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Best Boss Fight this Gen?
- Thread starter BossAttack
- Start date
He's definitely better than the RE2R bosses, yeah. Especially hit-em-with-the-box Birkin, who manages to overstay his welcome in like every single phase of his fight despite how relatively short it is, and the god-awful Awkward Elevator Ride boss.
All my favorite bosses have been mentioned and I'm glad at least one person thought of Cuphead.
I'll add the final boss of Nex Machina and the jaw-dropping shark boss in Astro Bot.
This was the best generation EVER for bosses.
I'll add the final boss of Nex Machina and the jaw-dropping shark boss in Astro Bot.
This was the best generation EVER for bosses.
I literally didn't want to fight him at all. I only went through it for the platinum. It was the most conflicted I've ever been fighting someone in a game. I was so emotional and felt so empty after. My next playthrough, I'm just gonna accept the offer
Almost forgot that I still need to beat him and the Radiance. Looove Hollow Knight but I'm afraid I may be too rusty at this point. I did enjoy fighting him though, although I disliked how I had to sacrifice a notch for the bat thingy charm.
There are so many to choose from. Sekiro, Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 have some incredible fights requiring patience and mechanical mastery. Final Fantasy VIIR shocked me with its thoughtful boss design featuring distinct and unique phases. Hollow Knight blew all of my expectations out of the water and became one of my favorite games of all time in no small part thanks to its exacting and wonderful bosses. Even something like Undertale would be a contender, coming out of nowhere to seamlessly weave combat and story together in a way that subverted expectations and deconstructed a genre while also being a joy to play.
But with all of that I still gotta go with...
Yozora was the perfect tribute to all the wonderful Kingdom Hearts bosses that came before. He's a love letter to everything that made secret bosses in prior entries great, he's the most challenging boss in the series, he's definitive proof that Osaka team can meet and exceed the quality of Kingdom Hearts at its peak. He's a true joy to fight, he's brutal but completely fair, the spectacle of his encounter can be sometimes staggering. Add to that that he was the cherry on top of a gauntlet of some of the best bosses in the series and you can't really get much better.
It's a shame that he's packaged in paid DLC for a game that was somewhat underwhelming and will reach a much smaller audience because of that. I wish everyone with an interest in boss fights could get to experience this fight.
But with all of that I still gotta go with...
Yozora was the perfect tribute to all the wonderful Kingdom Hearts bosses that came before. He's a love letter to everything that made secret bosses in prior entries great, he's the most challenging boss in the series, he's definitive proof that Osaka team can meet and exceed the quality of Kingdom Hearts at its peak. He's a true joy to fight, he's brutal but completely fair, the spectacle of his encounter can be sometimes staggering. Add to that that he was the cherry on top of a gauntlet of some of the best bosses in the series and you can't really get much better.
It's a shame that he's packaged in paid DLC for a game that was somewhat underwhelming and will reach a much smaller audience because of that. I wish everyone with an interest in boss fights could get to experience this fight.
The ones that stuck in my mind are (BEWARE FFXIV SHADOWBRINGERS SPOILERS BELOW):
Lady Maria (Bloodborne)
Sister Friede (Dark Souls III ~ Ashes Of Ariandel)
"Fret not father, we have no need of thy flail. 'Tis only the flame, quivering at misguided Ash. Please, avert thine eyes... I will snuff out these ashes for good."
Agrias (FFXIV Stormblood)
"Oh, divine light! Send us from our sins! Gaze deep into the light!"
(All bosses from Orbonne Monastery and the entire raid, truly. The voice work alone gives me chills)
Innocence (FFXIV Shadowbringers)
"I see now... This is the passion of my ascension!"
Warrior Of Light (FFXIV Shadowbringers)
"For my people - for our world, I'll strike you down."
Hraezlyr (God Of War)
This was simply exhilarating and I hope there's much more of it in the next installment.
Lady Maria (Bloodborne)
Sister Friede (Dark Souls III ~ Ashes Of Ariandel)
"Fret not father, we have no need of thy flail. 'Tis only the flame, quivering at misguided Ash. Please, avert thine eyes... I will snuff out these ashes for good."
Agrias (FFXIV Stormblood)
"Oh, divine light! Send us from our sins! Gaze deep into the light!"
(All bosses from Orbonne Monastery and the entire raid, truly. The voice work alone gives me chills)
Innocence (FFXIV Shadowbringers)
"I see now... This is the passion of my ascension!"
Warrior Of Light (FFXIV Shadowbringers)
"For my people - for our world, I'll strike you down."
Hraezlyr (God Of War)
This was simply exhilarating and I hope there's much more of it in the next installment.
Came to say this.
