The seven most difficult boss battles in the Final Fantasy series
- Thread starter Flintlock
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Kuja9001
Ooooh Salty!
- AKA
- roxas9001, Krat0s9001, DarkSlayerZero
VIII- Omega before I learned how to destroy him easily, I got beaten alot.
IX- Ozma,
enters battle, gets killed by unavoidable Meteor.
Second attempt
Ozma: Hey dawg you remember that Meteor I used last time? well scratch that, I'm starting with Curse
IX- Ozma,
enters battle, gets killed by unavoidable Meteor.
Second attempt
Ozma: Hey dawg you remember that Meteor I used last time? well scratch that, I'm starting with Curse
ForceStealer
Double Growth
I see one Carry Armor, I'm surprised no one said Schizo though from FF7. I think those two bosses are the hardest in FF7, they still keep me on my toes, especially Carry Armor.
FFs 4 and 5 are tough for me to say...I was older when I played them and so was pretty accustomed to the whole RPG thing as opposed to 6 through 9 where I was still a kid, more or less. I remember Zeromus took me several tries, and the Magus Sisters suck.
In FFV...Gilgamesh fights could be pretty tough, though they were awesome so it didn't matter.
6...that guy on the Cultists' Tower IS pretty hard.
In IX I remember struggling with Gizamaluke and that serpent in Gargan Roo. Necron's pretty annoying too, honestly, with the Grand Cross spamming.
In X, Evrae game me a TON of trouble in my original playthrough. Seymour Flux is hard, and &#^% Yunalesca, I hate that fight.
And X-2 I've always hated Angra Mainyu in Bikanel. It only took two tries, but when the first try took me 45 minutes before I lost...it sticks with me.
I think most of XII's hard, I'm trying to remember one that gave me particular trouble...
In XIII, that first fight with Barthandelus, that's always the one that seems to put the big wall up for first time players.
FFs 4 and 5 are tough for me to say...I was older when I played them and so was pretty accustomed to the whole RPG thing as opposed to 6 through 9 where I was still a kid, more or less. I remember Zeromus took me several tries, and the Magus Sisters suck.
In FFV...Gilgamesh fights could be pretty tough, though they were awesome so it didn't matter.
6...that guy on the Cultists' Tower IS pretty hard.
In IX I remember struggling with Gizamaluke and that serpent in Gargan Roo. Necron's pretty annoying too, honestly, with the Grand Cross spamming.
In X, Evrae game me a TON of trouble in my original playthrough. Seymour Flux is hard, and &#^% Yunalesca, I hate that fight.
And X-2 I've always hated Angra Mainyu in Bikanel. It only took two tries, but when the first try took me 45 minutes before I lost...it sticks with me.
I think most of XII's hard, I'm trying to remember one that gave me particular trouble...
In XIII, that first fight with Barthandelus, that's always the one that seems to put the big wall up for first time players.
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
I only ever have troubles with bosses my first playthrough...
IV - The delta sisters. Jesus flippin' hell. After finally beating them, I needed a cigarette. The rest of the game breezed by, but the fun had been sucked right out for me. I haven't gone back to IV since, because that shit was unreasonable.
V - A few battles in the fanslated-ROM had me stumped. The lady after the ghost ship (looking back, she was probably undead...) and the boss battle on that poisonous cliff where you find the Hiryuu. I think after that you get a bunch of new jobs so I was over leveled for the rest of the game.
VI - The first time I fought Ultros, Ganon couldn't stay alive for shit. Without him, the battle is almost unwinnable. Seafood soup indeed.
VII - Rapps kicked my poor party's ass again and again. I still wish Aero3 was a spell I could get in the game, it looked fantastic and just devastated me. Diamond Weapon gave me some trouble too, I recall, but that was thirteen years and 40 playthroughs ago. I just started a no-item no-grinding playthrough though, I'll let you know how it goes.
VIII - The final battle series is always either a cakewalk or a nightmare, depending on not only how you've played *the whole game* but what each boss decides to do to you. I like that the calls you make from Disc 1 have weight in the final battle. It might be my favourite video game fight ever.
