This is a really weird one I’m sure, but Ursula from Kingdom Hearts… 1? Can’t remember which.
I built my character for magic first, then attack, defense last.
It’s not a hard boss fight but I wasn’t scaling well in the game and hadn’t gotten to where magic damage was supposedly OP so I hit a wall.
Never got past it. Can’t go back and replay because honestly there’s a lot about that game that hasn’t aged well.
I’m not normally such a noob, this boss is my forever shame.
Two I can think of
Rebel Flagship from FTL: Faster Than Light
I fucking hate FTL and everybody hails it as the best thing since sliced bread for effectively inventing the roguelike genre. It’s an incredibly poorly balanced game that boils down to travelling across each sector, bouncing between beacons, fighting hostile ships, encountering random events and whether you choose to engage with these events, rolling the die and (more times than not) getting screwed over by dogshit RNG.
I’ve only reached the Last Stand twice. On the first time, I engaged the Rebel Flagship, had over half my health taken out in a few shots then decided to retreat. Retreating triggered an instant Game Over because the game was glitched. The second time around, I made it to the second phase before dying.
This is how rough the game is on Normal mode…
Xemnas from Kingdom Hearts 2
This is more like me not having the patience to learn the fight. Roxas had already worn me the fuck down, and the only way I got past him was to effectively cheese the fight with Megalixirs, Limit Form and Ars Arcanum spam, which is easier said than done. I not only had to grind my drive forms up significantly beforehand, but I also had to intentionally manipulate the game’s RNG so as to not trigger Anti Form at any point in the fight.
Xemnas is like a far more bullshit version of Ansem from KH1, in the respect that both are lengthy multi-phase fights that can take 20 - 30 minutes under normal circumstances, but unlike Ansem, his Nobody counterpart now has the ability to drive you down to 1HP with an unavoidable QTE attack where he launches a flurry of combos which you have to perfect parry.
And I think generally, Kingdom Hearts 2 is an objectively worse game than the first one in almost every respect, aside from the fluidity of its combat system. It has serious difficulty spikes, some incredibly bullshit boss mechanics, lacks the interactive game world that the first game had, gave us a substantially worse version of Atlantica that plays like a cringe Little Mermaid sing-along rhythm game, has substantially worse gummi ship sections, and unlike the first game, and it generally began the point where the plot of the entire franchise would start turning into a confusing clusterfuck.
And it’s not like I’m bad at Kingdom Hearts games either. Riku 2 took me a grand total of two attempts to beat in the first game, and the way I was able to beat both Riku fights so easily was because I learned quickly not to execute a full keyblade combo on him and cancel right before the last swing, because he will do an undodgeable counter. Also, Riku 2’s ultimate attack can be easily dodged by just jumping up and gliding around the arena. Even Sephiroth (the game’s bonus superboss) is pretty easy with healing items or Leaf Bracer/Curaga.
On FTL: I want that game’s primary loop, but in a Fallout-style role playing game. Have a universe you’re free to move around in. Rather than a single person gaining stats and abilities or whatever, you install equipment and hire crew. Kinda similar to the existing game, where having a leveled up medbay allows for certain actions. But make it one longer game you can sink your teeth into rather than a roguelike.
had over half my health taken out in a few shots then decided to retreat. Retreating triggered an instant Game Over because the game was glitched
IMO most likely what happened here is the flagship destroyed the Earth. If the flagship arrives at Earth and sits there for 3 rounds, you get a game over. The only way to stop it is to beat it in a fight, and finishing a phase will buy some time.
This mechanic is definitely not super obvious at first so I wouldn’t blame you for missing it.
You underestimate my willingness to lower the difficulty if I’m stuck
The final level of Mario Odyssey.
That best part of modern games. Couldn’t do that in the old school games.
Prehistoric 2 kicked you out of the game before the final level if you were playing in beginner mode.
My son kicks ass in Dark Souls and Elden Ring, but the original Mario not so much.
What a reference. That’s the first video game I ever played. Somehow it’s still hard af as an adult. The visuals are great to this day imo.
Getting kicked out of the final level on beginner difficulty is a little patronising though. I’d be lucky to even get there on Beginner in the first place, would be a kick in the teeth after all that hard work
I didn’t even know how you could switch difficulties for the longest time!
But there was a demo where where the code for the first level was shown (BBAB, I’m pretty sure), so I was able to start the game on expert that way, and eventually beat it. It’s tough though.
The code for the last level was 46EA, at least for the version I had. Looking around the web to confirm, there’s a lot of conflicting information, so I’m guessing the codes were randomised to some extent, maybe.
I was never able to beat the final boss in Alpha Protocol because it would just CTD upon starting the fight.
My mom. When she says, “Turn that off and get your homework done,” I always cave.
Level 7-4 (the maze level in Super Mario Bros).
Not a boss, but the only way to beat the level is to take the correct path. If you get it wrong you get sent back to the start.
I’ve never seen what’s beyond the fourth level of Battletoads for Gameboy. That fucking labyrinth.
I’m pathologically stubborn and will stick with just about any game until I beat it, but Isshin the Sword Saint (Sekiro) took me a long time.
Isshin is one of the greatest boss battles in gaming. He’s a brutal, but fair, test of everything you learn in the game. The best part is you get to kill Genechro over and over.
