That One Boss

Started by machomuu July 25th, 2016 9:03 AM
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  • 28 replies

machomuu

Stuck in Hot Girl Summer

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Seen March 4th, 2023
Posted April 26th, 2022
10,505 posts
15.1 Years
You're having a jaunty, wonderful time in a game. It's not too difficult and some of the mechanics seem arbitrary at best. That is, until a knight and an executioner comes down and gives you a beating so hard that you realize everything you knew was wrong...only to see the difficulty go down after the fight.

That's "That One Boss". The boss that you look back on the game after all's said and done (or after you rage quit and sell the game at Gamestop for 2% of what it's worth) and feel an overwhelming sense of dread towards. More than anything else in the game.

Do you know or remember any bosses like this?

Nah

Age 30
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Seen 10 Hours Ago
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15,643 posts
9.5 Years
Any boss that has other enemies around to help it (hello Capra Demon in Dark Souls and Gargoyle in Xenosaga 1, you can psyduck off). Fight is usually bullmuk when the little helpers are around, but once they're dead the boss is usually not terribly threatening.

That and the Spider Ball Guardian in Metroid Prime 2, always dread that part of the game.
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GreenFlame

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Seen June 17th, 2017
Posted November 8th, 2016
1,235 posts
9.9 Years
That and the Spider Ball Guardian in Metroid Prime 2, always dread that part of the game.
Yes! The Spider Ball Guardian is difficult because it is quite damaging if you make a mistake. It becomes easier with practice, but it's still annoyingly long for what is more of a timing puzzle. I hate the Boost Ball Guardian as well - it's on a timer and is a really spammy boss.

Oh, and again in MP2, the final boss
Spoiler:
The Emperor Ing! While I never got a Game Over in any time fighting it, I came very close to doing so every single time. The first phase is easily the hardest for me and the boss can bring you down to a fraction of your health (and indeed did for me) and finish you if you don't chip its health fast enough.


I can't say I didn't get a few Game Overs from Meta Ridley in Metroid Prime 1. His ground phase leaves few openings and one attack in particular requires fast movements to avoid correctly. The game does somewhat build up to the difficulty of the fight, but there is an immediate difficulty drop in the following boss.

SaniOKh

Too old for this stuff

Age 35
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Ukraine
Seen 3 Weeks Ago
Posted October 22nd, 2021
591 posts
16.9 Years
Some of mine:
  • Shao Khan in every Mortal Kombat game I've played: hits hard, takes no time to recover, and has high defense. That's all. I'm bad at fighting games.
  • Jasper Batt Jr in No More Heroes 2: his first and third phases are easy, but the second one is very difficult, especially when he starts one-hit killing you.
  • Cheren in Pokémon Black2/White2 : because at this point I don't have a decent fighting-type (or at least one with a move that's actually useful) and his Pokémon love spamming the move "Work Up" before OHKOing all of my team.
  • Duriel in Diablo II : because he is so fast, he can kill a character before his room even loads. I'm not kidding.
  • Mandara in Shinobi (Master System) : its first phase consists in destroying an advancing wall of statues. They take a lot of hits, and unless you hurry, they'll eventually push you against the wall, which is a one-hit kill.
  • Sans in Undertale: his attacks inflict damage over time, he takes a fixed number of hits to be killed (so the equipment does not matter) and, after a certain point, stops caring about how a turn-based battle in an RPG is supposed to work and starts attacking you while you're browsing the menu. I think I spent 5 or 6 hours on this one.

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Satoshi Ookami

Memento Mori

Age 30
Male
Abyss of Time, Great Seal
Seen August 5th, 2018
Posted July 3rd, 2018
14,253 posts
14.8 Years
SKanji in Persona 4.
That guy was killing me way too often in P4...

At least he was nerfed a bit in P4G.
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JJ Styles

The Phenomenal Darling

Male
NCR
Seen November 10th, 2019
Posted November 10th, 2019
3,924 posts
8.4 Years
Shin Megami Tensei 4's Minotaur. Basically he counts as both that Wake Up Call boss who perfectly sets the tone of what to expect in SMT4's Boss fights, as well as telling all players on how to play the game's Press system, and THAT ONE BOSS who will ruin a lot of moods. Even if you get the pattern right, he can still get really lucky with Labrys Strike and dumpster your team with RNGesus decides to downright shoves its middle finger into your suckhole.

And it doesn't help that him as a playable demon doesn't get Labrys Strike himself... >.>

TheCobaltComet

Investigator

Male
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Seen July 1st, 2019
Posted June 3rd, 2019
213 posts
8 Years
You don't know pain until Dragon Quest IX's final battle (spoilers), Corvus.

