While the boss fights stand as the major highlight of most FromSoftware titles, there are a handful from earlier games like Dark Souls that can act more as a cautionary tale than a model to be emulated. One that stands out the most is the Capra Demon, which shows the starting point of the developer as its design has evolved to the recent Elden Ring.
More than anything, the Capra Demon shows exactly how important the design of a boss arena can be, sometimes outshining the actual enemy itself. However, this design issue from Dark Souls has been almost directly responded to, as FromSoftware has reimagined a new version of the Capra Demon in an optional location in its latest title.
Dark Souls' Small, Overstuffed Room
When first challenging the Capra Demon, the area leading up to the fight is a little bare at first glance, with only a thin street leading to a small building at the end of the bridge. Most obnoxiously about this run-up is the way that the path forward is guarded by several thief enemies and one of the Souls series' most reviled monsters, dogs. So, it's almost a breath of fresh air when the fog wall leads into an arena with a boss health bar at the bottom and the screen. That is, until the sound of barking starts echoing over the Dark Souls boss music, and the player notices the size of the room.
Not only is the Capra Demon inside of the smallest arena in the game, a room about the size of one where a Dark Souls NPC is trapped earlier in the area, but there are also two dogs alongside it. This turns what will eventually become a run-of-the-mill enemy that players can encounter two at a time later on into a major wall for progress in the early game. The claustrophobic space alongside the lightning-fast dogs can make it almost impossible to properly dodge the Capra Demon's attacks with its dual machetes.
Often, players will either be stun-locked by the dogs and inflicted with FromSoftware's signature bleed status before having the Capra Demon finish them off with an overhead swing. The best method to combat these dogs is to run up the stairs at the back of the arena, but even that isn't entirely foolproof, as all three enemies can still attack the player one at a time. However, without the dogs, the fight is over in a heartbeat, as the Capra Demon's slow attacks are easily dodged and punished. So, this fight becomes more about overcoming the small space and multiple enemies than it is about the boss itself.
Elden Ring Evolved the Capra Demon
In classic FromSofware fashion, the developer took a second stab at this divisive boss in Elden Ring, reintroducing the Capra Demon as the Omenkiller in the Village of the Albinaurics. This enemy also uses dual machetes and is accompanied by several dogs that will join the fight if the player strays too close. However, while there are many similarities between the Omenkiller and the Capra Demon, the main difference is that players are given a much wider area to engage with the boss.
With Elden Ring's combat influencing the Omenkiller fight, this new encounter is definitely much faster-paced, with longer combos that can catch a player off guard. Similarly, the dogs run at a higher speed and can attack more frequently than they could during the original Capra Demon fight in Dark Souls. The result is a heart-pounding encounter that is more of a challenge because of the enemies now, rather than being forced to fight in a closet.
Iteration is a key feature of FromSoftware's Soulsborne formula, reworking and making improvements on older mechanics and features. This is how Elden Ring has managed to offer some of the best control in combat for players across the Souls series, even if some bosses can go overboard in terms of aggression. So, reviving the Capra Demon from Dark Souls to Elden Ring might not be a new concept for FromSoftware's design, but the success of it certainly offers hope that the developer might be able to rework other failed attempts from previous games into the next title.
Dark Souls is available now for PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.