Shangri-la Frontier has been an absolute beast this season. With quality animation and amazing storyline progression, the anime feels like a real game. This has been seen in all of its characters and especially in its boss fights. Coming to boss fights, the recent episode had Sunraku fight a unique boss that could potentially be a gamer’s dream boss fight. In this article, I will tell you why it is our dream fight.
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Shangri-la Frontier Episode 8 Recap
In the previous episode, Sunraku had to fight 10 bosses as a part of his Unique quest in Rabituza. After defeating all Nine bosses, he is set to defeat the final boss, when Vysache brings in a special boss for his last fight. This is where the recent episode picks up from. He has to fight an Aberrant Woodmage, a level 120 boss.
For a level 31, this is an incredibly difficult task, hence Vysache set a condition that he only needs to last 5 minutes in battle with the boss to qualify as a winner. With his exceptionally honed skills, he lasts 5 minutes and regains his old composure as well.
What makes this boss a gamer’s dream boss fight?
The Aberrant Woodmage boss is anything but easy. Its mechanics are difficult for even players of its own levels if they do not understand how the boss functions. So for a player who is under-leveled, this boss is a nightmare. These elements make the boss as hard as can be seen in the episode:
- As an effect of fusing with a tree, the boss is able to use wood sprouts to attack and subdue its challengers. What’s more is that the attack patterns of these branches are completely arbitrary, making it hard for anyone to memorize them to dodge them.
- It also has chains that debuff the opponents upon contact. The opponent gets inflicted with Drain, Exhaustion, and Speed debuffs decreasing their survivality against the boss.
- It also has a magic staff that allows it to cast additional magic of all types. This staff also negates all incoming physical attacks on the boss.
- All these elements only intensify as the fight continues. The branches and chains increase in number while the magic attacks become increasingly more AOE oriented.
This is a hard boss and that is exactly what makes it a dream boss for any gamer. As we witness Sunraku enjoy these 5 minutes, so would we if this boss was implemented in any game. It is the definition of an annoying boss, however, it gives a challenge to the players which is what any gamer wants in a game. It is very tricky to maneuver, making strategy all the more important.
The boss is easy to defeat – take the staff away and deal damage. But to do that is a challenge that I am sure a lot of us will have fun experiencing. A boss that makes you use every card you hold to defeat it is a boss that will give you the most satisfaction after the fight. This boss is the closest that we have ever come to having a SoulsBorne Game boss animated and as such it is sure to be amazing.
Conclusion
Shangri-la Frontier has been an impeccable experience for a gaming otaku. From realistic RPG experience to a fantasy world anyone would want to be a part of, this anime makes us want to have the game in real life. Particularly now that this boss has been animated. A hard boss that we could fight in VR is a gamer’s dream come true.