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____ is the Most Underwhelming Final Boss [Spoilers]
- Thread starter JaseMath
- Start date
Bosses like this vary for me. If they have a "real" fight before hand I don't mind "cutscene battles" as I call them.
See Final Fantasy VII, X, and Persona 3.
For all the chat regarding Necron from Final Fantasy 9, I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion about Yu Yevon, the evil bed-bug that lives inside Sin.
I'm not saying he had any less relevance to the story than Necron did - I just think the design was very disappointing and anticlimactic (compared with most FF final bosses). Also, he was notorious for being ridiculously easy to defeat.
The leadup of having to dispatch all the Summons felt a bit tedious also. I played the PS2 PAL version originally, which already had the Dark Aeons integrated in to the game, which I don't think were in the original NTSC releases. So, all the dark summon designs just felt recycled at that point.
I'm not saying he had any less relevance to the story than Necron did - I just think the design was very disappointing and anticlimactic (compared with most FF final bosses). Also, he was notorious for being ridiculously easy to defeat.
The leadup of having to dispatch all the Summons felt a bit tedious also. I played the PS2 PAL version originally, which already had the Dark Aeons integrated in to the game, which I don't think were in the original NTSC releases. So, all the dark summon designs just felt recycled at that point.
For sure, I'd have loved something a little more in depth, heck maybe something along the lines of opening him up, eventually getting maybe 1 good clean hit on him (which would have been an epic achievement in itself) but it didn't happen :(
I must not have been paying any attention because I had no idea why I was fighting it or who or what exactly it was. Could you even lose this fight? My memory is blurry but I remember being healed by yu yevon every turn for no explainable reason
I remember this, I think they knew Raziel couldn't be defeated by his human, younger self. I think think instead of an unloseable boss, they should have just Raziel was vulnerable because of the paradox and so you can die.
Dark Beast Ganon in BotW: Looks cool but barely does anything.
Bioshock 1 boss: Just circle strafe.
Shadow of Mordor boss: QTEs.
Borderlands 1 boss: Stand there and duck in and out of one piece of cover.
DXHR final boss: some character you barely know, beaten by doing bullshit that barely makes sense.
Bioshock 1 boss: Just circle strafe.
Shadow of Mordor boss: QTEs.
Borderlands 1 boss: Stand there and duck in and out of one piece of cover.
DXHR final boss: some character you barely know, beaten by doing bullshit that barely makes sense.
I actually thought it served the story perfectly well, I was just bummed I didn't get a white knuckle climax like I did in the first Soul Reaver. It didn't help that the boss prior wasn't terribly difficult either. I imagine things could have changed around to make the fight more interesting but it was clear the devs wanted to give players that feeling of unlimited power before the ending. I was super into it at the time until I realized that was the final boss.
I think Sun should have been the final boss and combined with Red Snake's leader and rewrite the plot a bit. My guess is she was meant to be the final boss in the third town that was cut.
This too tbh, Crash 2 is in my top 10 but the final boss is pretty lackluster
I did almost type when I saw others name Calamity Ganon but I realized I actually like the actual gameplay of the first part of the fight, especially when you factor in the non-100% additions where blighted Ganons enter the fight to make it harder. The 100% battle did not challenge me that much but it's actually the most hardest-hitting Ganondorf in years and that's a damn good thing for the franchise.
Instead, thanks for reminding me of Zelda - it's EASILY Ganon/Ganondorf in Twilight Princess. What a padded, meandering mess of a final boss.
First phase: It's okay, no, it's actually pretty cool. You do the classic tennis racket thing but the attacks are new, the scene is effective, the little narrative twist to the boss form is great.
Second phase: It's alright but I can't help but remember how let down I was, imagining the rebirth of OoT's final Ganon but they just went for a goofy looking pig like original Ganon, even though this is supposed to be the grittiest game of the series. The music is really dorky, the disorienting strategy of Dark Beast Ganon is awesome, but the TP trope of "finding weakspot, then deal damage while Boss is powerless" ruins it.
Third phase: It's a mixed bag. Horse back is cool but now narratively I'm starting to feel the real isolation of this whole encounter. You're in a big empty field with no stakes but some history between Ganon's plan and Midna and maybe Midna just died. The stakes of the fight doesn't align with the epic scope of the battle. It's a personal fight and you're doing it on the biggest damn map in the game with long distance between each other. I always imagine a Hylian observing this from afar and just going "WTF are those two doing?"
