Tag: Boss Fight

Best First-Person Shooter of 2016 (for me)

It’s December, the end of the year approaches and so many sites will start on their “Best Of” lists. I’m not a fan of them, least of all of Game of the Year nominations and awards. I think they’re short-sighted and often try to quantify games to pick a winner, often just the game with the highest review score, ignoring every other aspect of a game and its impact on the industry.

But with that said, I played more First person shooters in 2016 alone than the last couple of years combined. I don’t play the franchises with the yearly releases, as I need something more to attract me to the games. I often just play a single or a couple of first person shooters every year, those with the plot and elements that keep me playing.

I know I make it sound like I played a good baker’s dozens of first-person shooters, but in truth there were only 4:

  • DOOM: I played this in the past week, buying it during the latest Steam sale and enjoying it on my new computer. This game is badass and even being new and having shiny graphics, it made me remember the good old days of playing Doom and modified versions of Doom 2 with my friends, just killing demons one super-shotgun blast at a time.
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: sure, I may play this game more as a first-person sneaker but it is still a first-person shooter. The only thing that brings it down, as I mentioned in an article a few days ago, is how the story doesn’t seem to go anywhere significant, how it feels incomplete, cut too short at the end of a prologue. But it’s still fun and interesting and I will always love the freedom of approach you have in Deus Ex games.
  • Overwatch: The only multiplayer-focused first-person shooter I’ve ever enjoyed. This is a fun and fast game, with amazing characters and a wonderful lore to back it all up. And with new maps and characters along with competitive seasons and rewards, it’s going to be a game I keep playing for a long while, particularly using the Green Cyborg Ninja Dude and Reinhardt!
  • Shadow Warrior 2: One of my latest acquisitions, bought along with DOOM in that Steam sale and a game that once I loaded it for the first time I could not let go until I had cleared the game. And then I restarted it on new game plus in a much higher difficulty level, something I rarely ever do.

Out of those four, I’m tempted to give the best of award to Overwatch, as it’s the game I’ve enjoyed the most over the year, the title I’ve defended to non-believers and one I just like so much that I’m willing to endure the competitive mode, one I’ve called a snake-pit in the past. And let’s not forget this is the game I’ve recorded the most videos for this year.

But to be honest, in the past week it became absolutely clear to me that despite some issues, the game I had the most fun with was Shadow Warrior 2. It has the action, fast paced and against incredible odds. It’s challenging, especially since it’s a hybrid First-person shooter and RPG and you get elite enemies with special properties, resistances and a ton of health. The bosses are great and can kill you.

Shadow Warrior 2
Lady Deathstroke?

Speaking of, it has a phenomenal death mechanic, like Dark Souls but with one clear difference that I think more games should implement: no loading times. If you die, you instantly respawn and get back into it.

Shadow Warrior 2 has a fantastic sense of humour and makes fun of itself—that and the many dick jokes—which is something it shares with Overwatch but not with the other two games on this list of nominees. It’s great to see Lo Wang just make fun of everyone and everything, with this as my favourite exchange:

Orochi Zilla:  “Guards!”

Wang: “I killed all your guards”

Orochi: “All of them?”

Wang: “What can I say? I was on a roll!”

And to prove his…unique sense of humour, he has another exchange with Kamiko, his spiritual companion in this game:

“You’re such a prick!”

“I consider myself more of a Wang!”

But what truly puts the game on the top of the list is the song for the final boss fight. It’s a new theme recorded by Stan Bush, the singer for “The Touch,” the theme song for the 1980s Transformers animated movie.

The song’s name is Warrior and it’s an 80s Rock anthem. The moment I heard the song I knew it, Shadow Warrior 2 was the best first person shooter of the year, for a simple thing, and I’ll say it again: I had the most fun with it.

And in the end, that’s what games are for, to have fun.

But that’s my best first-person shooter of the year, do you have a different one? Let me know in the comments or on social media!

 

Boss Fight Design – The Checklist!

Boss Fights are a staple in gaming and no matter the genre, there’s a good chance you’ll have an encounter with some big bad that needs some righteous punishment, with brute force, ingenuity or some well-aimed tool.

This is not a top anything for bosses, but more of an analysis of what bosses should and shouldn’t be like. Too many a time I have played games where the bosses are unsatisfying, or they don’t have a specific theme or are nothing more than glorified minions. Continue reading Boss Fight Design – The Checklist!

Top 10 Bosses in Dark Souls and Bloodborne!

