The boss battles you never beat.

Josey Wales

I'm sure we have all been happily playing our way through a game only to come up against a boss that beats you. So you try again. And again. Then try some more but no matter what, you just can't beat it. And now you are stuck, never to progress.

Has this happened to you and if so what bosses?

For me I can think of three straight away. I thought I was about to have a fourth in the final boss of Guacamelee in his second phase but I managed to best him eventually.

Ratchet & Clank 1 - Final Boss

I only played through this last year with the HD collection. I really enjoyed the game and felt that it held up remarkably well. Although it was missing some of the later additions in the series such as strafing. I got to the final boss and it was such a huge difficulty spike. I had tons of bolts going into the fight and ended up spending it all on ammo. When I died and had to redo the fight I had no bolts to buy ammo so I knew it would be impossible. I never tried again.

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

Outland - Mother of Eyes

This one still rankles with me because I was enjoying the game so much and never got to see the final couple of levels. It has been so long now that I doubt I will ever go back and try.

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

Dark Souls - Capra Demon

I chose the Capra Demon to post here but really it could have been a few different bosses. I got to a point where no matter what direction I went there was a section that I could not get past. I just remember this one boss better as it seemed so impossible. I would enter the arena and he would just jump and me and two seconds later I'd be dead. The other one that I couldn't work out how to kill was a big butterfly.

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

Star Lord

Fire Leo, from Viewtiful Joe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn57QQinlY0

The guy playing in the video makes it look like a piece of cake.

Mickeroo

Maximum Carnage on the SNES, the final boss. Loved the game but never finished it, you only got 3 continues to complete it in had none left by the time I reached the boss.

Not sure how many tries i had but eventually smashed my controller and never went back.

pablomakaveli

RAAM in Gears of War. Just couldnt beat him. I think you needed the bow and arrow weapon to beat him but didn't have it going into the battle.

Robot Sonic in Sonic 2. Furthest i could get and just never was able to beat him.

The giant songbird boss in Ristar. Ended up using cheats to go to the following level.

Ruby weapon in FF7. Nuff said really.

Those bloody Dark Aeons in FF10. Spent hours levelling my characters and went into battle against the one on Besaid island, unleashed every limit break from all my aeons and characters and got him down to the near dead animation. Then he's unleash his attacks and kill me. God i hated those Dark Aeons.:(

Josey Wales

pablomakaveli wrote: »

RAAM in Gears of War. Just couldnt beat him. I think you needed the bow and arrow weapon to beat him but didn't have it going into the battle.

I know I definitely would have struggled with the RAAM final boss but luckily I played through in co-op. My co-op partner basically took him out all by himself.

Penn

pablomakaveli wrote: »

Robot Sonic in Sonic 2. Furthest i could get and just never was able to beat him.

I could beat Robot Sonic, but could never beat Robotnik after him.

Golden Silver in Gunstar Heroes. Beat him co-op with my cousin, but could never defeat him by myself.

SouthTippBass

Recently, the final boss in metal gear revengence. I just stopped after what must haveen the 30th attempt as I just wasnt enjoying it anymore, and watched the ending on youtube. All time bastard boss though has to be the T1000 from C64s T2. He just murders you immediatly every time. And I played that game nearly everyday when I was small. One of these days Il get that ****er...

richymcdermott

Ratchet and clank 1 final boss

Prototype final boss : was mostly due to if i recall correctly with its stupid timer

Reekwind

Ugh. I tend to avoid games with discrete 'boss battles' entirely now. They were excusable in the age of platformers but today there's no more obvious sign of lazy design. We spend hours operating in a world that follows a simple set of mechanics, then you introduce some giant villain with timed bomb attacks whose weak point has to be hit an arbitrary number of times? No

The best final battles are those like Baldur's Gate (and generally RPGs are good at this) where the 'boss' is a bigger and more powerful version of the enemies that you've been fighting throughout the game

Pushtrak

Halo 2 end boss on Legendary. I tried for quite a long time, but couldn't do it.

sarumite

I remember you complaining about the outland boss a few months ago. I got to the same boss and never completed it myself.

