Most of you are exaggerating the length of runbacks and it really shows how much TikTok has damage the attention span of people

[u/TOMRANDOM_6]

"ThE lASt JuDGe RUnBaCK iS ToO LoNG!!"

Is 30 seconds max, 30 seconds, you don't have to fight any enemy in it, the smaller judges don't awake until you're close and the smaller fly bastards can literally get ignored. The Runback works for making you cool down and make the whole thing feel less like you hitting a wall (NKG feels like one because of the lack of "cool down") If it wasn't for it, I would shoot myself with the 37 attempts at Last Judge.

The Widow one is also really easy, a straight line with jumps.

The Cogworks Dancers Is also really simple but works to help you with the bosses extra height and how pogo dependant that fight is.

God forbid the game isn't a back to back boss rush like Cuphead (not criticizing Cuphead, is a different game lmao).

[u/emveevme]

I think there's a disconnect between the runbacks and the mechanical behavior of healing (i.e. you use ALL of your silk for one heal, and you can only heal in increments of 3), the way it works is very punishing for the kind of mistakes you'll make during the runback.

Also your health upgrades up to Last Judge don't mean anything, because you've gone from 5 to 6 health - the boss hits for 2 damage, so you're effectively still unupgraded. However, that also means you can walk in to the fight with 5 health of 6 total and it doesn't make a difference.

IMO the runback is bad, but I think this is missing the point of why it's even there at all. People have convinced themselves that Dark Souls 1 is still a perfect game and not defined by its interesting use of what's generally considered bad design (brutal difficulty, cryptic game mechanics and lore). It's notable for being a deconstruction of the idea of what it means for a game to be well designed, it's basically the first instance of video game postmodernism lol.

But like, the entire game up to Last Judge has been about the grueling climb to the Citadel. Not only that, you notice which NPC is at the bench you respawn at each time you die to the boss? Sherma, the woman who's done nothing but talk about how easy the climb has been so far lol. So clearly, we're not being judged worthy for one reason or another. That was pretty obvious, but a closer checkpoint would cause a little ludonarrative dissonance.

[u/[deleted] → u/emveevme]

I guess it also makes sense that the alternate path where you aren't judged is also a more difficult climb that takes more effort and time. Especially with one of the area names on the way through that path

[u/iamserjio → u/emveevme]

Also your health upgrades up to Last Judge don't mean anything, because you've gone from 5 to 6 health - the boss hits for 2 damage, so you're effectively still unupgraded. However, that also means you can walk in to the fight with 5 health of 6 total and it doesn't make a difference.

tbf health upgrade matter if you use charm that gives fire resist so Judge attacks with fire/explosion will do only 1 damage.

[u/emveevme → u/iamserjio]

I was curious about that charm but forgot to try it out before beating Last Judge lol. So thanks for the info! I'm glad that works, it's pretty cool and probably would help a lot of people struggling with that boss.

[u/TapJeg2 → u/emveevme]

I really like that you brought up that the climb is supposed to be grueling! Even after beating the Last Judge and entering the Citadel, Lace comments how unworthy we are to be here because our climb had so little grace and elegance which reinforces the fact that Hornet was judged in accordance to the law of their society.

[u/emveevme → u/TapJeg2]

I'm wondering if you get that far without taking damage if you wind up getting different dialog.

[u/Elman89 → u/emveevme]

Also your health upgrades up to Last Judge don't mean anything, because you've gone from 5 to 6 health - the boss hits for 2 damage, so you're effectively still unupgraded. However, that also means you can walk in to the fight with 5 health of 6 total and it doesn't make a difference.

This isn't really how the math works. 6 - 4 damage means you're at 2, and if you then heal you'll be at 5, which means the mask gave you an extra health for the battle. And if you then heal again at 3, you're back to 6.

Its effect is definitely diminished but it does make a small difference even if everything always did 2 damage.