Agreed. Mostly. (Destiny)

by someotherguy, Hertfordshire, England, Sunday, November 08, 2015, 16:01 (3398 days ago) @ narcogen

One of the best parts of any boss fight is learning the attack patterns so you can ultimately exploit them. But in order to learn them, you have to first experience them without prior knowledge of them, which could arguably be called cheap - "How was I supposed to know he'd tirn into a Snake and eat my car?!".

The line between cheap and a "puzzle" can be very fine, and I think it's very much down to the devs in making a world with consistent rules to help you learn how to deal with new threats. The Souls series obviously springs to mind, as do many Metroidvanias and zelda games (which are totally just 3D ametroidvanias, but people get upset when I say that).

But! I feel like actually failing can sometimes be better than almost failing. Depending on the type of game, an "I'll get him next time" can be much more driving (and satisfying) than an overly forgiving first time. A near miss is nice, but an earned victory is better.