Let me just say flat out that gear is important in this game. Then, I encountered the area known as Gideon Rock, which was a microcosm of all I like and dislike about this game. I was pleased to be done with him and to be moving on with my life. He only did it once or twice in my successful run. In the case of Little Johnny, it’s when he vomits the little spiders that shock you.
I find in a good boss run, the boss doesn’t do the one move I hate that often. It’s a thing of beauty, and I really wish I could do it. You’re supposed to parry him, and I’ve watched videos of people parrying him into oblivion. I’ve never had a problem with Gwyn, for example, and others took five hours to fight him. Side Note: One thing I like about these games is how different people deal with different bosses. There is always one or two moves by a boss that are troublesome for me. Little Johnny came down to sheer stubbornness on my part and something I mention often in playing Souls/Souls-like games: luck.
That’s how unmemorable he is, and I wouldn’t even call him a boss. I mean, I had to fight him because I got out of the detention area, but when I saw his name, I was like, “What the fuck?” Even after reading about him and watching the video, I did not remember him. In fact, in looking up the bosses for this article, I didn’t even remember the first boss at all. Who, by the way, is officially the third boss, but I refer to him as the first boss because the other two were tutorial bosses. I’m about halfway done with the game, which answers the question of whether I beat the first real boss or not. I’m still dealing with some shit physically, but I’ve been playing The Surge 2 on and off.