Final Fantasy VII Remake Boss Fights: Your favorite? [OPEN SPOILERS - only those who finished the game may enter]

[Gigamear]

The Jenova fight, if only for the music shift in that 3rd phase, which might my favorite moment in the entire game.
I kept wondering how they were going to handle this theme ever since I realized heard how good this ost could be from the demo, and was drawn in when the motif kept drifting in and out of other earlier scenes where Jenova gets mentioned. When the fight started and the bgm wasn't much like J-E-N-O-V-A at all, i thought they fucked it up and went for a more subtle approach.

I was wrong, because having that music transition happen so late into the fight was something I wasn't expecting, and that surprise made the moment so much better. There was a lot of build up with the theme being teased so much in the last third of the game, but I didn't even realize it was culminating to this until I finally heard it.

It actually reminded me a little of how FFXIV pulls off musical transitions at key points in boss fights.

 

[RROCKMAN]

kind of a waste, because you want to get that stagger % up fast due to how insane the damage bonus is the higher it goes. So I wouldn't use either move until later in the stagger.

Click to shrink...

I guess it comes down to playstyle then. I tend to keep Tifa for that. After opening with infinity's end, I Have Tifa use rise and fall to continuously build stagger percent, (switch to Barret and Cloud to charge the ATB to fit in Braver and Maximun fury as time permits) and then finish with starpower charged omnistrike for additional overkill.

But usually for regular mobs Hardedge infinity's end is more than enough, I save the above for bosses.

 

[oldzac]

I don't know what I'm missing about the Rufus fight. It was probably my least favorite in the entire game.

 

[Voytek]

But like I said earlier, there are only so many moves Cloud has and I doubt they would make it so you couldn't stagger him if you missed a weapon skill, which really limits how many skills it could be!

I agree an enemy that instantly counterattacks any move, including special abilities, is interesting. But replaying on hard, and I shredded him. I struggled way more with Hell House.

Click to shrink...

Yeah he's not much of a challenge once you know what to do but that first time you fight him blind was pretty sweet. "This won't work, he dodges that, how the hell do I beat this guy?" I loved that.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

The Rufus fight is dope, almost reminds me of Vergil level encounters from Devil May Cry.

 

[TheZynster]

I guess it comes down to playstyle then. I tend to keep Tifa for that. After opening with infinity's end, I Have Tifa use rise and fall to continuously build stagger percent, (switch to Barret and Could to charge the ATB to fit in Braver and Maximun fury as time permits) and then finish with starpower charged omnistrike for additional overkill.

But usually for regular mobs Hardedge infinity's end is more than enough, I save the above for bosses.

Click to shrink...

Focus Thrust seemed to build the most stagger period, that move would build stagger faster than any move I've ever seen. Tifa was great at pressure and raising stagger limit, but she lacked in actually building it for the much longer fights from what I saw. Focus Thrust causes the meter to spike like a rocket ship compared to anything from Tifa. So I would usually focus thrust away, pressure from Tifa and then on the final focus thrust, switch to Tifa....double unbridled strength.....raise stagger limit by a chunk, true punch for another 30%, switch to aerith ray of judgment and then back for another true punch (forgot what the punch was called) and triangle the rest for insane damage.

 

[Eblo]

I was expecting to be the odd one out with liking the Rufus fight the most. Pleasantly surprised to see others enjoyed the fight as much as I did. It was a far more fun encounter in the remake as opposed to being just another boss like in the OG.

 

[Gallows Bat]

I don't know what I'm missing about the Rufus fight. It was probably my least favorite in the entire game.

Click to shrink...

Same, easy and forgettable. The motorball bike fight was more fun for me!

I think my favourite was hell house. Unexpected and the first real challenge of the game.

 

[snausages]

The Rufus fight is dope, almost reminds me of Vergil level encounters from Devil May Cry.

Click to shrink...

Reminded me of Dante with all the silly shotgun mobility options he had.

I mean technically Dante doesn't do stuff like that, but just give me a trickster-gunslinger style Capcom.

 

[Gigamear]

It's also probably worth mentioning how great the last moments of the Sephiroth fight are. The tempo of One Winged Angel being paced with the meteor countdown to 0 was a great touch.

