What happened to my boss fights?

[Conqueror Kenny]

Alright then, this has really begun to get on my nerves. I remember the days that you could be trudging through a game, and be on your smallest little trickle of heath, as you reach the end of the game it throws its biggest best and most badass enemy at you to slaughter you time and time again.
I miss those days, not these new pitiful game endings that simply wrap up a story. Even games in which developers should know that nobody cares about story (Gears of war 2, I'm looking at you) they still wrap it up with something that couldn't even be called a boss.
Am I the only one that misses end game bosses? Or am I the only one even noticing their absence from a lot of games?

 

[GloatingSwine]

I miss those days, not these new pitiful game endings that simply wrap up a story. Even games in which developers should know that nobody cares about story (Gears of war 2, I'm looking at you) they still wrap it up with something that couldn't even be called a boss.

They knew there was no way they were going to top the fish. The fish boss was ace, that's all they need.

 

[psico666]

I agree. The best bit about games was the fight to the end and then spend hours trying to defat a boss that was 100 times more powerful than your character e.g. Ansem in Kingdom Hearts.
I like video games telling stories but bring back the sharp jump in the difficulty curve.

 

[Galletea]

I like boss fights. I miss them in my action/adventure types. But I still have MGS4 so I'm good. Maybe there will be some more when they stop releasing generic games and put some effort into characters.

 

[implodingMan]

Gears of War 1 had a good end boss. I couldn't beat him on insane without glitching and getting him stuck behind a block.

Ninja Gaiden and DMC have decent boss fights. One of my favorite boss memories is fighting that demon samurai guy in Ninja Gaiden 1 on the xbox in the courtyard. One on one sword duel was very satisfying, although they had the nerve to follow it up with an annoying jumping puzzle.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I hated getting ridiculous boss fights at the end of games. Good ones, ones that made sense in relation to the games, I didn't mind but the formulaic Big Final Boss with Special Gimmic Action™ I found more tedious than challenging. (Gears 1's fight with General RAAM being a perfect example of it done poorly... I'd much rather have the end fight of Gears 2, becuase at least it's not boring.)

-- Steve

 

[squid5580]

The problem is they already used all the good ones. Now we are left with all the B listers. We'll just give you a normal guy that will take you 1 shot to kill and call it a game. It is BS

 

[xitel]

I preffered the end bosses that were weird, that really changed the game. Like the end boss fight of MGS4.

Edit: And I am going to say right now that I hate Ninja Gaiden's bosses. They're unnecessarily ridiculous. Worse than the regular game even.

 

[Hoppetussa]

I've always loved the boss fights in Zelda games, but I was a bit disappointed when I beat Twilight Princess. Ganondorf was way to easy. It was almost the same strategy as in Ocarina of Time. Return some lighting bolts, shoot some light arrows...

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

I hated getting ridiculous boss fights at the end of games. Good ones, ones that made sense in relation to the games, I didn't mind but the formulaic Big Final Boss with Special Gimmic Action™ I found more tedious than challenging. (Gears 1's fight with General RAAM being a perfect example of it done poorly... I'd much rather have the end fight of Gears 2, becuase at least it's not boring.)

-- Steve

But it always made the games so much more satisfying when you did beat them. I find that in games without them I just see the credits roll and think "Well, is that it?" With a boss fight stuck on the end I am much happier when I do see them roll.
Also, the Gears 2 boss, not boring? You stood in a raven and used the hammer on it. Quite boring if you ask me.

 

[Fightgarr]

I preffered the end bosses that were weird, that really changed the game. Like the end boss fight of MGS4.

Edit: And I am going to say right now that I hate Ninja Gaiden's bosses. They're unnecessarily ridiculous. Worse than the regular game even.

I agree on all counts. Firstly that Ninja Gaiden's bosses were awful and controller hurlingly difficult. Secondly, I agree that the boss fight should change up how you play the game. The Zelda series tended to do this. A good example of how boss fights should be is to look at the first few bosses in Kameo. The game wasn't GREAT, but it changed up the formula, and bosses weren't a case of just fighting a big enemy, they were an intense, evil puzzle to solve.

 

[clarinetJWD]

In games where the story is important, I hate boss fights. I nearly quit Bioshock on the final boss, because it was so out of place, and really didn't fit with anything else in a game.

In games about the action, that make no pretense of being 'more' than just an action game, they are a good thing, though I don't miss them when they're gone.

That being said, one of the best story driven games has boss fights, but they don't feel like a standard: Save point, health dump, door to arena, big boss, end. This is the the Half-Life 2 episodes, where you just happen to run into a really tough enemy that fits the setting and story.

