# Most Anticlimactic Final Bosses in Video Games (will contain spoilers)



## DemonDragonJ (Apr 8, 2015)

In any good video game, the final boss shall be a truly powerful and threatening menace, and the battle against them shall be hugely dramatic, with much suspense and tension leading up to it and emotional turmoil resulting from it.

That is what a well-written final boss battle _should_ be, but too many of those battles fail to impress, fail to live up to their own hype. Sometimes, a final boss is defeated too easily, or simply is not sufficiently threatening for the battle against them to feel properly epic and emotional.

Therefore, this thread shall be for the discussion of final boss battles in video games that were anticlimactic, that did not provide a properly dramatic conflict, despite the game hinting that it would. I have chosen to discuss only final boss battles, and not all boss battles, that were anticlimactic, because there would be too many examples if we discussed all bosses, and because the final boss battle is naturally the most hyped and anticipated battle in the entire game. Naturally, all examples mentioned in this thread shall be major spoilers, so I shall ask all users who respond to cover their responses with spoiler tags.

Thankfully, I have encountered very few final bosses whose fights were anticlimactic, and they are as follows:
*Spoiler*: _Wario Land II_ 



_Wario Land II_ has fifty levels of varying length and difficulty, each with a unique piece of treasure that can be collected in the level and a puzzle piece that can be collected at the end of the level, as well as ten bosses (one for every five levels). If the player collects every treasure and every puzzle piece and defeats every boss, they gain access to "the Really Final Chapter," which is by far the longest and most difficult level in the game. When I played that level for the first time, I was expecting that it would have a boss fight at the end, and that that boss would be the most epic and difficult boss in the entire game, since many of the other bosses had been quite challenging. However, I was immensely disappointed to learn that the "boss" at the end of that level was nothing more than a giant spearman, a mini-boss who had been fought numerous time before that and was actually quite easy to defeat. To say that I was displeased would be an understatement; why not have multiple giant spearmen, and perhaps have a true boss after they had been defeated? That was nothing more than pure laziness by the game designers, since they could easily have given that level a proper boss, considering that they were able to fit fifty levels and ten bosses into the game.



*Spoiler*: _Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons_ 



In the two _Oracle_ games, the normal final bosses are Onox and Veran, who are appropriately dramatic and climactic, so they do not qualify for this thread, but, if one is playing a linked game, the true final boss is Ganon, who, despite being the main villain of the entire _Legend of Zelda_ series, does not live up to the hype that he is given in those games. While his attacks are powerful and he takes many hits to defeat, his attacks are also easy to dodge and he himself is slow and easy to hit, nor does he have alternate forms, as do many final bosses in _LoZ_ games. When I fought him for the first time, I actually found him to be easier than I did Onox and Veran, which was a major disappointment for me.


What does everyone else say about this? Have there been any final boss battles in video games that you found to be anticlimactic? I eagerly await your responses.


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## BrokenBonds (Apr 8, 2015)

Shadow of the Colossus - The Sorcerer 
Fable 2 - Lucien
Mass Effect 2 - that baby Reaper shit
Arkham Asylum - Joker
LOTR: War in the North - Agendaur


Sorcerer boss fight wasn't _too_ bad, it's just extremely frustrating and time-consuming.


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## Patchouli (Apr 8, 2015)

*Spoiler*: _Fable 2_ 



[YOUTUBE]eNYXoOtbxVA[/YOUTUBE]


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## Deathbringerpt (Apr 8, 2015)

Any boss whose combat consists of nothing but a single QTE. There's plenty of them but boy, I was pissed after that "boss" in Halo 4.


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## scerpers (Apr 8, 2015)

fable 2
ffx
that middle earth game


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## Gaawa-chan (Apr 9, 2015)

Disappointment comes primarily from built-up expectations which is why most truly disappointing bosses come from games that are not the first in their series.

For example, quite a few rpgs have pretty awful bosses, particularly if you've taken the time to fully develop your character(s), but the ones that stand out in terms of disappointment are the ones that come after a smash-hit boss from an earlier game.  Compare the final bosses of FFIV and V to FFVI, VII, and X. For that matter, IV is particularly noteworthy as exactly what should be done with a final boss; unique attacks coupled with effects that the company invented just for that fight, completely unlike anything else at the time.  It makes later final bosses in the series that much more disappointing. The final bosses of VI and VII were particularly egregious to me simply because of the massive build-up to said bosses that existed in-game.

