Don't you just love boss battles where...

[Gutsman]

I don't find boss battles in RPGs to be particularly interesting.

It seems to me that beating RPG bosses is just a function of how high level you are. Can't beat the boss? Go spend a few more hours levelling. To me that is not using "skill" to beat a boss. I've never fought an RPG boss that was actually "hard" in the sense that it can beat you no matter how powerful you were.

[gamevet]

Originally posted by Ammadeau
I like all fights to be challenging. If the fight isn't challenging and is something where I simply go through the same motions time and time again, like in most RPGs, what are they there for in the first place?

I also hate the achillies' heel approach to boss design since you can only fight them once, because once you learn the trick you're just repeating the same thing over and over.

Dural in VF2/VF4 was one tough bitch. The game learns your moves and makes you change your strategy with each meeting. A great AI if you ask me.

[Chojin]

Originally posted by Gutsman
I don't find boss battles in RPGs to be particularly interesting.

It seems to me that beating RPG bosses is just a function of how high level you are. Can't beat the boss? Go spend a few more hours levelling. To me that is not using "skill" to beat a boss. I've never fought an RPG boss that was actually "hard" in the sense that it can beat you no matter how powerful you were.

Thats why Chrono Cross is rocks. You only gain exp off bosses, so boss encounters actually require strategy to be defeated as opposed to being a lvl gimp. Fighting for control over ground color was great stuff.

[Ste-Von]

I like boss battles that take gaming skill, timing, and hand/eye coordination rather than ones that require me to find a specific weakness or discover a pattern.

[Drewbacca]

I like it, as long as they don't do that for EVERY boss. Some bosses should be overly weak, some skilled in more then just overwhelming physical power, more equal, instead of always just being the pro beating the unstoppable.

[radiant]

Originally posted by sggg
Maybe I am sadistic but the most rewarding boss battles I can think of were the ones in Shinobi (PS2). What a rush it was to time everything perfectly charge up your sword and then tate the bosses.

Definitely. I was quite proud of myself after killing the spider boss on the first attack of my first attempt at fighting him. The Stage 4B boss was a pain in the ass to tate though... damned lava.

[Nash]

Originally posted by OmegaFlareX
I hate to toot my own horn, but I consider myself a consumate master of the first Ninja Gaiden. There are only two parts I consistently have problems with - the Nails of Lukifell (section 5, with the small platforms and bazooka-firing grunts), and the final boss. I've only managed to beat the game twice in the 14 years I've owned it. Both times, it was because I continued and fought my way back to the boss, armed with the Fire Toss. You don't have to fight the last two bosses if you beat one (or both), lose against the next, and continue.

It's *extremely* difficult to one-credit this game, since by the time you get to the Demon Statue, you have no Ninja Art or any Spiritual Strength to use it (they're taken away after each boss fight). I've never done it, and I'm not sure if I actually could do it.

The last two stages aren't that hard once you figure out a few tricks. If I had a PC gamepad, I'd record a replay file for Stage 6 for you to watch, but there's no way I could do it with the keyboard.

i don't mean to pop your horn-tooting bubble, but i'm the master of ninja gaiden 1 and ninja gaiden 2. i can beat both games on one credit, and on a good day, can beat it on one life. given that i've played both games through more times than i can remember, i know every single aspect of them. i know when and where enemies are and when they are going to appear, and i know every boss pattern. if you couldn't tell, i was obsessed with these games.

[Omni]

Originally posted by sggg
Maybe I am sadistic but the most rewarding boss battles I can think of were the ones in Shinobi (PS2). What a rush it was to time everything perfectly charge up your sword and then tate the bosses.

Boss fights that make you feel like you're Jesus are the greatest, and the final boss fight of Shinobi definitely did that.

I got such a rush from that fight, but damn did it feel good when I beat him.

[Despair]

DMC had some of the most challenging and fun boss encounters I played in the game. The wicked challenge(especially on DMD mode) where game forced you to learn and use different strategies, in order to survive, was something that really made me appreciate the game. For example fighting 3rd form of Nero Angelo, where he faster and has flying sword attack, makes you totally rethink the strategy you used on first two battles, and 3rd battle with Nightmare will really make you hate it

Usually in rpgs I dont find boss battle that much challenging, for a few exceptions(Final Titan in Vagrant Story, R & E weapons in FF7) where bosses are totally owerpowered.

[DarkCrow676]

These types of boss battles give me the most joy when I beat them, but by the time I beat them, my controller is broken or in real bad shape.