Final Boss Battles - Thrilling climax or lame cop out?

Hi all,

following my last debate which centred on mutiple plots and endings, i wanted to open up another one on final boss battles. These seem to be the stalwart of single player action/adventure games for years now. Some games do it well, but others it just seems like the inevitable grind at the end of an otherwise very compelling game. Portal 2, Uncharted, etc are examples of the latter.Im generally a completionist but im finding final boss battles more and more arduous to get through. ARE FINAL BOSS BATTLES BECOMING ANTI - CLIMATIC?

Does anyone else agree? Do game climaxes need a rethink? Are there any games that do it particularly well? Any that feel like a particular cop out?

Thats enough questions - let the debate commence!

It realy depend on how the the boss battle is set up.

If it easy to win then it not that good. There need to be an effort into winning the fight else winning the fight is worthless.

Some games are better with bosses (God of War III) its what the games are based around and they make sense. But for most games they are not needed. Like uncharted. They don't work. Some games need the bosses and an ending battle. But most other games don't need them at all

They need to make boss battles less about decreasing the lives of the boss. It has been done to death. Mix it up. Make something happening during the fight that makes it difficult but exciting. Make it in a collapsing bulding so there is a time limit and things are breaking so it isn't just one fight on one plane. Make it at an erupting volcano so that you also have to avoid lava.

I think the endings of MW1 and 2 were epic but those weren't bosses but final sequences that had a fitting ending for the villian. It kept me guessing weather I would succeed or not.

What I HATE is when the final boss is so hard it stalls you on trial and error for hours when all you want is to see the ending. Dragon Age is a perfect example of this. Heavenly Sword is anotherBlack_Knight_00

I hate when they do that and force you to watch unskippable cutscenes over and over again. Like in Onimusha, jeez, that boss had an insta kill attack that didn't matter how far into or how early in the fight you were or how much life you had, he would just pick you up and breathe fire and you are dead. And then they force you to go through the spiral again and watch the cutscene, it's only 3 minutes of your life, but when it grows to 30+ minutes of doing it over and over again, it gets annoying. Lesson: Have checkpoints right before the boss fight not at some random save spot that makes me fight easy to kill enemies for no reason, and have skippable cutscenes, ya, make them unskippable the first time, but after let me skip.

Hate them. I've not played one boss battle that I've *enjoyed* especially on harder difficulties. Gears of War 1 is probably the most enjoyable to me with General RAAM, but otherwise in RPGs or whatever, I think they're just awful. I'm looking at you, Dragon Age 2.

Mass Effect 2 would have been better if it'd just been the suicide mission, then a chain of awesome explosions Michael Bay style instead of the end boss. Halo 1 rocked this, with a pretty thrilling chase.

... but otherwise in RPGs or whatever, I think they're just awful. I'm looking at you, Dragon Age 2.

Sharpie125

I love the bosses in JRPG they are just innovative and fun to fight. On the other hand, I find WRPG bosses are some of the worse bosses from any game. They are so out dated and repeat the same ideal for the boses.

As someone else stated, it depends on the game. Sometimes a final boss just isn't needed for a good climax, but in other games it might be. It is also important that if a final boss is incorporated into the game that it makes sense story wise and that it isn't too easy.

I'm a huge fan of boss fights in general. Great bosses can absolutely make a game for me. They give me a reason to keep coming back to play it again and agian. The problem nowadays seems that final boss fights aren't so much difficult or interesting as just broken up into a lot of parts. It seems every final boss fight is prefaced by a boss that you think is the last one, but is too easy, so they give you another that's not much harder, but then break that one into peices to give you the illusion of an epic scale.

I'd rather if games would focus on one part for one final boss and make it really great.

I've found that most of the time, final bosses are awesome.

I guess it depends on the genre. Platformers and RPGs need boss battles.

Totally depends on the game. Some games have this recurring antagonist and this epic build up to a finale. I really like when the last boss is challenging, but not cheap.

