If you play enough action RPGs, particularly Souls-likes, you’re going to notice certain moves and attack patterns by the biggest bosses. FromSoftware’s even re-uses certain animations from its earlier games all the time, but the developer is typically good at recontextualising them so it doesn’t look like the same exact move.
That’s also true for games inspired by FromSoftware’s vast body of work, so it’s not surprising to see the upcoming Lords of the Fallen picking up a few cues from Elden Ring. The game’s latest 20-minute gameplay showcase delivers a whole lot of juicy information and plenty of exciting combat.
But one thing that stood out to me happens near the beginning in the video, and it’s the boss fight against Pieta. Right from her introductory cutscene, we see a certain golden hue to Pieta’s sword, which should be quite familiar to Elden Ring players.
This is more than a mere aesthetical choice, too, because the boss later uses that same magic element for its more advanced attacks. If you finished Elden Ring, you may already be able to identify a few moves Pieta shares with some of Elden Ring’s most memorable bosses.
The golden pattern left behind on the ground is quite reminiscent of Radagon’s, and so is the delayed ground slam (that caught most of us). It seems, like Radagon, Pieta’s weapon is imbued with whatever element that also has a golden tint.
As for the raining arrows, that’s another quite distinct attack in Morgott’s boss fight, who can likewise cover much of the arena in golden arrows. It seems Pieta’s covers even more ground, which actually gets the player killed in the footage.
Finally, her wing sprout in the second phase is very close to that of Malenia’s, and she even borrows a couple of her other moves – such as the spinning close-range attacks, and the low-ground flyby.
Obviously, all of that doesn’t necessarily mean that the fight will play out any similarly to those three, nor does it indicate that more similarities to Elden Ring’s bosses are in the game. That said, the choreography is quite familiar, for better or worse.
Lords of the Fallen arrives October 13 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
