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9 Incredible Bosses In Terrible Video Games
Australian Cinephile
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2 days ago
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00:00
There are moments in games where, after a massive build-up, the culminating boss fight
00:05
is just a bit⦠well, crap.
00:08
What about the complete opposite, though?
00:10
Games that themselves aren't anything to write home about, or were otherwise hated
00:14
for a myriad of reasons, with major redeeming factors tied to boss fights.
00:19
I'm Jess from WarCulture, and here are 9 incredible bosses in terrible video games.
00:24
9.
00:25
Never Dead β Sangria
00:27
Never Dead could have been so much more.
00:30
Protagonist Bryce is immortal, with limbs that detach like a crash-test dummy.
00:35
More so, they can be reattached in ridiculous ways, like rolling around as just a head with
00:39
two arms, firing machine guns.
00:42
A neat idea, terribly executed.
00:44
Even the majority of its boss fights are boring, except for one.
00:48
Sangria.
00:49
No, not the fruity drink, but a jester.
00:52
Sangria will hurl abuse and taunts, disappear out of sight, throw things, and tackle you
00:56
to the point of exploding all your limbs.
00:59
It can get frustrating as you carefully put Bryce back together, but that's part of the
01:03
charm, leading to whatever combinations of limbs you need to deploy to gain the literal
01:07
upper hand.
01:09
8.
01:10
Metal Gear Survive β Seth
01:12
Metal Gear Survive is a tragic waste of a franchise license.
01:16
But Seth, bland as the name sounds, is a pleasant surprise amongst the muck.
01:20
Survive's story is too dumb to condense here, but the gist is that Seth is one of the first
01:25
to be whisked away into a mysterious portal that opens up.
01:28
Retaining most of his autonomy, he becomes infected by the dread dust and sabotages proceedings
01:33
for the player.
01:35
The fight itself is pretty straightforward, capitalizing on one of the best parts of MGS5, the combat,
01:41
and putting it front and center.
01:43
Seth is just a big dude, covered in spikes, that needs taking out however you can.
01:47
You'll lay down your best traps, fire off a bunch of weapons, and stay on top of dodging
01:52
his charge attacks too.
01:53
There's actually a tight back and forth to this encounter, and while it's nothing to
01:57
write home about seriously where Amazed Metal Gear Survive even happened, it's the only
02:02
genuinely fun exchange in the whole game.
02:05
7.
02:06
Ninja Gaiden 3 β T-Rex
02:08
The first two rebooted Ninja Gaiden games are teeming with incredible boss fights.
02:13
The third, though, not so much.
02:15
In fact, it kind of killed the IP's momentum stone dead.
02:19
Considering the reputation Ninja Gaiden had, it was a massive downgrade in almost every area.
02:25
Every area except a body armor-wearing Tyrannosaurus Rex.
02:30
It's such a cool fight because it seems so out of place.
02:32
Yes, there's the fantastical element, something Ninja Gaiden is no stranger to, but it's a
02:37
friggin' body armor-wearing T-Rex.
02:40
Thankfully, this isn't as hard as armor from the first game, but there's a tactical
02:44
edge in how to dismantle the armor before killing the creature.
02:47
All round, this is a notably stylish fight, imbued with the spirit and fun of the earlier
02:52
games.
02:53
6.
02:54
Daymare 1998 β The Abomination
02:57
Daymare 1998 sadly gets everything wrong.
03:00
What could have harkened back to the classic days of Resi 2 instead has bad character animations,
03:06
flat visuals, and unmemorable boss fights.
03:09
Bar 1 β The Abomination
03:11
A classic homage to a Resident Evil boss, it's tough, large, and conveniently situated near
03:17
some explosive tanks.
03:19
It also does the Resi classic staple of being multi-staged, coming back to bite you when you
03:24
least expect it.
03:25
It's ironic the boss is called The Abomination given that it's the only thing the game did
03:29
right.
03:30
5.
03:31
Devil May Cry 2 β ARIUS
03:33
Devil May Cry 2 is not a great game.
03:37
After the breakthrough of the first one, the sequel should have been so much better.
03:41
The idea of running along and up walls while firing twin pistols was awesome on paper, but
03:46
animation across the board just felt lifeless.
03:49
Indicative of a messy development, we were glad to forget when Part 3 finally arrived.
03:54
And yet, DMC2 did have ARIUS, an eccentric antagonist at its helm.
03:59
Out in Dante's missions, ARIUS is the big bad behind the game's events.
04:04
Coming at you in a manner similar to the antagonist of the first game, this time you'll be tasked
04:08
with taking out some goons around the man himself.
04:11
Once they're dispatched, though, it's taking out ARIUS that spices things up.
04:15
He's quick and will catch you off guard by fighting faster than any other enemy.
04:20
Besides Dante's new look, ARIUS is the sole highlight of Devil May Cry 2's entire runtime.
04:26
4.
04:27
Hitman Absolution β Sanchez
04:29
The term boss fight is not something synonymous with the Hitman series.