 

[pxZero]

I don't miss them at all. I can't even remember a single time when I enjoyed a boss fight. All boss fights tend to fall into three categories:
1. Predictable, dodgable, attack pattern. These bosses beat you through monotony - since you do 2 dmg a shot and have 40k health and they insta-kill you, you're bound to screw up. When you die, you get to repeat! Not to mention the first 20 minutes you spent to analyze the attack pattern. Lame timewaster - but there is some sense of accomplishment, I guess.
2. Gimmic Boss. "I AM A BOSS. I AM SUPERMAN, IN THE DEATHSTAR, WITH A BLACKHOLE LAUNCHER, AND 69 DIFFERENT TYPES OF FORCEFIELDS... MUHAHAHAHA.. wait... what? You unplugged my defences from the wall? Oh no! I'm a little weakling now!" Just annoying. First, I always feel cheated. I mean, I spent the whole game mastering the controls, honing my fighting abilities and generally learning how to own to.... do a left wing trick to beat the game? Weak. Not to mention, these 'uber bosses' are always so stupid to have such an easily exploitable weakness - if figuring out how to win is so easy, why did I have to spend the WHOLE game to do it myself? Some peon could do this.
3. The Kitchen Sink Leader: This one just makes me frusterated. They hide behind a wall (or sometimes in the open!) but are untouchable until you've killed every single bloody henchman that's left in the whole entire universe... not to mention THREE of the supposedly 'unique' ultra tough, rare, one-of-a-kind, used to be extinct dinosaur/alien creatures. I shouldn't have to explain why this boss type sucks, but I'm going to make special mention of how annoyed I get to find that some mini-boss you beat before and you think is done comes back in duplicate. Especially more fun when it seems to undermine the storyline.

So no. I don't miss boss fights. Bring on a reasonable ending any day. Or come up with a cooler boss.

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

Play to the end of Ninja Gaiden II if you want some annoyingly difficult boss fights. I believe it was about 4 bosses in a row.

Ninja Gaiden II Is nothing compared to Black. Four of the hardest bosses you will ever face, all one after the other. At least in II you got a break to do some shopping.

Alright then, this has really begun to get on my nerves. I remember the days that you could be trudging through a game, and be on your smallest little trickle of heath, as you reach the end of the game it throws its biggest best and most badass enemy at you to slaughter you time and time again.

Am I the only one who kinda thought this was a bit of a cheap trick? Especially when there was no way to know how to beat the boss the first time and this meaning you have to start the game again. Repitition is not fun.

Sure it was annoying way back when, before you could save your games. But now just pop an autosave in front of the boss room and your golden.

 

[paragon1]

Actually, it was about 5 in a row in Ninja Gaiden II, first 2, a short corridor with 3 normal enemies that drop health if your lucky, and then the final three. And am I the only one who though it was completely retarded to have the second to last one to only be damaged by a fully charged arrow to the head? I mean come on! It took me two tries just to figure out that was how you damaged him!!! Big boss fights are mostly just gay hold overs from when all games were in arcades designed to get the most money out of your wallet.

 

[RAWKSTAR]

I always have enjoyed Zelda bosses, as easy as they are now.
But ones which never fail to bore me are the Castlevania ones! Even Dracula is different each time you battle him game to game!

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I hated getting ridiculous boss fights at the end of games. Good ones, ones that made sense in relation to the games, I didn't mind but the formulaic Big Final Boss with Special Gimmic Action? I found more tedious than challenging. (Gears 1's fight with General RAAM being a perfect example of it done poorly... I'd much rather have the end fight of Gears 2, becuase at least it's not boring.)

But it always made the games so much more satisfying when you did beat them. I find that in games without them I just see the credits roll and think "Well, is that it?" With a boss fight stuck on the end I am much happier when I do see them roll.
Also, the Gears 2 boss, not boring? You stood in a raven and used the hammer on it. Quite boring if you ask me.

Bad phrasing on my part, sorry. What I meant is that the ending of Gears 2 doesn't outstay its welcome; it's there, it gets done, splashy cutscene. RAAM, however, with that dumbass Kryll-Cloak of Cockblocking was just more tedious to kill than rewarding. Beating him wasn't a thrill, it was more a relief from pain like the feeling you get when that splinter finally comes out of your thumb. I don't do masochism; if I want miserable repetitious chores I'll go to work where they pay me.

-- Steve

Spoiler for the final level of Gears of War 2:

Spoiler

Personally, I found the Brumak rampage getting to that final scene dramatic enough. That could just be a difference in play-style preference between you and me, though.