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Bosses that basically say "git gud" and force you to learn the game?

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Oh man, the first time i met him was painful. I'd also say Nelo Angelo.
 
If MMOs are allowed then Absolute Virtue and Pandemonium Warden pre-nerf/level cap raise from Final Fantasy XI.

SE had a very specific way they wanted players to kill Absolute Virtue. They would threaten bans or hotfix every attempt someone had that would circumvent that plan. I believe only one glitch/exploit kill was ever pulled off, but it may have been a couple others. One of the first attempts that was partially successful was done by a linkshell (LimitBreak iirc) that used a terrain glitch. They could get him in the 50% range and then would use a move to regain all his HP. They fought him for roughly 30 hours before calling it quits. Several other attempts were made but he was largely considered impossible to kill for many years due to how bullheaded SE was about wanting him to be killed their way and no other. Once the gimmick was finally figured out, the length of time to kill it would have been enormous and player skill at a very high level. How long it would have taken is unknown due to...

Pandemonium Warden would have probably followed the same path, but the first, almost successful attempt on him was an 18 hour fight by a very high skill level group of players (BtL I think was the group). They made it to his final form, which upon reaching 75% it wiped everyone and, I believe, respawned all his adds. The area in which he was spawned in was also filled with aggressive enemies so he, the adds he popped, and the natural room itself made for a huge clusterfuck. The only reason he was changed was because the game sites picked up the story of the fight's length. He became much easier to kill after that (both he and Absolute Virtue had two hour despawn timers following the sites running the story), but he was still very difficult by most accounts I read.
 
Señor Coyote;123730127 said:
Duriel from Diablo 2. I almost had a panic attack whenever I had to face him.
Duriel_%28Diablo_II%29.gif

I definitely agree with this. His initial boss chamber is so tiny compared to all the other bosses, you really have to run for your life and strategize at the same time.

Another is La Saia from Dark Cloud. You have to constantly switch between party members in order to not get completely frozen to death.
 
Javier Jaguar in the original PS3/Vita/PC Guacamelee... not the nerfed version in the 2014 re-release.

Came in to say this. The only legitimately difficult boss in that game, but for a good reason. How you fight him is basically a faster version of the final bosses first phase.
 
I love these threads on GAF, because now I want to play MGR.

I would say that the Capra Demon was less about the mechanics of the game and more about pure luck/ knowing the best way to tackle the encounter.
 
In Xenoblade Chronicles, I thought people had much more difficulties with
Lorithia
, especially those who never bothered to learn how Ether attacks worked.

A much more appropriate answer would be
Xord
. You *need* to understand topples at that point, and it's much earlier in the game than the previous examples.
 
Ino in Guilty Gear...while the first few lines are easy to dodge the almost full screen one was a pain...only one can easily cheese that is Chipp...least for me

Unlimited Hazama also

Dunno must just be me.....stuff like DMC MGR and DS never game me huge problems sure I died a few times but never got so frustrated I stopped playing. But those arcade bosses almost made me quit sometimes.
 
I would say that the Capra Demon was less about the mechanics of the game and more about pure luck/ knowing the best way to tackle the encounter.

Capra Demon is probably the easiest boss in the D/DE's souls series. He is easier than most normal enemies.

Duriel and Armstrong are both good choices
 
Señor Coyote;123730127 said:
Duriel from Diablo 2. I almost had a panic attack whenever I had to face him.
Duriel_%28Diablo_II%29.gif

Worst part was that until they patched it a bit the game lagged for a while after you enter Duriel's chamber while it loaded all the stuff, that was enough for him to kill you. First time we crushed Duriel was in MP when we had a paladin with thorns and Duriel went for my blood golem first. Insanely tanky combo.
 
Gates_of_Hell-large.jpg


This asshole from The Last Remnant.

Came to say this one, The Gates of Hell. If you don't understand how to get unions to do what you want, especially with regards to healing, or if you haven't learned flanking mechanics, or if you havent realized how useful items are, you will not beat this guy easily. Honestly, he's probably one of my favorite boss encounters, period.

Grilgan - Lost Odyssey; The first boss in the game
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I disagree with this one. At this point in the game, things haven't opened up much to vary party strategy, and if he casts Down Burst consecutively there honestly isn't much you can do.
 
Chester
in Ys:OiF on high difficulty.
There are some ways to power through most of other boss, but in this fight you realy need to learn when to single jump and when to double jump, where to land and when to attack, or die.
 
Gates_of_Hell-large.jpg


This asshole from The Last Remnant.

If you can't unzombify your dudes you're fucked though. I learned that the hard way. I intend to go back to the game some day and make sure I stock up on herbs and shit so I can do healing arts ):
 
I dont get the Guacamelee posts. I never do. By the time you reach that boss the game has more than prepared you for it. You should already have the game mechanics down long before you reach that boss.
 
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This game is not as easy as I thought it was going to be.
I don't remember there being any bosses in this game except for the final boss.

I dont get the Guacamelee posts. I never do. By the time you reach that boss the game has more than prepared you for it. You should already have the game mechanics down long before you reach that boss.

