The upcoming action RPG Phantom Blade Zero is earning praise for its approach to boss fights, specifically addressing a common point of frustration for players: the "Scrub Tax." This term, coined by IGN writer Travis Northup, refers to the unnecessary padding of time experienced after dying in a game, such as long walks back to a boss arena, unskippable cutscenes, or lengthy loading screens.
Northup argues that while the challenge inherent in difficult games is rewarding, the practice of forcing players to repeat entire boss phases after a single mistake is an "irritating procedure" that wastes valuable time. This has become an accepted, albeit unwelcome, aspect of many modern action games and soulslikes. He cites the example of Lies of P, where a slow first phase of a boss fight led to significant frustration due to the need for repeated playthroughs of non-challenging segments before reaching the actual difficulty spike.
Phantom Blade Zero, developed by S-Game, distinguishes itself by minimizing this wasted time. The game's design allows players to quickly re-engage with boss encounters after failure, maintaining momentum and improving the overall pacing. This approach, according to Northup, allows developers to implement more daring and challenging boss mechanics without alienating players who are already investing significant time in learning the encounter.
"Difficulty is a good thing!" Northup concedes, but he posits that artificial difficulty derived solely from extended repetition is less engaging than genuine mechanical challenge. He suggests that by removing the burden of replaying early phases, developers could focus on making later boss rounds more brutally difficult, knowing that player failure incurs minimal time loss. This philosophy, he believes, not only benefits the player by reducing frustration but also unshackles developer creativity, allowing for more ambitious boss designs.
While not advocating for the complete removal of difficulty, Northup proposes that Phantom Blade Zero's checkpointing strategy for boss fights offers a compelling alternative. He notes that even games like Elden Ring, while shortening runbacks, still retained the repetition of boss phases. He concludes that forcing players to restart from the very beginning is a "cheap way" to inflate difficulty, and that Phantom Blade Zero's approach might lead many players to a similar revelation about their own gaming experiences.