Summary
JRPGs have had a long-standing relationship with epic boss battles ever since their inception, as they’re the perfect way to show just how far the player and their party have come. AsFinal Fantasyhas beenone of the longest-running franchisesin the genre, it has accumulated a hefty number of incredible encounters.
Over the years,Final Fantasyhas seen its party of plucky young heroes go into battle against all-powerful gods, ancient alien lifeforms, and power-hungry despots. Across sixteen mainline titles and multiple spin-offs, Square Enix hasn’t had a lot of trouble finding larger-than-life foes for the heroes to vanquish.
While not truly part of the franchise,Vagrant Storyis set in the same universe asFinal Fantasy 12and was worked on by developers with links to Square’s popular JRPG series, including Yasumi Matsuno. Therefore, the game deserves a mention since it has a great boss gallery.
Featuring a unique and intricate action-based combat system,Vagrant Storycaststhe player as Ashley Riot, a special agent for the Valendia Knights of the Peace known as a Riskbreaker. Exploring the city of Lea Monde, Ashley encounters fearsome and delightfully wicked bosses throughout various crypts, caverns, dungeons, and mines.
Standouts include the Djinn, the Dark Elemental, and Nightmare, as they all play into the strengths of the fascinating combat system. The mix of turn-based and action creates a captivating quest to defeat this seemingly unlimited number of beautifully designed creatures and monsters.
Set inthe Fabula Novalis Crystallis subseries,Final Fantasy Type-0was quite a departure for the series when it launched in 2011. This dark and bloody tale about a group of cadets known as Class Zero pits the player against the Militesi Empire and their Magitek machines.
With fourteen possible cadets to swap in and out of one’s party,Type-0becomes a battle for survival against these behemoth Magitek armors. It also features a battle against a classicFinal Fantasyboss in Gilgamesh and even showcases his classic eight-arm form in New Game Plus.
As the firstFinal Fantasygame on the PS2, the tenth mainline entry had a considerable bit of hype surrounding it. The first 3D game in the series translated all of what made the first nine entries so special, sending players on an epic journey to defeat the monstrous Sin. Along the way, a cavalcade of varied and unique bosses stand between them and victory.
One of the biggest challenges at around mid-game is the Crawler, testing just how far the player has come to this point. Other standouts include Sinspawn creatures like Gui and Genaux, whose horrifically brilliant designs add a sense of terror toFF10’sgorgeous East Asian aesthetics.
After the split between Square and Nintendo, the series transitioned from carts to CD-ROMs. This bump in storage space allowed not just for the use of 3D characters over 2D backgrounds to create a beautiful aesthetic, but it also meant that Square could create a fully 3D battle window for the epic boss fights to unfold. Fights against enormous creatures like Motor Ball and human enemies such as Rufus were game changers.
Additionally, a lot of these fights benefit from the context which makes them even more endearing. After Sephiroth kills Aerith, her theme continues to play over the fight with Jenova-LIFE in one of the most gut-wrenching sequences of all time. Not to mention the finalmulti-stage battle against Sephirothwhere he uses the incredible Supernova ability and fans have got some truly remarkable encounters.
WhileFF7took the franchise out of the traditional fantasy trappings and into a cyberpunk dystopia,Final Fantasy 8focused on a group ofspecially trained high school studentswho were trained for war. This decidedly adult content shaped whatFF8would become, as well as the types of bosses the player would face. While monsters and human enemies are plentiful,FF8also features some battles against mechanized creatures that are just as fantastic.
Some ofFF8’smost exciting battles come in the last two discs, as the challenges shift from humans to machines, leading directly into Ultimecia’s Castle. This enormous labyrinth is a haunting trip through some surreal imagery and culminates in a frightening battle with Ultimecia herself. It’sFinal Fantasyat its absolute best, asking players to be mindful of everything that has come before and use it to their advantage.