IMO the Demon of Hatred is way harder because so few of your skills are useful in that fight.
I fought Demon of Hatred like a dark souls boss rather than a Sekiro boss. Lots of dodging. I’m sure there was a better way.
I love this contrast with the top comment (about lowering difficulty). Yeah, it was a struggle, but we got through, and it felt all the more satisfying for it! It doesn’t feel satisfying to, for example, chop a tree in a game, because there’s no challenge. Something can only really be satisfying if it challenges you (emotionally, intellectually, and/or in ability).
I think an additional undervalued part of not having difficulty settings is that we have a shared experience. Everyone who did it has shared in it. We know what they went through because there’s only one way to do it. We don’t have to ask about settings or anything, only that they accomplished the task.
For me though, the one I remember struggling with the most is O&S in DS1. I don’t think they’re actually the hardest boss FromSoft has made, but I’ve gotten far better at their games since then. Even their hardest bosses now I personally feel like they could be more challenging.
I’m with you. What these games are selling is that feeling you get after overcoming their challenges, and if you modify that, it’s not the same product. It’s like asking an artist to also offer their painting with changes to the colors, scene, or poses of the subjects to appeal to personal tastes - yes, they could do it, but it’s a different piece of art at that point.
And omg yes, O&S. It’s not as hard now after many years of playing souls-like games, but relatively it was so hard on my first exposure to dark souls in DS1. I had no idea what I was doing, my build was jank as hell, and it took ages to beat.
Seconding Isshin SS, I’m also stubborn as hell, sekiro is one of my favorite games and that fight took me so many attempts that I almost gave up multiple times. Felt so god damned good when I finally beat him though
No other FromSoft game could have a final fight as challenging as in Sekiro, because in the other titles, they had to consider a range of levels or builds that players would reach the end with. In Sekiro, they could really push the player.
Beating Isshin is so dang satisfying! I really wish Fromsoft would bless us with another Sekiro.
God, I hope we see that one day. Maybe the anime will stir up some demand for it when it releases.
Isshin only took me a few days to beat. Owl (father) on the other hand, took me a couple of months.
Owl is a hard fight too. It still holds me up for a while on replays of the game.
He’s a very bad dad.
I spent a year stuck on that fight. Not the whole game, just Sword Saint. I don’t regret a single minute of it, and I revisit him at least once a year since. Best goddam boss fight ever made.
DS3’s Pontif Sulyvahn! GRR! I’ll get you next playthrough! Just you wait!
Just gotta master that parry timing. Oh, and just wail on him and his clone when he summons it. With enough damage it won’t be a problem at all.
Haven’t beat the dual boss at the end of Elden ring, or the final DLC boss.
Think i’ve done most the rest of Soulsborn bosses.
In terms of time, some Demons souls boss I got stuck on, put the game aside for years, then went back to.
In terms of number of tries, I think O&S in Dark Souls one still holds the title. I ran into that brick wall for a long time before getting good.
Can’t think of any game series I had as much difficulty in and didn’t just give up, unless you count the Mun in Kerbal Space Program as a boss, cause that took a long time.
If you’re still interested, I could give you some easy to execute strategies to beat the final Elden Ring Boss and some decently easy ones for the final DLC Boss.
Also plug for !soulslike@lemmy.zip. It’s a nice and welcoming community :)
I don’t think it’s a can’t, it’s more of a “Ok, I’ve seen the game, this is a slog, I’m moving on to something else.”
Just got a PS5 so I’m absolutely loving Demons Souls, been like 10 years or more since I played it. First time playing magic in a souls game and it feels down right broken. Will likely work my way back through the series on the new hardware.
With all the bingo brawlers seasons I’ve seen all the end bosses, so doing it myself just hasn’t felt like a priority.
I was actually never able to beat the nilianth in the final level of Half Life. I think I tried 2 or 3 times, it was extremely annoying and I haven’t been back to try it again in a decade.
That bird in Karatka. I’m told it isn’t hard but I could never get the timing right.
Greetings, fellow traveler. I too remember the Apple II and 5.25" disks
I’m too lazy to type the whole thing out but since I had an Atari you can figure out the flame I am supposed to leave in this spot.
Good times.
My end boss there was fucking landing on that aircraft carrier.
Starfox adventure final space boss. After taking months adventuring my way through the game the space fight suddenly ramped up. Had no idea how to beat him.
Friend came over barreled rolled instintvly (I had never played the originals). Blew my mind.
Nameless king. I finally caved and accepted I would have to summon to beat him… Ah fuck.
The only soulsborne I didn’t beat, but I didn’t play after getting hard stuck on him. I did beat everyone solo though, which is why it was such a decision to think about summoning.
Yeah, that was a tough fight to learn. I’d say try to get through the dragon phase consistently, then once you can do that, really focus on the Nameless King’s moves. He only has a few and they all have an appropriate call/response pacing.
ALSO, Dark Souls 3 is secretly a rhythm game. Put on some headphones and turn up the music. You’re dancing with the bosses just as much as you’re fighting them.
Depending on your attitude about cheesing: his first phase is just wail on him with lightning and second phase is incredibly easy to kite with a bow.