Final phase: So laaaaame. All you do is roll, hit, roll, hit, do QTE, and we're still in that huge field but with a really tiny barrier because Nintendo realized this wasn't the proper setting in terms of gameplay and modes of attack, but where did it come from? It tries hard to sell you on this "Now it's personal!" but I just don't get that from it. Ganondorf makes an unimpressive monologue about strength and boastings about his own sword. This incarnation of Ganon is a complete JOKE compared to Ocarina of Time's Ganon, and unlike ALttP we're supposed to be more mature and epic now, so the similarities to the more one-sided storytelling in that old game doesn't save it... and the gameplay just feels static and meh.
It's not like Zant was a better final boss but he kind of is still. He's more like Majora in Majora's Mask, going full berserk and taking you through all the locations. It would've definitely needed more than that fight but everything, Narrative, Gameplay, Boss theme, in the finale, it all falls completely on its face whenever I've played Twilight Princess. The game falls apart here. As good as the credits-twist seems and the emotional pull of it... I still don't understand why that happened either. And in an interview Aonuma said "We felt if X thing happened, it would be sad" and that's just lazy writing.
I don't hate Twilight Princess, but I hate what it did to itself.
Instead, thanks for reminding me of Zelda - it's EASILY Ganon/Ganondorf in Twilight Princess. What a padded, meandering mess of a final boss.
First phase: It's okay, no, it's actually pretty cool. You do the classic tennis racket thing but the attacks are new, the scene is effective, the little narrative twist to the boss form is great.
Second phase: It's alright but I can't help but remember how let down I was, imagining the rebirth of OoT's final Ganon but they just went for a goofy looking pig like original Ganon, even though this is supposed to be the grittiest game of the series. The music is really dorky, the disorienting strategy of Dark Beast Ganon is awesome, but the TP trope of "finding weakspot, then deal damage while Boss is powerless" ruins it.
Third phase: It's a mixed bag. Horse back is cool but now narratively I'm starting to feel the real isolation of this whole encounter. You're in a big empty field with no stakes but some history between Ganon's plan and Midna and maybe Midna just died. The stakes of the fight doesn't align with the epic scope of the battle. It's a personal fight and you're doing it on the biggest damn map in the game with long distance between each other. I always imagine a Hylian observing this from afar and just going "WTF are those two doing?"
Final phase: So laaaaame. All you do is roll, hit, roll, hit, do QTE, and we're still in that huge field but with a really tiny barrier because Nintendo realized this wasn't the proper setting in terms of gameplay and modes of attack, but where did it come from? It tries hard to sell you on this "Now it's personal!" but I just don't get that from it. Ganondorf makes an unimpressive monologue about strength and boastings about his own sword. This incarnation of Ganon is a complete JOKE compared to Ocarina of Time's Ganon, and unlike ALttP we're supposed to be more mature and epic now, so the similarities to the more one-sided storytelling in that old game doesn't save it... and the gameplay just feels static and meh.
It's not like Zant was a better final boss but he kind of is still. He's more like Majora in Majora's Mask, going full berserk and taking you through all the locations. It would've definitely needed more than that fight but everything, Narrative, Gameplay, Boss theme, in the finale, it all falls completely on its face whenever I've played Twilight Princess. The game falls apart here. As good as the credits-twist seems and the emotional pull of it... I still don't understand why that happened either. And in an interview Aonuma said "We felt if X thing happened, it would be sad" and that's just lazy writing.
I don't hate Twilight Princess, but I hate what it did to itself.
Yu Yevon was a summoner that tried to save the people of Zanarkand from the destruction of an ancient war and created Sin to protect them and they ascended into a new dream world.
I think you're meant to assume that after thousands of years of changing hosts, Yu Yevon had just disolved onto a bug like parasite... which I think it meant to a jap at religion fundamentalism being like a parasite or something because FFX isn't exacty pro-religion lol.
Why would this be underwhelming? It is thematically super satisfying.
Arsenal, Final Fantasy Legend 2.
Sure, it's very strong, like you'd want a final boss to be. Bit it's just a security robot with no personality or significance. It's not even unique, there's two of them. The second is defeated off-screen by an NPC that had just been in your party a moment before. It's most dangerous attack simply does random damage, there's nothing you can do but keep your HP high... but it also might not hurt you much on that turn which also kinda sucks.
