SILKSONG BOSS CONCEPT
PROMPT
Design a boss encounter for a popular game.
Demonstrates:
Brainstorming and concepting abilities
Ability to communicate and explore potential gameplay
Player-experience-focused thinking
Completion Time: ~ 6 hours (Concept, art generation, making this page)
BRAINSTORM
Game: Hollow Knight: Silksong
I only have about 15 hours logged in Silksong as of this exercise, so it's possible that some of these ideas appear in later parts of the game that I haven't encountered yet. I also haven't experienced all of the game's mechanics, so these ideas are meant to be early encounters.
Ideas:
Shoving Battle: Similar to Crocomire (a miniboss in Super Metroid), the player needs to land hits on the boss to push it back into an area that causes damage because it doesn't take damage from the player hits. All the while, the boss is constantly trying to pressure the player back into a damaging area.
Specific weak spots on different parts of body, punishment for hitting already-hit areas.
Divider: something that splits into smaller and smaller enemies, worm?
Digs quickly around underground, while digging, only a small body part is visible above ground, needs to be dive-attacked.
Turns intangible and drops damaging projectiles, then becomes tangible for a brief moment. You need to anticipate where that will be and when the tangibility will happen based on watching the projectile patterns.
Pong: enemy launches projectile from the right. You need to prevent it from hitting your wall by striking it and sending it back their way instead. If the projectile hits a wall it triggers a damaging effect (lava, spikes, gas?).
Parry Cage: stuck in a small area and need to parry incoming attacks. Must complete sequence to progress encounter. Memorization element.
Red Light/Green Light: boss looks away and you can move in closer while this is happening, but if you get caught they push you back. Difficult because enemies are also there (maybe they get wiped by the pushback wave too)
Rotating wheel platforms (like in the gray/rainy area): player can only safely stand on platforms rotating around the boss. Boss is in the center and launches projectiles/attacks. Maybe affects platforms as battle goes on, dictating which platforms are safe to land on for periods of time.
Whack-a-mole: boss pops up out of the ground, but so do a bunch of decoys. If you hit a decoy it pops out of the ground and now you need to fight that thing too. Maybe each type of decoy hit results in a different effect.
Top Ideas
In a team setting, concepts would be discussed and a few standouts would be chosen to explore. As this is a solo exercise for myself, I chose two that I think are the most aligned with Silksong's gameplay and one that's the most unique.
Most Aligned
5. Intangible enemy: Might be satisfying to perfectly anticipate where an enemy will be and strike at the exact moment you think it will appear. Would work well with Hornet's dash and quick movement options.
8. Rotating Wheel Platforms: Similar to an idea that's already in the game, forced platform movement will create constant tension and push platforming and decision-making skills.
Unique
7. Parry cage: Restricting the player movement is unique from the other concepts. Could be an optional boss that rewards a special skill, so it can lean into some weirdness more than others.
Choice
Parry cage. As it's the most unique I feel it has potential to pique interest as a concept. I already have a good idea of what it could look like, so putting it together shouldn't take too long and might generate some interesting discussion!
DESCRIPTION
Hornet enters the arena. A soft hissing sound is heard, and a poisonous fog fills the room, except for a small area that hornet can stand in safely. Touching the fog doesn't immediately cause damage, but lingering in it for too long does.
Ominous eyes light up through holes in the background.
Two claws at the end of spiky limbs emerge above Hornet, they clang together and make the "parry" sound that happens when Hornet clashes weapons with other enemies. Astute players might notice that each claw has a visible crack in it. The claws lower to the left and right of hornet. They briefly shimmer and shudder, then quickly strike in at Hornet one at a time.
Hopefully the player picked up on the clue about parrying, but if not, then they can simply jump to avoid attacks. If they do jump over the attacks, the claws retract, remerge, clang together, and the loop repeats.
If the player successfully parries the attacks, the claws react, not necessarily in pain, but the crack in each claw slowly expands.
If the player is hit by an attack, the claws retract and reemerge, and the current cycle starts over. This boss is not meant to be unfair, so if the player is hit, then they're hit only once for a low amount of damage and the sequence starts over. In fact, if the player is unsure of the sequence or feels that they're about to make a mistake, they can simply jump to reset the sequence (though, it may be interesting if the player were required to pogo off of the claws when they do this, or to have gained the hover ability so that they can stall in the air.)
If the player successfully parries all of the attacks in a sequence, then one of the claws shatters and the creature howls in pain. The vulnerable limb lingers for a moment, and the player can land hits or choose to heal during this time. The claws can only be broken through parries. Striking them with the Needle doesn't do anything.
This cycle continues until the final stage starts. More claws appear above the player, meaning that they MUST parry all attacks successfully as they can no longer jump to reset the sequence. The sequences during this stage are short but more intense.
Once the player passes this sequence, most of its claws shattered, the creature retreats permanently back into the darkness and the player is victorious. What was that creature? The player is rewarded with an item. A Tool related to parrying might be interesting as a reward, especially if it introduces an additional risk/reward element to the mechanic. I wouldn't want it to make parrying easier (the player who earns it just proved that they can parry), more that it could reward highly skilled parrying.
Summary
This boss is meant to test player parry skill, and is very light on movement and spacing. The player is trapped within a small bubble of safe space and surrounded by quick-striking claws. The player needs to watch and memorize the attack cues, then parry all attacks in each sequence at least once to win. It's more akin to a skill minigame, like the pin-throwing challenge, than a true boss fight.
STORYBOARD
1. Hornet enters the arena. It's small and there's a hole in the background. (There would probably need to be some barriers that prevent the player from wandering too far to the left or right that are destroyed after the fight.)
2. A hissing sound as fog fills the room.
3. If the player stands in the fog for too long, they take damage (like the heated surfaces in the Deep Docks.)
4. The enemy appears!
5. Her claws shimmer...
6. ...then they clash together, making the signature parry sound and flashing just just like Hornet's parry.
7. The claws lower to Hornet's level. The limbs of the beast are adorned with spines. They would be similar to other spines throughout the game that can't be bounced off of. These keep the player within the bounds of the intended area.
8. The boss begins her first attack sequence. A claw shimmers, Hornet runs to the right...
9. ...and leaps to dodge the attack!
10. Because the player jumped instead of parrying, the boss becomes enraged and begins to slam her claws into the ground, but not to attack the player, only out of frustration.
11. The boss again demonstrates the parry.
12. She repeats the first attack in the sequence...
13. ...Hornet parries!
14. The boss tests the player from the opposite side.
15. Now the real battle can begin.
16. Each claw shimmers without striking, telling the player the order that the boss is about to attack in. This creates a Simon-like, memory game experience. Left, right, left, left, right...
17. LEFT! RIGHT! LEFT! LEFT! RIGHT! The boss attacks in rapid succession. If the player memorized the sequence then they'll be more likely to survive the onslaught without taking damage.
18. Hornet has successfully parried all of the attacks. There's a pause.
19. The beast's claw begins to crack and splinter. *CRK* *CRRRRK*
20. It shatters!
21. The player can land hits on the exposed limb to regain silk if needed.
22. The final stage of the battle gets a little trickier...
Thoughts
Potential Strengths
A unique encounter. This can make it more memorable.
Forcing the player to use a minor mechanic might help teach them more about it and encourage them to use it more intentionally throughout the rest of the game.
Potential Weaknesses
Players might not realize that they need to parry the attacks. It will need to be made obvious in some additional ways that this is how the boss is defeated.
Seems like an encounter that will be way too difficult for some or way too easy for others due to its limited strategy. If you can't parry well then you can't defeat the boss.
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