FromSoft games can in some ways be more like Sekiro and less like Elden Ring

Highlights

• Elden Ring expands FromSoftware’s action RPG formula with a huge open world with exciting bosses and loot.
• Although the dragon bosses in Elden Ring are epic, some may find the fights monotonous due to similar movement patterns.
• To create the ideal dragon boss fight, FromSoftware needed to combine the scale of Sekiro with the gameplay of Elden Ring.

With each new game, FromSoftware continues to improve its now popular action RPG formula. From more experimental boss designs in Dark Souls 2to introduce trick weapons in Blood transfusedto the larger scale and scope of Dark Souls 3In the history of every single FromSoftware game has tried to take the formula at least one step further, and that is certainly the case with Elden Ring.

By far FromSoftware’s most ambitious title to date. Elden Ring brings the developer’s action RPG formula to a gigantic open-world environment and fills that world with exciting bosses, mysterious dungeons and rewarding loot. From what we hear, Elden Ring is a huge step forward for FromSoftware’s formula, but there are one or two things that make previous games a little better, and SekiroThe approach to dragon bosses could well be one of them.

Future FromSoftware games should use Sekiro’s Dragon Boss Blueprint instead of Elden Rings

Elden Ring’s dragon bosses are epic but repetitive

When players first access one of the Elden RingDragons is a pretty significant event. Most of the time, the first dragon encounter the players will have Elden Ring‘s Flying Dragon Agheel, near the starting area of ​​Limgrave. This boss fight is suitably epic, with the dragon’s moveset including a variety of impressive sweeping attacks and aerial maneuvers. Although Flying Dragon Agheel is a memorable boss fight, it quickly becomes one of many.

Elden Ring contains well over 10 dragons, with a handful more appearing in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Although all of these dragons have different names and slightly different visual designs, many feature very similar movesets, albeit with a different elemental attack. These similar movesets eventually lead to some fairly repetitive battles, and after the credits on Elden RingSome players will notice that many of the game’s dragon bosses have merged into one.

However, there are a handful of dragon boss fights in Elden Ring that stand ahead of the rest of the pack. Dragon Lord Placidusax, Lich Dragon Fortissax, and the newest and most impressive addition, Bayle the Dread, all offer some of the best dragon boss battles in FromSoftware’s catalog, with each of them boasting impressive graphics, bombastic music, and a distinctive moveset.

Sekiro’s dragon boss feels really special

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice features only a single dragon boss fight, but it is one of the most memorable in FromSoftware history. Located at the end of Fountainhead Palace, SekiroThe Divine Dragon sits at the end of a massive, otherworldly arena. After defeating some tree-like dragon minions, the Divine Dragon reveals itself in all its ethereal glory, wielding a large blue sword that doesn’t exist in the real world. Players must dodge the dragon’s sweeping attacks, ride its summoned winds high into the sky, and rain down lightning on its head. It may be a simple fight, but it’s a truly epic battle that manages to capture the grandeur and scale of a dragon fight in a way that no other FromSoft game has done before.

An ideal Dragon Boss fight from FromSoftware lies somewhere in the middle

If the next FromSoftware action RPG is to include a dragon boss fight, it should take inspiration from both Elden Ring And Sekiro‘s respective game books. FromSoftware’s ideal dragon boss fight would capture the scale and elegance of such a fantastic creature, just like SekiroDivine Dragon did this, but it also adopted the faster gameplay of Elden Ring‘s Bayle and Placidusax.