Photo Credit: Square Enix
The final boss is, in theory, supposed to be the most difficult fight in the game. In practice, it seldom works out that way. Usually, there are hidden or secret bosses that ramp the difficulty up to unreasonable levels. Even beyond that, there’s occasionally a boss along the way who for one reason or another, is way tougher than the final baddy. And that’s who we’re looking at today. Courtesy of my replay through Final Fantasy X, here’s 7 regular bosses that are harder than the final boss.
Seymour Flux – Final Fantasy X
Or as he’s known in many households – “THAT STUPID FIGHT ON GAGAZET!” Seymour Flux was the ultimate noob trap. Whether it was the introduction of a new mechanic in Zombie, him banishing your Aeons away after one round, or Total Annihilation basically one shotting your party, Seymour Flux was a huge spike in difficulty. Most people would agree that Jecht and Yu Yevon had nothing on Seymour Flux.
Undyne the Undying – Undertale
I have no doubt this will be a controversial one as the final boss of Undertale’s Genocide run is famously difficult. I’ve got to be honest though- I thought Undyne was harder. While her fight isn’t nearly as long as that of the final boss, I felt the mechanics were far more difficult. Where as the final boss was basically just learning one new movement at a time until you had the fight memorized, Undyne was a few minutes of utter chaos and panic.
Gilles de Rais – Castlevania 64
I know. I know. I know. WHO?! FROM WHAT GAME?! Castlevania 64 was a dumpster fire, but when I started thinking about who to include on this list it jumped to mind immediately. Gilles de Rais is a subordinate of Dracula, and actually disguises himself as Dracula for the supposed final encounter of the game. After untold hours of my childhood, I finally defeated him… only to find out that I had another boss fight to go. Fortunately, the final encounter with Dracula proved to be way easier than Gilles de Rais.
Father Balder – Bayonetta
This was a difficult one for me to include on the list purely because I believe Jubileus to be one of the all time great boss battles. You’ve spent the entire game having villains allude to her, gone through a bunch of fake endings to get to her, and finally you face off with a deity. But while the galaxy hurling giantess is one of the BEST fights in the game, it isn’t the most difficult. That honor technically goes to Rodin, but since he’s a special boss, it goes to Father Balder for the purposes of this list. While Jubileus is fun, her mechanics are very straight forward where as Father Balder encompasses a lot more chaos in his move set. Honestly, I thought Fortitudo was tougher than Jubileus, but that might just have been me.
Pretty Much Every Other Boss – Dark Souls
Dark Souls is an experience. It experiments with punishing the player to make them feel rewarded when they finally overcome, and its bosses play that mechanic perfectly. It would have been all too easy for me to just put Ornstein and Smough on here, because yes, that fight is insane. But when I think about, almost every other boss fight in the game is harder than Gwyn. Gravelord Nito? Yep. Capra Demon? Definitely. Even the golem atop Sen’s Funhouse is harder if you don’t summon Iron Tarkus. Gwyn, Lord of Cinder was almost a disappointment in how easy he was… or maybe we were all just so in the zone by that point that any boss would have been easy.
Goro – Mortal Kombat
Another one that might be somewhat controversial, you will never convince me that Shang Tsung was harder than Goro. He was unaffected by projectiles, couldn’t be thrown, and he hit like a truck. Despite Shang Tsung’s ability to transform into other fighters, he was much more manageable than the Shokan Warrior Goro.
Whitney – Pokemon Gold/Silver
This one is on here for me and me alone. I vividly recall moving through the elite 4 in Pokemon Gold and Silver, and I vividly recall beating Red at the end of the game. But more than either of those, I remember finally taking down Whitney and her stupid Miltank. After a generation which was pretty cruel to normal type Pokemon (except Snorlax and Chansey), Gold and Silver decided to show us all what a super powered Miltank could do. If she started using Rollout, you may as well hard reset and try again.
What boss fight do you think is harder than the final boss fight? Let us know on social media at Twitter or Facebook.