I also never beat the final boss of inFamous on the hardest difficulty. I had played the whole game through on it and then dropped the difficulty. My plan has always been to go back and beat him when I have more patience with the game.

Tiamat in darksiders is a another boss I never beat. I youtubed the boss fight and decided I didn't want to have to try and beat it as the game was not grabbing me enough to try.

J. Marston

Not really a boss battle but I could never withstand Ocelot's torture in MGS1 when I was younger, I always had to submit.

TimeToShine

I actually killed the Capra Demon on my first try, he was pretty much the only boss I didn't struggle with! The Ceaseless Discharge gave me hell. If I were to throw it back a few years what really stands out is Spiderman vs Carnage on the PS1 game:

I was only a wee lad back then but jesus christ it haunts me to this day.

RobbingBandit

Shao Khan in the last Mortal Kombat, couldn't beat the fcuker no matter how hard I tried.

kevohmsford

Revenge of Shinobi on the Sega Mega Drive

Vojera

The one that's bothering me the most right now is the end of Cave Story+. There are 3 boss fights right at (what I presume is) the end and no opportunity to save or heal in between. In and of themselves don't seem to be too bad, but I can't get the knack of it. I WILL OVERCOME!

CastorTroy

The princess at the end of Prince of Persia Warrior Within (If you didn't collect everything to get the full ending). Those tornados.

Dead Space 2 final boss. Didn't have enough resources to succeed so kept running out

MitchKoobski

Kingdom Hearts. Sephiroth. Cuuuuurse yyooooouuuuu......

eddhorse

I played Resident Evil 5 co op with my brother, we just didn't have enough ammo to beat the final boss.

Also couldn't beat Ratchet and Clank into the nexus final boss.
http://youtu.be/6ICnvtKlhac

Giana Sisters got to the last boss, wasn't difficult, just didn't bother.

That's all that jumps out, demon/dark souls is all a boss section.

Josey Wales

eddhorse wrote: »

Also couldn't beat Ratchet and Clank into the nexus final boss.
http://youtu.be/6ICnvtKlhac

Hmmm, I don't like the sound of that. I have that in my backlog.

Fakman87

Namir in Deus Ex Human Revolution was a nightmare, as depending on choices you make earlier in the game you may have to fight him without any of your special powers.

I had to watch the rest of the game on youtube which was a real shame for me.

johnny_ultimate

This one's embarrassing - as a kid, I was always left stumped by Scar at the end of Lion King on the Megadrive. No idea why - I vaguely remember just clawing away at him aggressively but futilely, trying radical attack patterns and attempting to push him off the edge of the cliff. Of course, trial and error was a bit of a pain when you had to play through the whole game to get there again.

I have a suspicion if I played through today, the solution would be blindingly, insultingly obvious. I could also probably watch a youtube video of what happens. I don't know if I'm psychologically prepared for the shame.

Agricola

Im a "gamey game" lightweight and repetitive, pattern solving, attritional boss battles really annoy the fúck out of me. Currently playing through Dead Space 3. Was happily blasting through it on normal until the snowbeasts appear. Down to Casual. Grand. Now Im up against a screen filling boss that pukes out mini enemies for you to contend with while your trying to hit his soft spot. It's just round after round after round endlessly, because Im failing to hit the right thing at the right time, or my poxy weapons reload too slowly etc etc. I didnt remember this God of War type shíte to be in the first 2 games and it's really turned me off this one.