IX - Gizamaluke kicked my sorry ass over and over. I had to spend ten hours fighting those awful snake ladies just to get past him. My second playthrough, I discovered you can get Quina for that fight, and I got Rei's Wind for Freya. The bastard hasn't troubled me since.
X - I think I spent more time on Yunalesca than the rest of the game combined. Also, that summoner lady on the High Road is a major pain. Having to go all the way back to the beginning of the road every time she smoked me solidified my hatred for the game (and that boing-y instrument they use in the High Road song).
Tactics - Weigraf!!
IV - The delta sisters. Jesus flippin' hell. After finally beating them, I needed a cigarette. The rest of the game breezed by, but the fun had been sucked right out for me. I haven't gone back to IV since, because that shit was unreasonable.
V - A few battles in the fanslated-ROM had me stumped. The lady after the ghost ship (looking back, she was probably undead...) and the boss battle on that poisonous cliff where you find the Hiryuu. I think after that you get a bunch of new jobs so I was over leveled for the rest of the game.
VI - The first time I fought Ultros, Ganon couldn't stay alive for shit. Without him, the battle is almost unwinnable. Seafood soup indeed.
VII - Rapps kicked my poor party's ass again and again. I still wish Aero3 was a spell I could get in the game, it looked fantastic and just devastated me. Diamond Weapon gave me some trouble too, I recall, but that was thirteen years and 40 playthroughs ago. I just started a no-item no-grinding playthrough though, I'll let you know how it goes.
VIII - The final battle series is always either a cakewalk or a nightmare, depending on not only how you've played *the whole game* but what each boss decides to do to you. I like that the calls you make from Disc 1 have weight in the final battle. It might be my favourite video game fight ever.
IX - Gizamaluke kicked my sorry ass over and over. I had to spend ten hours fighting those awful snake ladies just to get past him. My second playthrough, I discovered you can get Quina for that fight, and I got Rei's Wind for Freya. The bastard hasn't troubled me since.
X - I think I spent more time on Yunalesca than the rest of the game combined. Also, that summoner lady on the High Road is a major pain. Having to go all the way back to the beginning of the road every time she smoked me solidified my hatred for the game (and that boing-y instrument they use in the High Road song).
Tactics - Weigraf!!
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ForceStealer
Double Growth
...but you don't have to win that fight.
Word. To say nothing of that sneaky-ass save point they put in between the fights to ensure that you can't level at all if you get stuck.
Splintered
unsavory tart
XIV, it's so hard to gauge because it's so dependent on other members. I beat Garuda on my first try, but I failed it other times because members didn't understand the fight. And it's harder as a healer than a tank. I'm farming Ifrit hardmode and it's an easy fight- my job is literally just to stun but unless you don't have the right set up or blink at the wrong time, you are dead. Brayflox's dragon and Ultima weapon in its first form can be a pain as well.
But I'd have to say Garuda is the hardest.
Dissidia: Chaos definitely. You can spam Yuna for an easy win, but for the most part you are dying many times to get to a feel for him. Also, I always die against the Kuja characters but that's just me sucking.
But I'd have to say Garuda is the hardest.
Dissidia: Chaos definitely. You can spam Yuna for an easy win, but for the most part you are dying many times to get to a feel for him. Also, I always die against the Kuja characters but that's just me sucking.
Farron
If the sky comes falling down
- AKA
- Hallelujah
IV- Zeromus- I only won thanks to Kain's jump skipping the Big Bang from memory. I think that there's a item that lessens the strength of his Big Bang, but I had no idea and just .....
V- Most Final Dungeon Bosses- Don't know if this counts, but hey, they were all pretty rough and lethal and made sure that you wouldn't make it to Ex- Death and if you had the wrong party class set-up you were screwed.
VI- Had more trouble with the dungeons and Floating Island tbh
VII- Carry Armour- I was like 10 when doing this though and was too dumb to work out most basic things, excuses, excuses, excuses.
VIII- Ulti- Alot of people are saying Adel, but tbh I personally had a rougher time with the final boss and that damn's Hell's Judgement.
IX- nothing
X- Seymour on Mt Gagazet I found him harder than Yunalesca to be honest. He was lethal.
