9 Incredible Bosses In Terrible Video Games

WhatCulture

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00:00There are moments in games where, after a massive build-up, the culminating boss fight

00:05is just a bit… well, crap.

00:08What about the complete opposite, though?

00:10Games that themselves aren't anything to write home about, or were otherwise hated

00:14for a myriad of reasons, with major redeeming factors tied to boss fights.

00:19I'm Jess from WhatCulture, and here are 9 incredible bosses in terrible video games.

00:249.

00:25Never Dead – Sangria

00:27Never Dead could have been so much more.

00:29Protagonist Bryce is immortal, with limbs that detach like a crash-test dummy, more

00:35so they can be reattached in ridiculous ways, like rolling around as just a head with two

00:40arms, firing machine guns.

00:42A neat idea, terribly executed.

00:44Even the majority of its boss fights are boring, except for one.

00:48Sangria.

00:49No, not the fruity drink, but a jester.

00:52Sangria will hurl abuse and taunts, disappear out of sight, throw things, and tackle you

00:56to the point of exploding all your limbs.

00:58It can get frustrating as you carefully put Bryce back together, but that's part of

01:03the charm, leading to whatever combinations of limbs you need to deploy to gain the literal

01:07upper hand.

01:098.

01:10Metal Gear Survive – Seth

01:11Metal Gear Survive is a tragic waste of a franchise license, but Seth, bland as the

01:17name sounds, is a pleasant surprise amongst the muck.

01:20Survive's story is too dumb to condense here, but the gist is that Seth is one of the first

01:25to be whisked away into a mysterious portal that opens up.

01:28Retaining most of his autonomy, he becomes infected by the dread dust and sabotages proceedings

01:33for the player.

01:35The fight itself is pretty straightforward, capitalizing on one of the best parts of MGS5,

01:40the combat, and putting it front and center.

01:43Seth is just a big dude, covered in spikes, that needs taking out however you can.

01:47You'll lay down your best traps, fire off a bunch of weapons, and stay on top of dodging

01:52his charge attacks, too.

01:54There's actually a tight back and forth to this encounter, and while it's nothing to

01:57write home about, seriously, where Amazed Metal Gear Survive even happened, it's the

02:02only genuinely fun exchange in the whole game.

02:057.

02:06Ninja Gaiden 3 – T-Rex

02:08The first two rebooted Ninja Gaiden games are teeming with incredible boss fights.

02:13The third, though, not so much.

02:15In fact, it kinda killed the IP's momentum stone dead.

02:19Considering the reputation Ninja Gaiden had, it was a massive downgrade in almost every

02:23area.

02:25Every area except… a body-armor-wearing Tyrannosaurus Rex.

02:30It's such a cool fight because it seems so out of place.

02:32Yes, there's the fantastical element, something Ninja Gaiden is no stranger to, but it's

02:37a friggin' body-armor-wearing T-Rex.

02:39Thankfully, this isn't as hard as armor from the first game, but there's a tactical

02:44edge in how to dismantle the armor before killing the creature.

02:47All around, this is a notably stylish fight, imbued with the spirit and fun of the earlier

02:52games.

02:536.

02:54Daymare 1998 – The Abomination

02:57Daymare 1998 sadly gets everything wrong.

03:00What could have harkened back to the classic days of Resi 2 instead has bad character animations,

03:06flat visuals, and unmemorable boss fights, bar one, The Abomination.

03:11A classic homage to a Resident Evil boss, it's tough, large, and conveniently situated

03:17near some explosive tanks.

03:19It also does the Resi classic staple of being multi-staged, coming back to bite you when

03:23you least expect it.

03:25It's ironic the bosses called The Abomination, given that it's the only thing the game did

03:30right.

03:315.

03:32Devil May Cry 2 – Aries

03:34Devil May Cry 2 is not a great game.

03:37After the breakthrough of the first one, the sequel should have been so much better.

03:41The idea of running along and up walls while firing twin pistols was awesome on paper,

03:46but animation across the board just felt lifeless, indicative of a messy development we were

03:51glad to forget when part 3 finally arrived.

03:54And yet, DMC2 did have Aries, an eccentric antagonist at its helm.

03:59Fought in Dante's missions, Aries is the big bad behind the game's events.

04:03Coming at you in a manner similar to the antagonist of the first game, this time you'll be tasked

04:08with taking out some goons around the man himself.

04:11Once they're dispatched, though, it's taking out Aries that spices things up.

04:16He's quick and will catch you off guard by fighting faster than any other enemy.

04:20Besides Dante's new look, Aries is the sole highlight of Devil May Cry 2's entire runtime.

04:264.

04:27Hitman Absolution – Sanchez

04:29The term boss fight is not something synonymous with the Hitman series.

04:33There's targets, and there's achieving the best death whilst remaining unseen.

