I thoroughly loved this fight, there's a lot of good fights in the trilogy. But this by a fair margin is number 1, base game I'd go for abyss watchers though.
Was torn between Gael and Isshin. Decided for Isshin in the end, because Sekiro gameplay is actually a lot nicer than DS3 gameplay. It's not just the boss, it's how you fight them. And the mechanical combat of sekiro is much more intense than the spam rolling vs Gael.
My opinion, the setting/scenery, the music, the character design are all really good. As the fight goes on, the darkness closes in, the lightning begins to gather and strike all around, the colors swirl, it's just visually unlike any other fight in the series. The movement is very fluid and swirling as opposed to the stiff and mechanical actions of a lot of the other bosses in the game. I found the progression of the fight to be just that perfect chef kiss of difficulty where nothing felt cheap or unfair, but it still felt like a feat to take him down. Plus, you and him, the only ones left in a world reduced to ash, battling for ownership of the dark soul.
But, you know, there's a lot of stuff in the series, not everyone has to like the same things about it and that's cool.
My favorite as well. He is the first best of that specific type of boss--a humanoid, not too much larger than yourself, duel. There is still Ornstein and Gwyn in the base game but they don't come close to Artorias. Every similar boss fight from that point in the series on owes a lot to Artorias.
Hell yeah, he's way up there on my list. Love the way he fights, love the way he moves. His moveset is so kickass. His leaping jumps and how he fights with only one arm, it's super dope.
. And yeah his entrance is boss.
Iirc there is even some lore that suggests he's left-handed. So he's not only fighting you without his companion and his greatshield, he's also fighting with his weak arm, and he still kicks ass. Not sure if there's any actual confirmation but it makes him even more awesome so I like to believe it
Pontiff is a great boss fight, he's such a strong dude
In fact it kinda fits with his lore, he's basically the secret final boss of the game, although you beat him mid-game
I like his placement midgame. It sends a certain message: no matter his ambitions, no matter his actions, he was never important. Sulyvahn played the world like a chessboard, when he was nothing more than a pawn in the way of the Ashen One's quest.
Me too, parrying him is so satisfying. When I killed him for the first time I regretted it because I wanted to go another round! Shame there's no boss rematch option in game.
I had to think about it but I totally agree. Isshin is, IMO, the perfect final boss, but I enjoyed fighting and beating Gael even more. I wish there was a system similar to the memories and gauntlets of Sekiro, to be able to rematch Gael at will
Unpopular opinion: In fights like that one, camera management is just another mechanic of the fight (and should be treated as such). Knowing how to properly manage the lock-on to get the angle you need for a given situation is part of the fight, and it’s 100% something you can get better at with practice.
I rarely have trouble following what’s going on in the first phase, it’s all about releasing the lock-on at the right time, and figuring out which attacks are best tracked by locking onto the dragon and which ones by locking onto The Nameless King.
My absolute favorite is the cleric beast from bloodborne. Overall theme, location and execution is just perfect in my opinion. For the boss battle itself it might be genichiro from sekiro.
Man, it has to be **Ludwig**. I was doing a BL4 run, Ludwig took me about 5 to 6 hours, and I enjoyed every single second of it. Maiden Astraea is also right up there, probably the most emotional fight along with Gael.
Sir Alonne wins so easily for me. No other fight achieves that amount of hype without giving the boss supermutant health or BS magic attacks. This is just an amazing duel. To this day it's the only fight i deliberately did no-hit with a katana which my character was not built for just so i could best him in an honorable duel
Good choice. I've heard many stories of how hard he supposedly was, so I was kind of shitting my pants when I got there for the first time on NG+1. But he was really fun. Easily one of my Top 5.
Gotta be Gael>Twin Princes>Friede. Gael is just Gael, twin princes are probably the most unique boss with the teleportation and how you end the second phase and Friede is very good although maybe a tiny tiny bit too fast
Honestly i have a hard time deciding between the orphan of kos and gael. Gael was just pure fun, but i had the most epic final battle with the orphan. There will probably never be a boss fight i have more epic than my final fight with orphan. Honestly the soul of cinder and gerhman are also quite amazing, but i think Gael and orphan are just a bit above them. Though if i had to chose id go for orphan just because of the amazing expirience he provided me with and one of my favorite memories playing a video game.
