Margitt — The Beauty of the First Elden Ring Boss
And why Fromsoftware are masters of their craft
I’m writing this just a bit after beating Margitt for my second Elden Ring playthrough. It’s funny how different this boss feels like this time around, but we will get there in a second.
First Playthrough
In my first playthrough, as a souls veteran, I jumped head first without hesitation into the game. I felt like a king beating the enemies through the first area with ease.
Everything was going well and smooth, I knew where traps would be, in which bushes enemies were hiding for an ambush, I knew when to attack and when to back down and I felt like all my past fromsoft experiences were backing me up, supporting me in kicking this game’s ass.
Everything changed when I reached the first main boss of the game. My ego and arrogance were shattered to pieces, and it was all thanks to Margitt.
Margitt the Fell Omen
So I walk through the fog wall, waiting in excitement to what’s going to come.
A cutscene plays, looking good so far. I get a feeling that this boss won’t be a pushover, since every first (main) boss in fromsoft games proved to be a certain skill test, a very thick wall that you need to hit your head against time and time again, until that wall breaks.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that not only was I right, but that this boss is hard. Really hard. His moveset was fast, unpredictable, he had fast moves that I could barely react to, and delayed moves that I would react too early to. The whole package.
I died, a lot.
My adrenaline started rushing in while learning his wide range of movesets, from slow to fast, from obvious to tricky. And I’m happy to say, it took me many tries before I beat it.
The Point of the First Boss
Now if there is one thing that I learned from first bosses in fromsoft games, is that in each of these games, the first boss is there to teach you something new about the game. In Dark Souls it’s the plunging attack, in Bloodborne it’s the aggressive playstyle, but here Margitt’s point is to teach you something a bit different.
Margitt is there for you to realize that this is an open world game, you don’t have to fight this boss now, and you shouldn’t either. There is so much to do and quite a bit to discover in just the first area of the game, that if you do so, you’ll have leveled up quite a bit and upgraded your weapon, making beating Margitt a much more sensible feat.
Now I was aware of all of that since his difficulty slaps you right in the face with the “turn around and go explore more”, yet I could not let this boss go away with beating me so many times, and as hard as it was, I just could not stop.
After endless tries I beat him, and the feeling of satisfaction I had was immeasurable (I also have recordings of myself cursing this boss and other bosses in german as I beat him).
Second Playthrough
My second time around I wasn’t as arrogant as before. I did go straight to him though, just to see how it feels like fighting him now, especially after fighting so many bosses that were as hard and even harder than him.
Everything was different.
This time around this guy was slow, his moveset felt much more predictable. It felt like he was moving in slow-motion and I was Neo from The Matrix dodging each and every move with ease.
I remembered some of his trickier moves, and I was more patient with the ones I did not remember. Attacking only when I deemed safe. I re-learned his moveset on the spot, since I already fought him, using a mix of my experiences from fighting him in the first playthrough, fighting said harder bosses and of course, patience.
I beat him first try.
Conclusion — My Personal Thoughts
This goes to show the beauty and genius of Fromsoft games.
When you play through the game not only does your character become stronger, but you become stronger.
In a mix of unique and memorable design, you become more knowledgable, learning from your mistakes and applying yourself to become better as a player, better as a person. I believe this is what makes fromsoft games so special, and this is what brings these crazy feelings of satisfaction when you overcome a hard boss.
You start the game as basically nothing, a Tarnished, you go through lots of hardships, fighting your way through stronger, harder bosses, crazier areas and levels fighting spawns of the devil that look like they were born from HP Lovecraft’s worst nightmares, you die countless times, and then reach the end of the game as an Elden Lord.
And you earned it.
If you want to watch me fight the Elden Ring bosses and curse them in german live, make sure to visit my Twitch channel! I’ll be streaming today and Thursday at 3 pm CST time.
And don’t forget check out my Youtube Channel too!
What about you? How was your experience fighting the first boss in these games?