I recently finished Dark Souls III, clearing almost all bosses—with the exception of the Nameless King and Ancient Wyvern because I couldn’t care enough to track them down—and since finishing it, I’ve been thinking of the From Software games catalogue, figuring out what the best bosses are. Admittedly, I haven’t played Demons’ Souls so whatever list I come up with is incomplete.

But still, this is my list of the best bosses in the Dark Souls and Bloodborne series. These ranking take two major things into consideration: challenge and memorability, because if we’re truly honest, in Souls games and Bloodborne what we remember the most are the boss fights. The lore is great but boss fights are what people talk about, they’re the highlights and low points of any of their games.

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10 – Asylum Demon: The first Dark Souls boss is a surprise to say the least. The game teaches you the basics of gameplay inside the walls of the Undead Asylum, and even introduces you to a friendly NPC that gives you your first Estus Flasks. Then you open some doors, go inside and boom, there he is in all his fleshy glory. He’s a vicious enemy that is very easy once you figure him out, but a fantastic start to the game.

9 – Gwyn, Lord of Fire: Gwyn’s an easy boss fight, too easy for Dark Souls to be honest, but he’s still memorable for me because his boss design reflects the overall game theme and lore. In his prime, Gwyn was a powerhouse, but now, faded and hollowed and dying like his first flame, he’s so weak you can even parry him. He’s on his last legs, he’s “fading embers” made flesh.

8 – Soul of Cinder: The final boss in Dark Souls III is yet another callback to Dark Souls bosses, though in this case he’s also a reference to Dark Souls players, taking the appearance of a charred version of the poster-character from Dark Souls and using sorceries, pyromancy and even using Dark Wood Grain Ring-style movements. He’s fairly simple to kill and he’s yet another dude in armour with melee weapon at that point. But he’s the one reference in Dark Souls III I didn’t mind. You can even parry him in second phase, though I found it easier to just bait him.

7 – Queelag: Who can forget this beautiful thing? She has the body of a flaming spider and torso of a gorgeous naked girl. Queelag is the first boss in Dark Souls that forces you to react to several things at ones. The spider half has some attacks while the human does other things and there are also environmental dangers. Add to this that you might have gotten there battered and poisoned and you’ll see why she’s on the list. Also, her boss soul weapon was my favourite in all of Dark Souls and I never found anything like it in any of the sequels.

6 – Blood-Starved Beast: This howling monstrosity comes early—or late—in Bloodborne’s story, particularly because it’s entirely optional, only needed to unlock chalice dungeons. But if you do fight it, it’s a fight that punishingly teaches you how to wait for an opening and to create one if you need. The Blood-Starved beast is highly agile but then starts adding a vicious poison to its attack and by the end, it’s covered in the stuff, making the last 30% of its health a real race for survival.

5 – Abyss Watchers: This is my favourite boss fight in Dark Souls 3, particularly since it’s partially a rehash from the number 1 on this list. What makes it very cool is that when you first see the Abyss Watchers you think, “Oh no, not another council fight.” Council fights being those where you fight two or more enemies where killing one triggers more skills in the other(s). But no, you fight one major guy and the others come in and can even help you, as the Abyss Watchers tend to fight among each other. Phase two is strong, intense and gave me a powerful rush of endorphins when I nailed it!

4 – Orphan of Kos: Screw this guy, really. The boss most responsible for rage-quits in Bloodborne. The Orphan of Kos is the hardest boss in the game, but he’s not really a fun one, particularly because he’s extremely punishing and random. He doesn’t feel challenging like other fights, where you can figure out the flaws in your strategy, but instead you depend a lot on luck with him.

3 – The Fume Knight: Oh how I hated this guy in Dark Souls 2. He’s the toughest boss in the entire game and is so because he’s absolutely vicious. His first phase is manageable if you’re not very good at rolling, but the second one makes blocking impossible. It’s high on this list because it forced me to switch up my play style to match the boss encounter, instead of using my go-to turtling strategy.

2 – Ornstein and Smough: The Bash Bros of Dark Souls, Ornstein and Smough are the most memorable bosses in the entire Souls series, and a nice council fight. You can’t just focus on one of them, as they don’t ever stop attacking. And then when you’ve taken one of them out and you’re happy, then one powers the other for the doubly intense phase two. I remember shouting, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Like a Daniel Bryan fan when I finally felled them!

1 – Lady Maria of the Astral Clock Tower: Hunter fights are the best in Bloodborne. They use the same rules as you do and it’s the closest PVE gets to PVP, which suits me just fine. Lady Maria also has some nice references in lore and her introduction video is awesome. But most importantly her fight is the fun kind of challenging. Her moves remain the same throughout the fight with just changes in how punishing they are. You can learn to overcome your mistakes and finally put her to rest. She is the best-designed and paced boss in all From Software’s games.

