Final Boss Battles
By Jefflarz 2 Comments
Warning: There may be some spoilers ahead. I will try and keep most things vague and will be sure to tag anything that is legitimately major. Those concerned about light spoilers may want to read carefully however.
All good things must come to an end and video games are no exception. These days when we think about the end of a video game we think of some really cool or perhaps emotional cut scene that left an imprint on us. These are all fine and dandy for closing up the story arc, finishing a character's development, giving the player some message or just looking cool, but that's not really what video games are about. At their core video games are games, stuff you play. These ending cut scenes sure are fun to look at and even thought provoking at time, but, barring quick time events, you're not actually doing anything in them. That's what final boss fights is for. These last moments are of gameplay are what generally leave the largest impression on me. Was it too easy? Too hard? Simple? Convoluted? Long? Short? Fun? Seemingly non existent? Did it provide closure in terms of gameplay? When looking back at a game it's generally these feelings that help me form a final opinion. Let's look at an example that most older gamers can relate to. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time: Fighting Ganon on top of a ruined Hyrule Castle? Man that shit was awesome. It was a little on the easy side, but it had a sense of urgency and grandeur that formed a great atmosphere making for a really cool fight. A game can be fantastic, but if the final bits of gameplay are lackluster it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Sadly, it seems like this integral piece of the gaming formula has been somewhat neglected as of late. Most of those modern shooters, CoD clones, tend to just throw an absurdly difficult set piece where you can get swiss cheese'd fairly easily. Other games, Borderlands comes to mind specifically along with both of the new Fallout games, tend to just butcher the concept all together. As a whole games today seem to forgo the final boss in favor of a final set piece that supports the final cut scene in some way. These games have never really given me a sense of closure that I can feel. Yeah, I know I just dodged more bullets than any real human could ever hope to and yeah, I killed a lot of dudes, but it just feels like an extension of the regular game rather than something truly special. Of course you can't expect every single game to have a final boss that blows you away, but it's a shame to see so many big name titles plain messing it up or ignoring it all together.
To craft a perfect final boss encounter, in my opinion, you need a number of things. First and foremost, hype. If a game doesn't remind you multiple times that this dude is real bad and real powerful then everything just falls flat. Out of the blue bosses can work in some cases, but they really need to be contextualized by the dude you originally thought was the big bad. Second they need to live up to this hype in the battle itself. It's great and all if your final boss just ate a fucking planet, but if he just swings his arms at you a little bit when you actually face the guy it's a pretty big letdown. I'm not suggesting that all final bosses have to be balls hard, difficulty in final battles is for another discussion, I'm just saying the boss has to at least look and act like the badass he really is while you're fighting him. Third they need to remind you about what you've learned on your journey. Whether it's through character dialogue or through using most, if not all, of the skills and items you've picked up a final boss needs to bring some closure. It's no fun if you can defeat a final boss with your most basic of skills. Fourth and finally atmosphere is everything. If the environment doesn't fit the theme of the boss, things just don't feel right. Also the music should be effin' awesome.
One of the best examples I can think of is the final boss of Persona 3, which I will talk about in the following spoiler tag.
It takes a lot to craft a truly memorable and enjoyable final boss fight, but when done right it can really make a game shine. For the 2 or 3 of you who might have actually read this, feel free to post some of your favorite boss fights of all time or contribute your opinions on the current state of boss fights.