SeantheMan

For a long time it was Emerald and Ruby Weapons in FF7. I doubt anyone ever beat them on their first go.
It wasn't until a year or two later after completing the game that I returned it, put in some 'quality' time levelling up characters and certain Materias before going back and defeating them

They were in the game just to annoy you and add an extra challenge it seemed.
The same went for FF8 with Omega Weapon and that STUPID Ozma in FF9.
It just looks a giant marble and it's ridiculously OP

FortuneChip

SeantheMan wrote: »

For a long time it was Emerald and Ruby Weapons in FF7. I doubt anyone ever beat them on their first go.
It wasn't until a year or two later after completing the game that I returned it, put in some 'quality' time levelling up characters and certain Materias before going back and defeating them

They were in the game just to annoy you and add an extra challenge it seemed.
The same went for FF8 with Omega Weapon and that STUPID Ozma in FF9.
It just looks a giant marble and it's ridiculously OP

There was a way to make Ozma really weak, something to do with Friendly monsters or something. Stupid "Super Boss" anyway.

I was absolutely chuffed when I beat Ultima & Omega in VIII. The first time I challenged Omega I only had access to "Attack", "Draw" & "Magic" or something like that. It did not go well.

I must be honest and say I've beaten all but "Pegasus" in FFX. The Dark Aeon of Dark Aeons. Yojimbo helped more than once.

Emerald & Ruby eluded me forever. To hell with them!

X-2 had some very lazy super dungeons, where you just kept fighting different sizes of the same monsters with ever increasing HP, there was no real variety to it at all. Good thing the battle system in X-2 was good, albeit a silly concept.

Not quite a "boss" per se, but the clock challenge on the final disc of "Fear Effect" back on the PS1. At the tender age of 13 I did not have the resolve to never give up.

CiDeRmAn

There have been a few but the final boss in Metroid Prime.
It comes in several stages and the last one had me finally give up, that was 11 years ago now but it still haunted me.
I have Metroid Prime trilogy so I really should pop it in the WiiU and give it another shot, the whole game still looks great and the gameplay hasn't aged at all.

derfderf

The last boss in the original ninja gaiden on the NES. I'd be fighting him for hours and he wouldnt die.
Same thing happened in Time Bandits, the big gringo boss in the wild west level. Shooting him for hours until I'd eventually get bored and switch off

Mr.Saturn

The Spiderman vote reminds me of the battle with Electro in Ultimate Spiderman (PS2). It wasn't remotely hard, just the camera is woefully implemented, the battle prolonged and controls fidgety; I decided 'f**k it' after my fifth attempt trying to launch a car into the billboards and missing cause the camera resets at the most rotten of times. It wasn't though I was all that invested in the game, but just as I was starting to sink into it a bit, this shower of sh*te turns up.

Josey Wales

Fakman87 wrote: »

Namir in Deus Ex Human Revolution was a nightmare, as depending on choices you make earlier in the game you may have to fight him without any of your special powers.

I had to watch the rest of the game on youtube which was a real shame for me.

That is a shame because it really is an exceptional game.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

gimli2112

Emerald Weapon in FF7 wasn't too bad once you had the right equipment and underwater materia but Christ Ruby destroyed me. Would nearly always take out my two best characters. Finally beat it after battling for over an hour with Tifa, with the threat of imminent death hanging over me every step of the way. I've replayed the game several times since but never tried taking it on again.

GTR63

That Spiderman battle in the vid looks 1000x easier if they hadn't a camera system that didn't fly all over the place.
So yeah RAAM is one I could never do in single player, the final boss in Uncharted 2 is another awkward encounter that bested me & at the minute I can't beat Joker in Arkham Blackgate. Its a fight where you run round in a circle trying to catch him with a line launcher(he does a damaging counter if you muck up), dodging gunshots & you are against the clock with poison gas filling the room.

Mr Freeze

Re: Dark Souls, I just gave up on it, as I needed help for nearly every boss battle. I would just run around avoiding the boss and healing myself and the other player, letting them deal with the boss upclose while I took shots from the distance, made it to Blight Town, I think, and I gave up.

pablomakaveli wrote: »

RAAM in Gears of War. Just couldnt beat him. I think you needed the bow and arrow weapon to beat him but didn't have it going into the battle.

The Bow, Boomshot and Sniper rifle are all pickups along with loads of ammo and grenades in the carriage before triggering the RAAM battle.

I remember it being a total nightmare, Lancer, grenades and the sniper rifle are the best I think.