So, there’s my list. Do you agree? Or is there one I should’ve included and why the hell didn’t I? Let me know in the comments.

I hope we get a Demons’ Souls remaster at some point on PC or current or next gen consoles, as I really want to play all games in the Souls series.

Screaming at the Fire – Dark Souls III Annoyances

Before I even begin, let me state this: Dark Souls III is a good game. I’m still playing it. Also, this isn’t a review or a preview, just a little rant on my grievances with the game so far. I’ve yet to finish it, so these are first impressions.

I’ll say it again, Dark Souls III is a fun game, with the same depth and lore as its predecessors and keeping the same style of gameplay we’ve come to expect from From Software’s titles. But it has some annoying flaws in design, particularly boss design that drive me crazy.

Dark Souls III
This swamp has it all, from giant crabs to a freaking Black Knight!

Enemies in Dark Souls, and I mean the normal bunch and even the NPC invaders and humans spread around the environment, are a varied sort. You have your abominations, your giant monsters, the knights and everything in between. The Cathedral of the Deep has pretty much one of every kind within its walls.

But the boss design is pretty much a one-trick pony: humanoids in armour with melee weapons, particularly swords and spears. They’re all hyper-aggressive with long reaching sweeping attacks. Some of these are great, like Darth Pontiff, as I like to call him, with twin swords and Jedi-like moves, and the Abyss Watchers, which is most definitely my favourite boss in the game. But it is a common trend in the game, particularly in the main route. The optional bosses do present more variety, such as the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, the Old Demon King and Oceiros, the Consumed King (though this last one is a necessary kill or one of the endings). This tends to box all encounters, particularly if you’re melee, in a single strategy of rolling around avoiding damage, particularly because 95% of them deal damage that you can’t completely mitigate with a shield or have such strong moves that blocking them depletes your stamina. Right now, nearing end-game I’m rocking Yorm’s Greatshield and it’s the only thing that offers decent protection and lets me block effectively. Non-human bosses give you other strategies, make you think of positioning. The only way Dark Souls III makes you do that is with environmental complications like those Bed-of-Chaos-esque poison breathers in the Dragonslayer Armour fight, which is complete nonsense!

Dark Souls III
Dark Souils III has way too many mimics!

The Lords of Cinders themselves have some issues, except the Abyss Watchers, which are amazing. For example, Aldis’ fight is in one of the most memorable Dark Souls places but the boss itself is rather bland, with very little nuance or strategy to him, just roll through the attacks and swipe at him. Yorm the Giant is a gimmick boss that dies very quickly from the anti-boss weapon you find in his arena, otherwise he takes minimal damage like most giants. Even the Twin Princes lack some impact, as it’s a simple encounter with odds stacked against you…as they all are.

But perhaps my greatest issue with the bosses and which might have had an even bigger impact on how memorable they are is the lack of boss intros. Most bosses just start after you enter their arena, without the dramatic cutscene that introduces them to you and give you that first moment of awe, something that was frankly amazing in Dark Souls, the first one. I will forever remember the cutscene to the Gaping Dragon and that of Ornstein and Smough, they were great and told you exactly what you were in for before the boss even did anything to you.

Dark Souls III
Ew, just ew

Dark Souls III has the lore, the references to the original game—quite a few in fact, yet it doesn’t feel like a retread—but it lacks the dramatic impact of that game. It’s almost as if the developers knew that the audience would know things so they didn’t put time into the presentation, the introduction of elements, characters and most importantly, bosses.

My final issue with Dark Souls III before I go is that much like Dark Souls II, there are way too many greatswords, ultra greatswords and in big weapons in general, and not enough Straight Swords or fast single hand weapons. I know they love their bulky equipment, but it would’ve been great not to end with the Broadsword as my main weapon much like I did in Dark Souls II. Also, most weapon arts are rather bland.

Dark Souls III
Not liking the new decoration, Anor Londo!

But to not end this in a downer, I’ll say I loved the new way of handling Estus Flasks, the allotment and reinforcing. Truly love it, same with the weapon upgrade options. They kept the good but got rid of the clunky. I’m happy with that.

I’ll be playing more Dark Souls III in the coming weeks and maybe soon I’ll have a review for it. I just needed to get these off my chest. That way you can know what I’m grumbling to myself most of the time while playing!