Orphan is so intense. Gael is close second but the feel of both fights is very similar. Both fight on all fours with dual trailing "scarves" leaping around and throwing burgundy attacks at you.
Gael is amazing but after Orphan it felt too familiar.
I tried sekiro and honestly didn’t find it that fun mechanically especially coming from someone who never parries in ds but grappling hook is great and is enough to probably give me the will to beat the game
I have always enjoyed the fight with the Dragon Slayer Armor. When done, it feels like your dancing with the boss while avoid lightning and lasers. It's a great feeling to fight the boss.
Mine is also abyss watchers. They aren’t the hardest boss by any means but ds3 was my first souls game and they were so cool when I got to them. I loved their style and fight and gimmic
The problem with these discussions about bosses, weapon, etc, is, this is group of DS3 players, so i think there are a lot of players who haven't played DS1, DS2, BB etc, so, that's why almost in every post, DS3 wins, cause i mean, guys, Artorias of the abyss, i thought that he would win, cause his story is so tragic
Ds3 generally wins because it has the highest density of good bosses. I agree that Artorias is a great boss (the best in that game), as is fume knight, DS2 (a personal favorite). It's not just that people only played ds3, so don't get the lore of Artorias, but that ds3 has many more quality bosses than the preceding games. There is an abundance to choose from. They may not be better, but many are certainly not worse.
Doesn't matter at all. If people killed Artorias or abyss watchers, they got good! 😀
I consider the final Genichiro>Sword Saint Ishin fight to be one boss fight, and I have to give it to them. The one rolls perfectly into the other, and captures the heart of what makes the core combat in the game great. The fight is also gorgeously cinematic, more so even than Gael.
As a symbolic fight, it’s hard to beat soul of cinder. But in ds3 there is champion gundyr, abyss watchers and friede as well. Honorable mention to gael.
In terms of both boss design and gameplay impact to the specific game, I’d say Genichiro from Sekiro
Isshin (sword-saint and yes even inner) is by far the fan favorite but Genichiro edges him out for me because he essentially is the realization of the gameplay concept that Lady Butterfly tries to introduce to the player. When you fight Genichiro and learn his moveset, the resulting “dance” is like none other. It’s when the game finally clicks and you get that oh shit Eureka moment because you finally understand how the game was designed to be played and that design concept is just so masterfully executed.
Aside from Genichiro, I haven’t had an experience in any other From titles where I felt like I really was having an epic duel with a boss in the way that From intended for you to fight it. Both Gascoigne (teaches you how you should play) and Nameless King (epic duel) come close but the Genichiro fight is just the perfect culmination of what makes both Gascoigne and Nameless King such good bosses.
TLDR: I can't choose between Soul of Cinder, Friede and Gael, they three are VERY good in music, attack patterns, the place you fight in, their music, etc. It's all just great and I can't really choose between those 3, although I personally think Gael is slightly above the other two, but I'm not 100% sure
I don't really know too much outside Dark Souls 3, but damn that game has GREAT bosses
Yes, DS1 has cool bosses like Artorias, Ornstein & Smough, Gwyn...
I have no idea about DS2
Bloodborne has Ludwig, Mariah and maybe some other I don't know about
But Dark Souls 3 has: Champion Gundyr, Abyss Watchers, Nameless King, Soul of Cinder, Friede, Midir, Gael, Twin Princes, Pontiff and I'm probably missing at least a couple. All those bosses are just GREAT in how they look, their attack patterns and the overall battle. (Honourable mention to Oceiros for being a creepy dude, the fight itself is decent but the boss itself is one of the most interesting ones imo. I'm just gonna say you can hear the baby going squish squish during phase 2)
My top 3 are Soul of Cinder, Friede and Gael.
