My internal clock has been utterly derailed by having finished school last week, so I didn’t even notice that it’s Friday again lol. I don’t have any soulslikes on my plate right now - sounding like a broken record at this point - but I’ve been thinking about trying to get a PS4 emulator running on my PC to give Bloodborne another go. It’s been way too long since I’ve last played it.
I’m not sure if it’s the saddest boss in a soulslike, but Romeo from Lies of P is definitely up there. The second playthrough recontextualises many boss fights and this one was just gut wrenching.
What’s your pick?
You aren’t fighting that many sad Bosses… A number of sad things happen to characters, especially to the Onion boys and Alex, and a lot of sad things happen before the start of the game…
I must admit I didn’t find the Sif fight sad in my first DS1 playthrough. Oh, a dog [swings Zweihander a couple of times] Oh, a dead dog and a ring. I didn’t see the limping or the know the related lore. In retrospect, if you know the Artorius lore, have played the DLC, and maybe even seen the special cutscene where Sif recognizes you from the Abyss in the DLC; yes, it’s really sad.
Romeo is also very sad in retrospect and makes me realize that I definitely need to replay Lies of P at some point. In NG+, I could hear the messages from the puppets, but I really want to start from a fresh save file with the promo weapon. Well, the solution is to play it twice more ;)
A third one that comes to mind is Orphan of Kos. Sure, on your first playthrough, you were more focused on the placenta that crushes your skull to paste and maybe the YYYAAOOOOWGGHH. In retrospect, you are fighting the ghost/manifestation/dream(?) of an unborn child, which is pretty damn sad.
(Also, as an aside, I just realize that the game never actually genders the Orphan. Wikis, books, etc., always assume that Orphan is male, but it’s never stated in the game.)
On the whole, sad Bosses in Souls games are mostly sad in retrospect/on repeat playthroughs. Also, I feel like I missed some really obvious Bosses.
I’m going to start a new playthrough tomorrow. Probably of DS3. The SL1 routes for DS2 and DS3 sound really interesting. The problem is just
that I suck at DS2 and DS3that I just don’t know DS2 and DS3 nearly as well as Elden Ring, and I’m going to replay DS3 with a high Vigor and refamiliarize myself, and I’m probably going to press ╳ a bunch expecting to jump.Good pick, I was thinking of Orphan( and perhaps Ebrietas ) as well. Different kind of tragic and sad though, further removed from our human player perspective.