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[nynt9]

I'm trying to think of boss fights where the game is basically telling you that everything you've had up to that point was a tutorial, and now the real deal begins. Final boss fights don't count, this has to be early/mid game.

Examples:

Ornstein & Smough - Dark Souls

These guys two-team you and force you to learn how to manage both enemies at the same time, dodge impeccably and time all your attacks super carefully so that you leave no opening and capitalize every opportunity.

Blade Wolf - Metal Gear Rising

This encounter is basically asking you if you have grasped the parry mechanic. Many people get frustrated and drop the game here because the parry mechanic doesn't click with them, and the boss is very hard to defeat without getting skilled at parrying.

Matador - Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

This battle asks you if you learned your buffs/debuffs properly and whether you grasp the press turn system. Very well designed fight, many have died at his merciless hands.

Let's talk about examples of this, but please post the name of the boss, name of the game and its explanation.

 

[Pitmonkey]

Every boss in The Wonderful 101.

 

[Banjotanooki]

Ghirahim from Skyward sword since he pretty much made you learn how to use motion+ rather than swinging like crazy.

 

[Wii Tank]

Shadow Yukiko from Persona 4

Even though she's basically the first boss of the game, she's one of the hardest. She forces you to properly learn the mechanics of personas and fusing. If you can beat her, the rest of the game is easier due to what you have to learn here

Edit: I guess she's really like another version of Matador from SMT Nocturne

 

[remz]

Risings real "git gud" boss is the very last one. It basically thows attacks that require almost every mechanic in the game, including the movement and blade mode to defeat properly. Blade wolf is relatively hard but I don't think you have to be a pro to beat him, especially compared to other action game bosses like the nunchuck guy from NG1

 

[Porcile]

I beat Blade Wolf comfortably without using the Parry mechanic once. I'm a hero.

Spoiler

FYI I learned how to Parry afterwards.

 

[Magwik]

I somehow managed to get to Sam in Rising without knowing how to parry properly. I'd say Monsoon is tougher on the parry than Bladewolf though.

 

[Fularu]

Lvl 60 Naxx was brutal (WoW raid)

Twin Emperors was probably the first legit hard WoW fight, rest was prety straightforward, often tank and spank (except maybe Chromag in BWL or Drak after the first 3 weeks).

Then M'uru came in Sunwell and told 99% of the guilds on the planet "You suck".

 

[Parakeetman]

All of the bosses in God Hand...

 

[PGamer]

The story mode challenges in F-Zero GX if you count those.

 

[Kater]

That boss from Super Meat Boy is so annoying.

 

[SerTapTap]

This is basically what the boss rush in every Mega Man game is for. Unless you've stockpiled max lives, it's no longer possible to get lucky, tank hits and abuse subtanks like is otherwise often possible.

For instance, in Professional mode in XZ Advent, you have to learn to dodge basically every single type of a bosses' attacks, because they do enough damage to kill you if you don't dodge every type of attack at least once.

 

[Zareka]

Matador - Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Man screw this guy. I was doing fine up until he showed up and sent my ass straight back to the title screen. He really did force me to learn the press turn system though, I had no idea how to work it before Matador.

Blade Wolf is a great example too. I had zero idea how the hell parry worked and was about to drop the game after the demo, but now it's second nature to me.

Those are some perfect examples actually. I would have said Matador but you got that down already.

Oh yeah, and (Persona 4 spoilers)

Spoiler

Shadow Mitsuo

. Up till him I was fusing willy nilly and didn't think much of any of the special fusions. Once I had to crack out

Spoiler

Black Frost

though, it really taught me how much a single Persona could change the way a fight pans out. (Yes, I somehow managed to play Persona 3 in it's entirety and up till this point in Persona 4 without learning fusion was more than "chuck 2 Personas together, hope for the best".)

 

[jacobeid]

I somehow managed to get to Sam in Rising without knowing how to parry properly. I'd say Monsoon is tougher on the parry than Bladewolf though.

What difficulty level did you play on? Just curious because I felt that parrying was absolutely necessary to effectively utilize the combat system.

My answer? Mega Man. Take your choice (numbered series).

This Guy from Ninja Gaiden.
Played this game years ago and could not get past him. if NG ever comes to PC i will give it another go

This too.

 

[Zakalwe]

Blade Wolf made me quit. I was playing while taking heavy painkillers while recovering from something. I should probably try again now I'm not moving through mud.

 

[TheBowen]

This Guy from Ninja Gaiden.


Played this game years ago and could not get past him. if NG ever comes to PC i will give it another go

 

[Yoshichan]

Gay twins, God Hand. Good luck beating these and being bad at the game

 

[joeblow]

Javier Jaguar in the original PS3/Vita/PC Guacamelee... not the nerfed version in the 2014 re-release.