Sure, it's very strong, like you'd want a final boss to be. Bit it's just a security robot with no personality or significance. It's not even unique, there's two of them. The second is defeated off-screen by an NPC that had just been in your party a moment before. It's most dangerous attack simply does random damage, there's nothing you can do but keep your HP high... but it also might not hurt you much on that turn which also kinda sucks.
OH MAN I FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE.
You just wreck the Leader in one punch and it's amazing. Definitely on my list.
Bethesda RPGs rarely (if ever) have good boss fights but Alduin was particularly disappointing. Then again I guess they're not really the focus.
Totally.
I think a big part of it is pacing. So even once you've mastered a boss encounter and it becomes "easy" for you (even if originally difficult) you still feel the emotion of the encounter. It's why later more successful Bowser fights, and even the final encounter from 64, have transformations, stages, and false finishes to make the whole thing feel more epic.
Sunshine's was literally just "walk around his platform and butt-stomp the shapes" 3 times or whatever. It was easy, and there was nothing to change the pace up, or make you feel that "oh man...NOW it's serious" vibe. It was just....over. And after an often times frustrating, shockingly unpolished Mario adventure that was the followup to one of the most definitive/beloved games of all time? It stung bad.
So close to first post but this is the correct answer.
The entire game is amazing and then a QTE for a final boss? Seriously?
I really wish Demise from Skyward Sword were more challenging. It's an otherwise fantastic final boss fight.
And I guess Talbot from Uncharted 3 sucks. I mean the franchise isn't really known for great boss fights, but compared to Navarro, Lazarevic, and Rafe... wtf was that.
And I guess Talbot from Uncharted 3 sucks. I mean the franchise isn't really known for great boss fights, but compared to Navarro, Lazarevic, and Rafe... wtf was that.
Never forget this guy trying to save us from the ending. He died a hero
Always the first one to come in my mind and I wasn't a big fan of the game either.
The fact that Marauder Shields has taken on a life of his own elevates him from "underwhelming last fight of the Mass Effect trilogy" to "legendary hero who tried to prevent us from seeing the endings".
Never forget this guy trying to save us from the ending. He died a hero
Dark Souls 3 last boss. Killed him first time and didn't even realise he was the last boss. I figured he was like a minion or mini-boss before the real thing. Was a complete joke.
easily Ganon in BotW Nintendo has to answer for this in the sequel, and its weird because Zelda normally has fantastic finales
I disagree because there a ton of Bowser fights were you cant touch him and even run from him but yeah it could have been better too
Im not sure i get it he has a ton of forms and was the hardest battle in the game
Ganon's final form in BotW. Huge ass bosses are always either really terrible or really good, and the majority of the time, they are bad.
The guy is on the cover of the game. Has allusions to DS1's final boss. Has 2 forms. Appears after you defeat the lords of cinder. I don't know how much more obvious a final boss can be, but okay.
Ganon in Breath of the Wild
Joker in Arkham Asylum
Any final boss from Dark Souls
I think most final bosses are underwhelming, and there's a lot that I'm forgetting right now, but at the moment these take the cake for being the worst ever.
Joker in Arkham Asylum
Any final boss from Dark Souls
I think most final bosses are underwhelming, and there's a lot that I'm forgetting right now, but at the moment these take the cake for being the worst ever.
Atlas was precisely who I had in mind when I opened the thread, but Calamity Ganon is absolutely up there as well. He was remarkably underwhelming considering the game you'd played up to that point.
The final boss in Lost Planet was pretty dumb in my opinion. Totally different from the two of the game.
Holy crap thanks for reminding me of Maurader Shields hahahahaha the memes back then were incredible
MGS4 has the worst final boss of all time; other awful final bosses are just wasted space, a QTE or normal enemy with more health, but MGS4 has the gall to a)make it focus on the worst systems in the game, the melee combat and b)literally regress it several iterations before winding up with the modern controls. Absolute trash.
The final boss in Sonic Generations feels like the developers finished the game and then someone said, "Wait. Did we forget to make a final boss?"
Any time a final boss is a non-interactive QTE can fuck right off. Halo 4 and Shadow of Mordor spring to mind but I'm sure there are others.
Also, while the last boss of Bioshock was terrible, I feel I have to give a special mention to Bioshock Infinite as well, which had an amazing foe built up through the entire game in Songbird, but then you have to do a shitty tower defence section instead.
Also, while the last boss of Bioshock was terrible, I feel I have to give a special mention to Bioshock Infinite as well, which had an amazing foe built up through the entire game in Songbird, but then you have to do a shitty tower defence section instead.