 

[mudai]

Probably Airbuster because of the many things it did to make me open my mouth and scream "OH MY GOD YES!". First of all there's the music, which is to absolutely incredible (and probably the best ever) rendition of Those Who Fight Further. Then it's the character position, since it was just like in the original. The fight itself was pretty cool too, a real epic encounter and basically a big twist to the original, where the Airbuster is one hell of a joke.

I mean listen to this track. It's so frickin' amazing. I actually pressed the enemy intel button almost immediately, just because I was so in awe when the music kicked in and I saw the position of the party.



My second favorite boss fight was probably Jenova Dreamweaver. That music in phase 3 (and in general the mechanics) was just a pure emotional rush. Then of course Hell House, simply for the fact that those madmen actually put Hell House into the remake. I remember often saying "put Hell House into the remake you cowards", not really thinking that they're going to do it. But nope, they did, because they weren't afraid to put the goofy stuff into the remake as well.

The first fight with Reno was also pretty dope, but really: I think almost all boss fights were a big winner. They put a lot of effort into them. The only one that was somewhat forgettable was probably the second encounter with Abzu. Just the first encounter again with some additional monsters. Yawn. The first encounter with him was pretty neat though. I like how positioning was important.

 

[Gunny T Highway]

Reminded me of Dante with all the silly shotgun mobility options he had.

I mean technically Dante doesn't do stuff like that, but just give me a trickster-gunslinger style Capcom.

Click to shrink...

Yeah he does act more like Dante, but the feeling I get from Rufus is the exact rival type feeling I get from fighting Vergil. Sephiroth is supposed to be that, but Sephiroth is much much stronger than you.

 

[snausages]

What I think VIIR does well with boss fights are really cool and fun gimmicks that are unique to most encounter, so you're not just engaged in a big cure/shield/stagger and attack war of attrition the whole time. How some boss fights will split the party up either with the environment or specific mechanics (Airbuster, Scorpion) or has cool things in it like knocking Abzu off the top shelf with fire spells or interrupting Airbuster's attacks with a well placed Thundara. Even just stuff like taking cover behind containers when big AOEs or projectiles came at you was fun in this game, like you're really engaging with these fights beyond just mashing attacks and selecting abilities. It's not super innovative but it's busy in a non-overwhelming way and extremely cinematic.

It's why some of the secret boss stuff was really disappointing to me cause they just kind of went for big powerhouses there where you heal through and mitigate damage, like any old Final Fantasy boss. The best encounters are the ones that are the most like set pieces which is something I didn't really expect with the game.

 

[Oreiller]

Rufus was my favorite solo fight by far. It felt like fighting the main character from Astral Chain because of the interactions he has with Darkstar.

The Arsenal was neat. I liked how it emphasized positionning so much.

My favorite was maybe the Valkyrie. Not sure but my favorite fights were those with 3 characters. The Whisper bosses are trash though.

 

[Aly]

I voted Rufus but I really love a lot of the fights.

 

[giancarlo123x]

Jenova for sure. I beat it first try but it was such a close battle. And when the fucking classic theme kicked in? Jesus christ amazing

 

[silva1991]

Pretty rare to see a game that pretty much has nothing but decent to great boss fights. As for which one is my favorite, I'm not sure. so hard to choose. Maybe Bahamut.

 

[CountBlack]

I loved the Rude & Reno fight

 

[kaisersephirot]

From best to least best (even almost all of them are great) :
Airbuster
Sephiroth
Rufus
Hell House
Eligor
Jenova
Bahamut
Reno+Rude
Whisper
Abzu
Shiva
Scorpion Sentinel
Reno
Crab Warden
Rude
Valkyrie
Arsenal
Failed Experiment
Swordipede
Roche
Ghoul
Specimen
The Huntsman

 

[Carn]

Airbuster (its the first 'real' big multistage battle) / Rufus (1 v 1, DMC-esque stuff. Also a custom parry-cutscene?) / Whispers (i liked the teaming up) / Sephiroth (because it also had some cool nods to the OG final battle)

 

[spman2099]

For the life of me... I can't remember the Jenova fight. Like, I have been sitting here for a solid five minutes and I can't remember a single detail about it. Bizarre.

The Rufus fight just felt right. Similarly, I liked the first Reno fight. Both of them take the chaos down a notch, which lets you play 'em a little more reactively. That being said, I think most of the boss fights were pretty good.