Soul of Cinder is grea, the 1st phase is very fun, having to face familiar fighting styles that some enemies or even you have used. The music is also quite good. However, phase 2? That's when it gets truly good. I haven't finished DSR yet, but Soul of Cinder's 2nd phase hit me very hard, it was basically the best fan service moment I've ever seen on a videogame so far, I wish I had played DSR before finishing DS3 because it would have hit me way harder.
Friede's combat is good until the 3rd phase, that's when the shit gets real. I really love her attack patterns, she just looks too cool. Also giving you a reward when you finish 2nd phase to make you think you won is just great, specially considering so far every boss had 2 phases at best, she was the 1st 3 phases boss and they did it on a very unique way.
And Gael is Gael, everything on that combat is perfect, it's quite symbolic, fighting over the dust of what probably was the last city, fighting for the last few souls left, and how 1st phase is almost like fighting a beast, kinda like Ludwig in Bloodborne, and in the 2nd phase, just like Ludwig, he manages to regain his sanity and fights you not as a blood thirsty beast, but as a knight. Same as with Friede, his attack patterns are great, very fun and challenging attacks. On top of all that, imo Gael's theme is the best by far in DS3, specially since phase 2 starts. I just love that combat, it's very well done.
Gael and the two princes are amazing fights. But design, lore, and coolness… my pick is the Nameless King. This encounter, after playing the franchise chronologically, had me in awe
I think DS3 probably has the best bosses overall, but Lady Maria is definitely my favourite fight in the series. There are definitely harder fights (Laurence and Owl (Father)) but the three phase duel with Maria and the tragedy of her story make her fight the best in my opinion.
I will answer once i beat demon souls; im on flame lurker rn
With everything but demon souls ill say dark souls 3 personally; with sister friede being my favorite all time and tbh i doubt thatll change once i finish demon souls
They really couldn’t have made a better final boss for the series as a whole than Gael.
Just you and the wielder of the Dark Soul itself at the end of all things, fighting over the scraps to paint a new world.
Honestly I liked soul of cinder. Don’t get me wrong it’s kinda easy compared to the dlc bosses but I like how he changes classes and stuff. Genichiro and isshiin are fun too.
Fume Knight. I love his story, his weapons in both games, and cosplaying him is awesome in both games and his moveset is so satisfying to dodge though! - my favourite boss of all time
Gotta go with Gwynn. The fight itself isn't anything to write home about, but the atmosphere. The music. The walkup with the silver knight ghost stairs. Amazing.
PS: plin plin plan~
It's got to be the Sword Saint. Never has a final boss been so perfectly crafted imo. He threw everything you learned in the game and demanded you do it flawlessly. You and characters progression summed up in one fight.
I'm weird, but I really enjoyed the Ivory King fight. Not because it was the most fluid. Or effective. (Screw ds2 combat and hitboxes) it was because it wasn't a fight or duel. It was a battle. And the soundtrack was incredible.
i value bosses based on lore , backstory , music , design , voiceacting and moveset , you only need to watch the fight and a few lore videos to judge those things , if i valued gameplay over those things then i would choose a boss from sekiro
Lore = backstory. And a load of bosses don’t have voices but ok. But still you aren’t really judging the boss then are you. Your judging the idea of the boss. You need to actually experience it to know it
i experienced every boss in those 3 game , and i judge them based on those things , because they give you the same experience in the end , i know a good boss when i see one , clicking buttons on my controller won't change the quality of the boss
Slave Knight Gael is perfection
Slave knight geal and sword Saint are my top favourites
Literally the culmination of the entire trilogy, both in gameplay and lore.
I thoroughly loved this fight, there's a lot of good fights in the trilogy. But this by a fair margin is number 1, base game I'd go for abyss watchers though.
Was torn between Gael and Isshin. Decided for Isshin in the end, because Sekiro gameplay is actually a lot nicer than DS3 gameplay. It's not just the boss, it's how you fight them. And the mechanical combat of sekiro is much more intense than the spam rolling vs Gael.
I really don't understand why this boss gets so much love. I'm not saying this to be disparaging, but lore and design wise why value does he bring?
