What game has a boss every player should experience (without spoilers)

[Halfling Rodeo]

I was thinking about Demon's souls and how many of it's bosses are interesting experiences. Even if they're not the most complex or deep bosses, they're still interesting to encounter and see how they move or how you have to fight them. Games are ultimately things we do for the experience so I got curious and wondered what others games have bosses that other posters here would consider must see. Without spoiling the actual boss experience what games do you think have bosses everyone should experience and why is it a must-experience.

The bosses should be something you interact with as the player beyond watching animations. As cool as JRPG bosses can look, there's little you experience fighting a 2D sprite and seeing it's animations play out. I've played many games just to see the monster gallery but I wouldn't recommend a game like FF7 to see mecha scorpion, while I would recommend Secret of Mana for Spiky Tiger being a colossal faggot. Something like FF8 with it's early boss escape/chase would be something I would consider a worth while experience despite it using the same core mechanics as the FF7 example. The experience is something pretty interesting and memorable many years later.

 

[Vic]

The Master from Fallout 1 is a unique and interesting boss and he fits in perfectly with the theme of the game, which often is not the case and instead they throw a bunch of bullshit at you or make it disappointingly easy.

As cool as JRPG bosses can look, there's little you experience fighting a 2D sprite and seeing it's animations play out

For good JRPG boss fights you need strategy and bosses have multiple phases and different mechanics. The final boss of Bravely Default changes what you thought about the game and the fight itself was pretty cool.

 

[El Presidente]

Seven Force from Gunstar Heroes. This guy:

I was going to post a video of the fight but they really don't do it justice. If you know you know, if you don't grab a genesis emulator and play it ASAP. Playing this was the coolest, most epic, most badass shit ever for me back then and I still think it's great fun.

 

[Shadowfang]

The 1st capra demon from Dark Souls 1.

 

[__scribbles__]

Shadow of the Colossus. The entire game is just fighting 16 bosses, and each boss is a memorable set piece structured more like a puzzle to solve than an enemy to fight. The art direction, atmosphere, and overall spectacle hold up very well. In particular there is one standout encounter late into the game that I'm not going to spoil.

 

[octavius]

Duriel in Diablo 2.
You're fighting in a confined space, with little time and room for cheesing.

 

[Deadyawn]

This motherfucker.

Duriel in Diablo 2.
You're fighting in a confined space, with little time and room for cheesing.

I like in general how Diablo 2 just threw the bosses at you without any sort of introduction other than the sense of foreboding created by the excellent atmosphere.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

The 1st capra demon from Dark Souls 1.

Pure fucking luck if the dogs kick your ass or not.

Shadow of the Colossus. The entire game is just fighting 16 bosses, and each boss is a memorable set piece structured more like a puzzle to solve than an enemy to fight. The art direction, atmosphere, and overall spectacle hold up very well. In particular there is one standout encounter late into the game that I'm not going to spoil.

SOTC is a really special experience. ICO is also really good for many of the same reasons.

Duriel in Diablo 2.
You're fighting in a confined space, with little time and room for cheesing.

He freezes you and hits like a fucking truck.

This motherfucker.

Duriel in Diablo 2.
You're fighting in a confined space, with little time and room for cheesing.

I like in general how Diablo 2 just threw the bosses at you without any sort of introduction other than the sense of foreboding created by the excellent atmosphere.

I'm pretty sure the NPCs talk about the bosses before you meet them. Duriel maybe the exception since he's.. not supposed to be there.

 

[Talby]

The Butcher in Diablo 1. No cutscene, no fanfare, no buildup. You open a door and 0.2 nanoseconds later a fucked up looking dude with a cleaver is powerwalking towards you and taking off half your HP bar with every hit.

Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid if you're able to experience it the way you did if you played it back in the day - with a couple of save files from other games on your PlayStation's memory card for the full effect. Everyone knows the 'twist' of this fight now, but it was pretty mind-blowing to play this as a kid for the first time when nobody had really done something like that before in a videogame.

Obligatory mention of Ornstein and Smough in Dark Souls, just because of the milestone it represents in progressing through that game. Although, it does feel like it would only really have this impact if DS is your first Souls game.

The Master in Fallout 1, not so much because of the fight itself but because of the preceding encounter/conversation, so maybe this doesn't count. Up until this point, you've met some pretty weird characters and creepy mutants in the game, but nothing like the Master. He's a godless monstrosity and is horrifying just to look at. When I played it as a kid, it was probably the most shocking thing I'd seen in a videogame up to that point.

Another Metal Gear example, but the End from MGS3. The game just completely shifts gears at this point and turns into a protracted sniper duel, which is awesome.

 

[Pika-Cthulhu]

Duriel in Diablo 2.
You're fighting in a confined space, with little time and room for cheesing.