I think the Rude solo fight ended up being my least favorite fight. It wasn't hard, but it was awkward. Like, I kept getting hit by things that I thought had pretty poor tells.

 

[Perfo]

The Air Buster and the Jenova fight definitely!

 

[airbagged_]

JENOVA.... when the theme hits in the 3rd phase... holy fuck.

 

[giancarlo123x]

Also I want to add this game may have my favorite boss fights since metal gear in its prime. Majority of them besides the terrible ghost yard stuff was super fun and flashy.

 

[m4st4]

How in the hell is Hell house not here?!

 

[Eeyore]

Yeah he's not much of a challenge once you know what to do but that first time you fight him blind was pretty sweet. "This won't work, he dodges that, how the hell do I beat this guy?" I loved that.

Click to shrink...

True enough. Second time through it's like oh hey let me put on lightning + elemental on my armor, etc.

Also I want to add this game may have my favorite boss fights since metal gear in its prime. Majority of them besides the terrible ghost yard stuff was super fun and flashy.

Click to shrink...

I hated Eligor on hard. Hey let's cast reflect on your entire party so you basically have to use prayer to do any healing :/.

For the life of me... I can't remember the Jenova fight. Like, I have been sitting here for a solid five minutes and I can't remember a single detail about it. Bizarre.

The Rufus fight just felt right. Similarly, I liked the first Reno fight. Both of them take the chaos down a notch, which lets you play 'em a little more reactively. That being said, I think most of the boss fights were pretty good.

I think the Rude solo fight ended up being my least favorite fight. It wasn't hard, but it was awkward. Like, I kept getting hit by things that I thought had pretty poor tells.

Click to shrink...

The music is the most memorable thing about it. The actual fight? It's pretty unremarkable. Especially if you equip slow/stop immunity equipment or time + warding materia. She has Vengeance which hits hard plus some moves to clear you away from her but besides those she ain't that hard.

From best to least best (even almost all of them are great) :
Airbuster
Sephiroth
Rufus
Hell House
Eligor
Jenova
Bahamut
Reno+Rude
Whisper
Abzu
Shiva
Scorpion Sentinel
Reno
Crab Warden
Rude
Valkyrie
Arsenal
Failed Experiment
Swordipede
Roche
Ghoul
Specimen
The Huntsman

Click to shrink...

Oh that reminds me of Bahamut on hard. What an absolute ass that guy is once he gets to half health. I liked the concept of Air Buster (nerfing certain abilities of his before the fight) but the ending phase where two of your characters are mostly useless was eh.

 

[Lonestar]

1. Airbuster
2. Sephiroth
3. Rufus
4. Arsenal
5. Behemoth
6. Jenova
7. Reno+Rude
8. Scorpion Sentinel
9. Crab Warden
10. Abzu 1
11. Reno
12. Bahamut
13. Leviathan
14. Hell House
15. Swordipede
16. Rude
17. Valkyrie
18. Eligor
19. Specimen
20. 3 Whispers
21. Abzu 2
22. Failed Experiment
23. Tonberry
24. Shiva
25. Fat Chocobo
26. Marlboro
27. Roche
28. The Huntsman
29. Ghoul

My preliminary list, of at least the ones I remembered (adding in the summon fights and one from one of the harder VR battles). I'm more sure of the bottom and top of the list, than the middle. I really didn't like the Ghost in the trainyards. Having to move around the cluttered debris in the room was not fun, so not fun I put it below the "not really a boss" Huntsman.

 

[Rommaz]

Jenova because of the music.

 

[CaptainBojangles]

God these boss fights are so good

I think either Air Buster or Rufus was my favorite

 

[Sub Boss]

 

[Stinkinmushroom]

Voted Sephiroth just because of the soundtrack. Gameplay wise they were all great. But nothing beats the One Winged Angle theme

 

[Stinkinmushroom]

1. Airbuster
2. Sephiroth
3. Rufus
4. Arsenal
5. Behemoth
6. Jenova
7. Reno+Rude
8. Scorpion Sentinel
9. Crab Warden
10. Abzu 1
11. Reno
12. Bahamut
13. Leviathan
14. Hell House
15. Swordipede
16. Rude
17. Valkyrie
18. Eligor
19. Specimen
20. 3 Whispers
21. Abzu 2
22. Failed Experiment
23. Tonberry
24. Shiva
25. Fat Chocobo
26. Marlboro
27. Roche
28. The Huntsman
29. Ghoul

My preliminary list, of at least the ones I remembered (adding in the summon fights and one from one of the harder VR battles). I'm more sure of the bottom and top of the list, than the middle. I really didn't like the Ghost in the trainyards. Having to move around the cluttered debris in the room was not fun, so not fun I put it below the "not really a boss" Huntsman.

