Video game bosses have been among the industry’s most iconic elements in the last couple of years, representing their respective works' biggest points of interest.
From AAA games likeGod of War Ragnarökto indie titles likeHollow Knight, campaigns from all backgrounds have integrated the concept of larger enemies with health bars, special movements, and deeper stories.
10 Great Games With Terrible Boss Fights
Not every developer can be FromSoftware.
Considering they represent their games' most threatening and demanding challenges,we’re used to seeing them as intimidating foes, whether due to their design, size, or even contextual aspects like the arena or soundtrack.
However, not all of them follow the same formula. Instead, some developers have decided to go in the opposite direction, which is precisely what allows me to introduce you to this list of ten cute video game bosses that are actually really hard.
10Princess Kenny
South Park: The Stick of Truth
South Park: The Stick of Truthis full of memorable moments that make you value its comedic proposal, but nothing like the title’s final boss.
Princess Kenny is both the hardest and cutest rival, as she has a titanic health bar, deals tons of damage, and can inflict states like Bleeding and Gross Out, so she’s really polyvalent.
Every time she summoned a unicorn, I feared for the lives of my characters, making me spend more turns actually curing them and getting rid of their negative effects rather than fighting Princess Kenny.
It doesn’t help that I’m genuinely bad at turn-based games, but it neither detracts froma great boss fight that demands more than any other enemy in the story.
Cult of the Lamb
I wouldn’t callCult of the Lamba difficult game, but I had unusual problems facing the mighty Heket.
Despite being an avid Soulsborne player, every single boss with minions becomes trouble for me, and it turns outHeket summons more secondary enemies than you can count.
Trying to avoid all the little spawns, projectiles, and attacks simultaneously proved to be a test of patience, something I completely lack. If you try to rush things and avoid taking care of its little companions, you will have to retry the fight as much as I did.
While I know it’s a demon and its introduction implies various cultists' sacrifice, it’s a hellishly adorable frog, which also describes practically everything inCult of the Lamb.
8P-33 and Kalil
NieR Replicant
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
Fextralife Wiki
Nier Replicantis a piece of art that knows how to make you feel the weight of your decisions, butthe fight against P-33 and Kalil was the one that broke me.
Your first playthrough is your average action game where you battle things mindlessly, though the second time you face the same enemies, you realize the absolute monster you are.
In this case, the child and his big robot friend are just trying to give each other company, and we arrive inquisitively to try to break them apart in a fight that gets fast and overwhelming due to the number of phases and changes of perspective.
If you’re like me, you will even face hardships in combat just for the sake of knowing you’re clashing with innocent beings.Nier Replicantstrikes a chord with each new encounter, and making us push so hard to defeat these couple of friends is devastating.
7Great Grey Wolf Sif
Dark Souls
Dark Soulshas been widely regarded for its impressive boss fights, and Great Grey Wolf Sif emerges among the most special ones thanks to her background and presentation.
Fighting a dog-like creature is always painful, but doing so while knowing her relationship with Artorias makes this gorgeous being an even more difficult adversary.
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Unique mechanics to differentiate unique bosses.
However,her beauty shouldn’t fool you, as she’s one of the game’s most difficult bosses. She hits like a truck, gets away frequently, and the camera will play multiple tricks on you while trying to lock on her.
Regardless, when you’re close to finishing the encounter, Sif begins to limp, attack slowly, and whimper, which adds to her cuteness but also to the misery of the fight itself.
Nine Solsfigures among thebest metroidvanias of 2024, and its bosses are a main reason for its characterization as one of the last decade’s finest indie games.
Besides a couple of bad encounters, every main antagonist in the experience is superb, including the stunning Ji, whose boss fight isboth a spectacle and a brutal challenge of pattern recognition and reflexes.
10 Best Multi-Phase Metroidvania Bosses
If you thought the fight was over, think again.
More than any other boss in the game, he throws at you a plethora of different moves in short sequences that force you to be on your toes every single second. You have to parry, jump, and dash across every pixel of the screen to be able to avoid his vast arsenal.