Fuck this motherfucker. FUCK HIM!

Back then computers werent so fabulous and you could die before the area finished loading due to his charge attack. In hardcore I would go as far as clearing the false tombs to reach level 24 for some extra heft to deal with this shitbag full of wank, pus and maggots. Some traumas take a long time to heal

 

[Great Deceiver]

 

[octavius]

Duriel in Diablo 2.
You're fighting in a confined space, with little time and room for cheesing.

Fuck this motherfucker. FUCK HIM!

Back then computers werent so fabulous and you could die before the area finished loading due to his charge attack. In hardcore I would go as far as clearing the false tombs to reach level 24 for some extra heft to deal with this shitbag full of wank, pus and maggots. Some traumas take a long time to heal

Yeah, Blizzard insisting on the game reading everything from CD instead of the HD like other games, made this encounter even more nerve wrecking back in the days of slow CD players.

 

[Ivan]

Sekiro - Guardian Ape
Arkahm City - Mr Freeze
Metal Gear Solid 3 - The Sorrow

 

[laclongquan]

Special Agent Frank Horrigan of Fallout 2. Looking back, it's a really weakening move to have us fight him in the close space of Oil Rig. If we fight in in the wild open field or street, we are all dead meat with no chance to win.

Also Remnant of Master Army can be a tough party to fight, if they have missile launcher. They are tough enough to survive until they can pull trigger, and a missile is no joke~ We almost always has to reload when the crunchies like Dogmeat or Miria get splash damage.

The Talon hitsquad (or Regulator hitsquad if your karma is low) that appear when we get out of exit zone in Fallout 3 can be tough, because of the distance, the thick armor, and the forced dialog.

FNV take advice from that and weakening hitsquad strength by only have them chasing after us in the wild open. They were just not good enough to fight us in the wild open.

 

[Squidhead]

That NES Contra boss with the the two tentacles that whip bullets at you. It's something about getting to the top of a waterfall only to see this crazy fucking thing at the top.

 

[Tyranicon]

Sword Saint Isshin. My personal favorite boss of all the From games I played, and probably the most difficult.

I don't know why I fought the old dude version though, cause this is the 3rd google image result (??? google's onto my shit). I missed out.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Dark Souls 3 - hard pick, maybe Pontif Sullivan? Nameless King is good, but getting there can be hard to find without a guide.
Dark Souls 2 had garbage bosses, but Darklurker (requires progressing certain covenant and costs 1 Humanity with every attempt) and Sir Alonne (the worst path to reach it after every death, even worse in Scholar edition because literal zergrush wall of mobs is waiting for you) are strong picks.

 

[Jvegi]

Razorbeard from Rayman 2 has a wonderfully bright and vertigo enducing tight-space flying segment in his final boss fight.

I'm not really that experienced with boss fights and that one was one of my first, but I think it is mighty cool, even though on the easy side once you get the hang of it.

 

[Falksi]

Play Contra Hard Corps all the way through and that'll account for half of my selections.

Similarly, Persona 5 Royal for the spectacle.

Revenge of Shinobi too....you've The Terminator, Godzilla, Batman and Spiderman all in one game.

 

[Zlaja]

Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid if you're able to experience it the way you did if you played it back in the day - with a couple of save files from other games on your PlayStation's memory card for the full effect. Everyone knows the 'twist' of this fight now, but it was pretty mind-blowing to play this as a kid for the first time when nobody had really done something like that before in a videogame

Yeah, I remember having to switch to controller port 2 to beat him. Weird as fuck, in a good way.

Also, I liked the conversation with Lanius at the end of FNV. Felt like a fitting end to the game. And as far as JRPGs go, you gotta mention the final confrontation with Kefka in FF6.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Both of these two assholes :

 

[NecroLord]

Frank Horrigan - Fallout 2.
No fancy speeches or explanations, he's just a psychopathic killing machine who fucking punches Deathclaws to death AND just wants your blood. He doesn't have any higher ambitions and aspirations.
A departure from the rather typical Boss who has plans for world domination and reforging of Humanity, though The Master is also really cool.

 

[NecroLord]

Morrowind - Gaenor.
A Bosmer faggot who does nothing but ask people for outrageous sums of money and relies purely on his crazy Luck to get him through the day.
Seriously, just go to Mournhold and see for yourself, but be prepared!

 

[Zlaja]

Morrowind - Gaenor.
A Bosmer faggot who does nothing but ask people for outrageous sums of money and relies purely on his crazy Luck to get him through the day.
Seriously, just go to Mournhold and see for yourself, but be prepared!

Speaking of Morrowind, I liked the encounter with that battle weary orc that is looking for someone to kill him in combat and grant him an honourable death. He's wielding a cool unique two-handed sword.

 

[Serus]

I'm serious.