FromSoftware's upcoming open-world game should avoid the mistakes of SotE boss Gaius

At the moment, FromSoftware's future is unclear. The studio has completed development Elden Ring and its extension Shadow of Erdtreeand continues to release sporadic patches for them well into 2023 Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. External Elden Ring the adaptation was teased by game director Hidetaka Miyazaki and an Armored core 6 There are rumors of an expansion, but that's all fans know. If there is no news Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree by the end of 2024, the FromSoftware community will once again be left in the dark.

Developer statements suggest that FromSoftware is reducing its capabilities from Elden Ringopen world, at least for a while. The massive Soulslike represents the farthest FromSoftware feels it can take the Souls formula and return Armored core during Shadow of ErdtreeThe development proves that he can have several smaller projects on the go at the same time. Still, open worlds remain a popular design choice in modern games, and FromSoftware has plenty of lessons to learn when it next revisits the format.

One of Shadow of the Erdtree's memory bosses is nothing special

Some problem areas include balancing the distribution of collectibles and repetitive content such as mini-bosses and catacomb dungeons, but there is a particular bug in Shadow of Erdtree which FromSoftware should avoid. Even in the open world, the important bosses of Souls need to be given the right amount of flair. I like it Elden Ring myself, Shadow of Erdtree is usually good at this, distinguishing important battles through visuals, environments and even cutscenes when the time is right. There is only one time Shadow of Erdtree when it all leaves a boss who desperately needs it.

Commander Guy is the least impressive memory boss in Elden Ring

Many roads in the Shadowlands lead in and out of the Shadow Keep Legacy dungeon, and in particular, the Back Gate places players in front of Commander Gai. Ignoring the polarizing parts of his combat that can give some players a particularly hard time, this fight commits the unique sin of Elden Ring assigning a Remembrance to a fairly simple boss. Guy has a unique fighting style, but his first phase seems to be a variant of mounted bosses that often dot Elden Ringoverworld Even after revealing the gravity magic of the second phase, it may still come as a surprise that this random boss was holding a Memory.

Major Souls bosses can't afford to blend in with the open world around them

Why can this be related to the circumstances of the battle of General Guy. It's conceptually cool to have it charge the player from afar as soon as they enter the Scud Altus, but the resulting “arena” is just an open battlefield that requires force fields to prevent players from simply walking away. Torrenting is also allowed in this fight, which is not unheard of Elden RingMemory holders, but usually associated with open world bosses. Guy's first phase lacks flash, cinematics, and voice lines, ensuring that this boss will only stand out for the wrong reasons.

It doesn't take much to make a memory boss feel that way

fortunately Elden Ring there are other examples of “lesser” Memory bosses that work around Guy's problems. Regal Ancestor Spirit, Lichdragon Fortissax, and Astel, Naturalborn of the Void didn't have many of the qualities of presentation that Gaius did, but they all had side quests that created them and their various arenas. The Fire Giant can also be considered a Memory boss fought in the open world like Gaius, but was a unique boss on Elden Ring's main path and boasted a dramatic mid-fight scene. It only takes a few extra touches to make one of these Elden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeRemembrance's bosses stand out, and FromSoftware should keep them in mind when populating the open world of a future game.