Board 8 > What's the hardest non-optional, non-Final Boss boss fight in a game

(+) Yeah! (+)

If it's a boss you HAVE to fight it can't be that hard, right? But sometimes they go out of their way and make even a mandatory battle super hard.

I remember the Prometheus and Pandora fight in Mega Man ZX giving me so much trouble it left quite the impression on me. Off the top of my head, fights that took me a very long time to get through (as in I had to come back after at least several days and regroup before I beat it) were the Elder Wyrm from FF12 and the Hell Genie from Dragon Quest VII.

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Seymour Flux stopped multiple of my FFX runs as a kid, but on my replays now I have no issue with the fight.

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Barthandalus 1.

Off the top of my head Riku Ansem in KH and Young Xehanort in DDD

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fresh off of Dread Hard Mode and I definitely fear Escue more than the final boss

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Sleeping Table was a monster in Persona 3, but I wouldn't say it's the hardest boss because he becomes much more manageable once your team learns Mediarama.

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Golem twins maybe?

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Velius

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Some bullshit in trails in the sky 1 or 2 definitely took me over 50 tries so something from there. Maybe the worms that earthquake you but I think those are optional

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Ornstein and Smough

They're a fantastic boss fight but also I hate them

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Owl from Sekiro. Guardian Ape is really hard too.

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Ornstein and Smough, maybe

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Fire Leo - Viewtiful Joe
Boost Guardian - Metroid Prime 2

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Spiky Tiger from Secret of Mana.
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My guess would be an early game boss. I know there were several games that had a tough boss early on when your characters were barely leveled.

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guffguy89 posted...

My guess would be an early game boss. I know there were several games that had a tough boss early on when your characters were barely leveled.

shoutouts to Jaeger leader in Sky SC (the only fight that should remotely qualify in those games). Not only is he bullshit and you're underleveled even with experience scaling, you lose access to the shop before facing him so your healing capability is very limited

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Roxas in KH2 is probably up there at the very least when speaking relatively to the rest of the game.

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Alma's first fight in Ninja Gaiden X-Box probably. That one took me forever. Maybe it was just because I wasn't very good at the game yet though.

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The two Ramza solo fights in FFT were my first thought, considering they're infamous for making people restart the entire game to beat them. But that's arguably more of an oversight with the way game saves work than genuine difficulty; they're not hard on subsequent playthroughs at all.

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Lightning Strikes posted...

Owl from Sekiro. Guardian Ape is really hard too.

Technically that first one is optional.
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I definitely feel like I cheesed Guardian Ape in Sekiro in a way that isn't exactly how the fight was meant to go. Basically chipped away at him forever but I was getting rolled over in anything approaching a straight-up fight. Definitely a good answer and might be mine as well.

Other good shoutouts ITT: Sleeping Table, Ornstein & Smough

Gattuso in Tales of Vesperia is a wake-up call too.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...
On a serious note, old Steps of Faith had an absolutely crazy fail rate because of its length and unique mechanics. People are still weirdly scared of it even though it's been nerfed into the ground.

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Personally, The Verminator from Secret of Evermore was a pain in the ass as you had to use magic or a leveled up spear throw. All my feeble mind could comprehend was physical attacks which were useless in the battle.

I was a very stupid child.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

Too powerful

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Was just reminded of Four Kings in Dark Souls on NG+. Aaaah

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The dude you fight in Chrono Cross at the end of the dungeon where you go to the future zone. Miguel?

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Is he that hard? He has one of the coolest scenes.

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Ornstein and Smough if it's your first souls playthrough.

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Duo bosses are often a bit hard to deal with. Like the DMC3 ones.

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Pirateking2000 posted...

Too powerful

An absolute monster.



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to be fair, cape westwind took me longer than any other trial to beat

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/280137639384842241/487326917360615434/party.png

because there was no duty roulette queue at the time

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_stingers_ posted...

Some bullshit in trails in the sky 1 or 2 definitely took me over 50 tries so something from there. Maybe the worms that earthquake you but I think those are optional

Cassius from 3rd

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Dhoulmagus in Dragon Quest 8

Multiple turns and has several moves that hit more than one party member. If you've been fighting every encounter possible by the time you have access to this fight, it's likely Angelo still won't be a high enough level to know Multiheal.

Easily fixed by going metal slime hunting until 30 so that Angelo learns Multiheal but chances are you won't see this coming and will either wipe or kill him after Hero and Angelo run out of MP from single-target healing spells alone.

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One boss I gave up on was in Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, the final level, second time through the game, where you have to defeat Nebiroth with the holy cross. And that's on Normal mode... (and on Expert or Professional? Forget it)


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Gattuso in Tales of Vesperia

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Mot in SMT3 has the potential to be, although it's less difficult and more sometimes you just get screwed by the RNG.

Sekiro

Sword Saint Isshin

the giant gorilla in sekiro felt like it was supposed to be easy but it took me forever to figure it out

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One of the mandatory Apprentice fights in 7th Saga. I know there's at least one. I don't remember if there's more than 1.
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Nobody said Matador yet? Miguel was definitely a tough one too

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matador was more of a wake up call than an actual hard fight

you could squeeze by being lazy before then, but by matador you BETTER have buffs/debuffs or its pain train time

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Okay NOW I'm going to say Persona 5 Royal Shadow Okumura.

'cuz fuck that guy in particular.

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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Sekiro

Sword Saint Isshin

Ok I didn't read the topic clearly

Answer has become a lot harder now

It's Roxas from KH2 Final Mix

I honestly thought you were supposed to die as part of the plot in that fight. He literally shredded my health in a matter of seconds and I couldn't believe my eyes at first. But that is also the fight that taught me how to play the game the correct way and prepared me for what is to come in the data Organization XIII battles and Lingering Will.

yeah roxas is an absurd difficulty spike compared to base kh2

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

An absolute monster.

This is Twintania you harlequin

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agesboy posted...

matador was more of a wake up call than an actual hard fight

you could squeeze by being lazy before then, but by matador you BETTER have buffs/debuffs or its pain train time

I agree, Matador is more of a wake up call than the toughest boss fight in the game. Thor and Mizuchi gave me the most trouble on my first playthrough.

Edit: mistook Yurlungur for Mizuchi but who can blame me here

Ornstein and Smough deserve mention for being a difficulty spike in a game that's already difficult

Dhoulmagus is a decent choice too, the game even assumes you'll die after beating his first form because you don't have to fight it again after beating it and wiping

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Kintaro in Mortal Kombat 2 comes to mind.

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