Click to shrink...

Looks like i missed a couple. But mainly, WHERE CAN I FIND MARLBORO?
That is by far my favorite of the FF series.

 

[KeRaSh]

Jenova was probably my least favorite boss fight. Not sure if I just didn't "get" it or if the fight really required you to kill 30ish tentacles to get some damage in on the boss but that phase was super lame.

My favorite was probably the Type-0 Behemoth.
It's one of the most iconic FF enemies.

 

[Knightsoftheround]

I don't think the Airbuster fight gets enough love. It's so good. And the music is unbelievable

 

[Lonestar]

Looks like i missed a couple. But mainly, WHERE CAN I FIND MARLBORO?
That is by far my favorite of the FF series.

Click to shrink...

last fight of the legendary monster series.

 

[TheGreatDirector]

I don't even know. I loved all of them. Even the ones that frustrated me had me completely hooked.

Hell House was probably the moment though I realized just much they completely nailed this game though.

 

[PrismStar]

I love the summon battles. All are great. I like Bahamut's fight the most

 

[Exist 2 Inspire]

Airbuster was the best, Jenova was pretty hype too. The rest was good.

 

[Chasing]

Hellhouse is one of the most fun I've had in the game and is such a great adaptation. It's an amazing spectacle of a fight despite the goofy as fuck premise of you fighting a damn house. The arena context going into the fight is great, the commentary going on for everything you do is hilarious, and the boss itself is a good test of the battle mechanics with all the mix-ups it introduces. And it even throws in a Heavensward reference. It's the peak of what's probably the best single chapter in the game.

 

[Nakenorm]

Can't believe they made Rufus into an absolute badass. That fight was super cool.

Spoiler

It's Hellhouse tho

 

[chandlerbing55]

airbuster music with the choir kicking in near the end is pretty epic. Got to give some love to Valkyrie's music too who I think is from the ace combat guy. Love his music

 

[FunMouse]

Rufus was the most fun. Sephiroth was great but I really enjoyed the solo fight with Rufus.

 

[Chamon]

So many great fights. I cannot pick just one.

 

[Scuttlefluff]

Hellhouse is one of the most fun I've had in the game and is such a great adaptation. It's an amazing spectacle of a fight despite the goofy as fuck premise of you fighting a damn house. The arena context going into the fight is great, the commentary going on for everything you do is hilarious, and the boss itself is a good test of the battle mechanics with all the mix-ups it introduces. And it even throws in a Heavensward reference. It's the peak of what's probably the best single chapter in the game.

Click to shrink...

Oh? What's the HW reference?

 

[Chasing]

Oh? What's the HW reference?

Click to shrink...

Its ultimate in the last phase when it does the fly-by is called Heavensward.

 

[Scuttlefluff]

Its ultimate in the last phase when it does the fly-by is called Heavensward.

Click to shrink...

Oh wow, never noticed! Amazing. My vote goes to Hell House after beating it on Hard last night.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

Hell House
God, what a fun fight.

Also pretty fond of the Arsenal fight with Barret, Red and Aerith.

 

[FF Seraphim]

Rufus fight pissed me off until I realized Bravering him when he reloads is the proper tactic... Didn't know since I gave Barret my assess materia...
Best fight though? That is hard, they are all very fun and the music in all of them are so good.

 

[bottledfox]

I had the most fun fighting Rufus, but Hell House has an attack called "Housing Shock", so clearly it's the best.

 

[FooF]

The Rufus fight an hard difficulty was amazing and it felt like the only boss i actually had to put effort into beating since you had to block and counter Darkstar and you had to look for the right opening on Rufus or he would destroy you. I couldn't just rely on using cure and raise like i did for most other bosses.