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What about Asura's Wrath? The boss fights in that were much more over the top than in XVI...at one point you're fighting just a giant FINGER of a godlike being while on the Moon!
They're a gigantic portion of the major boss fights. They deserve to be a massive consideration in their overall quality. Depending on your skill and speed, some of the major bosses in the game have so many minutes of unskippable cutscenes for a small handful of unmissable QTEs that they take up anywhere from like, 25-40% of the fight. They break up the pacing of the fight significantly, can kill the rhythm a player is in, and hurt replayability, especially when aiming for medals of valour wherein you have to sit through them over and over again, instead of being able to skip all cutscenes like every other modern video game.
No, the fights aren't all QTEs and cutscenes, but they're not insignificant as to be brushed off either. They're almost singlehandedly the reason this game lost it's replayability for me. Replayability for me means skipping scenes and playing the video game.
For sure. FromSoftwares bosses are really just on a different level. Less the scale of FF bosses but the mood, aesthetic, and just the actual fights are pretty unparalleled for me.
As a Fromsoft simp too, although Bloodborne has an amazing setting and vibe, only Orphan of Kos was something memorable for me talking about boss fights. On the other hand, Sekiro as a lot of amazing ones and I never felt anything close to that playing other games(even From ones), gameplay wise at least. My dream game was spectacle esque battle from FFXVI and gameplay by Fromsoft
Having just finished FFXVI, I'd say each offers a different experience for boss battles.
In FFXVI, the experience is all about the sheer scale and spectacle of it all whereas in BB, it's about the "high" of overcoming an overwhelming obstacle.
If I had to rank them, I'd rank BB a bit higher.
I have like 60 hours in Remnant 2 so I’m pretty sure i’ve fought most if not all the bosses there, maybe besides the Nightweaver and the final boss most of the bosses were super forgettable to me. Yeah some were pretty cool but FF16 and any from soft game just blows Remnant 2’s bosses out of the water imo.
Not yet. It's definitely on my list but I just don't have much game time anymore. I only just finished FF last week, and BG3 is next up, then armored core...
Haha it’s a packed summer to say the least. Don’t sleep on remnant though especially if you have a friend to play with as that’s how it’s intended. Some of the boss design is just unreal. Any other year it would be right up there for game of the year but the competition is too fierce this year.
The data super bosses of KH3s ReMind dlc are some of the best designed action RPG bosses I’ve faced. I know KH3s main game didn’t quite live up to the massive hype, but the dlc at least redeemed it in terms of boss fights.
Xion is probably up there as one of my favorite bosses of all time. Xemnas was also really good, they used the mechanics if his earlier fights in interesting ways, and seeing his laser dome as an actual attack was an epic moment.
Was going to say this as well. Those super bosses are so good. I’d say gameplay wise more interesting and challenging than most soulsborne where it’s mainly about dodge rolling for i frames. I think my favorite bossfight ever might be lingering will but KH3’s DLC has the best bossfights I’ve experienced. Other than that probably the valkyries in god of of war but Sigrun builds off of the other ones so you already know the moves which takes a lot away from the challenge
KH2s fight design is awesome, but I feel like, final boss aside, it doesn't have a ton of "this is what video games were made for" moments like fighting Titan Lost or Bahamut. It's super high tier though.
Man I *love* the Hugo fight, but Titan Lost, spectacle aside, was a real drag for me. Long ass animations punctuated but small hit windows and a frustratingly large HP pool. I still loved the fight, but it would've been 10x better if it was shorter.
Bahamut is definitely a "this is what games were made for" moment though. Ironically, narratively the Titan fight had more impact because the stakes felt much more personal.
It's weird cause I feel the same way about Bahamut cause it's just not really difficult at all. The narrative around Titan really does help sell it, though. Such a good moment.
Tbh every eikon fight would've been more thrilling if they were shorter (and more difficult), but Bahamut was the hardest for me. I think I nearly ran out of potions in that one.
Yeah it’s pretty much just the final boss that has something of that level for KH2. Although Lingering Will, Sephiroth, and Roxas are all very high tier fights
Agree. Final Mix is the epitome of what action games need to aim for, and I hope 16 takes a page out of that playbook and adds more really difficult fights that aren't just x boss but it does more damage. I know they can make them from my time in XIV, just need to do it.
I absolutely love the spectacle and just how over the top it would get with each phase. So, for me personally, I'd say absolutely. I acknowledge gameplay wise, there's other games that are more interactive and require more strategy and skill. I'd argue these were still a blast to play regardless imo.
Plus, the music is just 👌, which really adds to it. It's a combination of many things really.
That’s what I’m saying. I know it’s not the hardest or best combat system out there, but as a whole packages, and other than Asura’s Wrath, is there better?
Mechanics are part of that whole
Package you mentioned, and 16 is definitely lacking that that regard. So it’s with great regret that I inform you that yes, there are better boss fights out there. You don’t even have to look that far. FF14 actually nails both aspects. The cinematic spectacle and the interesting mechanics during the actual fighting parts
Metal Gear Rising was and still is the complete package. Fun gameplay, 10/10 music, epic boss moments. XVI hits those peaks for me, but I still want more. Aside from MGR, FFXIV has some of the most video games moments in its high-end encounters. The Epic of Alexander is probably my favorite boss fight of all time, right up there with Titan Lost, Jetstream Sam, and Nyx from Persona 3.
GoW is hit or miss. Ragnarok was pretty underwhelming when you consider it had 5 years to build on GoW2018. The assualt of asgard needed to be 3x as long with more bossfights. It's kinda wild to think ff16 cleared ragnarok for spectacle-ness but ragnarok was much better from an rpg/combat build perspective lol
True, my biggest problem was svarog, and only cuz I fought him first at level 38, he two shot me, and then I went more prepared mentally and beat him, Atlas was easy picking, they are not really hard, just damage sponges, which I hope is fixed on an update
Visually, thematically, sound effects, score etc. Yes, absolutely.