It’s clear whyRed Candle Gamesmade Ji a latter boss fight, as you rely on practically every mechanicNine Solshas to defeat him. It may be a delicate and handsome eternal being, but it poses a challenge of the biggest proportions.
All the bosses fromUndertaleare amazingly charming and deserve a spot on this list, butI’ll stick with Muffet because she presents the largest dichotomy of being pretty and inexplicably difficult.
Her cute pigtails and clothes deceived me into thinking she was going to be a minor encounter, though she dragged me across the floor with her attack patterns' increasing velocity and unpredictability.
It helps that the music is a notable banger that adapts to the battle’s rhythm, but if it wasn’t for the Sea Tea that enhances your speed, I would probably still be fighting her.
Of course, I had way bigger issues with bosses like Sans or Undyne, but regarding being adorable and difficult, Muffet takes the cake within thisstory-driven masterpiece.
4Grovekeeper Topoda
Another Crab’s Treasure
Another Crab’s Treasure
Despite beingone of the best Soulslike games of 2024, I’m afraidAnother Crab’s Treasurekeeps being an underrated gem that is not talked about enough.
Every boss in the campaign exudes charisma and fun, butmy favorite is Grovekeeper Topoda,a mesmerizing peacock mantis shrimp that packs a punchwith a grace worthy of the purest beauty.
What I love the most about this encounter is that it feels like aDragon Ball Zfight, with the boss smashing you so strongly that it can even tear apart the fabric of reality and time.
Grovekeeper Topoda is fast and strong but feeble, so every attempt happens quickly. The duel is intense and bewitching, especially thanks to how colorful the boss, effects, and arena are together.
3Murdiella Mal
Salt and Sanctuary
To reach Murdiella Mal inSalt and Sanctuary, you have to be a completionist, as the boss is hidden in the game’s most obscure area. However, her inaccessibility makes total sense, as she’s probably the most difficult encounter.
I had to look up a guide to find her, and it was completely worth it. However,she obliterated me more times than I could countthanks to her ability to teleport, attack fast, and launch projectiles from the sky, as well as combining them all.
Her aesthetic is marvelous, with butterfly-inspired features and an ethereal aura that gives her a divine style, but the way she frustrated me through dozens of attempts is something I will never forget.
Fortunately,Salt and Sanctuary’s skill tree is vast, which allowed me to try out multiple builds until I found the right one. Otherwise, Murdiella Mal would have remained the only boss in the game I couldn’t defeat.
2Grim Matchstick
Cupheadcan rejoice innot having any bad boss fights, just as it can celebrate thatGrim Matchstick almost made me quit the game.
Despite the boss being designed perfectly, I thought for hours that my skills had reached their limit and I simply wasn’t going to advance.
Even recognizing all of his patterns and what to do to avoid them, I couldn’t react to the projectiles' number and speed, much less avoid falling from the clouds while dodging everything.
The fight only lasts a couple of minutes, but so much happens on the screen that it’s practically impossible not to feel overwhelmed and partially rely on a bit of luck.
Regardless, one of my attempts had the perfect conditions for me to emerge victorious, so now I can write about this experience. Yet,I never considered that the video game dragon that would defeat me the most would be a cartoonishly cute one.
Hollow Knight
I remember the first time I encounteredSly inHollow Knight, thinking about how genuinely adorable all the characters in the game are, despite Hallownest’s dark backstory.
Dozens of hours later, when I encountered him at The Pantheon of the Sage’s end, I realized thateven the most beautiful beings can be complete lunaticswho will have you putting the game down indefinitely.
Regardless of his size and cuteness, Sly destroyed me so many times that I couldn’t continue with the DLC. I had to try it again four years later, when I could finally react to his erratic pattern and dozens of deadly abilities.
It’s a magnificent fight, and it deeply makes you appreciate the workTeam Cherrydid after the game’s original release, but every time I hear Sly’s little shrieks, my heart races.
Even the later pantheons andbossesweren’t difficult for me, but I think it was largely because the Sage taught me the way of the nail, which gave me the ability to conquer Godhome.
