Dark Souls 2 Broke the Mold with Smelter Demons Over-the-Top Design

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Dark Souls 2 Broke the Mold with Smelter Demons Over-the-Top Design

As a seasoned gamer with countless hours spent navigating through the treacherous lands of the ‘Souls’ series, I can confidently say that the Smelter Demon stands as a formidable adversary among its peers. Having battled my fair share of beasts and bosses since the early days of Demon’s Souls, I have grown to appreciate the intricate dance between attack and defense that defines these encounters.

Found in an initially innocuous room tucked away in the Iron Keep, the Smelter Demon is a challenge that can quickly greet Dark Souls 2 players as they arrive at one of the game’s toughest areas. However, this fight is more than a simple big, armored soldier with a sword, and helps to refine an earlier Demon’s Souls encounter that defined itself around an aggressive, flaming boss that acts as the backbone of a classic Soulslike fight.

Apart from the battle against the Smelter Demon in the main world of Dark Souls 2, the Crown of the Old Iron King DLC also introduced a revamped version of the boss, enhancing its design. This is primarily achieved by modifying the sequence and timing of combos as well as adjusting the punishment windows for mistakes – a design approach that has been consistently applied in FromSoftware games and DLC bosses, including Elden Ring.

The Smoldering Smelter Demon is Both Form and Function

A Redesign of the First ‘Soulslike’ Boss

In the Souls series, from Demon’s Souls to Dark Souls 3, most bosses can be categorized into two primary types. The first category includes puzzle-like bosses such as the Bed of Chaos, where the challenge lies in figuring out the trick or tactic needed to defeat them, followed by executing the appropriate solution. The second type involves a back-and-forth pattern of either dodging or blocking the boss’s combos, and seizing the rare moments when you can retaliate effectively. The Smelter Demon, along with its predecessor, falls into this second category, reflecting a trend in boss design that became more prevalent in Dark Souls 2 and has since evolved into the intensely aggressive boss lineup seen in Elden Ring.

The Smelter Demon’s tendency towards aggression and frequent attack patterns is reminiscent of its predecessor, the Flamelurker from “Demon’s Souls”. Essentially, the Smelter Demon represents an advancement in design compared to the Flamelurker, a notoriously tough boss characterized by its aggressive moveset that can often conclude fights before players fully understand what’s happening. While both bosses share a fire-themed aspect, their similarities extend beyond that. In essence, the Smelter Demon replaces explosive claws with a massive flaming sword and maintains the fast-paced nature of combat, pushing the boundaries of what “Dark Souls 2” is capable of in terms of gameplay speed.

Continued Evolution Through Dark Souls 2’s DLC

Beyond revamping the initial battle against the Smelter Demon, resembling the feral nature of the Flamelurker in Dark Souls 2, the DLC also advanced the design further. Given the challenging bosses like Sir Alonne in Crown of the Old Iron King, this isn’t unexpected. In the remodeled fight against the blue Smelter Demon, however, the increased difficulty doesn’t stem from speeding up or eliminating punishments entirely. Instead, it originates from slightly modifying the pace and rhythm of attacks, which alters the dodge and punish timings compared to the original, ultimately compelling players to adapt to the new tempo rather than hindering their aggressive playstyle.

In both battles against the Smelter Demon, players encounter an increased level of challenge that can potentially force them to restart at any moment. These fights serve as unique additions to the relatively straightforward boss encounters in Dark Souls 2, pushing player skill to its limits. This toughness is a consistent design element from FromSoftware, evident even in Elden Ring’s Promised Consort Radahn, and it has contributed significantly to their success in games and expansions post-Dark Souls 2.

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2024-10-13 13:04