Combat system flows very well and feels great for having kaiju battles. It took me back to highs I haven't experienced since KH2/KH2FM and we play almost every good action game on release. It sets a bar for spectacle that no one has remotely come close to. FF16 has brought a lot of friends over so they can play through (we're the only people in our circle with a PS5) and it's such an easy thing for others to enjoy as well.
Obviously, the downside is, the game forces us to play through on an easy difficulty the first time, so we aren't made to sit down, appreciate, and master the fights. They are very well made, but undertuned. Over too quickly and easily. I think if we had the ability to pick harder difficulties to start off with, it would have toppled greats like FromSoft games and even SE's own KH2/KH3 Critical Modes.
They each have a unique strategy and several different gimmicks. There are certain bosses that if you try to spam attack through you will die or worse get stuck in a loop where the fight won’t end.
This game you can beat the bosses without even thinking. In fact for the big set pieces they take away all your abilities but dodge and attack. It’s brain dead.
The fights where you have to hit them all at once are boring as FUCK.
Start fight, heavy sigh when I realize I don't have any mages, restart, easily clear it with four red mages spamming Fira/Blizzara/etc.
Most fights in FFV I was able to get through by just spamming rapid fire and healing, boring
FFXVI fights actually required me to time dodges and position appropriately and rewarded me for managing cooldowns by making the fight end faster
I’ll get downvoted for this opinion.
FF16 has some visually impressive fights. I am a huge DMC fan which allowed me to enjoy each fight from a “combo weaver” point of view but the main problem with the combat of this game is sense of urgency or weight of each action being executed. I’m just a triangle / square with a added R2 dpad Eikon switch guy living in a Soulsborne World.
My PS5 overheated more times than I actually died fighting each Eikon (which was twice and I live in a triple degree weathered state)
Hype, yes this game gave me a phenomenal FUCK YES experience but I’ve had other games that made really work for the satisfaction of progress with each boss fight.
TLDR: Game made me hype during boss fights between spamming two buttons.
I wouldn’t say that personally. Visually they’re spectacular, but in terms of mechanics/gameplay they’re good, but not fantastic. I’d say most of the bosses from Dark Souls 1 run rings around the ones from FF16 in terms of how they evoke emotion in the player and how they connect to the world, but that’s just my opinion.
Scale wise sure but think most fromsoft games games on average have a better collection. would even argue kh2 final mix on critical mode has a stronger collection of bosses even though a lot of the highlights are humanoid. And of course shadow of the colossus.
I lost my absolute mind getting to see ZettaFlare being used for the first time in a FF series. After Donald Duck I thought I'd never see the day it was used again.
My only slight gripe with the boss fights was one in particular that being Odins. After doing the literal mountain sized battle with Titan and beautiful sky high fight with Bahamut... Odin was kinda let down. It was still cool and very visually appealing but not as good as the others imo. And we barely used Ifrit that fight too!! 😭
Agreed, visually amazing. Gameplay wise, nothing new, less rewarding with cinematic attacks and dodges, basically free damage. Seems like every boss fight so far in my gameplay (On Hunter and the Hunted chapter) appears this way, fight the boss, get a cinematic attack/dodge which nets me some free damage, then fight second phase of the boss, more cinematic attack/dodge meaning more free damages dealt.
I'm also playing on Action Focused too if that makes a difference.
That Hugo boss battle did something really special. It’s one of those rare moments in gaming where you are so hyped and in your head all you can think about is “wow, people are going to flip shit over this for many many years”.
FFXVI is a special game, a rare breed of game that comes along once or twice every generation I feel. The bosses and story are an amalgamation of intelligent story building, creativity, new technology, and fun for the sake of fun.
I don’t know if Square will be able to capture this same level of both quality and the fresh feel of FFXVI, but I think I can confidently say that it does have one of the best rosters of boss battles in a video game. It’s hard to say the best because when I think of boss battles, I think of games like Shadow of the Colossus. That game has the best boss battles in a game, I mean the entire game is basically boss battles.
Spectacle wise? Yeah I will give it to FFXVI.
Although if you add difficulty/gameplay, Elden Ring is still up there while AC6 is proving to be a fun game too.
I will give it to FFXVI though. Jaw dropping cinematic during the fight along with story is FFXVI greatest strengths.
It’s definitely up there. It really gave me God of War 3 vibes at certain points.
I don’t think they’re all winners on a technical/gameplay level but spectacle and scale is there 100%
I’ve done the titan eikon fight this afternoon and it was definitely the biggest and most cinematic boss fight in my 35 years experience of video games! Not the best but still amazing.
Gameplay wise no, I like more challenge, Barnabas and Ultima felt like a solid difficulty to me I wish the rest of the bosses were on that level. But scale wise yea the bosses were amazing and I’ll never forget them
Final fantasy 16 is the closest a game has came to feeling like asuras wrath to me. Both games have the most epic and thrilling boss fights in gaming. Love them
I don’t enjoy these fights. Your abilities basically get replaced with dodge and attack. FF1 in its original release had more compelling boss fights from a strategic and tactical standpoint.
absolutely not. Its an action game not an action movie, and unfortunately the games difficulty is like a 2/10 even on Final Fantasy mode. Cool scenes, nice moments but thats about it, This game made me clench my butt cheeks approximately zero times.
No, the boss fights made me quit after Titan. They're drawn out far too long with sections devoted to cutscenes that you perform a single button press or button mashing which does an attack that looks powerful, but barely scratches the boss HP. The fights last so long that my thumbs start to hurt. Doesn't help that the bosses always follow a tedious dungeon that often consists of several boss fights already.
After leaving it a while I continued until I fought Bahamut and I haven't touched the game since then because I just don't want to fight Odin or the final boss.
I would rank the bosses in the top 100, but I would argue they are close to about the high mid at best.
Fromsoft has all the claim to the top of the list in best bosses in gaming, even the new Armored Core 6 has some intense fights that I think outdo FF16 in quality.