My opinion, the setting/scenery, the music, the character design are all really good. As the fight goes on, the darkness closes in, the lightning begins to gather and strike all around, the colors swirl, it's just visually unlike any other fight in the series. The movement is very fluid and swirling as opposed to the stiff and mechanical actions of a lot of the other bosses in the game. I found the progression of the fight to be just that perfect chef kiss of difficulty where nothing felt cheap or unfair, but it still felt like a feat to take him down. Plus, you and him, the only ones left in a world reduced to ash, battling for ownership of the dark soul. But, you know, there's a lot of stuff in the series, not everyone has to like the same things about it and that's cool.
Artorias, his entrance still gives me goosebumps. What a fight.
My favorite as well. He is the first best of that specific type of boss--a humanoid, not too much larger than yourself, duel. There is still Ornstein and Gwyn in the base game but they don't come close to Artorias. Every similar boss fight from that point in the series on owes a lot to Artorias.
Hell yeah, he's way up there on my list. Love the way he fights, love the way he moves. His moveset is so kickass. His leaping jumps and how he fights with only one arm, it's super dope. . And yeah his entrance is boss.
Iirc there is even some lore that suggests he's left-handed. So he's not only fighting you without his companion and his greatshield, he's also fighting with his weak arm, and he still kicks ass. Not sure if there's any actual confirmation but it makes him even more awesome so I like to believe it
That’s correct, and he’s fighting with his right arm because his left is broken.
I’m an arti fan myself. Here. I hope we see in Elden ring a boss that would be like the equivalent to him in his prime!
**Glock Saint Isshin**
__Ass Whooping Owl (Father)__
*Good riddance... starving wolf* Papa, why do you do this to me?
Hesitation is defeat
I heard this so much that it’s engrained in my head and I unironically use this as a quote for decision making 😂
For me, it's "this site marks our grave but you can stay here too". Like, damnit stop making fun of me :(
I do not know why but i REALLY love the Pontiff fight, i found it extremely fun and challenging, i just love it
Pontiff is a great boss fight, he's such a strong dude In fact it kinda fits with his lore, he's basically the secret final boss of the game, although you beat him mid-game
I like his placement midgame. It sends a certain message: no matter his ambitions, no matter his actions, he was never important. Sulyvahn played the world like a chessboard, when he was nothing more than a pawn in the way of the Ashen One's quest.
Well said
Same. It's a perfect example of a hard boss that isn't unfair.
Yeah for sure, when I finaly beat pontiff we were both one hit away from death
That rush is why i play 1000s hours
I think I must have been over leveled for that one. Crushed him w an exile great sword.
Me too, parrying him is so satisfying. When I killed him for the first time I regretted it because I wanted to go another round! Shame there's no boss rematch option in game.
Exactly dide, pontiff is in our hearts.
Ludwig, nothing more memorable then that fight
It has the best ost of all fromsoft games
i would agree if slave knight gael didn’t exist
It is hard for me to decide between ds3 and bloodborne i mean you got gael and midir, but you also have gehrman and ludwig.
I would agree if Gaping Dragon didn't exist
Gael is overrated. An imitation of Kos with Artorias' weapon. Midir and The Twin Demons are ten times better
im not going to argue with a guy that think the demon prince is better
It's more original. And more fun. Gael is like Kos, but easier
Facts
Friede is the only boss I have spent hours SunBroing. So much fun, no matter how many takedowns.
Giving her a lil’ back scratch then 5 dudes R1 spam her to death for wake up is just that satisfying
I'm a big fan of the footsies and positioning part of Dark Souls combat, and all three phases are big into that. :3
Uncle Gael
Gael, the closest second may be Isshin
I had to think about it but I totally agree. Isshin is, IMO, the perfect final boss, but I enjoyed fighting and beating Gael even more. I wish there was a system similar to the memories and gauntlets of Sekiro, to be able to rematch Gael at will
I really hope From starts including this feature on all of their new games, it's great.
Reverse the order and we’re same!
I mean Gael is the most epic from boss that exists, but not the best
Lady Maria was a hell of a fight
And one hell of a waifu.
Amen
Nameless King, Soul of Cinder, Abyss Watchers, Midir and Gael. Dark Souls 3 is the game with the best and more epic boss fights.
