Elden Ring, like all theSouls-like games that precede it, is known for its demanding, larger than life boss fights.Elden Ring’sin particular are all so well characterized and memorable— from Godrick’s grotesque form, to starting the fight against Renalla inthe Raya Lucaria Academysurrounded by students that are eerily singing and crawling across the floor. One boss fight in particular stands above the rest, though, and that is the encounter with Starscourge Radahn.
Despite this, Radahn has been gaining some infamy online as one of the hardest bosses inElden Ring,especially considering his placement near the middle of the story. Some players are upset that the fight is nigh impossible without making use of the many summons in the arena, while others find the buildup to the actual battle to be tedious. Going against the popular opinion, the lore surrounding Radahn as a character and his fight as a whole perfectly justify the use of summons, and the sense of scale he brings is unmatched withinElden Ring.
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Elden Ring’s Rumors of Radahn
Elden Ring’sworld, the Lands Between, is chock-full of mystery and deep lore. One early mysterious event the player hears of is the Battle Festival. Multiple NPCs speak of it, such asIron Fist Alexander, who after a few interactions says he will meet the player there to join them in battle. Many hours later, when the player finally reaches and fights through Redmane Castle to partake in the Battle Festival, they are joined by many NPCs just like Alexander. The Battle Festival makes the Lands Between feel alive— many characters met on the player’s journey, all with their own motivations, converge in this central location to participate in the Festival for glory.
Upon arriving at the Battle Festival, the player and all of their companions are informed of the event’s goal: to best General Radahn in battle.The reward for beating Radahnis his great rune— collecting all six of which being the player’s overarching goal inElden Ring.This is where some die-hard players' problems come in. The Radahn battle heavily encourages summoning all the Battle Festival participants to assist in the fight, but most players want to complete the game without summons since they cheapen the experience. While these complaints are usually valid, the many-against-one structure of the Radahn fight makes perfect sense within the context of the game’s story— the fight plays out more like an MMO style raid boss as opposed to a one-on-one duel.
Elden Ring’s Unmatched Sense of Scale
Elden Ringis at its best when it makes the player feel small and insignificant. Maybe it’s when the player dashes across a narrow bridge on horseback and a giant archer suddenly takes notice and starts firing, or maybe it’s the first time a massive dragon swoops down with intent to kill. Even something simple, like the fact thatElden Ring’smap starts out small, slowly revealing the world is much larger than initially expected, does the trick. All occurrences like these make the Lands Between feel like a living, breathing world that will keep on moving with or without the player in it. The boss fight that encompasses this feeling most is the fight against Radahn.
Radahn’s introduction is tense. Upon joining the Battle Festival, players learn the general has essentially lost his mind, spending his days aimlessly roaming the desert and eating anything in his path, be it friend or foe. The start ofthe Radahn boss fightis no calmer. The general appears off in the distance, riding his horse toward the player and firing arrows. Players must quickly scramble to summon their allies and charge at Radahn before he takes the party out from a distance.
Once again, some players have complaints about this portion of the battle, wishing instead for Radahn to spawn closer to the player, or to remove the run-up section entirely. Omitting this section would truly diminish the scale of the fight, though. It is not meant to be like the rest ofElden Ring’sboss fights, like Godrick, for instance, who is just waiting right in the entrance to an arena. The player challenges Radahn on his own turf— the fight against the titanic general needs a titanic atmosphere.
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Elden Ring’s Largest Foes
Radahn is just one of many boss fights inElden Ring.His large scale does not take away from the other major fights, as the smaller ones are perfectly suited in their own right.The Margit boss fighttakes place in a small arena because he solely serves to block the player’s path— his battle does not require an epic buildup to be successful. It is impressive that all the game’s major bosses feel like part of a realized world, but Radahn sums up the feeling of the game most.
Starscourge Radahn representsElden Ring’smassive scale. He is a character that the player hears of for hours until their actual encounter, and his boss fight and the surrounding Battle Festival are a grand spectacle. Contrary to popular opinion criticizing Radahn’s difficulty and lengthy encounter, he stands out amongst a group of already fantastic bosses as one of the most memorable, and the game would benefit from more just like him.
Elden Ringis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