 

[Makoto Yuki]

Fire Leo, Viewtiful Joe.

The game was pretty easy up until you fight him. Or maybe it was just me.

 

[Tuck]

I went into MGR:R knowing that parrying was super important,so I made sure to learn it quickly. Took blade wolf down with ease.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

I don't necessarily disagree with you for saying O&S, but you can always just summon help and trivialize the fight if you don't want to get better. Applies to all boss fights in Dark Souls, unfortunately.

I would say:

Jaguar Javier from Guacamelee, especially because of his attacks that ignore your invincibility frames.

Edit: Beaten.

Javier Jaguar in the original PS3/Vita/PC Guacamelee... not the nerfed version in the 2014 re-release.

How did they nerf him?

 

[Aureon]

Blade Wolf is the maximum example of that - especially because it's at the start.
Ornstein is too far in - the 'Get gud' moment of Dark Souls is none other than the Black Knight.

Semi-obscure example: I'm stuck there.
The Crook - Pid

Dammit.

 

[CrypticMutation]

Deathstroke in Batman Arkham Origins. One of the first bosses in the game and the most frustrating if you haven't learned to properly time your counter and attack.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

Agni & Rudra - Devil May Cry 3 (in case some is wondering)



Those guys!! Hard fight, but I liked it!

 

[DarkKyo]

Blade Wolf - Metal Gear Rising

Seeing this picture just makes me hear the music in my head and I suddenly want to play this game again!!

 

[nynt9]

This Guy from Ninja Gaiden.


Played this game years ago and could not get past him. if NG ever comes to PC i will give it another go

Javier Jaguar in the original PS3/Vita/PC Guacamelee... not the nerfed version in the 2014 re-release.

Oh yeah these are great examples. Before that guy in NG I was like "eh this game isn't that hard" but then I got hit in the face.

Javier Jaguar forces you to learn the mechanics well, but that doesn't correspond with increased difficulty in the rest of the game so it's a weird spike. Still a solid fight though.

 

[boxter432]

Fire Leo, Viewtiful Joe.

The game was pretty easy up until you fight him. Or maybe it was just me.

never beat him :/

 

[thetrin]

This Guy from Ninja Gaiden.


Played this game years ago and could not get past him. if NG ever comes to PC i will give it another go

Funniest thing is, he's the hardest boss in the game, imo. The emperor at the end is pretty damn hard, but everyone else is easier just because you get swallow dive AFTER this boss.

This is actually an interesting common theme. A lot of early bosses in difficult games force you to learn the key mechanics and really use them to your advantage, because you don't have a lot of different abilities to get you out of a jam at that point in the game. It's genius design, imo, as it forces you to really know how to bend the core mechanics to your will before you get a bunch of stuff that allows you to get lazy.

 

[ComputerMKII]

Capra Demon from Dark Souls

 

[PranooY]

Artorias and Kalameet.

Agree on Ornestein-Smough of Dark Souls 1 and Javier Jaguar of Guacamelee.

Capra Demon from Dark Souls

Capra is piece of cake, if u kill the dogs.

 

[mp1990]

I somehow managed to get to Sam in Rising without knowing how to parry properly. I'd say Monsoon is tougher on the parry than Bladewolf though.

Same thing with me,i had to learn the parry mecanics in this battle.That boss that you can't hit directly,you have to hit only some body parts,was an pain in the ass without knowing how to defend myself.

 

[hbkajshdvfbkjhvgkahsgdfka]

Grilgan - Lost Odyssey; The first boss in the game

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

Ghirahim from Skyward sword since he pretty much made you learn how to use motion+ rather than swinging like crazy.

Yup. Went in expecting some easy first dungeon boss that requires the Beetle. BOY was I in for a rude awakening.

 

[Mexen]

Gay twins, God Hand. Good luck beating these and being bad at the game

Spoiler

here I come

 

[fvng]

MGR thread

for me it was Monsoon on MGR, I managed to clear Blade Wolf without learning how to parry but Monsoon wasn't having it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHPouzEdw68

 

[Timeaisis]

Ghirahim from Skyward sword since he pretty much made you learn how to use motion+ rather than swinging like crazy.

My first thought as well. Love that boss.

 

[gngf123]

That boss from Super Meat Boy is so annoying.

This guy doesn't teach you anything about the game, and doesn't force you to "git gud". It is literally pattern memorization - the boss fight. Probably the single worst boss in the game.

Guacamelee's Jaguar Javier gets my vote. The entire point of that fight was to teach you the importance of roll dodging, but it was a little bit of an odd design decision to throw such a fight late on in the game.