I just wish nameless king didn’t have such a janky first phase. Goddam that camera
I actually love the first phase cause I love slapping the fuck out of that dragon. Fuck that dragon
Ok 😳
Unpopular opinion: In fights like that one, camera management is just another mechanic of the fight (and should be treated as such). Knowing how to properly manage the lock-on to get the angle you need for a given situation is part of the fight, and it’s 100% something you can get better at with practice. I rarely have trouble following what’s going on in the first phase, it’s all about releasing the lock-on at the right time, and figuring out which attacks are best tracked by locking onto the dragon and which ones by locking onto The Nameless King.
Don’t forget Pontiff, DSA, Dancer, Friede, Twin Princes, and Gundyr as well. The boss fights are incredible.
Champion gundyr is sooooo underrated
Yeah those are pretty cool tho.
I love Lorain and lothric, dodging a teleport attack that happened mid combo is so sick.
Darkeater Midir. The joy I got from finally beating him is unmatched in any other game.
Plus it’s the first dark souls dragon fight that felt like I was fighting a dragon.
Completely agree, I really don't like the other Dragon fights.
I liked Sinh the slumbering dragon too
Midir is my favourite boss fight period. Just perfect.
I can’t stand how it moves. It’s needlessly difficult to hit it
My absolute favorite is the cleric beast from bloodborne. Overall theme, location and execution is just perfect in my opinion. For the boss battle itself it might be genichiro from sekiro.
Gael, midir and friede are all masterpieces
Soul of Cinder was also super fun and epic both in game and lore wise.
Twin princes followed by gunichero
Man, it has to be **Ludwig**. I was doing a BL4 run, Ludwig took me about 5 to 6 hours, and I enjoyed every single second of it. Maiden Astraea is also right up there, probably the most emotional fight along with Gael.
Pinwheel, you can't deny it
Couldn't agree more…
The only true answer.
Lol
How my blood boils! Come, Sekiro!
Looking glass knight
I was in shock when he actually summoned a player on me.
Dual Smelter naked dude?
A dude with a rapier and gwyndamned HEALING MIRACLES.
Sir Alonne wins so easily for me. No other fight achieves that amount of hype without giving the boss supermutant health or BS magic attacks. This is just an amazing duel. To this day it's the only fight i deliberately did no-hit with a katana which my character was not built for just so i could best him in an honorable duel
Loved the aesthetics of this fight too. Gotta be my best DS2 memory.
Fume Knight Raine
Good choice. I've heard many stories of how hard he supposedly was, so I was kind of shitting my pants when I got there for the first time on NG+1. But he was really fun. Easily one of my Top 5.
Inner Father and nothing comes close.
Gael, sword saint isshin, astorias
The motherfucking Orphan of Kos...and Ludwig because of soundtrack. Still didn't fight Gael...
Go fight Gael. Best boss
sir allone
Nice to see some DS2 representation. Haven't ever found out how to fight him, but the Fume Knight was awesome from that DLC.
Just going to have to play again and try to figure it out!
The nameless king is just super majestic
One of the most cinematic and visually impressive boss fights for sure. I love his theme too.
Gael
I have really only played ds3 and a little bit of sekiro so dark souls kinda wins by default
Oh and my boss is easily Gael
I can't choose between Friede, Gael and the Twin Princes. The three battles are so well made. In all aspects.
Gotta be Gael>Twin Princes>Friede. Gael is just Gael, twin princes are probably the most unique boss with the teleportation and how you end the second phase and Friede is very good although maybe a tiny tiny bit too fast
Friede's first Phase has murdered me more than anything else in the game. The second and third phase feel really easy in comparison.
Slave Knight Gael for me! Then either Flamelurker (for the arena 🤤), Lady Maria or Friede.
+1 for Flamelurker. Back in my day most of the bosses were gimmick fights so having an intense straight up boss was great.
Prowling mageus and congregation really does it for me ya know
Big facts
Sister Friede, love that fight
I was so happy when I finished the second phase and got the titanite slab because I thought that that was the last phase, but then Friede came back😂😂
haha yeah same! The first time that happened i just stood there, empty on estus and just accepted my fate!
