Video gaming has been gaining in popularity over the last few decades and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon. More and more people are becoming aware of the joys of sitting down on your couch with a controller in hand and just playing through a lovely story. Some other people still don’t care for the story at all and just want to be challenged with hard bosses.
Luckily gaming has seen a huge amount of difficult bosses. While there’s probably a video of someone beating each of these with just Donkey Kong bongos as a controller, here’s a few bosses that’ll probably trip you up a few times.
Necron – Final Fantasy IX (2000)
Usually Final Fantasy games aren’t that hard, especially when it comes to their last boss. By then you’ve often overleveled so much and have all the best weapons that there’s not much challenge the boss could throw at you. Heck, some FF games even turn the final boss into a huge set piece where you can’t even lose. The Necron fight in the ninth game though – that’s a rough one.
The Radiance – Hollow Knight (2017)
Hollow Knight is known as one of the hardest platformers and if you want to know why, just look at the last boss. The fight leaves so little room for error and has you constantly dodging attacks as you hope to get a few slashes in. This will definitely make your palms sweaty.
Isshin The Sword Saint – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)
This entire game could be on this list but since we’re only doing final bosses, we’ll just stick to Isshin. Even if you’ve somehow gotten used to the parry-heavy combat of Sekiro, facing off against Isshin is going to be no walk in the park. He attacks with a sword, a halberd, a gun, lightning, jump attacks, … You name it.
Doctor Neo Cortex – Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (2020)
Crash Bandicoot is known for just being generally a hard game, but man will that last boss fight against Doctor Neo Cortex test you. It mixes pretty much everything you’ve had to deal with so far like an inverted screen, platforms falling off, random jumps that need to be timed right, …
Gwyn, Lord of Cinder – Dark Souls (2011)
The first Dark Souls game put Fromsoftware solidly on the gaming map and while the Ornstein & Smough fight was a huge part of this, we can’t forget about Gwyn, the game’s final boss. While you can get through most of the game without parrying – which is very hard and punishing in Dark Souls – Gwyn is going to pretty much force you to. And even then, he’ll be very difficult to deal with. Add to that that Dark Souls didn’t have the smooth and fluent controls we’ve come to expect from Elden Ring or Sekiro and you have a recipe for frustration.
Radagon – Elden Ring (2022)
Of course the final boss of the spiritual successor to the Dark Souls series had to be in here. Radagon has everything we want from a proper soulslike boss. He hits hard, he has delayed animations, he will punish you if you get greedy and when you finally kill him, he’ll turn into the Elden Beast and you have to start all over again.
Senator Steven Armstrong – Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013)
Metal Gear Rising has some of the deepest and hardest combat of any action game that’s been released, and the final boss of that game really tests you to your limits. He hits hard, he can take a whole lot of punishment and he’s surprisingly mobile for such a beefy fellow.
