The spectacle inElden Ringstands out among other FromSoftware titles across many of the bosses that are scattered across the later parts of the game. This can be seen as early as Volcano Manor, when thedemigod Rykard appears as a face on a giant snake, but is best portrayed in the fight against the penultimate boss, Godfrey, the First Elden Lord.
Much of the spectacle that defines Godfrey leans perfectly into the various anime that has had a large influence on the FromSoftware catalog, fromDemon’s SoulstoElden Ring. The visual splendor persists across two phases, both of which make the most of the tropes and common practices of popular anime likeBerserkandJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
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Godfrey’s First Phase Sets a Subtle Tone
As players make their final approach towards the Erdtree and thefinal fight against Radagon,Elden Ringthrows a series of extra encounters in a boss rush before the end. The result has Godfrey appear for the second time in the game, fighting in full form as opposed to being a simple shade as seen on the first trip to Lyndell Capital. He stomps forward, with a giant axe in hand and a massive, spectral lion hanging onto him from behind. It’s this lion that covers one anime trope and a separate reference at the same time.
The lion, Godfrey’s companion named Serosh, has the appearance ofStand fromJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, the otherworldly helpers who fight alongside characters starting in the show and manga’s third part. Serosh even plays double duty on the anime representation, being an embodiment of the trope of a character needing to hold back their “true power” in order to either function in society or not end fights too quickly. As a result, in the second phase, Godfrey has to remove Serosh from his back in a brutal cutscene that ends with the faithful lion Stand being killed during the transition into Hoarah Loux, Warrior.
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Hoarah Loux, Warrior is Worth Dying to See in Action
In the second phase of the fight, Godfrey transitions into hisold form as Hoarah Loux, Warriorfor a series of reasons explained in the deeper lore. However, all that really matters to players at the time is that the fight is about to transition from an elegant king smashing his broken axe across the battlefield into a wrestler who will grapple anyone he can to a quick death. Many of the boss' attacks in this phase take the transition from being about hitting enemies with powerful swings and instead become devastating combos that are impossible to break out of.
The visuals of these attacks are where Hoarah Loux takes a step out of being in a FromSoftware video game and makes the complete leap into being the star of a full-on anime. This influence becomes most obvious as players are caught in combos that lift them a hundred feet into the air, before having the boss wrap around them and drive their head into the ground. Other attacks will juggle the player in the air, as several strikes allow Hoarah Loux todevastate multipleElden Ringplayers at once.
Going beyond that surface level of this move set, however, the windups that telegraph when an attack is coming also reflect styles of animation common in anime. The best example comes from the start of his grapple that sends players into the sky. Before starting the attack, Hoarah Loux takes one hard step onto the ground, which places him in slow-motion for a beat before lunging forward to finish his destructive grapple. It’s an impressive attack that is so cool that it’s more worth reaching the"You Died" screen than any other fight inElden Ring.
Elden Ringis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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