Support NeoGAF

[ProgenitorCastle]

Hey GAF, as I was playing more Bloodstained Ritual of the Night (up to the what feels impossible to beat final boss), a thought came to me...does GAF prefer beating enemies/bosses with HP bars or without them? For me, it honestly depends on the game. Some games, it feels thrilling to beat the enemies/bosses without HP bars, but other games, I'd rather them have the HP bars. What about you, GAF? Do you prefer beating enemies/bosses with HP bars or without them?

 

[Gamernyc78]

Love me some hp bars fucking hate a fight in which I don't know if I'm close to beating it. Worse is when it has several phases and no hp bar

 

[Chromium.Wings]

I think it very much depends on the style of game. For games like the modern From Software titles or other modern RPGs, health bars on bosses are very valuable statistics to have during the battle as it gives you information that at times can be absolutely necessary to win the fight. However for games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, no health bars on bosses is a great way to toy with the player's mind. Sure there are health numbers that you can figure out (such as what speedrunners do - find the bare minimum necessary to beat a boss, or completely optimize the intended challenge out of the boss), but not being able to see them for more casual players allows the fights to become more of a mental puzzle of "how do I beat this guy without losing every resource I have?"

There's no one-size-fits-all solution to health bars on bosses. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.

 

[Phase]

I love a health bar, but without one there is more suspense.

 

[Mistershine.]

Not necessarily heath bars but at least damage numbers so I know if I'm doing decent damage or if my attacks are just bouncing off.

 

[magnumpy]

visible damage is good. after 10 minutes of fighting that should be obvious

 

[Kupfer]

If it's a bulletsponge -> healthbar
If there's visual and reasonable damage, I'm fine without one.

 

[kraspkibble]

i love health bars.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

If they are going to pull BS like having parts of the fight where the boss takes no damage, but it doesn't tell you in any way (visually or otherwise), definitely want health bars. Otherwise i don't really care either way.

I do find it funny how many bosses take a specific amount of hits (say 4), but still have a health bar. What's even the point lol. Platformers do this a lot.

 

[mitch1971]

Recently warframe added health bars to their bosses. So much better than without.

 

[Gargus]

Methodical games like souls yes I do. Faster paced action games I'm fine without them.

I do like the disguised health bar where you can see how far along a fight you are by the look of what you're fighting. Like when a boss's physically damaged or his actions or sounds cute you in to how far in the fight you are. Those are cool when done right.

 

[Codes 208]

Depends. I want dark souls with health bars. But monster hunter world does an amazing job with phsical signs/behaviors of the monster’s health.

 

[GHG]

Health bar. Always.

I need to know how much damage (if any) my attacks are doing and how far through the fight I am.

 

[Elektro Demon]

Health bars ftw.
I like to know how much damage I'm doing with each weapon. It's useful also in a hard fight where you have limited health recovery items, so when an enemy has health bars, you can organize the use of your items.

 

[Phase]

visible damage is good. after 10 minutes of fighting that should be obvious

I agree, if the fight is long a health bar should be there.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

With health bars. Hate the damage number garbage though and I always turn that shit off.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

I like health bars and numbers. But I hate it when they make everything a literal bullet sponge.

 

[Graciaus]

I prefer the hp bar with the option to turn it off. I play differently if I know something is no where close to dying or not.

 

[Closer]

I'm a Monster Hunter player and I prefer everything taking the Monster Hunter approach: no HP bars, but visual and behavior cues.

 

[GymWolf]

monster hunter is the only one where i prefer no health bar.

 

[brap]

multiple health bars tyvm

 

[junguler]

health bars are cool, but i prefer the old way of the boss changing color and going more orange/red with every hit you land on him, her, it.

 

[Yumi]

My Favorite is when you can tell they are close to death without an HP bar. I honestly think its something action games could improve upon. For example, Sif from Dark Souls begins to limp at low HP. Granted theres an HP bar, Id argue you woukdnt need one ts still a great simple indicator that hes near death. Ideally having a physical indicator and a moveset that changes accordingly would be great in my opinion.