I've never managed to win below level 50 (you typically arrive at him at about 38 or so), and he not only dispels buffs from the party, but he heals himself, attacks twice a round, and uses the strongest magic spell in the entire game. It's certainly an ordeal.
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Seen August 3rd, 2016
Posted August 2nd, 2016
107 posts
6.8 Years
I recall those type of issues when I was younger. I had trouble moving forward in most Castlevania games (FFX sadly enough I never knew for the first 25 hours logged that I needed to use the skill rings. So I ran around skillless with mukty gear) and I was stuc at that fish fiend off MoonFlow(?????)) Yeah I had super urges here to return the games to gamestop.
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Okage

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The Amala Network
Seen August 27th, 2016
Posted August 27th, 2016
57 posts
7.2 Years
Mot from SMT: Nocturne.

Lets face it, ANY boss who can have an infinite number of turns is pretty BS, but this guy ABUSES THIS TOO THE MAX. He is the ONLY boss, other then the Super boss of that game, that I dread. Every other boss can be beaten with proper strategy, but this guy is ENTIRELY luck based. He can decide to let you continue on your quest to be a Demon Badass, or he can just go, "**** you" and spam Beast Eye and Megido, which you have NO protection against.

So yeah, I hate Mot with the passion of a thousand suns. He has ended MANY of my runs because of his BS.

Reunilu

of the Eastern Skies

Female
Paramushir Docks
Seen February 27th, 2018
Posted February 5th, 2018
226 posts
7.4 Years
I think mine are Death and Abaddon, both from Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. I think I'm fairly good at the Igavanias (having beat OoE on Hard mode in my usual 100% run, I can say that much), but Death and his instant death attack (heh) send waves of panic through me like no other game. Abaddon is just one big swarm of douche and he's probably the only Castlevania boss I haven't figured out a proper strategy for, assuming money grinding for Super Potions doesn't count.
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Judge Mandolore Shepard

Spectre Agent

Age 35
Male
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Seen March 1st, 2018
Posted March 1st, 2018
9,433 posts
9.2 Years
After I first played Halo 5 Guardians, I have to go with Warden Eternal. This boss not only falls under the That One Boss trope, but several other tropes as well including both Flunky Boss and Recurring Boss. Plus he does not just show up in the Campaign, he also shows up in the Warzone multiplayer mode.
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Altairis

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Seen December 29th, 2022
Posted October 5th, 2018
5,170 posts
10.9 Years
The scorpion from Skyward Sword because I COULDNOT get my Wii Motion Plus to register my motions properly so I died like four times because I never could stab it. Same thing happened with the pirates on the planks--can't remember their names--I took forever with those too.

Also Megrez from Devil Survivor 2 took me like 2 weeks lol

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gimmepie

Age 27
Male
Australia
Seen 1 Day Ago
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Flowey.
God I hate Flowey.
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Seen September 18th, 2020
Posted February 18th, 2018
7,741 posts
16.6 Years
Any boss that has other enemies around to help it (hello Capra Demon in Dark Souls and Gargoyle in Xenosaga 1, you can psyduck off). Fight is usually bullmuk when the little helpers are around, but once they're dead the boss is usually not terribly threatening.
If you want bullmuk, watch this analysis of Four Kings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2MSaKOIvXQ&t=46m20s

AmetsuCAT

KITTY POWER!!

Age 23
Female
UK
Seen February 3rd, 2023
Posted December 12th, 2020
479 posts
6.8 Years
Silent Hill 2; haven't actually seen any of the bosses, but 'dread' going anywhere near them.
Ghetsis in the first Black and White games I thought was pretty hard. I've played through that game several times with numerous different teams and never been able to get past him the first time.

Lusus

Age 23
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Ljubljana
Seen April 18th, 2018
Posted February 17th, 2018
1,405 posts
10.3 Years
The 7th boss of Furi, The Burst, the sniper boss. I'm sure everyone who played through Furi already knows this though, since it is considered the hardest boss in the game (okay the last one is harder, but it is the final boss of the game). Her sniper shots are 1 hit kills and she gives you only 5 seconds to find cover. Bosses in Furi are separated into phases, and while her first 5 phases aren't too bad, her last phase is ridiculously hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ulxY-CRH0k

Basically you have to dodge bullet hell while hiding from her sniper shots. And losing a life in any part of this phase (even after the worst is over) will make you do it all over again. Makes it all the more satisfying to finally beat though.

Shame the 2 bosses after her are pushovers.
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14.2 Years
Could never get around to beating the Demi-fiend in Digital Devil Saga. I mean, right off the bat, if you have any skills that nullify any of his attacks, he uses Gaea's Rage instantly and KO's your party, lol. I tried about 15 times and couldn't come close. Not to mention he has has two demons present annoying you with various death/status spells. One screw up and it's game over. :(