I went back and played the game on Insane a few years back, before GOW2 came out, got to end, must have played 50 goes fighting RAAM on insane over a few days. Got help from a co-op buddy, we lasted even less then, I was about to give up, blind fire with the sniper rifle headshot (after dealing him the usual loads of damage) and down he went, it seemed so random.

I never bet the Queen at the end of GOW3 on Insane Arcade mode, the Theron kept killing me, I just gave up. There seemed to be no end to them, and you couldn't shot the boss, because even with 4 people, the Theron were a huge threat/distraction.

Fakman87 wrote: »

Namir in Deus Ex Human Revolution was a nightmare, as depending on choices you make earlier in the game you may have to fight him without any of your special powers.

Second Playthough, brought Tong's grenade launcher, made short work of him.

Dave_The_Sheep

Fakman87 wrote: »

I had to watch the rest of the game on youtube which was a real shame for me.

I cheated and felt absolutely no remorse about it. Those boss battles don't count.

maximoose

RAAM was a right bollix, I've beaten him on hardcore. Think I'll have a bash at insane difficulty tonight.

Fontaine in Bioshock was quite a pain until I got the hang of it. Those bloody charges he did.

Hercule

Last boss in MediEvil 2 - I got my ass kicked too many times and just gave up,

Pushtrak

Mr Freeze wrote: »

The Bow, Boomshot and Sniper rifle are all pickups along with loads of ammo and grenades in the carriage before triggering the RAAM battle.

I remember it being a total nightmare, Lancer, grenades and the sniper rifle are the best I think.

I went back and played the game on Insane a few years back, before GOW2 came out, got to end, must have played 50 goes fighting RAAM on insane over a few days. Got help from a co-op buddy, we lasted even less then, I was about to give up, blind fire with the sniper rifle headshot (after dealing him the usual loads of damage) and down he went, it seemed so random.

I was never able to beat RAAM on Insane solo. A lot better co-op.

I never bet the Queen at the end of GOW3 on Insane Arcade mode, the Theron kept killing me, I just gave up. There seemed to be no end to them, and you couldn't shot the boss, because even with 4 people, the Theron were a huge threat/distraction.

The number of Theron goes up a lot when playing 4 player. I've done it a lot, but we would have super reload on. As well as number of players having an effect, it seems there is a bit of a random thing at play with theron. I've played 4 player with fewer than normal showing up and had other times it's just nuts.

tok9

I actually can't think of any bosses I wasn't able to beat. Probably just due to forgetting and generally when I do play a game I'll finish it. But there have definitely been some tough ones.

CiDeRmAn has reminded me of the last boss in Metroid Prime.. Man he was a pain.

If I was to pick one more that I can think of easily.. it's the Maneater from Demon Soul's, now that took an awful lot of patience as you would die... several times trying to beat it.

Mr Freeze

Pushtrak wrote: »

The number of Theron goes up a lot when playing 4 player. I've done it a lot, but we would have super reload on. As well as number of players having an effect, it seems there is a bit of a random thing at play with theron. I've played 4 player with fewer than normal showing up and had other times it's just nuts.

ya, we were using super reload and unlimited ammo, and we tried without those too, and each time the level of Theron was overwhelming.

Even trying it solo on Insane arcade, and hiding by the elevator didn't work, and it was no bother playing it in the story on insane solo and in a group, just not in arcade mode.

Retr0gamer

The problem with bosses these days is that with Konami, Sega and Capcom going to the dogs there's really nobody left that knows how to do good boss battles outside of Nintendo, Platinum, From Software and a few smaller japanese developers like Falcom. Then you get crazy design decisions like having bosses in something like Uncharted 2 or Deus Ex when one isn't needed or suits the game.

I've never given up on a boss but the final boss of Ninja Gaiden on the NES is a nightmare thanks to a bug that puts you back 4 levels if you lose a single life on him.

The knife throwing guy in Time Crisis gave be trouble but only in the arcade. Beating him was really the big hurdle to one crediting that game.