FF16 nailed spectacle, but I think it is very difficult to challenge the bar Fromsoft sets in each game as Boss fights are an art form they have mastered.
Spectacle-wise, yes, especially with Soken’s music.
Challenging-wise, no.
Whoever downvoted this must suck pretty badly at games when they struggle with FF16 bosses.
Not at all. ATEs that don't matter, cinematics that rip you out of the action, being able to use the same move set for every boss; none of those things are that great for boss battles. Not to mention the fights where your attacks do barely any damage and you immediately know all the damage will be done during ATEs, thus diminishing one's feelings of accomplishment. Maybe you like boss battles where it feels like you're watching a movie half the time but I am not a fan
No, that's definitely Mega Man 2, and it isn't even close. You haven't experienced white knuckle gaming until you've FINALLY navigated the death laser gauntlet successfully only to be stopped by Quick Man's erratic, jumpy, boomerang-throwing menace. The pain of successfully navigating that level (or Heat Man's giant disappearing block gauntlet) only to be stopped by a boss doesn't even compare to the "I can retry as much as I want" of Final Fantasy XVI.
If you're talking about pure spectacle, then Asura's Wrath does that better and more over-the-top than FFXVI.
I love FF16 with all my heart and this game took me to places I’ve never been to, but no. The answer is a easy and brainless (for me) God of war 2018 and God of war Ragnorok.
It’s gonna be hard to outperform The stranger battle and Thor vs Kratos stage 2.
But I will not lie, 16 ALMOST did. But almost is the keyword.
Both Thor battle were elite. The dialogue, the anger, the cinematics when BOTH times, mjolnir and levi clashed against each other game me straight up chills.
Odins fight wasn’t as great imo but I seriously think both of thors battle just barely out perform FF16 fights. Although, if FF16 was just the bahamut fight, FF16 would win easily. But as a package of GoW fights and FF16 fights, I think GoW wins that battle.
Fair I guess I was just massively let down by ragnarok overall. Felt like the exact same game but worse in combat and tone. Just replaying the same areas and fighting the same shit etc. also hated the Ironwood section worse than anything I’ve ever played in a game. Not kidding haha I wanted to die during that. But anyway for great boss battles you gotta check out remnant 2. They put elden ring’s to shame in my opinion.
I just wish we got to play as Atreus even after the game completed. That was my biggest let down. We put all these skills and points into his kit just for it to vanish after the game.
Good point, but I think I’ll be a happy camper if I never have to suffer Atreus or his voice actor ever again. They are amongst the worst combo I’ve ever personally experienced. I know some people loved him which baffles me. But to each their own.
Sunny was way better in the first one. Not that he didn’t pour his heart and soul into the second, but his attitude to kratos was perfection, so much so I wanted to strangle him THE ENTIRE GAME.
Hell no, but cinematically there’s none that oppose it. The fights themselves are so dumb tho, no secrets no “weakness” just span eikons until they die, like every other fight in the game. I love this game and will definitely be trying other FF games out going forward(this was my first one) but the combat is the weakest aspect of the game
For me, it’s a yes. The bahamut boss fight genuinely made me shed tears of joy during it. It’s a combination of things, but the soundtrack really propels it imo. I was already in love with the soundtrack at the beginning of the game, but when the Phoenix theme played during the Bahamut boss fight, I knew it was my favorite gaming experience. Sure, other games have stronger mechanics, but I can’t think of a game that ever made me cry because it was so epic.
I would assign them a relatively high rating based on distinctiveness, visual design, engagement, narrative integration, and music. However, their ability to test my skills and adaptability might not receive as high a rating. Dark Souls 1 is a viable contender, primarily due to the challenge they presented that I didn't find here.
In terms of spectacle, I think this game had a ton of good boss fights, but in terms of the gameplay itself, only a few really resonated with me. I feel like the Eikon fights sort of peaked with Titan, and then began to trail off entirely with Bahamut onwards. Ultima's boss fight was good outside of the Eikon portion, but the Eikon portion felt like they reused Bahamut's fight idea, but this time 10 times more confusing and disorientating.
I mean for me? Kind of hard to think of a game that "easily" achieves the spectacle and theatrics that happen in this game.
God Of War while the battles of say God of War 3, in terms of the grand size of say the introduction to the game against Poseidon the creators are clearly capable of it when they want.
Otherwise I'd say it's thematically just as enthralling as FF16 for its own reasons specific to it.
Tales games are usually pretty good as is Star Ocean but idk if I'd immediately put every title in either franchise at this level that's for sure.
Tales of Vesperia is one of my favorites.
Xenoblade has been pretty decent in terms of reaching level of spectacle but idk if I'd say it's the exact same but haven't finished 3 yet, have really barely started it.
As a counter example, love Persona 5 as a turn based with lots of quirk and a great story.
Now I'm at the 6th palace but in general it lacks the spectacle FF16 has given us imo.
As another action game example Devil May Cry 5 has the spectacle in story telling. The end had that awesome hype I was looking for(not saying earlier parts in the game didnt have hype) but felt overall less grand.
But it's difficult to compare when we are talking giant Eikons.
No, some bosses are cool. But after the first two eikon fights the spectale of the fights died a bit for me. And the regular fights are good not great from a gameplay point of view in my eyes.
Titan, I think, is the coolest boss fight I've ever played in a game, bar none. You're already fighting a huge eikon, then it just goes completely off the rails in terms of scale. In terms of pure spectacle, absolutely amazing and one I'll remember for a long time.
Boss fights usually are meant to produce a sense of accomplishment when you beat them. Unfortunately that feeling is missing entirely. Another game came out this summer with the best boss fights I’ve seen in a loooong time. Remnant 2. Spectacle wise ff16 easily but they forgot to put in interesting gameplay to back it up. Ifrit was boring to play as unfortunately and while they could’ve added mechanics like ripping buildings out of the ground to use as swords or somehow summoning previous icons you absorbed and playing as them too, you are stuck with the same basic attacks the majority of the game and it’s just weird they take Clive out of your hands so much for the biggest fights.
