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.

I know I haven't been alone in that desire. A quick and dirty search of the Elden Ring subreddit turns up a number of threads asking for just such a feature, and I remember there being some wishcasting that Elden Ring's arenas⁠—locked at launch, now devoted to PvP⁠—might have some replayable PvE element to them.

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.

Co-op with strangers

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.

I'm not going to find the slapstick gold of a crew of three meticulously applying all of their pre-battle buffs—only for the host to get one-shot by Radahn within five seconds of stepping through the gate—in a discrete boss rush mode.

One thing that really sets FromSoftware apart is the judiciousness it demonstrates when deciding which rough edges to sand off⁠ in new games: We clearly don't need Demons' Souls 1.6% drop rates for critical weapon upgrade materials, but a lot of these games' unfriendliness and opacity is what makes them special.

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.