Gerson's role in introducing new players to secret bosses
Many of you have probably already noticed that Gerson/Hammer of Justice stands out from the other Shadow Crystal bosses. He has a major role throughout the entirety of the chapter, he's the only one not trying to hurt the gang. Most importantly, his fight is REALLY easy to discover.
I have a theory that this is intentional. Think about it from the perspective of a new player, experiencing the game without any guides. Considering how much you have to go out of your way to unlock Jevil and Spamton's boss fights, it is very likely that a new player won't even be aware of their existence. The Knight is the only guaranteed fight, but with how difficult it is, most players will just assume it's a scripted loss.
Now, how is Hammer of Justice any different? Well, there's a couple of reasons:
- The fireplace sign in Gerson's study instantly informs the player of the puzzle's existence, and motivates them with the promise of a powerful weapon.
- Gerson's study functions as a central hub from which all other paths branch out, making the act of backtracking much more intuitive since that's something you already do while progressing through the main route.
- Getting the climbing claws from Jackenstein further encourages the player to backtrack to explore previously inaccessible paths.
My theory is that the puzzle to unlock the Hammer of Justice fight was deliberately made easy because it's meant to be a tutorial for new players on how to unlock secret bosses. I assume Sean will play a part in this as well, hinting toward the existence of the other bosses if you talk to them in Chapter 5 with only the Gerson crystal.
It makes sense from a story perspective too, considering Gerson's speech about choosing your own path. By fighting him. you gain a vital piece of knowledge about the existence of other bosses, thus letting your choose your own path.
TL;DR: I think Gerson's chapter 4 puzzle was deliberately made easy to teach blind players about secret bosses.