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?
I think the saddest boss is Maliketh. Dude literally did nothing wrong, and was actively trying to correct a mistake that threatens everything in TLB caused by the curse Rani caused when killing Godwyn’s soul but not his body. He is a good boy. And the game really downplays the threat deathroot is which makes his tale even sadder since we get literally no closure to that part of the lore. Even stranger is that deathroot (not the obtainable item but the visual effects/props) is in the Shadow Realm. How did it get there?
Anyway, out of all the bosses in all the games, Maliketh is the only one I feel could have been more RPGish by letting us talk to him and persuade him to abandon his loyalty to Marika or at least convince him that you need Destined Death to fulfill her plans. Instead we just have the option of kung fu fighting to the death. :(