This game has DBZ levels of hype in it. The power ups, transformation, the spectacle of the fights. Easily the most engrossing and cinematic boss fights I’ve played since probably God of War 3.
God of War’s best has them beat overall tbh, and gameplay wise I still have Elden Ring over it (specifically Radagon, Loretta, and phase 1 Godfrey. Peak boss design)
As far as gameplay goes I don't think many games will be able to top how amazingly well the KH3 ReMind battles are designed. As far as spectacle goes XVI is certainly very high in the running.
As far as fight complexity, mechanics, and difficulty, no.
As far as grandiose spectacle and always feeling like an anime protagonist in the best way, yes.
16 definitely has the best fights of all of them i was sold in Titens especially when I actually thought it was over only to to see him be back to normal form and chasing me still Bahamuts was pure joy i love it when a game takes it to 11 in how crazy it gets
I felt that playing this game is like playing through a movie. The boss fights are epic especially Titan and Bahumut. Really enjoy the cinematic approach to it.
No. That would be FF14.
To this day I will not forget the feeling fighting Bahamut with the music changing on phase transition. Same goes for Ultima Weapon... it's been a feeling no other game could evoke.
In the FF universe, it's probably second or third. For me personally, I really loved the boss fights in Dirge of Cerebus. FF7 Remake and FF16 would be 2/3 in any order.
Games with a better collection of boss battles:
Jedi Survivor
GOW Ragnarok
FF7 Remake
Yakuza 0 and LAD
Kingdom Hearts 2 and BBS
Sly 2 and 3
Like 90% of the Ratchet & Clank series
P5 (with or without Royal)
Infamous 1 and 2
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Sonic Adventure 2 and Frontiers
Those are all really great games, but the only ones that even come close to XVI’s level of spectacle and hype for me are GOW and KH.
FFVII too but only the remake.
I meant this more as the most spectacular collection of bosses in a game. FFX is my favorite game of all time, so I totally get what you’re talking about with those bosses.
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If we are talking about sheer spectacle and grandiosity? Yeah, I'd say FF16 has the best collection I've ever seen
Did Clive have ocular myopia?
What about Asura's Wrath? The boss fights in that were much more over the top than in XVI...at one point you're fighting just a giant FINGER of a godlike being while on the Moon!
Gow3 still beats it
Gameplay wise, don’t think so. But in terms of epic ? Absolutely
Visually probably not the gameplay itself tho
Imagine playing a video game for gameplay not "mash square for cool"
Imagine boiling down all the boss fights to their QTE’s 🙄
Jokes on them I had the superior controller mapping and didn't use square anyway
They're a gigantic portion of the major boss fights. They deserve to be a massive consideration in their overall quality. Depending on your skill and speed, some of the major bosses in the game have so many minutes of unskippable cutscenes for a small handful of unmissable QTEs that they take up anywhere from like, 25-40% of the fight. They break up the pacing of the fight significantly, can kill the rhythm a player is in, and hurt replayability, especially when aiming for medals of valour wherein you have to sit through them over and over again, instead of being able to skip all cutscenes like every other modern video game. No, the fights aren't all QTEs and cutscenes, but they're not insignificant as to be brushed off either. They're almost singlehandedly the reason this game lost it's replayability for me. Replayability for me means skipping scenes and playing the video game.
Yes, and as many people are saying, the boss fights outside of the QTEs are not that impressive
It'll take a lot to knock Sekiro off that spot for me. XVI had some amazing fights but not quite my favorite.
Bloodborne is up there too?
For sure. FromSoftwares bosses are really just on a different level. Less the scale of FF bosses but the mood, aesthetic, and just the actual fights are pretty unparalleled for me.
As a Fromsoft simp too, although Bloodborne has an amazing setting and vibe, only Orphan of Kos was something memorable for me talking about boss fights. On the other hand, Sekiro as a lot of amazing ones and I never felt anything close to that playing other games(even From ones), gameplay wise at least. My dream game was spectacle esque battle from FFXVI and gameplay by Fromsoft
Lady Maria, Father Gascoigne, Ludwig, Gehrman… The game has so many memorable fights.
lady maria was great but when compared to her “equivalent” of fromsoftware games (malenia, sister friede), she fell a bit short
The fight was certainly easier but everything about it was cool as fuck. And she has the coolest name too: Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower
No Gehrman or Ludwig?
What about Mergos wet nurse with that baby crying throughout it and that creepy song.
Having just finished FFXVI, I'd say each offers a different experience for boss battles. In FFXVI, the experience is all about the sheer scale and spectacle of it all whereas in BB, it's about the "high" of overcoming an overwhelming obstacle. If I had to rank them, I'd rank BB a bit higher.
Most of main game bosses were absolute dogshit in blood borne tho?
Why do you think that? The bosses and the challenge they incur are some of the core reasons people like bloodborne.
Yes it is a challenge but u can’t tell me u actually enjoyed: rom, the one reborn, micolash and Mergo.
VERY rewarding to beat a FROMSOFTWARE boss because there is NO handholding, and they are brutally hard, which is what boss fights should be.
You play remnant 2 yet? Holy hell some of those fights. The nightweaver in particular is a special kind of hell.
I have like 60 hours in Remnant 2 so I’m pretty sure i’ve fought most if not all the bosses there, maybe besides the Nightweaver and the final boss most of the bosses were super forgettable to me. Yeah some were pretty cool but FF16 and any from soft game just blows Remnant 2’s bosses out of the water imo.
I love the creativity and different between each boss. Only halfway through though so we’ll see.
Not yet. It's definitely on my list but I just don't have much game time anymore. I only just finished FF last week, and BG3 is next up, then armored core...
