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If there’s one thingFromSoftwaregames like Dark Souls and the others do exceptionally well, it’s boss fights. As the Souls series went on the boss battles only got better, yes there were a few duds, primarily in DS2, but there’s a lot of bangers in there.
For example, Artorias The AbyssWalker, Pontiff Sulyvahn, Fume Knight, Ornstein And Smough, Lady Maria and Gehrman, Dark Eater Midir or Genichiro. The List goes on and on. Elden Ring poured more into the big bucket of bosses, especially with its DLC, so we thought we’d tally them all up to show how far we’ve come. Here’s which FromSoftware game has the most bosses.
What Counts As A Boss?
So the fun thing aboutFromSoftware gamesis that as the series went on the developers got pretty clever, creative and funny with some of their boss encounters.
Originally in Dark Souls you wouldgo through an area, then fight a boss,usually at the end. The sequels introduced more boss fights at the mid-way point and when Elden Ring came along the idea of aset boss encounter locationwent out the window.
Now you may juststumble onto a boss whilst out wanderingand whilst there still are the traditional short, long andlegacy dungeonswith big bad bosses at the bottom. There’s still a sprinkling of title fights as you go through them, or try to access them or just pass by a specific spot.
Sometimes it’s not even a boss. Occasionaly it’s justa really chunky creature,anabsolutely massive monsteror someone in armor.
There’s alsopseudo bosses in the form of invasionsat the beginning or end of specific side quests. But for the sake of everyone’s sanity we’ll be tracking any fight that slapsa big health bar on the screenand sets the game’s soundtrack to “Ominously Operatic”.
How Many Bosses Are In Each FromSoftware Game?
The developers have certainly put theproverbial foot on the gas pedalwhen it comes to big fights. We’ve gone from just a handful in Demon Souls to now literally stumbling into them in Elden Ring, and its never been better.
The ramping up off bigger and better brawls as the series goes on over the years is anoticeable, interesting and trackable bit of information. So we’ll be going in order from theirearliest game to the latestbig release.
Any boss thatspawns more than one entitywill still be counted as one. For example, Maneater, Four Kings, Royal Rat Authority, Shadow of Yharnam, the Bell Gargoyles and so on.
Demon Souls
First up we havethe game that started it all, Demon Souls. It formed the pattern that FromSoftware would rarely deviate from with its gameplay loop oflive, fight, die, repeatthat we’ve come to love and cherish over the years.
It wasthe first stumbling step of the studio, but over the years, and one remake later, Demon Souls has gone from obscure precursor to the Souls series to a stablemate right alongside them. SinceDemon Souls has no DLCwe’ll be taking stock of all the big encounters in the main game in our tally.
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Dark Souls
If Demon Souls was the burning ember,Dark Souls was the spark that blazed the undying fireinto the series we all hold dear today. Though the back half is infamously unfinished, the entire adventure and itsrich and depressing storyuntil that point is exciting, unsettling, memorable and absolutely brutal. Looking at youSens Fortress.
Featuring many of what would go on to behallmarks of the FromSoftware franchisesas a whole, Dark Souls for many is a game that is great to revisit time and time again.
In terms of boss fights,we get everything. It goes from dudes in armor, to towering demons, twisted dragons, lost corrupted kings, a big butterfly and a duo that would go down in Dark Souls history.
Then there’s the DLC which is nowborderline mandatory. Not only does it flesh out the lore more, it features time travel,three of the hardest boss fights in the entire gameand it alters the cutscene and context of a big boss fight in the main game.
It’s recommended toplay the DLC before you fight Great Grey Wolf Sifin Darkroot Garden. Also,prepare to cryonce you do.
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Dark Souls 2
Thecontroversial follow up to the cult classic, Dark Souls 2 has its own amount of charm and despite the bosses being mostly big dudes in armor its got some good points to it. Plus, aftera lot of tweaks with Scholar Of The First Sin, it’s much better than it used to be.
As an extra silver lining, out of all the FromSoftware games over the years before Elden Ring,it had the most DLCcontent. And they were pretty big with each one takingmultiple hoursto beat.
There was theCrowns of the Sunken King, Old Iron King and Ivory King. Each one was set in aunique new location,brought new enemies and gear, mostly featured new mechanics and both Iron and Ivory King had some good boss fights. Whilst Sunken Kings story was the most compelling.
Completing all of them alsorewards you with a unique helmin the form of Vendrick’s Crown. Which was an item that prevented hollowing upon death, which completelyremoved the need to stockpile effigiesto counter hollowing at a Bonfire in order to take advantage of the online multiplayer.
he Hollowfication mechanic in DS2 was anannoying holdover from the old gamesthat they’ve thankfully moved away from. Now you justpop a consumablewhenever you want.
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Dark Souls 3
If Dark Souls 2 was the misstep,Dark Souls 3 was the course correctionand my it was quite the change. Combat felt more like the classic, we were backdealing with the Eternal Flameand the flow was a lot more linear, so you spent less time wandering.
The locations were gorgeous and there wasa lot of variety in the boss fightsagain. Though there still was the occasional dude in armor, we still gota big bling covered skeleton, the Blob Pope, the Artorias Fan Club and a giant angry rotten tree. Plus there’s a final boss thatswitches into the weapon setsof everyone that beat the boss of the first Dark Souls.
