Stop us if you've heard this before:

FromSoftware has nerfed Radahn after months of players complaining that he's too difficult, only to cause a rift among gamers who believe he was a worthy challenge and those who think he was over-tuned and needed to be dialed back.

Yes, FromSoftware has once again turned to the big dial that says 'Radahn Difficulty' on it and dialed it back, only this time, it's done so with "Promised Consort Radahn," the final boss of Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

Back in 2022, Elden Ring players were vocal about the trouble they were having with the "General Radahn" boss fight in the base game. Ultimately, this led to a series of patches in which Radahn was nerfed and then re-buffed as FromSoftware tried to get his difficulty to a "tough-but-fair" level.

In Shadow of the Erdtree, "Promised Consort Radahn" is the final boss of the DLC, and as anyone who played the game knows, he is exceptionally difficult. His first phase is already quite challenging, but the difficulty is ramped into overdrive when he enters his second phase and all of his attacks are followed up by streaks of holy damage, basically causing the entire arena to turn into a blinding laser show.

The patch states about Promised Consort Radahn:

Changed the action pattern when the battle starts.
Adjusted some attack moves.
Decreased the damage of some attacks.
Decreased stamina damage of some attacks.
Decreased the attack range of some non-weapon-based attacks.
Improved the visibility of some attack effects.

According to gameplay footage posted to social media in the wake of the patch, the most obvious difference is that one of Radahn's attacks can now be dodged, when pre-patch it could not be avoided. The visual effects in the second phase appear to be less of an assault as well.

They nerfed Radahn's cross slash lol. It's a bit slower now. pic.twitter.com/ed0ufYvKEQ

— Regole (@RegoleSlayer) September 11, 2024

Promised Consort Radahn post-changes.

Some combos seem to be noticeably slower.
The damage changes probably are there, but I haven't noticed them, but didn't notice them.
The visual effects are much easier on the eyes.
Very noticeably better performance.

Opinion below. pic.twitter.com/TBDzxhmvWU

— Spooky Nephilim 🍉 (they/them) (@GhostLesbianWiz) September 11, 2024

There is predictably a swath of gamers teasing anyone who beats Promised Consort Radahn now that he's been nerfed. Dexerto even published an article from a gamer who described the nerf as "an annoying betrayal."

On the other side, there are gamers who believe a nerf was necessary, and toning down some of the fight to make it fairer and less of a visual nightmare is an unambiguously good thing. It's the exact same discourse that played out in 2022 when General Radahn was nerfed.

Next person to beat Radahn on the TL getting hit with the anthem https://t.co/cT1W5RkDul pic.twitter.com/NKfgEtNg9E

— z a k (@zakzeppeli) September 11, 2024

Thus, the duel of the "Git Gud" crowd and the "boss quality" crowd rages on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.