Current Events > Which type of final boss do you prefer in video games? A marathon or a sprint?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I feel like there's two trains of thought here.

The marathon version of final boss battles are usually pretty average difficulty compared to the rest of the game, not throwing many curveballs at you, however they go on for a long time. This variety makes you feel like you/your character has grown and is empowering since you feel like you're going toe-to-toe with the main villain, and provides a sense of triumph compared to the beginning of the game. Basically, it takes a while but is the easy one of the two.

Ex. Ocarina of Time, Super Mario RPG, etc...


The sprint version meanwhile gives you an extreme challenge that's much harder than other fights in the game, with a final boss that can easily kill you or your party in just a few attacks. With this kind of battle, it makes the enemy seem incredibly daunting, making for a really authentic thrill, and being especially rewarding when you do finally win. Basically, this is the more skill-based, more difficult of the two.

Ex. Mega Man 2, Dragon Quest IX, etc...
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Sprints are usually more epic in nature.
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I personally like longer, more forgiving final boss fights. I think when you get presented with something at the end of the game that takes multiple attempts to win, it kind of ruins part of the flow of the end of whatever game it is.

Like, it feels really dumb to make it all the way through a game, then you go through all the action and drama and feels of the game building up to that final battle, only to die and have to do it over and over until you get the trick or pattern of how to win.
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bumpo
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Any boss that gives me this ending:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsvfP5BQxaw

ForestLogic posted...

I personally like longer, more forgiving final boss fights. I think when you get presented with something at the end of the game that takes multiple attempts to win, it kind of ruins part of the flow of the end of whatever game it is.

Like, it feels really dumb to make it all the way through a game, then you go through all the action and drama and feels of the game building up to that final battle, only to die and have to do it over and over until you get the trick or pattern of how to win.

This. You can certainly just say I suck at games, but I DESPISE dying at the final boss for this very reason. It breaks pace, and it feels less epic when you know the final boss has already killed you over and over. The only exception is older retro games, like 2D sidescrollers and whatnot.
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I want a boss battle that matches the tone of the game I'm playing. I was relatively underwhelmed by the final boss battles in NieR Automata, but I was probably over leveled for them. One of my favorite final boss battles was from Persona 3, because that was a true marathon. That bitch took close to an hour to beat.

I'll tell you what marathon battle I don't like - that stupid faux boss gauntlet when fighting Lavos Shell in Chrono Trigger.
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Alucard188 posted...

I want a boss battle that matches the tone of the game I'm playing. I was relatively underwhelmed by the final boss battles in NieR Automata, but I was probably over leveled for them. One of my favorite final boss battles was from Persona 3, because that was a true marathon. That bitch took close to an hour to beat.

I'll tell you what marathon battle I don't like - that stupid faux boss gauntlet when fighting Lavos Shell in Chrono Trigger.

Ughhh don't get me started.

Also, the very first time I got to the final boss fight in Metroid Prime, the game glitched out and Metroid Prime got stuck in a loop of the same three attacks or whatever, preventing you from getting to absorb another of her attacks, meaning I couldn't actually beat her.
However, it being the first time I ever played, I thought it was just part of the fight. I went on for like 45 minutes before I stopped and looked it up online, only to realize it was a bug. Had fun starting that one over.
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A sprint, I don't want to be at it 14 minutes just to maybe perhaps lose and have to start all over.

#Priorities
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FlashOfLight posted...

A sprint, I don't want to be at it 14 minutes just to maybe perhaps lose and have to start all over.

#Priorities

Well no, most games that fit into the marathon category have a final boss that's easy enough that you don't have to worry about dying after all that time. It's supposed to make you feel evenly matched with the villain.
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