04:33
There's targets, and there's achieving the best death whilst remaining unseen.
04:38
Then there's Hitman Absolution, and more so, the fight against Sanchez.
04:43
Absolution went for a more grindhouse look.
04:45
Some of it stuck, other parts didn't.
04:48
The story, for example, was just wacky.
04:50
Killer nuns sharing a shooting range with Lynch from Kanan Lynch and Super Soldier programs.
04:56
In the middle of this, Sanchez, Dexter's bodyguard.
04:59
The big man looks like Danny Trejo if he ate bulking powder and all of the steroids.
05:03
Oh, and he wrestles in cage matches, cause of course he does.
05:07
This fight can be avoided in typical Hitman fashion, but given that there's a challenge
05:11
attached to it, why not?
05:13
Agent 47 versus an oversized wrestler quickly became one of the images that tanked Absolution's
05:19
reputation almost immediately.
05:21
But the fight itself is great fun.
05:23
Playing out mostly as a quick time event, that's not the awesome part.
05:27
No, the best bits are watching Agent 47, the nimble assassin, go all lucha libre and bust
05:32
out a host of moves you never knew he had.
05:35
And if you think about the likes of 47 playing the drums in the 2016 reboot or flapping his
05:40
arms to fly away, the idea of 47 doing anything came into its own right here.
05:46
Number 3.
05:47
Dark Souls 2 Looking Glass Knight
05:49
As is often pointed out, Dark Souls 2 is the weakest of the Souls trilogy, let alone
05:54
FromSoftware's catalogue.
05:55
Granted, it's been patched and overhauled into the Scholar of the First Sin re-release,
05:59
the one all fans will direct any newcomer towards.
06:03
But that original version always had a mixed bag of bosses to break down.
06:07
Some are generic, others are gimmicks, yet there's one that stands out above all the
06:12
rest, with one of the coolest mechanics FromSoft would never bring back, the Looking Glass Knight,
06:17
and the ability to not only summon NPCs into the field, but other players too.
06:22
For the latter, you'd have to place down a specific summoning stone and kinda just hope
06:27
for the best, then you could get to ruining someone's day.
06:30
On the receiving end, suddenly having a formidable foe leap out of the mirror itself for a good
06:35
old-fashioned PvP showdown was one hell of a trick.
06:38
As any Souls veteran knows, being outflanked is an easy trap to fall into.
06:42
Number 2.
06:43
Shenmue 3
06:45
Shenmue 3, the highest crowdfunded game ever, is⦠disappointing.
06:51
Let's not beat around the bush, after 20 years the formula just hadn't moved with the
06:55
times.
06:56
Defenders will say that's a good thing, anyone else was hoping for some forward momentum.
07:01
Regardless, what Shenmue 3 does get right is establish the revenge motives set out in
07:06
the first one.
07:07
Ryo Hazuki, in the politest terms, gets his ass handed to him in the first game by Lan
07:13
D. Then, because Shenmue plays the long game, quite literally, he's absent until the third
07:18
game.
07:19
After such a long wait, 20 years in fact, fortunately the fight delivers.
07:25
Combining everything Ryo's learned over three games, once Lan D's henchmen are out of the
07:29
way, this kung fu battle is impressive.
07:33
Well choreographed and with such a long wait behind every punch, the only drawback is that
07:37
there's no real conclusion.
07:39
Shenmue 3 yet again ends on an open note, despite creator Yu Suzuki saying immediately
07:45
after that there are no concrete plans for Shenmue 4.
07:49
For one of gaming's most diehard fanbases though, at least they got to take out some
07:53
frustration on the man who killed Ryo's father.
07:56
1.
07:57
Resident Evil 6 β Usternak
08:00
Resident Evil 6 gets ragged on for a lot of things, one of them being its massive deviation
08:06
from the horror part of survival horror.
08:08
Granted, the fourth game ditched most of it, but it still had some horror elements.
08:12
By comparison, Resi 6 is more action and, despite a campaign dedicated to aping that
08:19
older feel, far less scares.
08:21
But in that weird backhanded way, there's one action-packed boss fight that does evoke some
08:26
of that terror the series had established.
08:28
It comes from none other than the half-bioweapon, half-farmyard machinery mashup that is the
08:34
Usternak.
08:35
Like a nemesis that fell into a thresher and won, the Usternak is a relentless beast that
08:40
forms part of Jake Muller's campaign.
08:42
A multi-part fight, the main tenant is having to escape a few times before finally squaring
08:47
off against it near the end.
08:49
It's a bit annoying at first, as the game hoodwinks you into wasting ammo when it's
08:53
not the final stage, but give Capcom the benefit of the doubt and this was all to make the final
08:58
showdown more satisfying.
09:01
That's it for our list, but do let me know down in that comment section if you can think
09:05
of any other incredible boss fights in just terrible video games.
09:10
As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture, thank you so much for hanging out with me.
09:15
If you're liking, come say hi to me on my Twitter account where I'm at JessMcDonald,
09:19
but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more great gaming lists.
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