04:38Then there's Hitman Absolution, and more so, the fight against Sanchez.

04:43Absolution went for a more grindhouse look.

04:45Some of it stuck, other parts didn't.

04:48The story, for example, was just wacky.

04:50Killer nuns sharing a shooting range with Lynch from Kane and Lynch, and super soldier

04:55programs.

04:56In the middle of this, Sanchez, Dexter's bodyguard.

04:59The big man looks like Danny Trejo if he ate bulking powder and all of the steroids.

05:03Oh, and he wrestles in cage matches, cause of course he does.

05:07This fight can be avoided in typical Hitman fashion, but given that there's a challenge

05:11attached to it, why not?

05:13Agent 47 versus an oversized wrestler quickly became one of the images that tanked Absolution's

05:19reputation almost immediately, but the fight itself is great fun.

05:23Playing out mostly as a quick time event, that's not the awesome part.

05:27No, the best bits are watching Agent 47, the nimble assassin, go all Lucha Libre and bust

05:32out a host of moves you never knew he had.

05:35And if you think about the likes of 47 playing the drums in the 2016 reboot or flapping his

05:40arms to fly away, the idea of 47 doing anything came into its own right here.

05:453.

05:46Dark Souls 2 – Looking Glass Knight

05:49As is often pointed out, Dark Souls 2 is the weakest of the Souls trilogy, let alone from

05:54software's catalogue.

05:55Granted, it's been patched and overhauled into the Scholar of the First Sin re-release,

05:59the one all fans will direct any newcomer towards, but that original version always

06:04had a mixed bag of bosses to break down.

06:07Some are generic, others are gimmicks, yet there's one that stands out above all the

06:11rest, with one of the coolest mechanics FromSoft would never bring back, the Looking Glass

06:16Knight, and the ability to not only summon NPCs into the field, but other players too.

06:22For the latter, you'd have to place down a specific summoning stone and kinda just

06:26hope for the best, then you could get to ruining someone's day.

06:30On the receiving end, suddenly having a formidable foe leap out of the mirror itself for a good

06:34old-fashioned PvP showdown was one hell of a trick, as any Souls veteran knows, being

06:40outflanked is an easy trap to fall into.

06:432.

06:44Shenmue 3 – Lan Di

06:46Shenmue 3, the highest crowdfunded game ever, is… disappointing.

06:51Let's not beat around the bush, after 20 years, the formula just hadn't moved with

06:55the times.

06:56Defenders will say that's a good thing, anyone else was hoping for some forward momentum.

07:01Regardless, what Shenmue 3 does get right is establish the revenge motive set out in

07:06the first one.

07:07Ryo Hazuki, in the politest terms, gets his ass handed to him in the first game by Lan

07:12Di.

07:13Then, because Shenmue plays the long game, quite literally, he's absent until the third

07:18game.

07:19After such a long wait, 20 years in fact, fortunately the fight delivers.

07:25Combining everything Ryo's learned over three games, once Lan Di's henchmen are out of

07:29the way, this Kung Fu battle is impressive.

07:33Well choreographed and with such a long wait behind every punch, the only drawback is that

07:37there's no real conclusion.

07:39Shenmue 3 yet again ends on an open note, despite creator Yu Suzuki saying immediately

07:45after that there are no concrete plans for a Shenmue 4.

07:49For one of gaming's most diehard fanbases though, at least they got to take out some

07:53frustration on the man who killed Ryo's father.

07:571.

07:58Resident Evil 6 – Ustinak

08:00Resident Evil 6 gets ragged on for a lot of things, one of them being its massive deviation

08:06from the horror part of survival horror.

08:08Granted, the fourth game ditched most of it, but it still had some horror elements.

08:13By comparison, Resi 6 is more action and, despite a campaign dedicated to aping that

08:18older feel, far less scares.

08:21But in that weird backhanded way, there's one action-packed boss fight that does evoke

08:26some of that terror the series had established.

08:29It comes from none other than the half-bioweapon, half-farmyard machinery mashup that is the

08:33Ustinak.

08:34Like a nemesis that fell into a thresher and won, the Ustinak is a relentless beast that

08:40forms part of Jake Muller's campaign.

08:42A multi-part fight, the main tenant is having to escape a few times before finally squaring

08:47off against it near the end.

08:49It's a bit annoying at first as the game hoodwinks you into wasting ammo when it's

08:53not the final stage, but give Capcom the benefit of the doubt and this was all to make the

08:58final showdown more satisfying.

09:01That's it for our list, but do let me know down in that comment section if you can think

09:05of any other incredible boss fights in just terrible video games.

09:10As always, I've been Jess from WhatCulture, thank you so much for hanging out with me.

09:14If you're liking, come say hi to me on my Twitter account, where I'm at JessMcDonald,

09:19but make sure you stay tuned to us here for plenty more great gaming lists.

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