SMT:Nocturne's Matador is another great one, but covered in the OP.

I'd also vote for Wendigo in Devil Survivor 1, that guy seems to catch a lot of people out even though he is pretty easy.

 

[DrunkDan]

I would say:

Jaguar Javier from Guacamelee, especially because of his attacks that ignore your invincibility frames.

Edit: Beaten.



How did they nerf him?

I'd like to know too, what are the differences between the new release and the original (aside from the dlc)?

 

[Myriadis]

Ghirahim from Skyward sword since he pretty much made you learn how to use motion+ rather than swinging like crazy.

This

 

[Meia]

I would actually say the twin gargoyle fight in Dark Souls taught me how to properly do a fight before Ornstein and Smough did. Fight has you being able to break off parts of a boss for a weapon, a second boss coming in later(after giving you some time to figure out how to deal with the one boss's attacks), and then it's about how to deal with two at once. Keeping them so one's in front of the other, not running ahead of one of them TOO far so you have to deal with a different ranged attack from the other, the fight really has it all, and you WILL die a lot in that one until you figure things out.


O&S is the second time the game demands you to get better, but I really do think that first gargoyle fight is the proper introduction to the game.



Matador is one of the best example of course. Anyone new to the SMT series(in it's entirety) and having played years of easy RPGs will definitely slam their head on Matador quite a few times. "What do you mean buffs and debuffs are useful in this game, I normally ignore them in others since they're not needed!"

 

[Ysiadmihi]

Capra Demon from Dark Souls

This fight is flat out cheap more than anything, considering how early in the game it comes and the nature of its difficulty. There's no reason for the dogs to be there. Would make sense if it happened in NG+ or something.

 

[Loxley]

Vaelastrasz - World of Warcraft

This guy was notorious for destroying guilds, even after higher-end content like AQ40 and Naxx were released. Which is messed up because he's only the second boss of the whole raid of Blackwing Lair (there were eight total). There are a number of other raid bosses throughout WoW's history that were basically idiot-checks, where everyone had to know where they were supposed to be and what they had to do, but Vael very quickly became the boss for fledgling raid guilds to fear.

 

[spindashing]

Fire Leo, Viewtiful Joe.

The game was pretty easy up until you fight him. Or maybe it was just me.

YEP. Came here for this. Felt good finally beating him.

 

[Thorgal]

Ninja gaiden sigma .

The first boss -Murai .

You go through the level killing the occasional ninja and while you take some damage from them it's not too hard.

Then you meet white ninja's who are a bit tougher but still nothing you cannot handle if you defend good

Then this guy comes :

OH YOU THINK THIS GAME IS EASY ? THINK AGAIN !


Edit: and beaten .

 

[AgentLampshade]

Shadow Yukiko, specifically in the vanilla version. It's the first real boss with no weaknesses, so you have to change up your strategy a bit and play the long game. Plus you only had 3 party members. Sadly nerfed in P4G, where she was given an ice weakness.

 

[Spinosaurus]

I was gonna say Matador but OP beat me to it anyway. So I'll post this:

Really though, this is THE wake up call boss for me. Definitely one that requires you to learn the important fundamentals of buffing and debuffing in the game and how demon fusion can help you get the demons you need. I wouldn't call him near impossible, but very difficult if you're new to the series? Absolutely.


Though I'm not sure about Blade Wolf. I thought Monsoon was the one boss designed to teach the player the importance of parrying. My brother managed to reach him without parrying once, but that's where he stopped for a while. Well, until I told him about the whole mechanic lol.

 

[I-hate-u]

Its okay if you die against it, it gives you a chance for revenge in Shrine of Storms.

EDIT: link died lol

 

[Vamphuntr]

Grilgan - Lost Odyssey; The first boss in the game

That thing is so OP compared to the rest of the bosses in the game. The first two bosses in this game are really hard while most of the rest of the bosses are simply just standing in the way.

It really shows that Sakaguchi wasn't the only needed to make a "Final Fantasy" game. The balance of the game isn't very interesting.

 

[Hesemonni]

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/e8vNocAiEHY/hqdefault.jpg[IMG]


This Guy from Ninja Gaiden.


Played this game years ago and could not get past him. if NG ever comes to PC i will give it another go[/QUOTE]
Eons ago I actually quit playing the game because I couldn't beat him. Then when Black was released I got the game for cheap and decided to give it another go. Then the mechanics hit me and --> God tier fighting game. Good times.

 

[Syril]

Kut-Ku here was the first point in the otiginal Monster Hunter where you stood absolutely no chance until how fighting monsters in that game actually worked.