Obviously. False King is basically the final fight. Real Allant is there for thematic and plot weight. He isnt a real final boss the way Gwyn or Nasandra are. Nasandra is way more disappointing than Gwyn though. Her theme isnt as good either.
Yeh.
Allant and Artorias still remain the best examples of how to do swordsman battles.
The problem is mostly with the moveset with the rest. Gwyn is honestly pretty boring as far as moveset goes. His main thing just ends up being relentlessness so parrying just ends up being the best way to deal with him.
Allant and Artorias are just so fucking fast and have a lot of distance-closing moves along with strong AoE movesets. Most swordsman don't have that and as a result, staying close and circle strafing just ends up being the most efficient way to deal (this applies to all the silly blob bosses as well).
Which... ends up being why I want more "gimmick" bosses. Because there are a certain set of moves that very combat-oriented bosses must have to actually be good, and doing them over and over again just makes it all boring even if on their own they are great.
The ones (I'm specifically addressing swordsman/human-sized bosses, so nothing like Sif even though he's great) in the series that did have this were Allant, Flamelurker, Artorias, Manus, and (Dark Souls 2 DLC bosses)
They make you work to beat them. Most others just end up pretty boring to engage. I mean, I like Lost Sinner, Pursuer, Velstadt, and Mirror Knight, but they are missing critical moves to actually become really challenging and interesting to engage. I can forgive pursuer because you engage him so early in the game, but the others really demand more moves. They're better than any sort of blob boss, but a huge issue becomes that there are so many and they all start feeling the same. Like if you fought Allone, Artorias, and the two Dark Souls 2 Bosses I named in the same game, it would just feel... samey. Which is a problem. That's why you don't really get a lot of them in the same game because of that (or you shouldn't get them). Flamelurker and Manus are more ape-like in nature but still have somewhat similar approaches which is why I list them.
That's why Demon's Souls' boss gallery succeeds so well. The bosses are *all* different from each other. Not one of them allows you to use the same tactic you used for another.
I hope Bloodborne has more gimmick fights but I feel like we'll just get another repeat of Dark Souls 1 and 2.
Before I waste time farming them - has anyone ever seen a Blacksteel Katana drop off the Allone Knights in the the Memory of the Old Iron King? Completely cleared out Iron Keep and Drangleic Castle without a single drop but would still like another so I can dual wield
Yah I got a Blacksteel Katana in the Memory. I assume the loot tables are the same though, so make sure to stack item discovery if you aren't.