Dark Souls’ Centipede Demon is a Fantastic Example of a Long-Lost FromSoftware Combat Feature

One long-lost aspect of the classic Dark Souls formula is the ability to cut tails and other body parts of large enemies and bosses, with a heavy emphasis on dragons. However, the Centipede Demon might have showcased the mechanic better than dragons like Seathe the Scaleless or Kalameet ever managed to.

The strength of the tail cut mechanic for the Centipede Demon over most dragons comes in the unique ways that removing the boss’ appendages actually manages to reward players in ways that directly affect the fight as it happens. Of course, like every mechanic that’s even slightly in the player’s favor in Dark Souls, this can be a double-edged sword, as it can also add a layer of tension to the immediate fight as the encounter starts to tip from one-on-one to one-on-two or even three.

Dark Souls’ Centipede Demon Has More Tail Cuts Than Any Dragon

Centipede Demon Instantly Rewards With Better Maneuverability

When entering the Centipede Demon’s lair, the arena presents an immediate obstacle, as players are pressed against a wall and a hard boss, with the only path to safe haven being through red-hot lava. This area obstacle isn’t only for show either, as stepping in the lava will quickly drain the player’s health, only allowing them brief moments to run over it before quickly being killed. However, this can be changed with an item that usually drops off the Centipede Demon itself and reduces the threat of the lava from near-instant death to about the level of tension of Dark Souls‘ poison swamps.

The item that makes traversal through the lava possible is the Orange Charred Ring, which can be found by either killing the Centipede Demon itself or by cutting off a limb and defeating the subsequent enemy that falls to the ground. This doesn’t make the player completely immune to the damage of the lava, but it does still manage to reduce it enough that walking through the molten rock won’t be a death sentence, even with the boss nearby. However, the exact specifics of where the ring comes from are what helps elevate the Centipede Demon above other enemies with detachable limbs, because one of the rewards for players is being forced into one of Dark Souls‘ iconic gank fights.

A Boss Who Gets Harder With Fewer Limbs

One huge benefit of removing the limbs off of a boss is that this usually means that the enemy will hopefully be losing one of the many ways that it will attack the player. At the very least, getting a section of the tail or other body part removed should ideally limit the range of any attacks that use that limb. In the case of the Centipede Demon, however, this rule doesn’t fully apply. This is because most of the boss’ most threatening attacks don’t really use the removable limbs, and these appendages don’t simply disappear after being chopped off like many of the dragon enemies in earlier Dark Souls titles. Instead, they drop to the ground and start to attack with a mind of their own.

While these limbs aren’t exactly the most threatening enemies in Dark Souls, they’re certainly enough of a nuisance that they can easily turn the tide while the player is trying to avoid getting stomped on by the Centipede Demon. The result is a brief window where the fight suddenly becomes a one-on-two encounter, with the potential of even more pieces joining the fight since the Centipede Demon actually has two limbs to cut off, one in the front and one in the back. Additionally, after a certain amount of time, these limbs can grow back on the boss, even if the independent enemies haven’t been defeated yet, possibly leading to the player getting completely overwhelmed if they aren’t careful about where they’re hitting.

Dark Souls

Franchise

dark souls

Released

September 22, 2011

Publisher(s)

Namco Bandai

Genre(s)

Action RPG

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Violence

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