XIII- nothing,
- but I did have trouble with Snow vs Shiva the very first time round when trying to work out the battle system and everything, don't laugh.
XIII-2- nothing
Kermitu Kleric Katie
KULT OF KERMITU
Feral Chaos from Dissidia 012. I had to Iai Strike abuse to beat him.
The Twilight Mexican
Ex-SeeD-ingly good
- AKA
- TresDias
Just remembered the fight with Celia, Lede and Marquis Elmdor on top of Riovanes in Tactics. You can lose that fight without ever getting an attack in. Arguably the hardest fight in the game for one that will end so quickly -- whether that be victory or defeat.
Novus
Pro Adventurer
VI- Ultross- battle 1.
VII-
Heligunner
Rapps -a child me wouldn't have figured out how to defeat this, so I must have grinded hard. The most recent playthrough last year I just used Barret's second limit break to drain its MP.
Schizo
VIII-
Adel - I still have nightmares of this thing.
Ultimecia, All four of them,- Horrible, the ultimate final boss imo. I remember visiting it in stages, as in I fought it in November 1999, I remember loading it up at 3am on the Millennium. It still wasn't completed by the time Spirit's within was released as I recall in the cinema line being mocked because of it.
X- I honestly can't remember my first playthrough, but one of the Seymour fights, the mountain top one, Seymour Flux (google tells me) seemed impossible.
VII-
Heligunner
Rapps -a child me wouldn't have figured out how to defeat this, so I must have grinded hard. The most recent playthrough last year I just used Barret's second limit break to drain its MP.
Schizo
VIII-
Adel - I still have nightmares of this thing.
Ultimecia, All four of them,- Horrible, the ultimate final boss imo. I remember visiting it in stages, as in I fought it in November 1999, I remember loading it up at 3am on the Millennium. It still wasn't completed by the time Spirit's within was released as I recall in the cinema line being mocked because of it.
X- I honestly can't remember my first playthrough, but one of the Seymour fights, the mountain top one, Seymour Flux (google tells me) seemed impossible.
Cat Rage Room
Great Old One
- AKA
- Mog
This is from what I remember.
IV-Demon's Wall was pretty hard. FFIV was one of the only Final Fantasies that understood the challenge aspect of relentless offense and Demon's Wall had it in spades because it crushed your defenses, constantly. Zeromus also was pretty challenging, but less so to scale because you have more options to deal with difficult fights at that point.
While it's not the only kind of gameplay I appreciate, FFIV holds a special place in my heart because its difficulty factor didn't give you a lot of options to win fights except 'stop sucking at the game.'
V-The Guardians (those crystal things) are pretty much the most challenging boss in the game. FFV was relatively challenging as a whole, but this boss takes the cake because if you don't actually think and figure out its pattern, you get overwhelmed and die. Points to FFV for never really requiring a certain class to really get through the game, its all about what you know about it.
VI-FFVI is pretty easy as a whole, but the MagiMaster gets the crown here, because in a game where it hands you a million and one strategies to turn it upside down, the limitations imposed in this fight and its final Ultima attack pretty much stops that shit, flat out. If you don't figure out a way to survive that final Ultima, you're not going to win, period. However the MagiMaster gets points docked because you can just cast Berserk on it and then lol
VII-FVII isn't quite retard easy, but its close. However shout out to Carry Armor for spot checking the shit out of players who otherwise mashed X throughout the game.
LOL that's really all I remember off the top of my head.
IV-Demon's Wall was pretty hard. FFIV was one of the only Final Fantasies that understood the challenge aspect of relentless offense and Demon's Wall had it in spades because it crushed your defenses, constantly. Zeromus also was pretty challenging, but less so to scale because you have more options to deal with difficult fights at that point.
While it's not the only kind of gameplay I appreciate, FFIV holds a special place in my heart because its difficulty factor didn't give you a lot of options to win fights except 'stop sucking at the game.'
V-The Guardians (those crystal things) are pretty much the most challenging boss in the game. FFV was relatively challenging as a whole, but this boss takes the cake because if you don't actually think and figure out its pattern, you get overwhelmed and die. Points to FFV for never really requiring a certain class to really get through the game, its all about what you know about it.
