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From the cinematic clash with Venom in Spider-Man 2 to the emergent chaos of fighting a Griffin in Dragon's Dogma 2, we're breaking down the 20 best boss battles that recent video games have to offer. See which epic encounters made our list!
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00:00Bad boss fights can easily ruin a game, while great bosses can be the glorious cherry on top
00:05of a title that's already so, so good. And of the last year or two, these following 20 boss
00:12fights are the ones that dazzled players the most with their ingenuity, their visual grandeur,
00:17and their sheer fun factor. I'm Josh from WhatCultureGaming and these are the 20 best
00:22boss battles from recent video games. First up, Venom Spider-Man 2. We'll start with the oldest
00:28game on this list. While there was a lot of disappointment surrounding the Venom storyline
00:33in Spider-Man 2, the climactic fight with the big bad was not one of them. Though mechanically quite
00:39simple, this was a cinematic spectacle through and through, as Peter Parker took the symbiote on with
00:45his new anti-Venom suit in the first stage of the bout. Not one to be upstaged, Venom himself had
00:52a
00:52few tricks up his sleeve, sprouting demonic wings when he realizes Peter is just distracting him
00:57so that Miles and MJ can foil the villain's larger plan. The second stage then has you take on the
01:03winged beast as Miles, before the two Spider-Men team up to take the alien down for good.
01:09It's a demanding fight, but one full of surprises, with each twist not only upping the visual spectacle,
01:15but adding new challenges to the fight itself. It's a shame Venom didn't get more moments like
01:20this in the game, but at least he was used well when he did get a chance to shine.
01:25Tiger Sejima, Like a Dragon, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. The Like a Dragon franchise sure as hell knows how to
01:33deliver a memorable boss fight, and though the recent Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii wasn't among the
01:39series' stronger entries, it still served up its share of banger bosses. And chief among them was the
01:45mid-game clash with one of the series' all-time fan-favorite characters, the supremely badass
01:51Tiger Sejima. The terrific WWE-style pre-fight trash-talking between Majima and Sejima gets
01:58things off to a great start, and while the fight doesn't last long, duking it out with one of the
02:03strongest pound-for-pound combatants in the entire Like a Dragon franchise is always going to be a hoot.
02:09In the later phases, the boss will deal some insane damage to unprepared players, ensuring that
02:15even in defeat he comes off looking pretty damn strong. But because losing apparently isn't enough,
02:21the boss also has to suffer the indignity of baby Tiger Goro pissing on his shoes just a few moments
02:28later. While it is a shame that he wasn't featured more prominently in the game, this boss fight was
02:33nevertheless one of the game's easy high points, the Griffin Dragon's Dogma 2. Though not the most unique
02:41or most difficult boss in Dragon's Dogma 2, the Griffin, a recurring boss present in the fantasy
02:47game's open world, works to introduce players to the many surprises that this sequel has to offer.
