If you’ve played at least one Souls gamein your long and illustrious gaming career and have beaten said game, this usually sets you up to attack every other game that follows with a newfound confidence and vigor that only comes with overcoming the adversity that Souls games drop you into.
However, even with this newfound ability and resolve, there is usually a boss that everyone comes to and gets their ass handed to them. These are the ‘skill check’ bosses of their respective titles. The bosses who effectively stop progression and ask you to get good, or give up.
10 Video Game Bosses You Fight Multiple Times
There’s nothing like a good archrival chasing you throughout the whole game.
These are usually themost frustrating bossesinitially, but the ones you look back most fondly upon when you roll credits, as they gave you the skills, the resolve, and the mechanical understanding to make mincemeat of the other bosses within the world.
So, this is both an opportunity to look back in anger and appreciation as we rank all the skill-check bosses within their respective games.
We will only include one boss per title and limit our selection to bosses from games featuring aggressive skill checks. So, games like steady boss difficulty curves, like Bloodborne, for example, will not be included.
Black Myth Wukong
Black Myth: Wukong
Fextralife Wiki
Let’s kick things off with a boss that serves as a skill check not only due to the relentlessly linear progression of Black Myth Wukong, but also due to the sheer lack of build variety in this game.
In the early stages of Black Myth Wukong, you’ll only have access to one transformation, a handful of spells, and some basic armor and weapons, which translates to the simple fact that there are no gimmicks, no cheeses, and no workarounds. You have to fight the Whiteclad Noble fair and square,and they are a tricky fight.
Not only is he incredibly agile. He’s deadly from range, can close the space between rapidly, and has a varied moveset. It’s basically the first fight where mindless button-mashing won’t be enough, and you’ll need to learn their choreography to stand a chance.
Wandering Wight helps, as does your transformation, but because this boss is also a two-phase endeavor, don’t expect them to turn the tide on their own.
9Commander Honglan
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
From Wukong to Wuchang, we have another Chinese Soulslike, and this one is hot off the presses at the time of writing. Which, fairly, might make you question Honglan’s credentials. But I say to that,wait until you meet her.
Honglan is a boss that flips the script, essentially demanding that you change your playstyle completely to accommodate this fight, as you need to master the art of parrying to win this fight. It’s damn-near essential, and anyone that manages to tough it out without parrying, I salute you.
She’s lightning fast, has a wealth of deadly projectiles that make standing off her a big mistake, and naturally, this is a two-phase boss, so melting one HP bar simply won’t be enough.
Unlike the bosses to this point that demanded an offense-first approach, Honglan forces you to counter and pick your moments carefully. Oh, and if you try to heal at all, you’re as good as dead, so you might as well not bother.
8Heikea, Intimidation Crab
Another Crab’s Treasure
Seeing as Another Crab’s Treasure sets its stall out as anapproachable and beginner-friendly Soulslike,it naturally takes quite some time before an actual skill check comes along, as you need to acquire the skills before they are to be tested.
But, eventually it does come along, and if you want to get into the city that acts as somewhat of a hub within AOC, you’ll need to defeat this hardy foe.
The main difficulty comes from the fact that they have devastating grab attacks that are hard to avoid, can intimidate you to make you a sitting duck for a spell, and that they just keep coming, leaving little opportunity to heal and regroup.
You pretty much have to get comfortable dodging into each attack and getting around the boss, but obviously, this is easier said than done, as one grab attack could mean curtains for your little crustacean.
Hollow Knight
Could I tempt anyone to a Soulsvania?The best Soulsvania of all time, perhaps?
It’s a bold claim, but one that is justified by the sheer brilliance in all departments that Hollow Knight exhibits, and one area of many in which it shines is boss design.
Most early game bosses are easy, offering just enough nuance to be considered a boss at all, but this all changes in Greenpath when you meet Hornet for the first time, as she’s not willing to let you go until you’re very skilled with your nail.
She’s fast, she’s deadly, and she’s such a step up from what you’ve seen and fought to this point that it’s only natural to feel overwhelmed when she lunges at you without hesitation.
She floats like a butterfly, and stings like a Hornet. So, if you want to stand a chance, you need to have fast reaction times and map out her moveset carefully to get your shots in without losing masks.
6King’s Flame Fuoco
I would personally argue that, in the pre-launch build that I played and endured, just about every boss could have been considered a skill-check boss, as there were no gimmes at all. But, if I had to pick just one, it would probably be King’s Flame, Fuoco.
This fiery furnace contraption is a step-up from what you’ve seen to this point, offering a variety of moves, from labored but heavy attacks to rapid spins and AOE bursts of flame. But that only really covers the first phase of this enemy’s onslaught.