VI-FFVI is pretty easy as a whole, but the MagiMaster gets the crown here, because in a game where it hands you a million and one strategies to turn it upside down, the limitations imposed in this fight and its final Ultima attack pretty much stops that shit, flat out. If you don't figure out a way to survive that final Ultima, you're not going to win, period. However the MagiMaster gets points docked because you can just cast Berserk on it and then lol
VII-FVII isn't quite retard easy, but its close. However shout out to Carry Armor for spot checking the shit out of players who otherwise mashed X throughout the game.
LOL that's really all I remember off the top of my head.
Flintlock
Pro Adventurer
As promised.
Sadly, there are only five games in the Final Fantasy series that I consider to know well: VII through X, and XII. I have played many more, but I wouldn't be able to rate their difficulties objectively and authoritatively. So, I need some help. That's what this thread is for, but I want to go further than that.
I want to gather as many people as possible into the IRC channel at some point in the next few days so we can debate the hardest bosses and make a final list of seven. We'll use the nominations made in this thread as our starting point. Anyone who takes part in the discussion will be credited in the finished article on the front page
In order to persuade you all to come along, I've added a new feature to Sephibot, which I want to run for the first time after we finish the discussion. It's a (Final Fantasy) trivia game!
Each round consists of ten multiple-choice questions, and the questions don't close immediately when someone gets them right. I designed it like that so that even the slower or less experienced players can take part and answer every question
We just need to pick a date. The earliest that would work for me is Saturday night. I'd be happy to do it on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday as well, but I know people have work and study commitments, so it might be better to do it on Saturday. It will have to be pretty late for us Europeans so that some North Americans can join in too. Something like midnight CET (23:00 in London, 18:00 in New York, 15:00 in Los Angeles), I expect.
If you want to join in, let me know what works for you!
Farron
If the sky comes falling down
- AKA
- Hallelujah
Forgot about this,
Arianna
Holy, Personified
- AKA
- Katie; Seta.
An early Happy Birthday is in order!
Cat Rage Room
Great Old One
- AKA
- Mog
Yeah, Ultros can be tricky if you haven't picked up on the mechanics of the game, doubly so due to the unique conditions of that fight (if Banon dies...). Luckily, once you do, the fight can be really easy.
SirVival
Pro Adventurer
Interesting thread! I'm not going to tackle any of the bosses from I to VI, because I hardly remember anything from those. Back in my childhood I ran often from random encounters and usually I was normal or under leveled, which I still think of as a good thing. I loved to play a final fantasy game first through, with minimum amount of perfectionism. Then from the second time onwards I would make sure to collect and do everything.. This is probably the case for the most of you?
FFVII - Demon Wall: He gave me hard time as a child. If I remember correctly, I had to start from the beginning as I saved the game after the clock had been jammed and I didn't just have enough HP (or any +hp materia) to deal with his attacks.
FFVII - Materia Keeper: Dunno why.
FFVII - Carry Armor: On one of my first challenge playthroughs (no materia) this particular boss whooped my ass. Overleveling was necessary to beat him.
FFVIII - The last castle & Ultimecia: Yeah, I had hard time with the last castle of FFVIII. For me it's still the most enjoyable part of the whole game. I hated ultimecia for the random group he would always choose in the beginning of the fight.
FFIX - Life Tree: Another case of being utterly underleveled. Of course if I had been smarter I would've killed it with health spells/x-Potion. I had large problems with this game overall because I just hated the battle system. It was somehow just so slow and tacky... I remember running away from the most battles (probably over 95% of them)
FFX - Yunalesca: Underleveled with the beginners sphere grid, a sure-way to get your ass handed over to you by her.
