Runbacks are the worst, especially when the boss you’re currently gunning down is also a major pushover. They’ve long existed in video games, but they’re much more common in Souls games that love to test your patience. Apart from having to defeat the boss at the other end of the room, you also need to make your way past a gauntlet of annoying mobs and traps just to get there.
Here are the 5 worst runbacks in Souls and Soulslike games:
Gravelord Nito in Dark Souls
If there’s one boss runback that’s been the bane of everyone’s existence, it’s the path to Gravelord Nito in the first Dark Souls. He isn’t a particularly difficult fight since he’s slow, but he can summon an army of skeletons to crush you if you’re not careful with your positioning.
What makes Gravelord Nito unbearable is how punishing his runback is. You’re trapped in the Tomb of the Giants, the game’s darkest area, where you can barely see anything beyond the small light your character carries. To make things worse, you’re also surrounded by massive skeleton monsters that deal heavy damage and take forever to kill.
Then, to top it off, starting the fight with Nito requires you to leap into a massive pit, which immediately chops off a huge chunk of your health with fall damage.
It’s one of those twisted Souls designs you just have to accept, and the bosses that follow aren’t any kinder.
Maneaters in Demon’s Souls
I could have put Old King Allant and his long elevator ride here, but nothing beats the Maneater fight in Demon’s Souls when it comes to the worst runbacks. In the Tower of Latria, before facing these creatures, you’re forced to climb a spiral staircase with a Mindflayer waiting to ruin your day. That Mindflayer is practically your first boss before the actual boss.
These enemies grapple you, draining a huge portion of your health, and they also have a ranged attack that can knock you out if you’re careless.
And even if you make it past the Mindflayer, you’re still left to deal with the Maneaters, a fight so stressful you’re forced to play cautiously. You’re literally battling at the top of a tower where a single mistake can send you plunging to your death. To make things worse, you fight multiple Maneaters at once. Good luck.
Groal the Great in Hollow Knight: Silksong
If you think The Last Judge has the worst runback in Hollow Knight: Silksong, you clearly haven’t been to Bilewater yet. It’s essentially Silksong’s version of Blighttown, packed with poisonous swamps and mobs designed to waste your time.
The runback here is exhausting. The nearest bench is hidden in a secret alcove, and unless you find it first, you’re stuck suffering through one of the most brutal runbacks in the game.
We’ve made a guide on how to beat Groal the Great, but the first step is making sure you can even reach him safely.
Dragonlord Placidusax in Elden Ring
Elden Ring is one of the rare FromSoftware games with relatively forgiving runbacks. Like Sekiro, most bosses are close to a Bonfire, making the path to them quick.
But there’s one exception, and that’s the secret boss Dragonlord Placidusax. This ancient dragon is trapped in time, but before you reach him, you have to ride a long elevator, dodge hard-hitting enemies, and carefully platform across floating debris. One wrong move here and you’ll either lose precious healing flasks or arrive at the fight already drained.
There’s no Stake of Marika here, just the kind of brutal runback Miyazaki loves.
Mantis Lords in Hollow Knight
Finally, let’s look back at the original Hollow Knight and its infamous Mantis Lords. This is one of the game’s earliest skill checks, forcing you to face all three Mantis Lords in a single fight. It’s a battle of attrition that caused more than a few players to quit entirely.
The runback here only makes things worse. The nearest bench is on the far right side of the map, which means sprinting across multiple zones, dodging other Mantis enemies, and performing precise platforming before you can even try again.
While there are certainly more brutal runbacks across Souls and Soulslike games, these five are the ones that stand out to me as the absolute worst.
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