A lot of people completed every point up to that fight by running head first at enemies and throwing out combos, with the dodging mechanic mostly being used for getting past obstacles.

Javier Jaguar shows up and suddenly that strategy is useless. You need to time your attacks carefully and use the dodge mechanic to get in. He gets priority over pretty much everything you do, so just attacking him normally is incredibly risky.
 
Tiamat from ff1 u couldnt just spank u had to buff and tank before u could spank her. and then you have to fight her again in the final dungeon with more hp.

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This thread is the worst thing I have seen today.

So many flashbacks of these assholes.

I the most recent one for me is the first Clicker and Runner fight in Last of Us hard.
 
Git gud is my new favourite thing to say. Haven't heard that one before. Cheers for updating my gaming vocabulary OP

Oh god, I guess you never played much Metal Gear Online. Git gud and jajaja was 90% of players vocabulary on that. If I never see git gud again it'll be too soon.

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

Yeah, Ghirahim was a fun fight. He wasn't difficult, I just didn't understand what to do.

IhBlade Wolf - Metal Gear Rising
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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.

OK, I played MGR on normal the first time round, but I had absolutely no trouble with Bladewolf. Monsoon was the only one who give me any trouble, and even then I killed him on my first go, I just burnt through a lot of rations.

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Fire Leo, Viewtiful Joe.

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

This is another boss I don't understand how people found super tough. Unless I repressed the memory from my mind (you fight him in the circular fire arena with a gap in, right?), I think I beat him fairly quickly and with ease. Gran Bruce was the boss who screwed me over on Viewtiful Joe.
 
Definitely Blade Wolf. Basically said 'This is how you parry and if you don't understand or can't deal with the camera control then you're not continuing.'
 
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Some great choices already, but I'll add Holoholo Bird from Baten Kaitos Origins. Stumped me for a long while and had to start using better card management.
 


Heigan the Unclean, Naxxramas Plague Wing.

If the raid couldn't understand the shifting AOE spell, it was a sure and utter wipe.

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Patchwerk was a simpler case of "l2play". Patchwerk was a comparatively simple boss, but if you had people that failed in basic gameplay, you would know instantly. It demanded mastery of the basics. So if your tanks didn't react fast enough, they'd get slaughtered, if the healers couldn't coordinate and keep up with the changes in the battle the raid would collapse, and if the dps had no idea what they were doing, Patchwerk would hit the enrage timer.
 
DEFINITELY VORKKEN

I haven't seen a single boss so early in the game force me to play the game completely differently. Vorkken will be especially difficult against people who haven't grasped basic concept of the game (or the controls) because there are literally no other enemies in the game remotely like him.

I mean look at this mess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfmNt8wxH6s

I've played the game, beaten it, and I STILL have no idea what's going on! hehe
 
DEFINITELY VORKKEN

I haven't seen a single boss so early in the game force me to play the game completely differently. Vorkken will be especially difficult against people who haven't grasped basic concept of the game (or the controls) because there are literally no other enemies in the game remotely like him.

I mean look at this mess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfmNt8wxH6s

It really doesn't help when the framerate takes a major hit thanks to 100 little guys vs 100 little guys.
 
Igor and Frankie's Monster from Castlevania

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Igor's a pain in the ass by himself, not to mention the level he's found in is a difficulty spike in relation to the preceeding one and you'll probably get to him with half of your health.

Triple-Shot Holy Water makes quick work of him, though, if you take stuff from the candles with caution.
 
The dragon boss in Chapter 1 in Bravely Default felt like this to me. Generally up until then you could brave into a deficit and it didn't matter, but that boss in particular would likely instant-kill you if you Brave'd everyone.

Granted once you realized how to properly B/D it became easier, but it's a good learning boss.
 
Señor Coyote;123730127 said:
Duriel from Diablo 2. I almost had a panic attack whenever I had to face him.
Duriel_%28Diablo_II%29.gif

I think he just destroys the player's expectations about how to face a tread. Not so much as forcing the player to learn how to really play, but forcing the player to forget how they were playing and come up with an strategy just for him.

specially if you solo him with a necromancer.
 
everything boss in that motherfucking colliseum in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

a gamer's nightmare considering the limited controls of the PSP
 
Definitely Blade Wolf. Basically said 'This is how you parry and if you don't understand or can't deal with the camera control then you're not continuing.'

A friend of mine gave up there, because he just couldn't handle it.
 
Javier Jaguar in the original PS3/Vita/PC Guacamelee... not the nerfed version in the 2014 re-release.

Totally this. But man is it satisfying when you finally beat him !

Also, Blade Wolf in Rising was hard but in
Sam's DLC
he was totally a pain. I tried so many times and just rage-quitted
and never played that DLC again
.
 
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.

I have to agree on both accounts(haven't played Shin Megami Tensei:Nocturne), DS crushed me till i initiated the "git gud" protocol.

As for metal gear rising I didn't know why I couldn't defeat the robot. I got so annoyed and pissed for such an increase in difficulty. Then I discovered the parry mechanic and the whole game became
↑ + □
and everything was better in the universe again.
 
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