As you can see, I mostly didn't care to grind for experience. This is one of the main reasons I hate FFXII. It's too much of monster hunting for me. After playing it for around 20+ hours I started to ask myself, when is the game actually going to start. There is this one part, with some kind of big bomb as a boss. I don't remember exactly where is this, it was some kind of a jungle I guess. The game sucked too bad for me to remember any of it's places or characters. I tried to finish the game as soon as possible (because let's face it: if the main reason for you to come back to this game was that playboybunny's animated ass, you probably didn't like it either), just to get my ass kicked by this big bomb. I tried several times, until I read some online FAQ and came to a realisition: I had more or less 16 levels less than the FAQ suggested. Why this kind of a huge bump in the artificial difficulty? Well, probably this is one of the points where I was supposed to engage the endless sidequests of the game, which by the way suck ASS. Instead I tried to advance the nonexistant plot. I don't remember ever facing such a terrible pile of shit in the history of final fantasy (well Lunar Harp comes close). If I had just known that the game would never pick up, I would've left if where it belongs: to trash.
I don't care for the cornucopia of sidequests. Just give me a good, engaging plot with interesting characters, then we can take a look at all that other shit.
By the way I'm interested in hearing from you guys what I did wrong. It would be interesting for me to understand why did you like FFXII...
FFVII - Demon Wall: He gave me hard time as a child. If I remember correctly, I had to start from the beginning as I saved the game after the clock had been jammed and I didn't just have enough HP (or any +hp materia) to deal with his attacks.
FFVII - Materia Keeper: Dunno why.
FFVII - Carry Armor: On one of my first challenge playthroughs (no materia) this particular boss whooped my ass. Overleveling was necessary to beat him.
FFVIII - The last castle & Ultimecia: Yeah, I had hard time with the last castle of FFVIII. For me it's still the most enjoyable part of the whole game. I hated ultimecia for the random group he would always choose in the beginning of the fight.
FFIX - Life Tree: Another case of being utterly underleveled. Of course if I had been smarter I would've killed it with health spells/x-Potion. I had large problems with this game overall because I just hated the battle system. It was somehow just so slow and tacky... I remember running away from the most battles (probably over 95% of them)
FFX - Yunalesca: Underleveled with the beginners sphere grid, a sure-way to get your ass handed over to you by her.
As you can see, I mostly didn't care to grind for experience. This is one of the main reasons I hate FFXII. It's too much of monster hunting for me. After playing it for around 20+ hours I started to ask myself, when is the game actually going to start. There is this one part, with some kind of big bomb as a boss. I don't remember exactly where is this, it was some kind of a jungle I guess. The game sucked too bad for me to remember any of it's places or characters. I tried to finish the game as soon as possible (because let's face it: if the main reason for you to come back to this game was that playboybunny's animated ass, you probably didn't like it either), just to get my ass kicked by this big bomb. I tried several times, until I read some online FAQ and came to a realisition: I had more or less 16 levels less than the FAQ suggested. Why this kind of a huge bump in the artificial difficulty? Well, probably this is one of the points where I was supposed to engage the endless sidequests of the game, which by the way suck ASS. Instead I tried to advance the nonexistant plot. I don't remember ever facing such a terrible pile of shit in the history of final fantasy (well Lunar Harp comes close). If I had just known that the game would never pick up, I would've left if where it belongs: to trash.
I don't care for the cornucopia of sidequests. Just give me a good, engaging plot with interesting characters, then we can take a look at all that other shit.
By the way I'm interested in hearing from you guys what I did wrong. It would be interesting for me to understand why did you like FFXII...
Fangu
Great Old One
Well,
1) The fire bomb at Salikawood you had problems with is optional.
Also you should be able to fight it at very low levels as long as you've got the right strategy. XII is, contrary to what most people think, a very strategic boss fight game. With the bomb, iirc, it's extremely allergic to water. It can be both Silenced and Immobilized - the latter an underrated spell in this game, as moving around, unlike other FF's, is a thing: Some bosses will only attack the nearest character, etc. And you need to get rid of the Oil right away - that's another thing about Elder Wyrm, which a lot of people struggle with. Players are used to FF's being beatable as long as you're a decent level. XII doesn't work that way.
Which leads me to
2) You don't really need EXP in this game, what you need is LP (for Augments, magic and equipment) and Gil, to buy better equipment. LP is easily gained by fighting easy enemies, Gil by chaining monsters of the same kind - makes them drop a lot more loot. Sadly chaining is poorly explained in the game but will get you richer A LOT faster. There are 4 chain levels, 4 being the highest, and you'll get there faster by NOT picking up the loot from the lower levels.