The fly boss at the end of Ghouls n'Ghosts fifth stage can be tricky as well. I could one credit that game back in the day but that boss would trip you up sometimes because unlike the rest of the game if you were unlucky he could end up in a dick move attack pattern.

Revenge of Shinobi's final boss was really tough as well. Took me over 20 years but I finally had my revenge on him a few months ago.

Ri_Nollaig

Josey Wales wrote: »

That is a shame because it really is an exceptional game.

They really ruined the overall experience of Deus Ex HR, odd consider they hit all the rights notes for nearly every other part of the game.
Don't get me wrong, I still loved it and only recently completed it again with the Directors Cut version.

The bosses in Dark Souls can be odd, some are surprisingly easy (in the context of the rest of the game) or can be beaten with some cheap trick/glitch handy enough, whether you were meant to do it that way is debatable

Vojera

Hercule wrote: »

Last boss in Medieval 2 - I got my ass kicked too many times and just gave up,

Fair play on getting that far. That entire game bested me.

calex71

Outland I think was mentioned already , I never beat the sisters in that either.

That is definitely a case of a game where if you don't persist at it and get it then it's infinitely harder to come back to and be successful down the line.

the incredible pudding

eddhorse wrote: »

I played Resident Evil 5 co op with my brother, we just didn't have enough ammo to beat the final boss.

Same thing happened to myself and a mate. I just told him to distract him and i ran back and forth in behind him getting cheap knife shots in. It suddenly became very easy, made a mockery of the whole thing and caused us to laugh uncontrollably. That game sure did go downhill fast.


I never could beat the last boss in Viewtiful Joe. I just couldn't figure out the technique of how to do it but that was the case for a lot of those bosses.

Dark Aeon Anima in FFX, I beat the rest of them (sisters were a serious pain in the arse) but didn't have enough ribbons to stop him from just petrifying everyone.

eddhorse

You beat him with a knife, damn it all to hell !

dreamers75

That ****ing train in Mischeif makers.

Retrogamer knows my pain on this one, ****er laughed when i told him previously

krudler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The problem with bosses these days is that with Konami, Sega and Capcom going to the dogs there's really nobody left that knows how to do good boss battles outside of Nintendo, Platinum, From Software and a few smaller japanese developers like Falcom. Then you get crazy design decisions like having bosses in something like Uncharted 2 or Deus Ex when one isn't needed or suits the game.

Agree on Uncharted 2, it could have had a big action sequence or level instead of a 1v1 superpowered boss fight when the rest of the game doesn't have those kind of enemies.

Just earlier I beat Artorias in Dark Souls, now THAT'S a fcuking boss fight. Any bit of cockiness or impatience and you'll get demolished.

Kirby

In Street Fighter II, no matter how hard I tried I could never defeat Sheng Long.....

Kirby

Mr Freeze wrote: »

Re: Dark Souls, I just gave up on it, as I needed help for nearly every boss battle. I would just run around avoiding the boss and healing myself and the other player, letting them deal with the boss upclose while I took shots from the distance, made it to Blight Town, I think, and I gave up.

But sure, didn't you hear? It's the best game of the last generation! It has no flaws....you must be the problem!

Paulie Gualtieri

God of war 3 , (i think 3) anyway tried and tried at least 10 or more times to dispatch Zeus final boss , got sick if it and there was an option to take the game from normal to easy mode. At any stage of the game and begrudgingly I set it to easy and even then it took me a few goes to finish. Great game tbh.

SeantheMan

Kirby wrote: »

But sure, didn't you hear? It's the best game of the last generation! It has no flaws....you must be the problem!

One flaw straight away is the inventory system.
You get so many random items and you don't know what to do with half of them or how to use them correctly.

I should point out that I never completed Dark Souls, I stopped playing for the sake of my sanity...this and Fifa 11-14 have been the only real games in recent years to drive me to the point of throwing the controller. So I just scream at the TV "No, you're lying, that's BS !!" and turn off the console and go make tea instead,