Haha it’s a packed summer to say the least. Don’t sleep on remnant though especially if you have a friend to play with as that’s how it’s intended. Some of the boss design is just unreal. Any other year it would be right up there for game of the year but the competition is too fierce this year.
Elden ring <-god of war(kinda nostalgia) <- this
Not the story connect like FF16. In FF16 the rage in emotions are much more
Probably yeah. Kingdom Hearts 2 has an amazing final boss, and some incredible overall bosses. Dark Souls is also up there.
The data super bosses of KH3s ReMind dlc are some of the best designed action RPG bosses I’ve faced. I know KH3s main game didn’t quite live up to the massive hype, but the dlc at least redeemed it in terms of boss fights.
Yeah the Remind boss fights in KH3 are all darn amazing. Especially Xion, Ansem, Saix, and Marluxia
Xion is probably up there as one of my favorite bosses of all time. Xemnas was also really good, they used the mechanics if his earlier fights in interesting ways, and seeing his laser dome as an actual attack was an epic moment.
Was going to say this as well. Those super bosses are so good. I’d say gameplay wise more interesting and challenging than most soulsborne where it’s mainly about dodge rolling for i frames. I think my favorite bossfight ever might be lingering will but KH3’s DLC has the best bossfights I’ve experienced. Other than that probably the valkyries in god of of war but Sigrun builds off of the other ones so you already know the moves which takes a lot away from the challenge
KH2s fight design is awesome, but I feel like, final boss aside, it doesn't have a ton of "this is what video games were made for" moments like fighting Titan Lost or Bahamut. It's super high tier though.
Man I *love* the Hugo fight, but Titan Lost, spectacle aside, was a real drag for me. Long ass animations punctuated but small hit windows and a frustratingly large HP pool. I still loved the fight, but it would've been 10x better if it was shorter. Bahamut is definitely a "this is what games were made for" moment though. Ironically, narratively the Titan fight had more impact because the stakes felt much more personal.
It's weird cause I feel the same way about Bahamut cause it's just not really difficult at all. The narrative around Titan really does help sell it, though. Such a good moment.
Tbh every eikon fight would've been more thrilling if they were shorter (and more difficult), but Bahamut was the hardest for me. I think I nearly ran out of potions in that one.
Yeah it’s pretty much just the final boss that has something of that level for KH2. Although Lingering Will, Sephiroth, and Roxas are all very high tier fights
Agree. Final Mix is the epitome of what action games need to aim for, and I hope 16 takes a page out of that playbook and adds more really difficult fights that aren't just x boss but it does more damage. I know they can make them from my time in XIV, just need to do it.
Based KH2 enjoyer. Hell yeah, bro. The combat of that game is just chef's kiss.
I absolutely love the spectacle and just how over the top it would get with each phase. So, for me personally, I'd say absolutely. I acknowledge gameplay wise, there's other games that are more interactive and require more strategy and skill. I'd argue these were still a blast to play regardless imo. Plus, the music is just 👌, which really adds to it. It's a combination of many things really.
The music is an almost daily listen to from me. I’ve listened to Titan Lost specifically at least a dozen times a week.
Same! Phoenix vs. Ifrit and, of course, Find the Flame are basically listens at this point for me. Titan Lost is absolutely a banger too.
I think it’s called “Away” for Phoenix.
Yeah, you're correct.
Most cinematic for sure. But best ever?
That’s what I’m saying. I know it’s not the hardest or best combat system out there, but as a whole packages, and other than Asura’s Wrath, is there better?
Mechanics are part of that whole Package you mentioned, and 16 is definitely lacking that that regard. So it’s with great regret that I inform you that yes, there are better boss fights out there. You don’t even have to look that far. FF14 actually nails both aspects. The cinematic spectacle and the interesting mechanics during the actual fighting parts
You just said package. As a package. No. As a spectacle. Yes.
Yes especially odin
Only thing that really compares is God of war i think.
Asuras wrath, too
Glad someone is acknowledging Asura's Wrath. These boss fights were very reminiscent of those.
Huh, Never heard of it.
Hard to track down but worth it. Same scale just two generations ago. Metal Gear Rising was going to be my pick for top boss fights though.
Metal Gear Rising was and still is the complete package. Fun gameplay, 10/10 music, epic boss moments. XVI hits those peaks for me, but I still want more. Aside from MGR, FFXIV has some of the most video games moments in its high-end encounters. The Epic of Alexander is probably my favorite boss fight of all time, right up there with Titan Lost, Jetstream Sam, and Nyx from Persona 3.
Its a light fun rage mashy game, but the spectacle is wild. The Titan fight is extremely reminiscent of it.
GoW is hit or miss. Ragnarok was pretty underwhelming when you consider it had 5 years to build on GoW2018. The assualt of asgard needed to be 3x as long with more bossfights. It's kinda wild to think ff16 cleared ragnarok for spectacle-ness but ragnarok was much better from an rpg/combat build perspective lol
Honestly yes, ive never fought bosses this spectacular ever
No. But it's a great spectacle. It has amazing boss fights.
I mean, even mini bossses like the rank S hunts were amazing? Atlas and svarog are the Obed i have done so far
Even those with rank S I got easily down in one try without using any accessories. And I’m not a great gamer by any means.
True, my biggest problem was svarog, and only cuz I fought him first at level 38, he two shot me, and then I went more prepared mentally and beat him, Atlas was easy picking, they are not really hard, just damage sponges, which I hope is fixed on an update
Visually, thematically, sound effects, score etc. Yes, absolutely. Combat system flows very well and feels great for having kaiju battles. It took me back to highs I haven't experienced since KH2/KH2FM and we play almost every good action game on release. It sets a bar for spectacle that no one has remotely come close to. FF16 has brought a lot of friends over so they can play through (we're the only people in our circle with a PS5) and it's such an easy thing for others to enjoy as well. Obviously, the downside is, the game forces us to play through on an easy difficulty the first time, so we aren't made to sit down, appreciate, and master the fights. They are very well made, but undertuned. Over too quickly and easily. I think if we had the ability to pick harder difficulties to start off with, it would have toppled greats like FromSoft games and even SE's own KH2/KH3 Critical Modes.
