The bosses at FromSoftware should be more Malenia, less consort Radahn

FromSoftware has built a reputation on the back of extremely difficult games with Elden Ring being one of them. Despite several accessibility considerations and design choices that ensure a smoother experience, Elden Ring Finally, it has some of the hardest bosses FromSoftware has ever unleashed on the gaming world, for better or for worse. Nowhere is this white finger difficulty more apparent than in the fight with Promised Consort Radahn at the end of Shadow of Erdtree DLC.

With the expansion dropping over two years after the base game, this encounter essentially serves as the finale for Elden Ring experience as a whole — the final “final” boss of the game. As such, one would naturally expect this to be an uphill battle, but few could have anticipated how unforgiving and relentless it would be. This sparked several complaints in the game's community, with many claiming that Radahn was either poorly designed, unfair, or tough for the sake of being tough. While these criticisms may vary in validity, they point to a larger problem with the difficulty of FromSoftware's games.

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Messmer the Impaler, demigod boss in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

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Why Malenia would be a better blueprint for future software heads than consort Radahn

Before Shadow of the Erdtree, Malenia, Blade of Miquella was almost universally considered to be Elden RingThe toughest boss battle. Tucked away in Miquella's Haligtree, players must fight their way through a huge, challenging, and completely missable region to reach her. Since Haligtree isn't even accessible until after players reach the peaks of the giants, Malenia is guaranteed to be at least one late-game boss fight, making it perfect for those looking for an extra challenge.

And an extra challenge is exactly what Malenia offers. She attacks the player with graceful ferocity, with a moveset that is one of FromSoftware's hardest to counter. Almost unavoidable attacks like her Waterfowl Dance combo, along with her Scarlet Rot status effects and health regeneration, make her encounter one that is only reserved for the most experienced (or masochistic) players, and her defeat feels, essentially, to overcome the ultimate challenge of the base game.

Malenia's optional nature makes up for her crushing difficulty

As is often the case with FromSoftware games, Elden Ringhis optional bosses are usually the hardest, and Malenia is no exception to this trend. But this informs their position in the overall structure of the game, as players can approach them at their own pace, defeating them as an additional reward for mastering the game's mechanics or strengthening their character. This is inherently different from the brutal challenge of mandatory bosses like Promised Consort Radahn, which are more likely to be seen as frustrating obstacles than worthwhile challenges.

In Radahn's case, players will have to spend several hours working their way through the DLC, powering up through Scadutree Fragments and the like, before hitting a brick wall. And make no mistake, Consort Radahn can really be a brick wall, especially in the pre-nerf version of the game, as her attacks are devastating, nearly impossible to avoid most of the time, and often hard to see due to the visuals. the noise of Faith's second phase effects. When you get to it at the end of Shadow of the Erdtree, it can feel like an abrupt stop to momentum, detracting from the overall experience for some players.

If Promised Consort Radahn was just as powerful but included as an optional boss fight, then it's likely that he wouldn't have been so appeased by the player base. Radahn would have been viewed much like Malenia: a tough-as-nails fight that offers bragging rights upon completion.