Castlevania had excellent bosses for its time of 1986, and imo set a great standard for platforming bosses that we would see again in series like Mega Man.  Castlevania 1 and 3 had pretty good final bosses.  Simon's Quest... just watch the video (fight starts at 1:10):
and no Legacy of Kain
What hurts Simon's Quest even more is that the build-up to the final boss is actually really well-done.  You cross a bridge and then descend through the now abandoned and ruined castle in an unsettling reversal of the first game to the song "Within These Castle Walls," which is a brilliant atmospheric song on the NES. Compare that to, say, Adventure Rebirth's final form at 1:50 :
and no Legacy of Kain


Wind Waker and Twilight Princess have had their bosses completely emasculated to the point where they might as well do no damage at all, and this applies to their final bosses.  Both games tend towards all style-no substance, and this goes tenfold for their final bosses.  Compare to the final boss of Adventure of Link.  Nah, there is no comparison.

An obscure example for me is the final boss of Journey to Silius.  All the other bosses were pretty good, and knowing that the game was originally a Terminator game?  You know what the final boss is gonna be.  The first half of it is pretty good.  The second half? It's over in ten seconds with your default weapon.  Against a T-800. No, no, no. :-/


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## Lortastic (Apr 9, 2015)

I think most FFs games for me but that's because I grind the shit outta the game because I always try and do everything I can before the final part of the story. Consequently, I end up overpowered.


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## Pilaf (Apr 9, 2015)

I'm usually really disappointed by the final boss fights in Elder Scrolls games. I love the games overall, but they suck with boss fights. Oblivion, Skyrim and ESO had generic enemies as bosses which were essentially just normal people or monsters with higher HP and armor than normal. Mankar Camoran was just a tough mage. Alduin was a really tough dragon. Molag Bal is a tougher than average Daedra. There weren't really a lot of memorable boss mechanics in these fights - just baddies who were damage sponges compared to normal baddies. At least the final baddie in Morrowind had a lot of personality and you had to use a trick you learned in dialogue and lore to kill him. (I know. Technically, there was a trick involved in the other three I named, too, but you couldn't fuck that trick up. If you reached those boss fights, you already had the trick because the game handheld you into it. Not so in Morrowind. You could die horribly against Dagoth Ur if you skipped through dialogue in the game.)


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## DemonDragonJ (Apr 9, 2015)

Gaawa-chan, are you actually saying that you fond Sephiroth and Kefka, two of the best-known villains in _Final Fantasy,_ to be anti-climactic? How did you form that opinion?


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## Hunted by sister (Apr 9, 2015)

Space Marine - Nemeroth

//HbS


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## Overwatch (Apr 9, 2015)

The two dogs at the end of Kane and Lynch 2.


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## Imagine (Apr 9, 2015)

BrokenBonds said:


> Fable 2 - Lucien





seminal fluid druid said:


> that middle earth game




These


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## Gaawa-chan (Apr 9, 2015)

DemonDragonJ said:


> Gaawa-chan, are you actually saying that you fond Sephiroth and Kefka, two of the best-known villains in _Final Fantasy,_ to be anti-climactic? How did you form that opinion?



Because the fights against them suck ass? All hype, no delivery.


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## DemonDragonJ (Apr 10, 2015)

Gaawa-chan said:


> Because the fights against them suck ass? All hype, no delivery.



What do you mean? I found both of them to be very difficult when I fought them, and the battles were even more epic since each of them occurred in stages, and had epic background music, as well.


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## Gaawa-chan (Apr 10, 2015)

DemonDragonJ said:


> What do you mean? I found both of them to be very difficult when I fought them, and the battles were even more epic since each of them occurred in stages, and had epic background music, as well.



... Yeah, okay.


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## Nemesis (Apr 10, 2015)

DemonDragonJ said:


> Gaawa-chan, are you actually saying that you fond Sephiroth and Kefka, two of the best-known villains in _Final Fantasy,_ to be anti-climactic? How did you form that opinion?



While Kefke I would disagree with.  Sephiroth once you get knights of the round is an extremely simple fight that can be done in 2-3 turns.

Even then nothing compares to Yu-yevon.  Cast reflect on him and you've basically won.  But even then going into final fantasy games you already know the final boss isn't the hardest.  They always have the secret bosses that will be tougher.  Weapons, Yiazmat, Ozma, Penance.


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## Xiammes (Apr 10, 2015)

seminal fluid druid said:


> fable 2
> ffx
> that middle earth game



Do you mean Jecht of Yu Yevon, Jecht has a awesome design and the fight can be somewhat challenging if you didn't do any of the extra shit. Yu Yevon shit was terrible.



> While Kefke I would disagree with. Sephiroth once you get knights of the round is an extremely simple fight that can be done in 2-3 turns.



>Knights of the round

Thats not really fair, considering the quest to get it is completely optional and takes around 8-10 hours. I could say Ruby weapon was disappointing because I can beat him at level 1 without pressing a single button.

FFX is a bit of a oddball, for the final battles, the only way for them to be challenging is to do none of the extra shit or over level yourself(incredible easy to do).