3) You don't need to do Hunts, but they give you really good LP and some good rewards. Most of all, for climbing Clan ranks, you get access to new items at the Clan Merchant down at the Muthru Bazaar. He'll sell you really good equipment from quite early on.
4) Items. XII is a time based game, and using items saves you A LOT of time. Sometimes you have to skip the good old White Mage --> Cure thing and go straight for the Potions, Remedies and Motes - really effective.
5) XII (the vanilla version at least) is jobless. You need to think outside the box. Instead of having Attacker / Tank / Mage, try using three Attackers or three Mages.
6) XII has helluva lot of plot - it's just too damn well hidden
The political intrigue and the depth of the characters is profound, and is one of the things that makes me love this game to death. True there should have been more cutscenes and more dialogue, more stuff related to the characters - but still XII would have been subtle. It's not an in your face story, also it's quite a complex story. (Wait - which stone was the Dusk Shard and which was the Dawn Shard?) But once you get to know the game, it's truly amazing.7) Gambits. If you hate the Gambit system, you will not enjoy this game. Setting up your Gambits is half the fun. There's a reason players who do challenge run have a challenge for bossfights called "Gambits only". Being tactical and being fond of planning stuff out is key to enjoying this game, imo. Sadly, there are only 12 (?) Gambit slots, there should have been 20. Also the Gambits should have had a few more levels, to set up even more complex Gambits - that would have been amazing.
8) When you get to Phon Coast you need a break. You're dying for story and you get one lousy (strike that, a very good) cutscene. I agree that losing track of the story in XII is easy. It's not a game that hands shit over to you, it's a tough game to love. Still, some of us are complete fanboys for it. It's my favourite FF.
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Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
Just started a new run of FFXII. I remember being profoundly disappointed when it came out, but I f@$#in love it this go around! I love sidequests, personally, because one of the main draws of an FF game is immersion in the world. The loot system, hunts, and basically living in Rabanastre is a total joy.
I remember from my first go-around that the plot ended about 40 hours before it should have, and that in earlier FFs the showdown on the Bahamut would have only set the stage for the Actual crisis, not just the local war. But with that in mind, I'm allowing myself to enjoy the game.
/derail
I remember from my first go-around that the plot ended about 40 hours before it should have, and that in earlier FFs the showdown on the Bahamut would have only set the stage for the Actual crisis, not just the local war. But with that in mind, I'm allowing myself to enjoy the game.
/derail
SirVival
Pro Adventurer
Well,
1) The fire bomb at Salikawood you had problems with is optional.
Also you should be able to fight it at very low levels as long as you've got the right strategy. XII is, contrary to what most people think, a very strategic boss fight game. With the bomb, iirc, it's extremely allergic to water. It can be both Silenced and Immobilized - the latter an underrated spell in this game, as moving around, unlike other FF's, is a thing: Some bosses will only attack the nearest character, etc. And you need to get rid of the Oil right away - that's another thing about Elder Wyrm, which a lot of people struggle with. Players are used to FF's being beatable as long as you're a decent level. XII doesn't work that way.
6) XII has helluva lot of plot - it's just too damn well hidden
7) Gambits. If you hate the Gambit system, you will not enjoy this game. Setting up your Gambits is half the fun. There's a reason players who do challenge run have a challenge for bossfights called "Gambits only". Being tactical and being fond of planning stuff out is key to enjoying this game, imo. Sadly, there are only 12 (?) Gambit slots, there should have been 20. Also the Gambits should have had a few more levels, to set up even more complex Gambits - that would have been amazing.
8) When you get to Phon Coast you need a break. You're dying for story and you get one lousy (strike that, a very good) cutscene. I agree that losing track of the story in XII is easy. It's not a game that hands shit over to you, it's a tough game to love. Still, some of us are complete fanboys for it. It's my favourite FF.
The firebomb and Salikawoods, it's all coming back to me now...! I don't remember why I fought it, I guess it was blocking the way or something? It sounds like I should give this game another try, eventhough just thinking about it makes me puke a little
It's probably the only FF in which I didn't talk to every NPC possible.