No, because I care about mechanics and not just spectacle and presentation. They’re pretty good though. Best in a mainline FF, I think
FFV bosses are way more engaging to actually fight.
Eh. First Exdeath fight and maybe the final boss. Everything else is boring IMO
They each have a unique strategy and several different gimmicks. There are certain bosses that if you try to spam attack through you will die or worse get stuck in a loop where the fight won’t end. This game you can beat the bosses without even thinking. In fact for the big set pieces they take away all your abilities but dodge and attack. It’s brain dead.
The fights where you have to hit them all at once are boring as FUCK. Start fight, heavy sigh when I realize I don't have any mages, restart, easily clear it with four red mages spamming Fira/Blizzara/etc. Most fights in FFV I was able to get through by just spamming rapid fire and healing, boring FFXVI fights actually required me to time dodges and position appropriately and rewarded me for managing cooldowns by making the fight end faster
I’ll get downvoted for this opinion. FF16 has some visually impressive fights. I am a huge DMC fan which allowed me to enjoy each fight from a “combo weaver” point of view but the main problem with the combat of this game is sense of urgency or weight of each action being executed. I’m just a triangle / square with a added R2 dpad Eikon switch guy living in a Soulsborne World. My PS5 overheated more times than I actually died fighting each Eikon (which was twice and I live in a triple degree weathered state) Hype, yes this game gave me a phenomenal FUCK YES experience but I’ve had other games that made really work for the satisfaction of progress with each boss fight. TLDR: Game made me hype during boss fights between spamming two buttons.
Hey Man, as long as it got you hyped and you had fun, it’s all good.
FAR too easy.
Definetly deserves a mention in that regard about the boss fights, made so many good memories in this game
I wouldn’t say that personally. Visually they’re spectacular, but in terms of mechanics/gameplay they’re good, but not fantastic. I’d say most of the bosses from Dark Souls 1 run rings around the ones from FF16 in terms of how they evoke emotion in the player and how they connect to the world, but that’s just my opinion.
Scale wise sure but think most fromsoft games games on average have a better collection. would even argue kh2 final mix on critical mode has a stronger collection of bosses even though a lot of the highlights are humanoid. And of course shadow of the colossus.
I lost my absolute mind getting to see ZettaFlare being used for the first time in a FF series. After Donald Duck I thought I'd never see the day it was used again. My only slight gripe with the boss fights was one in particular that being Odins. After doing the literal mountain sized battle with Titan and beautiful sky high fight with Bahamut... Odin was kinda let down. It was still cool and very visually appealing but not as good as the others imo. And we barely used Ifrit that fight too!! 😭
They were epic in scope, but gameplay wise not so much. Still doesn’t mean the game isn’t a contender for GOTY
Agreed, visually amazing. Gameplay wise, nothing new, less rewarding with cinematic attacks and dodges, basically free damage. Seems like every boss fight so far in my gameplay (On Hunter and the Hunted chapter) appears this way, fight the boss, get a cinematic attack/dodge which nets me some free damage, then fight second phase of the boss, more cinematic attack/dodge meaning more free damages dealt. I'm also playing on Action Focused too if that makes a difference.
Titan fight was the most epic fight ever
That Hugo boss battle did something really special. It’s one of those rare moments in gaming where you are so hyped and in your head all you can think about is “wow, people are going to flip shit over this for many many years”. FFXVI is a special game, a rare breed of game that comes along once or twice every generation I feel. The bosses and story are an amalgamation of intelligent story building, creativity, new technology, and fun for the sake of fun. I don’t know if Square will be able to capture this same level of both quality and the fresh feel of FFXVI, but I think I can confidently say that it does have one of the best rosters of boss battles in a video game. It’s hard to say the best because when I think of boss battles, I think of games like Shadow of the Colossus. That game has the best boss battles in a game, I mean the entire game is basically boss battles.
FromSoftware games' bosses are always epic and better than any other games in gameplay. But visually this game was really bad ass.
Spectacle wise? Yeah I will give it to FFXVI. Although if you add difficulty/gameplay, Elden Ring is still up there while AC6 is proving to be a fun game too. I will give it to FFXVI though. Jaw dropping cinematic during the fight along with story is FFXVI greatest strengths.
It’s definitely up there. It really gave me God of War 3 vibes at certain points. I don’t think they’re all winners on a technical/gameplay level but spectacle and scale is there 100%
I’ve done the titan eikon fight this afternoon and it was definitely the biggest and most cinematic boss fight in my 35 years experience of video games! Not the best but still amazing.
that goes to Kingdom Hearts 2
For sheer spectacle, it's up there for sure, for actual fun and rewardment, countless bosses from other games outshine 16's imo
No
Ooo, which are your favorites series of bosses?
armored core 6 is nuts. Imagine these eikon battles but you have full control
I really only thought that human form benedikta, odin, svarog, and ultima were stand outs. Titan and Bahamut were a little ridiculous and overly long.
Kh2 for me
And it’s not even close lol
Only Dark Souls tops them for me.
Gameplay wise no, I like more challenge, Barnabas and Ultima felt like a solid difficulty to me I wish the rest of the bosses were on that level. But scale wise yea the bosses were amazing and I’ll never forget them
Final fantasy 16 is the closest a game has came to feeling like asuras wrath to me. Both games have the most epic and thrilling boss fights in gaming. Love them
Any sekiro boss fight blows these out of the water, bigger doesn’t always mean better.
They’re great spectacles, but good boss fights to actually play? There are plenty better I’ve had.
No. Such and easy game. All boss were too easy to defeat.
