crischa quillan trystyanah
Janise Knollman
DEAR ABBY: I worked for 11 years in the accounting department of a busy law firm. During my tenure, my three much younger colleagues married and started families. Due to the inevitable trials of raising kids, planned, unplanned and often simultaneous absences became commonplace, which left me to run the department alone.
I mended fences to the best of my ability but resigned shortly thereafter. I never confronted my boss, and he was never aware I had any knowledge of his manipulation. He now contacts me monthly to feign concern for my health and tell me how much I am missed, all of which is disingenuous.
DEAR MOVED ON: As a former employee of that firm, you are under no obligation to have any more contact with your former boss. If you are still in the working world, refrain from venting about your contempt. Simply express that you prefer he not call you again. If he asks why, you would be within your rights to tell him you know he violated your confidence, which is why you left the firm.
Almost immediately after I rolled credits on Elden Ring for the first time in 2022 I was pining for a boss rush mode, similar to the one added to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: a way to revisit these amazing fights without committing to New Game+ and crossing that huge map again.
But I've come to believe that the convenience of such a mode just wouldn't be worth what we'd lose. The Souls series' signature jolly cooperation isn't the mano-a-mano duel you might have in mind for honing each battle to no-hit perfection, but the unexpected delights of taking on a boss with a silent stranger are worth the loss of hermetically sealed "Fox Only, Final Destination" terms of engagement. I'd much rather have the magical, warts-and-all experience of running back Rellana or Messmer alongside a squishy wizard spamming Impenetrable Thorns than the safe, boring, "quality of life" we'd find in a formal boss rush mode.
It's been on my mind after clearing Shadow of the Erdtree for a second time and seeing the continued requests for a boss rush feature. I'm definitely not ready for another run at the expansion or a full NG+ playthrough just yet, but I keep wanting to noodle around in this game I love so much. In particular, my second defeat of final boss Promised Consort Radahn went so much smoother than the first go-around, I've wanted to keep throwing myself at the guy. There's a real art to dodging his phase two attacks and it's worn a groove in my brain.
If I could just select Radahn off a menu at my leisure, retrying the fight 30 times would be a forgettable, anodyne experience. Having to show up in another person's game, be a part of their boss struggle and pull my weight in a group turns what would otherwise be an exercise in distraction and dissociation into something a little bit pro-social: I'm not just replaying this boss for my own edification, I'm helping someone else on (potentially) their very first clear. I get to be part of an emotional high point in a journey they've devoted weeks of their life to (or I beef it, and have to live with the shame).
I usually hate interacting with strangers on the internet, but FromSoftware's style of nontraditional multiplayer is still magical, removing the inevitable hostility of voice chat in favor of its special language of cheeky gestures. The added bit of friction and uncertainty makes every boss run unique, and it's hard to get into a mindless rut of repeat attempts when there's so much capacity for surprise: Other people's fun builds, silly pre-fight behavior and red phantom invasions while waiting on another summon, the occasional Leeroy Jenkins of a host not wanting to wait for a second co-op partner and just rushing into the arena. It all makes the experience so much more memorable.
If the studio ever implemented a traditional boss rush, it would surely deplete the pool of potential partners for those seeking help by funneling boss-refighting sickos into an offline menu. I don't know how much help I actually am to these strangers I'm loading in with, but I found it comforting to learn that even Elden Ring folk hero Let Me Solo Her is sitting at a sub-50% win rate on Promised Consort Radahn assists.
Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.
I recently moderated a panel at a conference and asked the group of successful executives to describe someone who has been instrumental in their careers. Two panelists eagerly jumped in with stories of bosses who had mentored, encouraged, and opened doors for them. Then, hesitantly at first, the last person shared a far different experience.
In video games, a boss is a significantly powerful non-player character created as an opponent to players.[1] A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the players have faced up to that point in a game. Boss battles are generally seen at climax points of particular sections of games, such as at the end of a level or stage or guarding a specific objective. A miniboss is a boss weaker or less significant than the main boss in the same area or level, though usually more powerful than the standard opponents and often fought alongside them. A superboss (sometimes 'secret', 'hidden' or 'raid' boss) is generally much more powerful than the bosses encountered as part of the main game's plot and is often an optional encounter. A final boss is often the main antagonist of a game's story and the defeat of that character usually provides a positive conclusion to the game. A boss rush is a stage where players face multiple previous bosses again in succession.
For example, in a run 'n' gun video game, all regular enemies might use pistols while the boss uses a tank. A boss enemy is quite often larger in size than other enemies and the player character.[2] At times, bosses are very hard to defeat without being adequately prepared and/or knowing the correct fighting approach. Bosses usually take strategy and special knowledge to defeat, such as how to attack weak points or avoid specific attacks.
Bosses are common in many genres of video games, but they are especially common in story-driven titles, and are commonly previously established antagonists in the plot of the video game. Action-adventure games, beat 'em up games, fighting games, platform games, role-playing video games (RPGs), and shooter games are particularly associated with boss battles. They may be less common in puzzle games, card video games, racing games, and simulation games. The first video game with a boss fight was the 1975 RPG dnd.
The concept has expanded to other genres, like rhythm games, where there may be a "boss song" that is more difficult, or a high-difficulty, computer-controlled opponent in sports games. In multiplayer online battle arena games, defeating a map boss usually requires teamwork of two or more players, but it brings various benefits to the team, such as buffs or lane push power.[3][4] Some games, such as Cuphead, Furi and Warning Forever, are centered around continual boss fights.[5][6]
Bosses are usually harder to beat than regular enemies, have higher health points, hence can sustain more damage and are generally found at the end of a level or area.[7][8] While most games include a mixture of boss opponents and regular opponents, some games have only regular opponents and some games have only bosses (e.g. Shadow of the Colossus).[9] Some bosses are encountered several times through a single game, typically with alternate attacks and a different strategy required to defeat it each time.[8] A boss battle can also be made more challenging if the boss in question becomes progressively stronger and/or less vulnerable as their health decreases, requiring players to use different strategies to win. Some bosses may contain or be composed of smaller parts that can be destroyed by players in battle, which may or may not grant an advantage.[6] In games such as Doom and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, an enemy may be introduced via a boss battle, but later appear as a regular enemy, after players have become stronger or had a chance to find more powerful weaponry.[10][11]
Many games structure boss battles as a progression of distinct phases in which the boss produces different or additional hazards for players. This is often reflected by a change in the appearance of the boss.[12]
The Legend of Zelda series and games inspired by it are recognized for having dungeons with bosses that are specifically vulnerable to a special item that is located within that dungeon. Player(s) typically acquire this item while exploring the dungeon and is given opportunity to learn to use it to solve puzzles or defeat weaker enemies before facing the boss character.[13]
Boss battles are typically seen as dramatic events. As such, they are usually characterized by cutscenes before and after the boss battle and unique music. Recurring bosses and final bosses may have their own specific theme music to distinguish them from other boss battles. This concept extends beyond combat-oriented video games. For example, a number of titles in the Dance Dance Revolution rhythm game series contain "boss songs" that are called "bosses" because they are exceptionally difficult to perform on.[14]
In combat-focused games, a boss may summon additional enemies, reinforcements or minions or "adds" to fight players alongside the boss, increasing the boss fight's difficulty. These additional enemies may distract from the boss battle or give time for the boss to regain or regenerate health, but may also give players opportunity to regain health from health boosters and ammo dropped by the boss's minions.[15]
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