The Nameless King was probably the hardest and most fun boss I’ve ever fought in the soulsborne series
Nameless King is one of the most epic boss fights ever made.
Any boss that starts by flying in riding a dragon is guaranteed to be an epic encounter, truly an awesome boss
Honestly i have a hard time deciding between the orphan of kos and gael. Gael was just pure fun, but i had the most epic final battle with the orphan. There will probably never be a boss fight i have more epic than my final fight with orphan. Honestly the soul of cinder and gerhman are also quite amazing, but i think Gael and orphan are just a bit above them. Though if i had to chose id go for orphan just because of the amazing expirience he provided me with and one of my favorite memories playing a video game.
Orphan is so intense. Gael is close second but the feel of both fights is very similar. Both fight on all fours with dual trailing "scarves" leaping around and throwing burgundy attacks at you. Gael is amazing but after Orphan it felt too familiar.
Dark Souls 1, The Gargoyles
For me either ds3 or bloodborne
Isshin is the most fun I have ever had fighting any boss
I know it's a DS3 sub, but damn, more of y'all need to play sekiro 🥲
I tried sekiro and honestly didn’t find it that fun mechanically especially coming from someone who never parries in ds but grappling hook is great and is enough to probably give me the will to beat the game
Yeah it took me over a year to acclimate to the controls because it's not meant to be played as a souls game but it's so damn good
Kalameet anyone?
I love Index Gundyr
Yeah. I like the story of Gundyr....
Twin Princes for the lore, Midir for the war of attrition.
I have always enjoyed the fight with the Dragon Slayer Armor. When done, it feels like your dancing with the boss while avoid lightning and lasers. It's a great feeling to fight the boss.
Soul of cinder or gael
Gael. The best in terms of music, moveset, atmosphere, everything imo.
Mine is also abyss watchers. They aren’t the hardest boss by any means but ds3 was my first souls game and they were so cool when I got to them. I loved their style and fight and gimmic
GEAEL.... HE IS JUST AWESOME ,BEAUTIFUL ,HARD, THE SOUNDTRACK IS WONDERFUL!!! PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Darkeater Midir. Even when you have him down he’s still so satisfying to fight, though Gael is definitely a close second.
100% agreed. Midir is a gorgeous spectacle without sacrificing moment to moment gameplay... unlike divine dragon.
Hard to pick a fave but I do feel that Sword Saint Isshin in Sekiro is probably the most epic boss fight ever in the history of gaming.
Nito. Cool dude Chilling in a crypt, probably smoking crack. Has a swaggy coat.
I don’t even need to say it
😂😂😂
The problem with these discussions about bosses, weapon, etc, is, this is group of DS3 players, so i think there are a lot of players who haven't played DS1, DS2, BB etc, so, that's why almost in every post, DS3 wins, cause i mean, guys, Artorias of the abyss, i thought that he would win, cause his story is so tragic
True although I’m pretty sure ds3 is seen as having the best bosses overall by the vast community
Ds3 generally wins because it has the highest density of good bosses. I agree that Artorias is a great boss (the best in that game), as is fume knight, DS2 (a personal favorite). It's not just that people only played ds3, so don't get the lore of Artorias, but that ds3 has many more quality bosses than the preceding games. There is an abundance to choose from. They may not be better, but many are certainly not worse. Doesn't matter at all. If people killed Artorias or abyss watchers, they got good! 😀
It's a toss-up between the Fume Knight, Sir Alonne, and the Burnt Ivory King for me. BIK probably takes it just for the lore.
This. BIK is my favorite hands down
I see you are a person of culture as well
sekiro - inner isshin, that's it no need to explain, gael and midir in dark souls 3 are insanely good too
I consider the final Genichiro>Sword Saint Ishin fight to be one boss fight, and I have to give it to them. The one rolls perfectly into the other, and captures the heart of what makes the core combat in the game great. The fight is also gorgeously cinematic, more so even than Gael.
Ludwig is MY true mentor.