For less graphically intense games you can do blinking sprites, or maybe just a line of dialouge to indicate its the final phase.

 

[Thing on a Spring]

Gotta have a health bar. So many times, in souls games in particular, I've been given the motivation to have one more crack at it after seeing how close I got the last time. Health bars, yo.

 

[TacosNSalsa]

I'm happy to see some MHW in here . Other than that game , yes I much prefer a health bar or I at least like to know how much health an enemy has even though it's not displayed . Knowing a monster has let's say 10,000 health and you go in doing 200 per heavy hit you know your in for a long haul

 

[The Alien]

Depends.

If it's a boss where I have to directly com at it, gimme a health bar.

If it's a boss where I have to manipulate something 2 or 3 times to kill them, no need for a health bar.

 

[johntown]

I prefer health bars or at least some indicator that I am at least doing damage.

 

[Sejan]

Some reasonable indication that I’m making progress is all that I need. The form it takes is largely irrelevant to me. Some games do well with life bars and other do well with visual cues. The worst thing is when they don’t give any indication.

 

[V4skunk]

health bars are cool, but i prefer the old way of the boss changing color and going more orange/red with every hit you land on him, her, it.

You should try Monster Hunter! Visible damage and behaviour changes instead of hp bars.

 

[Northeastmonk]

Bloodstained has those glasses that display total HP and it counts down to 0. I only used them on the vanilla optional hard boss. In terms of Castlevania, it doesn’t matter to me.

Gauge Glasses | Bloodstained Ritual of The Night Wiki

Gauge Glasses is an accessory in Bloodstained: Ritual of The Night. Gauge Glasses location, defense values and properties for this RoTN armor.

bloodstainedritualofthenight.wiki.fextralife.com

I like health bars. I like to know what type of maneuvering and planning I need to do. Do I spend my full HP item now or wait to see if there’s a second phase. I do like no health bars in games like Resident Evil because it feels like a game of life and death. You are surviving something you wouldn’t normally encounter. It adds to the realism.

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

It's all about feedback and communication with the player: there has to be something letting the player know how they are performing and that should not be the results screen.

It can be implemented in many ways like some have said above:

1. Different flashing colours for bosses (white when being damaged, red when near death). It's certainly a good way of keeping the player's eyes on the boss instead of keeping watch over the boss and a health bar, though it tends to clash with more realistic artstyles.

2. Damage numbers and health bars are useful when it's not feasible (financially or technically) to display actual damage or even particular status effects.

Eg. Imagine musou trying to convey to the player which enemies are actually cut, bleeding, bruised etc.

3. Having the enemy's appearance display that you've done damage like in Monster Hunter. This works because MH enemies are almost all large enough to visibly display the results of your efforts.

It's also part of their design where you're expected to get familiar with each monster. Not having a super granular damage system like typical RPGs also means that the player can more easily internalise how many hits they need instead of eyeing pixels and numbers.

4. It doesn't have to be limited to just visuals. Having good sound effects and dynamic music (mainly for bosses and their phases) will help tell the player that things have changed.

Some games might even have a sidekick to literally tell you the enemy's status, like MHW's Handler in the early stages.

5. Also like mentioned above, sometimes the health bar/s is useful for conveying a different message. Multiple health bars makes you think "this isn't even his final form". Final boss of MGR has a bar that reads 200% instead of 100%; you're meant to think shit has gotten real.

In short, it's a case by case basis and when implemented thoughtfully can enhance (or sometimes purposely, temporarily hurt) the player's experience.

 

[Bakkus]

Visual cues indicating how much damage you've taken is the best one.

 

[OutrageousFacts]

In most games an hp bar is necessary, because opponents just keep doing the same routine until it's over. It's bettee to know how far in the fightt you are.

In the rare occasions where enemies actually react realistically (headshot = dead, receiving hits slows him/her down, shot in the foot = can't run anymore, etc), an hp bar isn't necessary.

I'd love to have more of the latter.