Boss Fights That Genuinely Made Me Question Whether I Could Beat The Game
Most games have at least some challenging aspect to them. Even in a game filled with other easy objectives, you'll almost always just at least one moment where suddenly, the difficulty ramps up and you have to ask yourself the question - Can I actually finish this? It feels rare nowadays, but that moment still pops up every now and then.
I, personally, have hit that point more than a few times. Well, I won't exaggerate it. I'm decent at games. There's a reason I write all these guides. But that doesn't mean I haven't struggled. And in some of these games, I really did get so close to outright stopping becase I could not do it.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
I Know I Don't Have To Say The Name
Elden Ring
10.0/10 Released February 25, 2022WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALFextralife
Metascore 96 Platforms That Support Crossplay PS4 & PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S Powered by Expand CollapseI want to preface this by saying I wrote the guide for Promised Consort Radahn. There's a video there and all. Irrefutable proof that I beat the boss. Now with that out of the way, I can explain how obscene the whole thing was. I beat the original Radahn pre-patch on like my third try. I didn't even know he had a comet move, I beat him so quickly.
Promised Consort Radahn is the devil. He is a lightshow that is fit to blind you, he moves hilariously quickly and strikes even harder. I hit the low point of reconsidering my whole build just to beat him. It was bad. I got it, but I don't know it if was worth all the heartache. May Radahn never appear in my life again, please.
Resident Evil 4
This Napoleon Wannabe Made Me Want To End It All
Via: FrankzTerz.YouTube.comResident Evil 4
4.5/5 1.0/10 Released January 11, 2005WHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONGrowing up, I was not very good with horror. Nor was I particularly smart at the survival part of survival horror. But Resident Evil 4, it's really more action than horror, so I gave it a whirl. And you know, that's a pretty great game! But may Salazar be doomed to the darkest pits for the travesty that is his boss fight.
I went into it with low HP and no healing remaining. I had the ammo, but I could simply never survive long enough to actually take him down. So the moment came that so rarely comes in these games - I pulled out my revolver and loaded with him with bullets. It felt good to get him off my screen. The actual final boss was dramatically easier, but not much better.
Fantasian
Fantasian Is A Real Classic JRPG, Nigh-Unbeatable Final Boss Included
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension
RPG JRPG Systems Released December 5, 2024WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALWhen I originally played Fantasian back when it came out on Apple Arcade, I was running with a time limit. My free trial was only a few months, so I had to fit in my play sessions within that and my work. It took me a while, it's a pretty long game, especially for a phone. And so when I finally hit the last boss in Jas, I just couldn't. It was too damn hard.
So I dropped it. And then the Fantasian port came along, and I picked it up again. An this time, I beat Jas pretty handily. Knowing the systems and what to expect probably helped quite a bit with that. Oh, and normal difficulty being a good degree easier helped, too. So in a sense, I gues I still haven't beaten the original Jas.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Turns Out A Buff Demon Is Worlds Harder Than A Prophetic Dragon
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Action RPG Systems Released April 23, 2013WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALI adore Dragon's Dogma, the original and its sequel, though neither are exactly exceptionally difficult. With the freedom they offer you in gameplay, it can be fairly easy to play around with the systems to make every enemy feel like a fly you are just swatting out of your way. If you wanted a challenge, you need the Dark Arisen expansion for the original game.
Except, well, it was maybe too much of a challenge. I worked my way through that Labyrinth and its obscenely powerful enemies. I managed to reach Daimon and, even though it was a struggle, I beat him too. And then you're sent back to the very beginning of Bitterblack Isle where everything becomes more powerful, Daimon included. He even gets a second form. I, uh, have taken a break since then. Beating him is definitely still in the cards. Eventually.
Nioh 2 Beta
That Damn Snake
Nioh 2
4.0/5 Released March 13, 2020WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALFextralife Wiki
Metascore 85 Powered by Expand CollapseI love Nioh because it's one of the few Soulslikes to ask the question - what if the combat in Souls games was actually good on a moment-to-moment basis? The games have great enemies, and the combat is close to being a full-on character action game. Fair, with the Ninja Gaiden heritage. And the games are hard, but still manageable with time.
And Nioh 2 is the same. Specifically, I struggled with the Nioh 2 beta. Yatsu-no-Kami was just, like, not good. I beat them, barely. And in the full game, they are nerfed to high heaven. The Nioh 3 beta suffered from a similar issue, and I actually couldn't beat that one. So let's hope it's possible in the final game.
Hollow Knight
Utterly Blinding Radiance
Hollow Knight
10.0/10 Released February 24, 2017WHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONFextralife Wiki
Powered by Expand CollapseClearly, we're all pretty big fans of Hollow Knight, or else Silksong wouldn't be such a big deal. However, Hollow Knight also often gets called a Soulslike. And I get it, it's pretty tough game, but that hardly makes it a Soulslike because they're the only consistently difficult games otherwise. All of that said though, the true final boss os Hollow Knight is harder than anything I've faced in other games.
After you beat the titular Hollow Knight and choose the right ending, you then go on to face The Radiance. No healing in between, just right in. Lots of platforming involved here, on top of surviving obscenely powerful attacks. It took me a shamefully long time. It took my partner even longer. We both beat them though, so here's hoping Silksong doesn't drive me quite as mad.
Vampyr
I Liked People Too Much To Help Myself
via: youtube.comVampyr
2.5/5 8.0/10 Released June 5, 2018WHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONFextralife Wiki
Powered by Expand CollapseI adore Vampyr for willing to be a departure. With it, Don't Nod combined the strongest elements of Life is Strange and Remember Me. And with that, they created an obscenely buggy game with simply horrid combat. Think The Witcher 3, but none of the fancy monster hunting prep. And yetI can't help but love the game for its core vampire dynamic.
As a doctor, you must care for the people around you. The more you help them, the more XP they give if you consume them. It's hard to come by otherwise. I wanted to challenge myself by going to the highest difficulty. Then I started making little choices. No one will miss a landlord, this mother is abusive, and so on. Right until I sucked just enough blood to beat any boss I came across.
Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy 13
I Was Literally Running Out Of Time
via YouTube.com (Aurora TenchuKadan)Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13
Action RPG Systems Released November 21, 2013WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALBhunivelze. It feels great to say that. Bhunivelze. One of the most interesting Final Fantasy enemies, even if they aren't strictly the most memorable. They feature in all the entries of FF13, though it's in Lightning Returns they finally become the antagonist. Then comes the game's main premise - you have a deadline in which you can beat Bhunivelze. Fail, and you start all over. It's harsh.
Here's what made it particularly difficult for me. I was playing on an Xbox Game Pass trial. By the time I reached Bhunivelze, I simply could not beat him. It wasn't in me. So I got sent back to the very beginning. My trial had just a single day left. I didn't have enough time. I literally ran out of time. It felt thematically appropriate, though I actually still haven't beat him. Time's running out.
