While fan-favorite bosses from the Dark Souls series are usually defined by the deliberate combat and high difficulty, the spectacle of these encounters can't be discounted. However, some boss fights like the Ancient Wyvern in Dark Souls 3 lean too hard into that spectacle, leaving the combat to suffer as a result.
This spectacle can make for a stellar introduction to the fight, especially as the arena tilts the camera up to watch the Ancient Wyvern make its entrance and immediately try to kick the player to death. The only problem with this form-over-function is that while this can be one of the more visually interesting encounters in Dark Souls 3, retrying on death or going back for a second playthrough loses a lot of that initial impact.
The Long March to the Ancient Wyvern's Weakpoint
Stripping down the technical and mechanical aspects of the Ancient Wyvern to the bare bones reveals two key factors in why this is often regarded as one of the most disappointing bosses in Dark Souls 3. The first is the long path the player needs to take in order to get in position to actually do any real damage to the Ancient Wyvern in the first place. This starts right out from the fog wall to the boss arena, where players are immediately greeted by the boss and then have to walk under its feet before finding the first safe room that is partially vulnerable to its fire breath.
After evading the Ancient Wyvern, the next main obstacle appears in the form of the Serpent-men who inhabit the majority of the Archdragon Peak area. These enemies aren't impossible to fight, but their ability to stretch their heads forward and attack in long, hesitant combos can easily catch a player off guard. While the Serpent-men are manageable, there are tons of them sprinkled throughout the boss arena, all while the boss continues to breathe fire over and around each new section of the trip.
When actually fighting the Serpent-men, each attempt at this trip can take several minutes, essentially acting like the normal run-up to a boss, but with the added bonus of having fire breath block progress periodically. Trying to run past these mobs can be worse, as their long reach makes it hard to actually get out of their range while running away from the off-screen enemy. Unless the player is using one of Dark Souls 3's overpowered weapons and blasting through enemies, then each attempt gets more and more frustrating while getting less fun. All of that is without even considering the actual final attack on the Ancient Wyvern.
One Inconsistent Plunging Attack
To cap off the fight, when the player finally reaches the final platform hanging right above the Ancient Wyvern's head, it only takes one attack to finish the fight. This is another example of the spectacle being perfectly over-the-top, as the player plunges down to drop their weapon into the Ancient Wyvern's head and bring the boss down with a single hit. However, as impressive looking as this is, especially the first time a player manages to get the hit, it can be a huge disappointment to turn an Ancient Wyvern into one of Dark Souls 3's easiest bosses.
On top of this plunging attack being disappointing due to the whole fight not living up to dragons previously being the hardest fights in Dark Souls titles, the mechanics of it don't always work. There is a way that the Ancient Wyvern can turn its head up, attempting to breathe fire on the player, which can cause a miss if the plunge is attempted while the head isn't in position. In addition to the more warranted misses, sometimes the plunging attack just refuses to connect, even though it appears to land directly on top of the Ancient Wyvern.
The result of these different aspects coming together is one of the best-looking fights in Dark Souls 3 that quickly becomes less impressive as the run through the enemies becomes tedious and frustrating. It's hard to throw out a possible fix for making the end of the Ancient Wyvern fight more interesting without redoing the puzzle from Demon's Souls' Dragon God. Fortunately, the DLC boss Darkeater Midir later makes for a much more interesting encounter against a giant dragon, with an equally giant health bar to match its size.
Dark Souls 3 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.