soulslike design tip #2344: the general difficulty and strategic challenges of an area's bosses should be telegraphed ahead of time by the enemies, encounters, and general damage output of the area itself.

i'm playing through a soulslike right now that i ~really really~ want to love, and i cannot get over how one of these areas is populated almost entirely with basic soldier/hollow enemies that die in a single combo, but the bosses have magic that one-shots you through the wall

to improve this area, i suggest:
- match damage/hp output ratios of bosses to enemies
- enemy encounters with actual magic-thru-wall sniping capacity
- create encounters that teach you to not try hiding behind walls at all
- prime the player with mechanically-similar challenges

Demon's Souls' Maneaters, while extremely difficult, still seem more fair because they likely don't ohko the player any more readily than enemies in Latria. You've already fought flying enemies with ranged attacks on bridges up to this point. You know how AoEs work, etc.

I see a lot of this stuff in indie soulslikes- I know the people making them will never see this, but matching the game loop and mechanics count for shit when the encounter design and telegraphing make no sense. Every moment, right until the end credits, should be the tutorial.