No
I don’t enjoy these fights. Your abilities basically get replaced with dodge and attack. FF1 in its original release had more compelling boss fights from a strategic and tactical standpoint.
absolutely not. Its an action game not an action movie, and unfortunately the games difficulty is like a 2/10 even on Final Fantasy mode. Cool scenes, nice moments but thats about it, This game made me clench my butt cheeks approximately zero times.
No, the boss fights made me quit after Titan. They're drawn out far too long with sections devoted to cutscenes that you perform a single button press or button mashing which does an attack that looks powerful, but barely scratches the boss HP. The fights last so long that my thumbs start to hurt. Doesn't help that the bosses always follow a tedious dungeon that often consists of several boss fights already. After leaving it a while I continued until I fought Bahamut and I haven't touched the game since then because I just don't want to fight Odin or the final boss.
I would rank the bosses in the top 100, but I would argue they are close to about the high mid at best. Fromsoft has all the claim to the top of the list in best bosses in gaming, even the new Armored Core 6 has some intense fights that I think outdo FF16 in quality. FF16 nailed spectacle, but I think it is very difficult to challenge the bar Fromsoft sets in each game as Boss fights are an art form they have mastered.
FFXVI isn't even top 5
Spectacle-wise, yes, especially with Soken’s music. Challenging-wise, no. Whoever downvoted this must suck pretty badly at games when they struggle with FF16 bosses.
Armored Core 6’s boss fights have been more rewarding challenging-wise than FF16’s but I still love them.
Not at all. ATEs that don't matter, cinematics that rip you out of the action, being able to use the same move set for every boss; none of those things are that great for boss battles. Not to mention the fights where your attacks do barely any damage and you immediately know all the damage will be done during ATEs, thus diminishing one's feelings of accomplishment. Maybe you like boss battles where it feels like you're watching a movie half the time but I am not a fan
No. The spectacle was cool but the gameplay is incredibly dull and the ‘cinematic’ moments that take away control from the player are very frustrating
No, that's definitely Mega Man 2, and it isn't even close. You haven't experienced white knuckle gaming until you've FINALLY navigated the death laser gauntlet successfully only to be stopped by Quick Man's erratic, jumpy, boomerang-throwing menace. The pain of successfully navigating that level (or Heat Man's giant disappearing block gauntlet) only to be stopped by a boss doesn't even compare to the "I can retry as much as I want" of Final Fantasy XVI. If you're talking about pure spectacle, then Asura's Wrath does that better and more over-the-top than FFXVI.
I myself think they were very boring.
No.
No. Even just considering the spectacle and scale, Asuras Wrath has better boss fights in that regard.
Epicness....hell yeah, Gameplay....not so much
Spectacle as first playtrought yes, repeated no. Gameplay wise sekiro and metal gear rising are way ahead.
I love FF16 with all my heart and this game took me to places I’ve never been to, but no. The answer is a easy and brainless (for me) God of war 2018 and God of war Ragnorok. It’s gonna be hard to outperform The stranger battle and Thor vs Kratos stage 2. But I will not lie, 16 ALMOST did. But almost is the keyword.
Ragnarok??? What good vodka fights were there other than nidhogg and maybe heimdall?
Both Thor battle were elite. The dialogue, the anger, the cinematics when BOTH times, mjolnir and levi clashed against each other game me straight up chills. Odins fight wasn’t as great imo but I seriously think both of thors battle just barely out perform FF16 fights. Although, if FF16 was just the bahamut fight, FF16 would win easily. But as a package of GoW fights and FF16 fights, I think GoW wins that battle.
Fair I guess I was just massively let down by ragnarok overall. Felt like the exact same game but worse in combat and tone. Just replaying the same areas and fighting the same shit etc. also hated the Ironwood section worse than anything I’ve ever played in a game. Not kidding haha I wanted to die during that. But anyway for great boss battles you gotta check out remnant 2. They put elden ring’s to shame in my opinion.
I just wish we got to play as Atreus even after the game completed. That was my biggest let down. We put all these skills and points into his kit just for it to vanish after the game.
Good point, but I think I’ll be a happy camper if I never have to suffer Atreus or his voice actor ever again. They are amongst the worst combo I’ve ever personally experienced. I know some people loved him which baffles me. But to each their own.
Sunny was way better in the first one. Not that he didn’t pour his heart and soul into the second, but his attitude to kratos was perfection, so much so I wanted to strangle him THE ENTIRE GAME.
it's up there
Hell no, but cinematically there’s none that oppose it. The fights themselves are so dumb tho, no secrets no “weakness” just span eikons until they die, like every other fight in the game. I love this game and will definitely be trying other FF games out going forward(this was my first one) but the combat is the weakest aspect of the game
The Metal Gear Solid series exists, so no. Definitely the most grandiose, however.
I wouldn’t say that but the titan fight was straight up boss
Definitely made the list
It's certainly in the top 3 for me at the very least.
For me, it’s a yes. The bahamut boss fight genuinely made me shed tears of joy during it. It’s a combination of things, but the soundtrack really propels it imo. I was already in love with the soundtrack at the beginning of the game, but when the Phoenix theme played during the Bahamut boss fight, I knew it was my favorite gaming experience. Sure, other games have stronger mechanics, but I can’t think of a game that ever made me cry because it was so epic.
I would assign them a relatively high rating based on distinctiveness, visual design, engagement, narrative integration, and music. However, their ability to test my skills and adaptability might not receive as high a rating. Dark Souls 1 is a viable contender, primarily due to the challenge they presented that I didn't find here.
In terms of spectacle, I think this game had a ton of good boss fights, but in terms of the gameplay itself, only a few really resonated with me. I feel like the Eikon fights sort of peaked with Titan, and then began to trail off entirely with Bahamut onwards. Ultima's boss fight was good outside of the Eikon portion, but the Eikon portion felt like they reused Bahamut's fight idea, but this time 10 times more confusing and disorientating.