This is when things ramp up in difficulty, as more attacks are labeled as fury attacks, he uses a hand cannon to attack you from range, and they can also create hazards on the ground to make positioning more tricky.
Arguably, it’s a boss that teaches you how not to play Lies of P, as parrying is really the only way to get ahead in this game, but Fuoco demands timing and precise dodges, making them a skill check that you’ll perhaps not even get the benefit from later down the line.
5Blade Phantom
The First Berserker: Khazan
It’s feasible that most players will be able to tough it out and get through The First Berserker’s first boss, Yetuga, without tearing their hair out. But when the time comes to face the Blade Phantom, I just hope you’re ready for a true test.
They want your soul, and they are willing to take it by force, which leads to an opening gambit filled with rapid combos whereyou’ll need to block consistentlyto stay alive. But, as is often the case with skill-check bosses, the first phase is only the beginning of the suffering.
This was merely a taster leading to the main course, as Blade Phantom ups the ante with more powerful strikes, harder combo variations to pin down, a handful of AOE effects, and a wealth of skills that have them vanish and reappear in the blink of an eye.
It’s one of those fights where one false move tends to be critical, and if you lose your rhythm, it’s very hard to get it back again. So, just be perfect, that’s not too much to ask, right?
4Flamelurker
Demon’s Souls
It’s crazy that I’m able to even include Demon’s Souls on this list at all, as the vast majority of the bosses within the rosterare glorified gimmicksthat really don’t represent traditionally tough Souls fights at all.
That said, there is one exception to the rule, and that’s Flamelurker. A boss that doesn’t give players an inch and offers a fight that doesn’t have some elaborate cheese right there to rely on. You just need to deal damage, not get hit, and make the most of the large arena you have to work within.
They are incredibly fast and aggressive with very small windows for you to get shots in consistently, and they can light you up for some passive damage over time, too.
I’ll concede that, if you’re running a magic build, this boss is pretty trivial. But if you’re going with the traditional meathead approach, you’ll find that Flamelurker is the Demon’s Souls boss that gives you the most trouble.
3Bell Gargoyles
Dark Souls
The original Dark Souls doesn’t take long to present the player with what many would consider its skill-check boss, because after the gimmicky fight with the Taurus Demon, they are next on the chopping block.
I say ‘they’ because you’ll not be fighting just one of these terrifying beasts, because as soon as you get one down to 50% HP and you feel like you’ve broken through, another will swoop down, likely overwhelming you and sending you right back to a Bonfire.
The key to this fight is to swipe at the tail, not only for the bonus weapon, but to gain a moment of respite and melt their HP bar fast. It’s pretty tough to separate the two, but it’s important to focus on one to get them out of the way and make the fight more manageable.
The good news is that, after this, it’s pretty smooth sailing right up until you meet Quelaag, so do your best to handle this pair, and everything immediately afterwards will feel like a cakewalk.
2Genichiro
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
If we were ranking these bosses purely based on how hard they are, then Genichiro would top the list, and it wouldn’t even be close in terms of competition, as this is probably the biggest skill check roadblock in the history of Souls games.
This is partly down to the fact that Sekiro is such a unique venture for Souls fans in general, asking for a more parry-focused and timing-based combat responsiveness. But, it’s also down to the fact that Genichiro is relentless and takes no prisoners.
Sekiro, as a game, knows that if you even hope to stand a chance of progressing through the rest of the game, you need a trial of fire like this, and Genchiro is more than happy to burn you to ashes again and again.
He demands precision, parrying-perfection, and for players to cast aside their preset notions of hiding behind their guard or dodge spamming. He forces you to play differently, and in a lot of cases, players simply weren’t willing to do that.
1Margit The Fell Omen
Elden Ring
Fextralife
“Put those foolish ambitions to rest.”
This is a phrase that I heard so often on my first Elden Ring playthrough that I genuinely thought that the Stormveil guard dog was actually living inside my head. I suppose, in a lot of ways, he was.
While Elden Ring is a rare example of a Souls game where you aren’t locked into a fight and can go off in another direction. Eventually, once you exhaust the activities that the Weeping Peninsula has to offer, and get routinely chewed up and spat out of Caelid. You’ll need to face this guy sooner or later.
Even with a summon and Margit’s Shackle, this boss is a tough one that moves swiftly, hits hard and demands perseverance. Which leads to a battle that forces you to learn his attack patterns, dodge frequently but mindfully, and make the most of every resource you have at your disposal.
You’ll look back after all that The Lands Between throws at you and wonder just how he gave you such a hard time, but I assure you, this guy is a beginner’s nightmare. But, equally, the beginner’s gateway to becoming an adept Souls player.