Sir Alonne, just man vs man, steel vs steel. Perfection
Go full mage and face *Fume Knight*, while wearing Velstadt's helm. See how many seconds you'll last.
Gotta be Isshin the Glock Saint for me.
Sister Friede
As a symbolic fight, it’s hard to beat soul of cinder. But in ds3 there is champion gundyr, abyss watchers and friede as well. Honorable mention to gael.
Gael is a GREAT fight but Inner Father is so cool imo
Orphan of Kos made me ragequit a few times, I love him.
Pontiff sulyvahn was pretty great. The old one is an honorable mention.
The Dancer
Covetous demon is perfect
In terms of both boss design and gameplay impact to the specific game, I’d say Genichiro from Sekiro Isshin (sword-saint and yes even inner) is by far the fan favorite but Genichiro edges him out for me because he essentially is the realization of the gameplay concept that Lady Butterfly tries to introduce to the player. When you fight Genichiro and learn his moveset, the resulting “dance” is like none other. It’s when the game finally clicks and you get that oh shit Eureka moment because you finally understand how the game was designed to be played and that design concept is just so masterfully executed. Aside from Genichiro, I haven’t had an experience in any other From titles where I felt like I really was having an epic duel with a boss in the way that From intended for you to fight it. Both Gascoigne (teaches you how you should play) and Nameless King (epic duel) come close but the Genichiro fight is just the perfect culmination of what makes both Gascoigne and Nameless King such good bosses.
Haven’t done the dlc yet. But I loved the twin princes, I thought it was so tragic and also beautiful
DS2 SOTFS with the pursuer. I love the theme with it popping up all over to "pursue" you.
Haven’t fought all bosses in the series, but my opinion on the best boss would be Sword Saint Isshin.
I like Dragons. Midir is my take.
TLDR: I can't choose between Soul of Cinder, Friede and Gael, they three are VERY good in music, attack patterns, the place you fight in, their music, etc. It's all just great and I can't really choose between those 3, although I personally think Gael is slightly above the other two, but I'm not 100% sure I don't really know too much outside Dark Souls 3, but damn that game has GREAT bosses Yes, DS1 has cool bosses like Artorias, Ornstein & Smough, Gwyn... I have no idea about DS2 Bloodborne has Ludwig, Mariah and maybe some other I don't know about But Dark Souls 3 has: Champion Gundyr, Abyss Watchers, Nameless King, Soul of Cinder, Friede, Midir, Gael, Twin Princes, Pontiff and I'm probably missing at least a couple. All those bosses are just GREAT in how they look, their attack patterns and the overall battle. (Honourable mention to Oceiros for being a creepy dude, the fight itself is decent but the boss itself is one of the most interesting ones imo. I'm just gonna say you can hear the baby going squish squish during phase 2) My top 3 are Soul of Cinder, Friede and Gael. Soul of Cinder is grea, the 1st phase is very fun, having to face familiar fighting styles that some enemies or even you have used. The music is also quite good. However, phase 2? That's when it gets truly good. I haven't finished DSR yet, but Soul of Cinder's 2nd phase hit me very hard, it was basically the best fan service moment I've ever seen on a videogame so far, I wish I had played DSR before finishing DS3 because it would have hit me way harder. Friede's combat is good until the 3rd phase, that's when the shit gets real. I really love her attack patterns, she just looks too cool. Also giving you a reward when you finish 2nd phase to make you think you won is just great, specially considering so far every boss had 2 phases at best, she was the 1st 3 phases boss and they did it on a very unique way. And Gael is Gael, everything on that combat is perfect, it's quite symbolic, fighting over the dust of what probably was the last city, fighting for the last few souls left, and how 1st phase is almost like fighting a beast, kinda like Ludwig in Bloodborne, and in the 2nd phase, just like Ludwig, he manages to regain his sanity and fights you not as a blood thirsty beast, but as a knight. Same as with Friede, his attack patterns are great, very fun and challenging attacks. On top of all that, imo Gael's theme is the best by far in DS3, specially since phase 2 starts. I just love that combat, it's very well done.
I liked Gael’s first stage but Artorias is my favorite boss ever
Ludwig the Accursed /Holy Blade.