Absolutely amazing boss. Tough as nails at first but still manages to be fair and makes you feel great for overcoming him. There were bosses I was stuck longer against but none felt better to beat.
Came to say this.
An absolute God tier fight.
Along with a certain enemy Abby must face in Last of Us 2, Father Gascoigne, Baldor
But that pic is from the story choice where you DON'T fight the boss lolGehrman was the highlight for me. Amazing scenery and music.
Loving the mentions for Lady Maria from Bloodborne. She's an easy boss to defeat but goddamn is it a cool fight against a relatively iconic character.
Probably the most fun I've had with a boss this gen.
Direct rip:
because Twitter's video player is awful, but please like/retweet the original if you liked it, Sunhi is a god.
Hey.
I'm working on a strategy, here. My theory is that Gehrman is a hunter, so his weapons have durability, right?
Five hundred more surrenders and he's going to be in a pinch.
Bloodborne is just full of potential picks for me. Father G, Gehrman and Lady Maria for the insane Atmosphere. Ebrietas, Ludwig and Orphan of Kos for mechanics.
I also liked quite a few bosses from the DS3 main game (sadly haven't played the DLCs yet despite having bought the trilogy). Dancer of the Boreal Valley, Abyss Watchers, the Pontiff and the Sould of Cinder ooze athmosphere. Also the princes were pretty great from a mechanical standpoint. But I wanted to give one of them a special shoutout for maybe the closest, most intense first try win I ever managed to eke out: Champion Gundyr. I didn't expect much after seeing him and remembering Iudex Gundyr, but boy was I wrong.
Aside from Souls games, I really liked the last "boss" in TLoU Part II. I can still clearly hear the music cue when it begins in my head to this day. Also the Stranger fight from GoW. I also have very fond memories of the Casino boss fight in Persona 5
I also liked quite a few bosses from the DS3 main game (sadly haven't played the DLCs yet despite having bought the trilogy). Dancer of the Boreal Valley, Abyss Watchers, the Pontiff and the Sould of Cinder ooze athmosphere. Also the princes were pretty great from a mechanical standpoint. But I wanted to give one of them a special shoutout for maybe the closest, most intense first try win I ever managed to eke out: Champion Gundyr. I didn't expect much after seeing him and remembering Iudex Gundyr, but boy was I wrong.
Aside from Souls games, I really liked the last "boss" in TLoU Part II. I can still clearly hear the music cue when it begins in my head to this day. Also the Stranger fight from GoW. I also have very fond memories of the Casino boss fight in Persona 5
There are bosses I enjoyed more personally, but as a BEST boss fight it has to be Sans from Undertale. Fantastic music, a really difficult boss, and like the rest of Undertale does some really neat stuff that you don't expect (getting attacked in menus, getting told how many times you've died, what happens when you spare him, the way you kill him). The genocide run is the best run in Undertale and the Sans boss fight is the perfect closer to it.
Just a spectacular boss battle.
Just a spectacular boss battle.
As a game, FFVIIR. Every boss was super fun and I couldn't wait to see what they did with each one, especially ones from the old game.
I agree with all people saying the whole Kingdom Hearts 3 Limit Cut Episode is this. Because it is. And Yozora is peak boss design. I think it took me around 1 hour per boss, with 2 or 3 being below and 3 being several hours (I think Master Xehanort, Xion and Yozora all took 3-4 hours each to beat).
Anyone who is even remotely interested in hard and really well designed boss fights has to play this. But yeah, you have to play through the whole game on the highest difficulty and then the ReMind DLC as well until you finally get your prize. Said price is a 14 boss gauntlet with many hours of fun though.
Anyone who is even remotely interested in hard and really well designed boss fights has to play this. But yeah, you have to play through the whole game on the highest difficulty and then the ReMind DLC as well until you finally get your prize. Said price is a 14 boss gauntlet with many hours of fun though.
This is obviously From Soft - The Thread, and it's well deserved, so I'm going to pick one that isn't from that developer.
King Dice from Cuphead may be a bit annoying due to rolling the dice, but the he's essentially a boss rush mode with all new bosses. There's like nine different sub-bosses, and some of them could be mains in their own right. One of the coolest battles this generation for me.
King Dice from Cuphead may be a bit annoying due to rolling the dice, but the he's essentially a boss rush mode with all new bosses. There's like nine different sub-bosses, and some of them could be mains in their own right. One of the coolest battles this generation for me.
1. Tachibana Muneshige (Nioh) - He is my absolute favorite boss fight of this gen. The second time you fight him in the field was an absolute blast. Had to switch from my spear to my dual swords and change the way i fought him. At first going the cautious route but that didn't pay off so changed to being more aggressive which is the way to go with this boss. Going from being demolished to him not being able to scratch me was the most satisfying experience i had this gen. Took me so many hours but it was so worth it.
