10 Recent Video Game First Boss Battles That Totally Broke You

3. Phalanx - Demon's Souls

Returnal Phrike
FromSoftware

Demon's Souls' first proper boss Phalanx - we're not counting the tutorial boss, Vanguard - may be utterly trivial to long-time fans of the series, but for anyone who used the recent PS5 remake to dip into the franchise for the first time - without having consulted YouTube or the Dark Souls Wiki first, no less - it can be a total ass-kicker.

To be clear, Phalanx is certainly one of the game's easiest bosses, but for a first boss the slime-like blob still offers up a fair level of challenge, especially if you're not stocked up on its primary weakness - fire.

New players can easily get overwhelmed by the spear-totting Hoplites, and while there are ultimately several ways to defeat Phalanx, you're better off sticking with fire as it's by far the easiest and most efficient method.

Given the high level of difficulty the game offers throughout, it's probably for the best that players weren't coddled from the outset.

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