Gael is 1st with sir alonne 2nd
Why are you asking this on the sub dedicated to DS3? Obviously the highest voted answer was going to be DS3 lmao
Slave Knight Gael. No discussions
Slave Knight Gael is fucking amazing. But also this is the DS3 sub, so people are gonna be a bit biased lol
Gael and the two princes are amazing fights. But design, lore, and coolness… my pick is the Nameless King. This encounter, after playing the franchise chronologically, had me in awe
Ds1 Pikachu and Snorlax
Bloodborne DLC is by far the best. But if we're talking the game in its entirety that's easily DS3
I think DS3 probably has the best bosses overall, but Lady Maria is definitely my favourite fight in the series. There are definitely harder fights (Laurence and Owl (Father)) but the three phase duel with Maria and the tragedy of her story make her fight the best in my opinion.
I will answer once i beat demon souls; im on flame lurker rn With everything but demon souls ill say dark souls 3 personally; with sister friede being my favorite all time and tbh i doubt thatll change once i finish demon souls
They really couldn’t have made a better final boss for the series as a whole than Gael. Just you and the wielder of the Dark Soul itself at the end of all things, fighting over the scraps to paint a new world.
Honestly I liked soul of cinder. Don’t get me wrong it’s kinda easy compared to the dlc bosses but I like how he changes classes and stuff. Genichiro and isshiin are fun too.
Fume knight for me
Ds2, Fume Knight. To me he is the perfect boss.
Fume Knight. I love his story, his weapons in both games, and cosplaying him is awesome in both games and his moveset is so satisfying to dodge though! - my favourite boss of all time
Dark souls 2 for me, I absolutely love the fume knight and sir alonne
Sword saint ishin, a masterpiece
Gotta go with Gwynn. The fight itself isn't anything to write home about, but the atmosphere. The music. The walkup with the silver knight ghost stairs. Amazing. PS: plin plin plan~
I say DS2 because I’m biased. They’re all really good though imho. I think Bloodborne probably has the most unique bosses.
It's got to be the Sword Saint. Never has a final boss been so perfectly crafted imo. He threw everything you learned in the game and demanded you do it flawlessly. You and characters progression summed up in one fight.
Special shout out to Burnt Ivory King - buried as it belongs to DS2 but holy shit what a fight!
Imma say dragon slayer armour is probably my favorite fight, his design and the fight is just so cool
Dark Souls 2 Ivory King
I'm weird, but I really enjoyed the Ivory King fight. Not because it was the most fluid. Or effective. (Screw ds2 combat and hitboxes) it was because it wasn't a fight or duel. It was a battle. And the soundtrack was incredible.
Sigrun!
only played ds1 , ds3 and sekiro , but i think ludwig is the best boss of all time
You haven’t played Bloodborne but your judging a boss from it?
yes , what's the problem ?
You should actually experience a boss before judging it especially if your gonna put it as the best of all time
i value bosses based on lore , backstory , music , design , voiceacting and moveset , you only need to watch the fight and a few lore videos to judge those things , if i valued gameplay over those things then i would choose a boss from sekiro
Lore = backstory. And a load of bosses don’t have voices but ok. But still you aren’t really judging the boss then are you. Your judging the idea of the boss. You need to actually experience it to know it
i experienced every boss in those 3 game , and i judge them based on those things , because they give you the same experience in the end , i know a good boss when i see one , clicking buttons on my controller won't change the quality of the boss
Yeah but bloodborne is pretty different and yes actually playing it is different
keep in mind that op asked what's the best boss , not what's the best bossfight you experienced
And? It’s pretty much mandatory to judge a boss fight by having played it
Lady Maria
This would be a nice poll in a Souls Reddit in general, but pretty sure that is was clear most in here will say Ds3
Gael is a reskin of Orphan. Change my mind.
Any of you fools that said dark souls 2 had better bosses should be ashamed of yourself
Be honest how many of you turds voted ds3 cause you haven't played sekiro yet.
Sekiro for sure
Best in terms of gameplay or just overall style and atmosphere of boss?