However, there are some games that just shouldn't have end bosses. Uncharted comes to mind, as both of them are terrible. It didn't fit the game, and while Lazarevich in UC2 gained some powers, it still just felt like fighting a normal enemy and so you just ran in a circle. There's also one at the end of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, which is basically a fight where you just keep getting rid of a normal enemy's armor pieces. I think a game that doesn't have boss fights to begin with suffers when it tries having an ending one (minus Alice: Madness Returns). The escape sequence in the original Halo was the perfect ending substitute for a boss fight, as someone else mentioned.

Capcom and the Japanese are the WORST at boss fights, 90% of them now a days consist of shooting glowing red orbs on the enemies body. I can't even remember the last game that had an enjoyable boss fight. most games either avoid boss fights completly or it's one big gimmick.

with the common "this guy is my enemy. i must fight him" conflict, there arent a ton of different ways for it to go. you can make a good storytelling argument against it, but storytelling isnt always the main goal. for instance, dmc3 was all about combat and i couldnt imagine the letdown if i went through the whole game and didnt get a big fight at the end.

but yeah, storytelling game developers should always keep in mind that a boss fight is one of many different ways to handle conflict. all stories dont have to be the hero vs the villain. combat doesnt have to be at the heart of everything in every game either.

Final Fantasy XIII- OH LOOK I'M A GIANT SPINNING FACE LALALALALALALALA

Everybody thank Mario for the awesomeness of his bosses. Maybe thank Zelda too.

Every disappointing final boss fight that has ever existed is negated by the mountain of awesome found at the end of Bayonetta. A struggle of truly biblical proportions that makes any of the God of War boss battles look about as exciting as coverage of the Winter Olympics.

Nier - Shadowlord fight

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Deko fight

DoDonPachi Dai-Fukkatsu Black Label - Zatsuza fight

Bayonetta - Jubileus fight

No More Heroes - Henry fight

There's still some hope left for epic finales.

Yeah that Jubileus boss fight in Bayonetta was CRAZY EPIC. Fantastic game.Archangel3371

The Jubileus fight was somehow even more over-the-top than the rest of the game, AND IT WORKED!

Only if the final boss is interesting. You should want to not have to kill a compelling villian.

Only if the final boss is interesting. You should want to not have to kill a compelling villian.

Megavideogamer

It realy depend on how the the boss battle is set up.

If it easy to win then it not that good. There need to be an effort into winning the fight else winning the fight is worthless.

wiouds

Some games are better with bosses (God of War III) its what the games are based around and they make sense. But for most games they are not needed. Like uncharted. They don't work. Some games need the bosses and an ending battle. But most other games don't need them at all

seanmcloughlin

Borderlands - perfect example of terrible ending boss battle. what a joke.

Portal - perfect example of better ending boss fight

Totally agree about uncharted 2.

Not all games finish with a boss battle, some just conclude with an exciting scipted event or quick-time events in a cutscene.

My favourite boss fight was the final boss in Dead Space, and that was an awesome ending.

Most single-player games involve going up against a villian. Not having a final encounter with said villian would leave me dissatisfied. Of course some game series, like Halo, have you facing an opposing group or organization instead of an individual.

Final Fantasy XIII- OH LOOK I'M A GIANT SPINNING FACE LALALALALALALALA

October_Tide

I see your spinning face and raise you a thingamajig.

A lot of RPGs are guilty of this, but I hate defeating the final boss in one hit or one turn.

Like really?

I guess it depends on the game. Duke Nuke 'em sure, but games like Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six should not. In some RTS's they make sense as it could be disguised as a counter attack. Personally, I would like to see developers start using their head to come up with something a bit better than a boss battle to end a game. RSE used video to end the games showing the results of your actions during the campaign which wasn't so bad.

[QUOTE="October_Tide"]

anthonycg

I quit playing Final fantasy after X-2. Wow, bosses have really gone downhill since Sephiroth's one-winged angel form.

Every disappointing final boss fight that has ever existed is negated by the mountain of awesome found at the end of Bayonetta. A struggle of truly biblical proportions that makes any of the God of War boss battles look about as exciting as coverage of the Winter Olympics.

Business_Fun

More often than not, final boss battles are disappointing, lame, and unimaginative.

I don't think they need to be particularly difficult or overly challenging to be good. They just need to be interesting and fun. Portal is a prime of example of final boss level done right. It makes the game end on a satisfying note.