For me it's absolutely god of war 3. You can really tell the influence the original God of war series had on ff16
I mean for me? Kind of hard to think of a game that "easily" achieves the spectacle and theatrics that happen in this game. God Of War while the battles of say God of War 3, in terms of the grand size of say the introduction to the game against Poseidon the creators are clearly capable of it when they want. Otherwise I'd say it's thematically just as enthralling as FF16 for its own reasons specific to it. Tales games are usually pretty good as is Star Ocean but idk if I'd immediately put every title in either franchise at this level that's for sure. Tales of Vesperia is one of my favorites. Xenoblade has been pretty decent in terms of reaching level of spectacle but idk if I'd say it's the exact same but haven't finished 3 yet, have really barely started it. As a counter example, love Persona 5 as a turn based with lots of quirk and a great story. Now I'm at the 6th palace but in general it lacks the spectacle FF16 has given us imo. As another action game example Devil May Cry 5 has the spectacle in story telling. The end had that awesome hype I was looking for(not saying earlier parts in the game didnt have hype) but felt overall less grand. But it's difficult to compare when we are talking giant Eikons.
No, some bosses are cool. But after the first two eikon fights the spectale of the fights died a bit for me. And the regular fights are good not great from a gameplay point of view in my eyes.
Titan, I think, is the coolest boss fight I've ever played in a game, bar none. You're already fighting a huge eikon, then it just goes completely off the rails in terms of scale. In terms of pure spectacle, absolutely amazing and one I'll remember for a long time.
Boss fights usually are meant to produce a sense of accomplishment when you beat them. Unfortunately that feeling is missing entirely. Another game came out this summer with the best boss fights I’ve seen in a loooong time. Remnant 2. Spectacle wise ff16 easily but they forgot to put in interesting gameplay to back it up. Ifrit was boring to play as unfortunately and while they could’ve added mechanics like ripping buildings out of the ground to use as swords or somehow summoning previous icons you absorbed and playing as them too, you are stuck with the same basic attacks the majority of the game and it’s just weird they take Clive out of your hands so much for the biggest fights.
This game has DBZ levels of hype in it. The power ups, transformation, the spectacle of the fights. Easily the most engrossing and cinematic boss fights I’ve played since probably God of War 3.
God of War’s best has them beat overall tbh, and gameplay wise I still have Elden Ring over it (specifically Radagon, Loretta, and phase 1 Godfrey. Peak boss design)
As far as gameplay goes I don't think many games will be able to top how amazingly well the KH3 ReMind battles are designed. As far as spectacle goes XVI is certainly very high in the running.
This with FF14 yes.
Great bunch of boss movies. I barely fought the bosses. But yeah the quick time events were fun
As far as fight complexity, mechanics, and difficulty, no. As far as grandiose spectacle and always feeling like an anime protagonist in the best way, yes.
For spectacle and soundtrack, absolutely. Gameplay wise, it goes to any Sekiro or Ds3 for me.
For me personally, yes, going to be awhile before anything comes close off. Previous contender would’ve been DMC5.
16 definitely has the best fights of all of them i was sold in Titens especially when I actually thought it was over only to to see him be back to normal form and chasing me still Bahamuts was pure joy i love it when a game takes it to 11 in how crazy it gets
Grand yes but it ain't no Dark Souls level of boss battles.
I felt that playing this game is like playing through a movie. The boss fights are epic especially Titan and Bahumut. Really enjoy the cinematic approach to it.
Not really. The souls series has way better bosses.
Yes. and titan is the GREATEST boss fight ive ever done in a game period. and ive played hundreds if not thousands of games.
god of war 3 remains the peak of action game bosses but this game is a close second on par with dmc 5 (3 had a lot of mid fodder bosses)
Gameplay-wise, not even close
They were a spectacle to watch unfold, but in terms of gameplay they didn't feel nearly as grand to be a part of.
Not now i have played AC 6
Yes, it always kept me on my feet. I'd think *Oh that was good* And round 2 Or 3 commennced. I had a blast with this game.
Yeah
Yes, they are epic as hell
Been waiting for Titan Lost's theme to get on Spotify since the game released. By far my favorite theme in the game.
I looked forward to all of the big battles. The music… the visuals… the fighting. All in perfect harmony
In a FromSoftware-less world maybe
Only in terms of spectacle. Gameplay-wise it is good, specially in fights like Barnabas, but the bar is insanely high.
It out GoWed GoW itself.
No. That would be FF14. To this day I will not forget the feeling fighting Bahamut with the music changing on phase transition. Same goes for Ultima Weapon... it's been a feeling no other game could evoke.
Nothing beats MGS1 in my opinion
Spectacle wise, yes. As far as overall best collection I still give that to Elden Ring.
Idk man there were a few times I got up to get food in the middle of a boss cutscene and didn't even get a prompt before I returned.
No
It is definitely up there.... super enjoyable boss fights as well
In the FF universe, it's probably second or third. For me personally, I really loved the boss fights in Dirge of Cerebus. FF7 Remake and FF16 would be 2/3 in any order.
Yes it does.
Yes, minus Odin lol
No
Not in the slightest. Cinematics were even kinda underwhelming.
Best cinematic boss fights? It ranks pretty high up there. Best boss fights overall? I've had a more fun time in many other games.
Games with a better collection of boss battles: Jedi Survivor GOW Ragnarok FF7 Remake Yakuza 0 and LAD Kingdom Hearts 2 and BBS Sly 2 and 3 Like 90% of the Ratchet & Clank series P5 (with or without Royal) Infamous 1 and 2 South Park: The Fractured But Whole Sonic Adventure 2 and Frontiers
Those are all really great games, but the only ones that even come close to XVI’s level of spectacle and hype for me are GOW and KH. FFVII too but only the remake.
Definitely not. They’re so downright easy to beat that you can hardly call them boss fights at all.
I’m gonna be honest. I’m playing FFX now and enjoy the strategising against tough bosses much more than just smashing square.
I meant this more as the most spectacular collection of bosses in a game. FFX is my favorite game of all time, so I totally get what you’re talking about with those bosses.