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## Nemesis (Apr 11, 2015)

Well even Bahamut Zero was enough to make it easy.  Ultimecia and Necron were much more fun battles.  Even if Necron was "Hurray I defeated Kuja and won the game.  Wait what... WTF is this bullshit?"


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## Aduro (Apr 11, 2015)

Mass Effect 3 didn't even have one... although they were right that giving the illusive man a super-powered reaper form would be too unbelievable the whole last stand was a little easy, and the banshee's should have been last.

Fable 3's was at least as dull as Fable 2's for me, but then the whole game's combat wasn't great.

Joker in Arkham Asylum just sent mooks at you most of the time. Very dull after the epic gross venom powerup.

@Xiammes
I though FFX's one was pretty impressive, it wasn't anywhere near as tough as some of the Dark Aeons and things like that but at least the pagodas made it unlike any other boss battles in the game. Kinda funny that they forgot to remove its zombie immunity though. If you want one that was too easy try Demise in Skyward Sword, he was basically a more predictable version of Ghirahim.


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## Overwatch (Apr 12, 2015)

The Warrior from Borderlands 2.

The main characters spend the entire game shitting themselves over how monstrously powerful it is, but the actual fight is ridiculously straightforward.


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## scerpers (Apr 12, 2015)

Xiammes said:


> Do you mean Jecht of Yu Yevon, Jecht has a awesome design and the fight can be somewhat challenging if you didn't do any of the extra shit. Yu Yevon shit was terrible.



jecht is pathetically easy even if you didn't do any of the extra shit. his attacks do piss amounts of damage and he uses all of his turns charging up to use an overdrive which _MIGHT_ do 2000 damage. somewhat challenging my ass.


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## Not Sure (Apr 12, 2015)

Tbh, I consider Lucien to be more of the Final Villain than a Boss. The Actual Final Boss, the Shard, is still really underwhelming.


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## DemonDragonJ (Apr 12, 2015)

I am not certain if this a proper example, but
*Spoiler*: _Kirby and the Amazing Mirror spoiler_ 



In _Kirby and the Amazing Mirror,_ the final boss, the Dark Mind, is first fought in its initial, humanoid form. It must be fought four times, each time becoming slightly more difficult (although, the players thankfully are able to replenish their health between each battle). After that, the Dark Mind is fought in its true and final form, a giant fiery sphere that resembles a sun with an eye. That battle is quite difficult, so a player who was playing that game for the first time might presume that that is the final battle, a presumption that I made, as well. However, when the Dark Mind is defeated during that battle, it flees, weakened, and then must be battled for one final time in a top-scrolling scene in which the players ride atop stars and shoot smaller stars at it. When the Dark Mind's health is depleted, the credits of the game start to scroll. That battle is much easier than the previous battle, and I believe that it existed for no reason other than providing a mini-game that could be played during the credits.


Therefore, the final boss of that game was anticlimactic because what should have been the final battle was instead used to set up a far less dramatic true final battle.


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## PureWIN (Apr 14, 2015)

*Skyrim.* I fought Aldrin when I was already too strong. He couldn't even hurt me.


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## Blitzomaru (Apr 17, 2015)

FFX. You couldn't lose. Jetch had 2 forms that provided a mild challenge if you did nothing. Once he was beaten you were given auto-life, so you couldn't possibly lose against the Aeons and Yu Yevon.


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## Xiammes (Apr 17, 2015)

scerpers said:


> jecht is pathetically easy even if you didn't do any of the extra shit. his attacks do piss amounts of damage and he uses all of his turns charging up to use an overdrive which _MIGHT_ do 2000 damage. somewhat challenging my ass.



Its extremely easy to overlevel yourself, so when I say bare bones, I don't mean post game content, I mean anything, just straight through the story line and not skipping any battles. 2k damage should be more then half health of anyone in the party except maybe Auron.


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## Byrd (Apr 21, 2015)

Yu Yevon...


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## 7777777 (Apr 21, 2015)

Yu Yevon is not even a boss. It's basically an interactive cutscene for all that matters, would have been done in qte today. Jecht is the final boss of the game. He's meh, rigged in your favor. Not the most anticlimactic though.


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## Hyperion1O1 (Apr 21, 2015)

RTS:

Brood War's Zerg Overmind- I just massed Zealots and Tanks. Compared to other missions like rescuing Zeratul in a Terran compound, beating Zerg was a piece of cake.

Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos- Beating the time attack on that awaken Malfurion mission was harder than Archimonde lol. What a joke of a last battle.

If Stronghold missions count, then practically every Stronghold in Dawn of War Soulstorm is a disappointment except for Tau. And that's only because the Tau cheats and spams nonstop with uber units.

Battle Realms- " I AM THE DARK" final boss easier than beating a half decent Lotus army......

Other games:

DMC4- Lol old man, I expected more from the old fart

DMC2- Need I say more?

Jungle Book- Shere Khan


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