2. Saika Magoichi (Nioh) - Another great one. This time you didn't just have the opponent to content with but also the environment you fought him in. Fire all around you and not much space to move around made this one tricky at first.
3. Okatsu (Nioh) - She wasn't a hard boss fight but she was so fun to fight against. Her moveset was amazing, wall jumping all around you. Just pure a pure joy to fight against.
4. Orphan of Kos (Bloodborne) - My favorite boss from Bloodborne. He is so fast and his attacks feel so violent and unpredictable at first. Took me a while get accustomed to his moveset. Also the big space you fight this monstrosity in gives you a false sense of security.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63692797/Sekiro_Isshin_the_Sword_Saint_cover.0.png)
5. Sword Saint Isshin (Sekiro) - This one was the ultimate test and forced you to remember and execute what you had learned from fighting everyone else. I loved how you had to adept between the different phases when his weapons and attack styles changed. Though the big area where you fought him gave you enough space to have a few seconds of rest and collect yourself whenever you needed a pause from his pressure.
6. Lady Butterfly (Sekiro) - My first boss fight in Sekiro was her. I had a lot of trouble with her and it took me a while to take her down. She teached me a lot about this games mechanics and that running away from pressure was a viable tactic in this game that would help me in all the boss fights still to come. Her second phase where she summoned her illusions was especially annoying because i didn't have many resources to dispel them at that time and had to rely on my shurikens. Difficult but rewarding.
7. Seven Ashina Spears - Yamauchi (Sekiro) - The mini bosses in this game were often more difficult and frustrating than some of the main ones. This one was no exception. I already expected him to have quite the range with his spear but still was not expecting his attacks to reach this far. Keeping him on distance was a not a good idea so i had to switch to close combat and figure out his weak side which was difficult a first because of his wide area attacks. Still in the end i found his blind spot and made good use of it. Died a lot against him but in the end i dominated him and he didn't stand a chance, it felt earned.
8. Genichiro Ashina (Sekiro)
9. Grimm (Hollow Knight)
10. Malos (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)
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oh stick with it, I'm not good at those games, It took me a long ass time but I got that platinum in the end.
Yeah, from Dark Souls 3, really liked
Abyss Watchers
Dancer
Those two fights really had great atmosphere and made one feel somehow sad at defeating them.
Nameless King is really cool but it's first phase is too wonky.
(mechanically speaking, also liked Deacons of the deep and Aldritch).
Besides From, only last Blood and Wine boss comes to mind, kind of surprised me with the sudden difficulty spike but provided a nice capper to the fabulous Witcher 3.
The scenery alone wins this for me 'cause it reminded me of The Boss from MGS3.Gehrman was the highlight for me. Amazing scenery and music.
For me, it's Ruby Weapon (Extreme) from Final Fantasy XIV.
I've never done any MMO endgame raiding before because they usually require an insane amount of time commitment and social anxiety makes doing hardcore group content stressful as fuck but FFXIV deserves to win a thousand awards for making that kind of content actually approachable. The fact that you can tackle endgame raids with zero need for grinding is huge. The game also provides a sort-of medium difficulty tier of fights (aka "extreme trials") that's aimed at getting people like me to actually do stuff like that.
I'm super happy the game does that, because these kind of fights are an awesome experience you can't get anywhere else. There's challenging mechanics that require strict positioning, with enrage timers that force you to maximize your damage while you're dealing with that. It's not the best extreme trial I've played in the game but the fact that it's the first time I've done something like this easily makes it my favorite.
Plus that music is crazy good:
I've never done any MMO endgame raiding before because they usually require an insane amount of time commitment and social anxiety makes doing hardcore group content stressful as fuck but FFXIV deserves to win a thousand awards for making that kind of content actually approachable. The fact that you can tackle endgame raids with zero need for grinding is huge. The game also provides a sort-of medium difficulty tier of fights (aka "extreme trials") that's aimed at getting people like me to actually do stuff like that.
I'm super happy the game does that, because these kind of fights are an awesome experience you can't get anywhere else. There's challenging mechanics that require strict positioning, with enrage timers that force you to maximize your damage while you're dealing with that. It's not the best extreme trial I've played in the game but the fact that it's the first time I've done something like this easily makes it my favorite.
Plus that music is crazy good:
I came in this thread only expecting examples I personally hate but these are actually really good.
I think GoWs Stranger Fight takes the crown
I usually hate boss fights with all of my gut.
Yup, that's one of the reasons I love it.
I didn't even notice lol. Just grabbed a random pic.
One that springs to mind is the Bahamut boss battle in VIIR - the one where Bahamut summons Ifrit.