Then there’s the DLC andit’s arguably the bestthey’ve ever done. There’s only two this time, but it was a sign of the studio refining their touch. Instead ofthree chunky locations split into three separate DLCS, now we’ve got two but with much bigger playgrounds.
The Ringed City for example, was not just big enough to be its own game, but it also was abrief whistle stop tourof locations from across the entire Dark Souls series to that point. Plus it came withthe best dragon boss fightin the series until Elden Ring, and it was a Shin Godzilla reference as well.
The Ringed City’s final boss also dropped an item thatbrought closure to a character from the other DLC, The Ashes Of Ariandel.
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Bloodborne
A game we’ll likely never see a follow up to, Bloodborne was FromSoftware diving into cold and dark Eldritch waters. Gone were the fantasy dragons, and in their place wereOld Gods of the Deep, tainted Beast Blood, literal nightmare realms and lots of blood.
Combat was also much different for what we had experienced from the Souls games so far. Rather than wearing people down witha big sword and shieldwith the occasional well-timed dodgeroll, this time we’rezipping aboutlike anime characters.
Aggression was the emphasiswith health recovery based on getting back into combat as quick as possible combined withstaggering enemies for a Vicious Attackthat chunked their health bars. We also had the appearance oftransforming Trick Weaponsthat allowed for on the fly combo creation and overall tighter feeling combat.
There are shields in Bloodborne. But they’re more situational, or in one case just auseless bit of woodincluded as a joke for fans.
Bloodborne is alsothe outlier for FromSoftware gamesas it only has one DLC. The Old Hunters expansion transported us to a separate nightmare realm that was created asa curse for a Hunter group by an Elder Godof the Deep.
Everything islovingly Lovecraftian, and the whole experience feels like FromSoftware’s take on the horrors ofThe Shadow Over Innsmouth.
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Sekiro
Next up we have FromSoftwares attempt atdoing something differentonce again. Sekiro shifted things away fromMedieval fantasy and a vaguely European setting back to Japan, and focused more on building a coherent story. It was also the first FromSoftware game to seem morenarrative driveninstead of just having another hub full of NPCs.
We had a new take on why our character was continually resurrected upon death, andthe combat was completely overhauledinto a different style of game once more. With plenty of notes taken from Bloodborne. Instead of traditional sword and board; We hadparries, ninjutsu and a lot of dodgingbased combat. Also, it was the first time we sawa grappling hookbeing brought in.
Sadly there wasno DLC, but we did getthe Gauntlets of Strength updatethat added a one-life challenge mode andtwo new boss variants. But it’s generally thought that at the time,Elden Ring was being producedand Sekiro was justa side projectfor Miyazaki to experiment.
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Elden Ring
Finally we’ve got Elden Ring. From top to bottom it’sthe best game FromSoftware have producedto date. Utterly gigantic in scale and scope, Elden Ring hada lore layout tinkered with by George R. R. Martinand a big healthy budget of200 million dollarsbehind it, and it shows.
Gorgeous in its details from the huge spanning vistas to the tiny little greebles andscrimshawing on individual armor panels, the work was put in. Combats never been more varied,creating a build is easier than beforeand multiplayer through community interaction is at the forefront. Then there’s the bosses, you couldwrite a dissertationon a few of them.
Everyone has their favorite, andeveryone hates the Ulcerated Tree Spirit. But the brawls are better than ever. There’s yourstandard gimmick fights, duos, trios and even a fake-out or twothat will keep you on your toes. Not to mentionthe boss rush at the endand the super bosses and the Legacy Dungeon.
Then there’s the DLC. The Shadow Of The Erdtree is arguablyFromSoftware finally getting into their groovewith expansions. Instead of piecemealing it out throughbig areas in singular DLCS like Dark Souls 2, or two DLCS with crossover like Dark Souls 3. Elden Ring introducesone big new linear story, in a massive 60 hour expansion that acts like a pseudo-sequel.
There’s DLC exclusive mechanics, new weapons, talismans anda lot of really nice new stuffthat makes your Tarnished warrior much more arial and mobile than they’ve ever been before.
Plus, not to be outdone by its predecessors,Shadow Of The Erdtree features a Legacy Dungeonthat the developers themselves have said is the biggest dungeon they’ve ever made.
The Developers have also mentioned thatthe recommended starting levelfor the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC is 120.
Chock full of bosses like the main game,the DLC is a Souls game unto itselfwith its sheer size. Plus, unlike other Souls games where you turn up long after everything bad has gone down, this time you’ve got there arounda day or two after Miquellas Crusade, and it’s all still kicking off.
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Which FromSoftware Game Has The Most Bosses?
Now that we’ve taken a measure of all the FromSoftware games it’s time toannounce a winner, and we have a clear victor. Standing far ahead of all those that came before it is Elden Ring. Coming in with a top total of152bossesin the full game across both the main story and the DLC.
So there you have it. If you’re looking for a FromSoftware game from the entire series so far that will give youthe most opportunities to fight a big boss, then at the top of your list should be Elden Ring. Its got themost big fightsand chances to “Get Good”.
