10 Best Skill-Check Bosses In Gaming History
1. Ornstein & Smough (Dark Souls)
It had to be them, didn't it?
Dark Souls' diabolical duo are the stuff of legend - the most infamously hard boss fight in an infamously hard game. Ornstein & Smough fully live up to their controller-wrecking reputation, as the fight against them puts every skill Dark Souls has taught you to the test.
Focusing all your damage on one enemy before attacking the other? Check. Using the environment to avoid enemy attacks? Check. Making sure to keep every enemy on screen at all times? Check. Dying again and again before headbutting the TV screen in frustration and using the shards to carve a blood sigil onto your chest to summon a demon that will curse the developers unto a thousand generations? OK, maybe not the last one (tempting as it is).
Ornstein & Smough are a work of uncommon magic. Excruciatingly hard, each failed attempt against them nevertheless feels like a stepping stone on the journey to mastering your chosen playstyle in Dark Souls.
No other dual boss fight comes close to the armor-clad pairing - even FromSoft themselves failed to recreate the magic with Elden Ring's irritating Godskin Duo - and no other boss in gaming does a better job preparing you for the battles ahead.