase that all require different approaches, the first phase is just a warm up that can go by quickly.

[@333Abs]

This is how I found out there’s another dancing lion

[@moistwindow6094]

This is how I found out lamenter did stuff

[@buffoonustroglodytus4688]

This is how I found out Elden ring had DLC

[@SpartonWolf]

Ghost dragon as B?

[@iamdoom9810]

You think you can make a boss analysis of Elden Ring: Nightreign?

[@quasarone3083]

Great video, just one little suggestion; the music is _really_ loud and distracting at points, maybe keep that more in the background. Apart from that banger vid though!

[@sr71silver]

If you're looking for games that would work well in this format then you should consider the rest of FromSoft's catalogue with the Armored Core games. Not sure if you want to go for the older ones but 6 should be easily doable.

[@santiagovidelaleiva]

Im not gonna go and defend Dancing beast lion death blight as a great battle, but saying that is the worse of the worst in all of elden ring feels too harsh. I think the fight works fairly well in all honestly. It is a little bit annoying, adds are always annoying but i do think it proposes a really unique challenge that isnt present in most of the game. Whether give your attention against the basilliks or against the lion is a cool problem to try to solve. I have to admit my biases, i do have a weird taste when it comes to the overall game desing. Like, things like mage fights, being Jori the inquisitor, the cristal sage in ds3, the study hall with preceptor miriam, etc are a necesity for the rememberance of the game itself. The scarlet rot lake, the giant birds in caelid, the annoying laser balls in the cerulean coast fissure, etc. The most annoying stuff in these games is honestly the things we end up remembering the most and we can then talk about how each of us dealt with those problems in different ways. So, going back to dancing lion, i do find it funny but also really memorable that its fourth new element is just deathblight. And bassilisks dropping from the cealing adds to the charm. Is the fight better than the original, no, of course not but is one that i think is worth having in the game. I think comparing it to things like the valiant gargoyle duo misses the point, the gargoyle duo is hard in a "bs way" while the deathblight lion is hard in a "seemingly bs way" but, in reality, is just hard in a "weird way". Im also a little subjective because i do like a lot the dancing lion fight (high A tier for me) and another dancing lion wouldnt drop anything bellow C tier. The fight is that good and the music is godlike. PD: And for clarification of what i mean with "bs way" and "weird way". The gargoyle duo poison breath is barely visible and does instant damage, theres isnt really a solution to that problem. You can circle the gargoyles and wait until just one dashes to you but theres isnt much else you can do. On the other hand, agaisnt the lion, you can equip boluses, have an AoE spell or ash of war to quickly deal with the basiliks, use torrent, equip resistant armor, etc. None of these strategies are even build or level dependant. So thats the difference for me, one feels like a desing flaw of the fight while the other feels like a weird and a little bit evil challenge intentially made by the devs.

[@TheAkasharose]

It is a solid argument - and as I find more reliable ways to either ignore the basilisks (which a lot of comments have suggested) or more reliably deal area damage, it's possible that may fade. The tough thing about analyzing a DLC is always that recency bias - the Elden Ring boss that I didn't want to bother with on my second run was that death blight Lion, and I fought the Gargoyles back when I was releasing the first videos. Frustration fades with time, though adoration often grows.

[@jtruls]

Ahh so good to see another commander gaius enjoyer, i also loved his moveset in the same way you did, and agree that his charge attack is an undeniable problem, but far from a deal breaker, rly the lack of spectacle and unique music is the only thing holding back an s tier imo Anyway great vid as always, love the effort and attention to detail you always put into these