Okay I fucking give up. I've been at this boss for a week now and it's just getting stunlocked over and over again. This is my first ever playthrough of Dark Souls and it's really pushing me to use a guide because the game is shitting on me for not knowing how to "deal" with this boss. Trial and error has only gotten me as far as discovering that I have to go at its leash points but whenever I break one, the boss DOESN'T STOP HITTING ME (even with a high stability shield it eats it all away) and when I either get blown the fuck out or pushed into the holes, the last bonfire is literally another zone away. So now I'm asking this board first before breaking my rule and looking it up online. Game fucking great though, it lives up to the hype. Also, I'm playing it on the 360 version so maybe it's different.

An easier yet thematic boss that fits the area and lore will always be better than a boss that's hard for difficulty's sake and nothing more. And yes, that 100% means that Bed of Chaos is better than the majority of Elden Ring bosses.

People aren't critical enough about video games being front-loaded because it really is a travesty for the back half of a game to be unfinished, less interesting, weaker, and a worse experience.

It's just youtube reviewer brain that prefers games this way, because then they're done and on to the next review quickly and don't really care about the shitty back half.