This is it, the top 5 best boss fights of all time. I am usually open to suggestions on my choices for lists such as these, but you’ll find it an arduous uphill struggle to get me to concede on any one of the following phenomenal experiences, and true triumphs in perfect game design.
Spoilers follow for most of the following entries.
Yes, the games character dialogue is very clunky as it is all delivered in the form of sometimes extremely forced rhyming couplets. The battle music and fight itself for this entry, is a stunning and well realised masterpiece. Nox appears as a young woman transformed into a sea dragon to stop protagonist Aurora from continuing her quest to bring light back to a cursed fantasy world. Nox is introduced originally as Aurora’s sister but is later revealed to be the daughter of Umbra, an evil witch Queen who wants only to rule a world swallowed by darkness.
This fight sticks so well in my memory partly because it was one of the first games I experienced on Playstation 4, and also because the orchestral battle music sets such an epic scene and has incredibly high replayability that I still find myself listening to it occasionally now, five years after the game launched.
Whilst he isn’t the final boss of this frantic pulse pounding one-off Metal Gear game, Jetstream Sam surely is one of the greatest swordsman versus swordsman showdowns in video gaming history. Taking place at the edge of a nameless road at the heart of a Colorado wasteland, Raiden and Sam battle for supremacy to see which of them is best. Whilst the story dictates that Raiden emerges victorious so the game plot can progress, on fairer terms this would have been anyone’s fight. If you haven’t mastered the ability to parry yet (Or if you play on easy mode like me) then you will have no chance against Jetstream Sam, but as the fight can be so short yet so satisfying, you will find yourself unable to give in until this mighty foe has been well and truly defeated.
Giving Raiden his sword, locked within its sheath as he dies, Sam does get the last laugh in that respect, but of course the blade is unlocked and brought to Raiden by Blade Wolf in the final missions’ climax to help him secure victory and save the world.
Easily one of the most over-the-top fights in gaming history, Chakravartin is a deity of boundless strength who is roughly the size of a Solar System. Yes, you read that right. This is a fight that many who played Asura’s Wrath will not have experienced as it was locked away behind a pay wall of DLC, even though it serves as the true ending to the main game.
The explosive atmosphere and dramatic feel of this rather lengthy battle is truly out of this world, with the titular Asura gaining access to more power than even he had ever dreamed of possessing. Set off on a rampage (This time) when Chakravartin threatens Asura’s daughter, his screaming wrath sees him flying across the galaxy towards the boss, gaining bigger and angrier as he approaches. The fight eventually boils down into having to get to Chakravartin whilst dodging his multitude of ranged energy attacks. This may not sound like anything I’ve described thus far about this fight, but similar to the Mechanical Spider entry from earlier, you absolutely have to see it to believe it with this encounter.
Whilst I am tempted to give this spot to Leviathan, I have decided to give it to Shadowseer in order to favour challenge over spectacle, though it certainly isn’t lacking in that regard! I rambled enough about how great this fight is in my top five Final Fantasy boss fights a couple of weeks ago, so if you are in any doubt why I think Shadowseer is the best Final Fantasy boss fight, you can check that out at your leisure.
Another sort of cheat entry, but I totally don’t care, these are the best fights (Same antagonist but in different forms) in this game, and gaming as a medium. The score for these battles is truely flawless and the escalating tension and variety in attacks that Sirus aka Emperor Griffon employs against you are beautiful to watch and lethal to be hit by!
This cataclysmic fight spans four forms, the first at the end of chapter 6, and the other three at the end of chapter 7. Sirus fights partly for himself, but mainly because he is driven by his venomous hatred of all humanity (Relatable) after his Queen is murdered. Think Jon Snow, but much more powerful and not blinded by ill-placed loyalty.
I won’t discuss more about the story beats behind him, as Dark Chronicle is an absolute must play for anyone and I don’t want to spoil it for those going in blind (Anymore than I have).
There we go! My top 5 favourite boss fights in gaming ever. You may have noticed I often list the battle music among my decisions to put these fights in the top 15. Music in video games is one of the most important aspects for setting the developers intended mood, and when implemented properly, can take a near-perfect experience and remove the ‘near’.
I definitely want to hear yours in the comments and / or on Twitter @MaliceVER. Thank you for reading my choices and I hope you agree with some of my picks. That’s all from me for now, and I’ll be back next week with a new article. Subscribe to Respawning and my channel, Void Euphoric Records on YouTube, and definitely play any of the games featured that you haven’t already!
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