02:53Scattered through the open world, players are able to run away from the enemy at early levels,
02:58but once they feel confident enough to take one of them on, it's up to them to figure out the
03:03best way
03:03to bring this massive creature to your sword. Finding a nearby ballista to shoot the thing out
03:09of the sky might be your tactic of choice, or you might risk climbing on the thing itself and let
03:15it
03:15take you for a ride, risking falling to your death. The latter is always a spectacle as you hammer into
03:21the beast clinging on for dear life, hoping to send it hurtling to the ground so you can then do
03:26some
03:26serious damage. This seamless mix of grounded combat and aerial combat combined with the thrill
03:33of improvising your way through the fight with whatever you have at your disposal makes felling
03:38your first Griffin feel like you've just pulled off something impossible. The fact that you can end up
03:44trapped on the Griffin itself and transported across the entire map, potentially even to its nest as
03:49well, only adds to the unpredictability of the fight and makes it feel like much more than a simple
03:55boss battle. Next up, King K. Rool, Donkey Kong Bonanza. Donkey Kong Bonanza is a brilliant game,
04:02but a relatively chill time for the most part. That is, until Nintendo decides to hurl everything at you
04:08for an incredible, challenging, four-phase final boss battle against King K. Rool. The first phase largely
04:15consists of avoiding his attacks while hurling his own projectiles back at him, after which a credit
04:21screen fakeout, classic, reveals that the fight is very, very far from over. Phase 2 is a riotous high
04:28wire affair where you need to throw more projectiles at him while he flies all around you, before the
04:34action spills out into New Donk City for a platforming heavy third phase, and then finally a classic
04:40styled cage match. Now, nobody is going to come away from Bonanza feeling like the final boss gave them the
04:46short shrift. This is one hell of a fun and dynamic fight that offers up some of the grandest spectacle
04:52seen in any recent Nintendo game. Next up, a classic, The End, Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater. Even with
05:00the asterisk that Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater is a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, its shiny new
05:06rendition of debatably the series' single most iconic boss fight just had to make this list. Though you can still
05:13cheese the aged sniper The End by shooting him during an early cutscene or winding your console's
05:20clock forward to make him die of old age, you'd be depriving yourself of one of the most intense and
05:25brilliantly creative boss fights ever made. The End is an expert marksman and tracker who will easily
05:32capture players who don't engage him stealthily, in turn forcing the fight to drag on for one hell of
05:38a long time. This fight then is basically a puzzle in and of itself, with players having multiple
05:43options for taking the end down, though thermal goggles are an easy way to keep track of his
05:48movements. While there was understandable worry that Konami's sans Hideo Kojima remake would result in
05:54some seriously compromised reworkings of the game's beloved boss encounters, that thankfully wasn't the
06:01case at all. Next up, Bale of the Dread, Elden Ring, Shadow of the Earth Tree. Choosing just one boss
06:07from
06:08Shadow of the Earth Tree is a thankless task, and realistically, any one of the newer, brilliantly
06:14designed bosses from Elden Ring's expansion could have gotten themselves a place on this list. But
06:19choose we must, and I'm going to go with Bale the Dread. Let's start with the build up to the
06:25boss.
06:25You've undoubtedly already seen Bale's resting place long before you get there, with the jagged peaks
06:31and harsh mountainous terrain being visible from numerous points around the map. Then comes time to
06:37scale the thing itself, with lesser dragons littering the caverns as you make your way up to the boss
06:43arena. Once you're finally there, you're faced with Bale's might, but before you can even begin,
06:48you'll notice the grandiosity of the setting, and the red lightning around the arena, and the gigantic
06:54Bale being able to take to the skies for some breathtaking range combat being incredible. The music as well
07:01is as dramatic as it gets, evoking a classic monster movie in terms of its gothic grandiosity. The fight
07:08takes on an even larger cinematic slant if you summon in Aegon, whose shouts and personal vendetta
07:14raises the intensity to almost melodramatic levels. Elden Ring has no shortage of incredible dragonfights,
07:22and the fact that it was able to one-up itself in the DLC is nothing short of jaw-dropping.
07:28Next up, Lady Venomara Astrobot. Last year's consensus game of the year winner Astrobot is an
07:35endlessly creative platformer which also serves up a bevy of fun and inventive boss fights.
07:41Enough so that it isn't really easy to pick just one. But we just have to go with Lady Venomara,
07:47the boss of the game's third world, Serpent Starway. This is a classic case of a boss that just
07:53throws a whole lot of everything at you. Minion-filled eggs, devastating tail swipes,
07:59laser breath, and even a drill attachment to its tail. Even when it seems like the fight is over,
08:05it continues for a frantic ride through a jungle where you need to travel along Venomara's body,
08:10avoiding myriad obstacles, before giving her one final clip on the chin.
08:15None of Astrobot's boss fights are massively challenging, but this boss can absolutely get
08:20one over on inattentive plays, given the sheer force of her attacks, how scarcely her tail swap
08:27is telegraphed, and how little room we're given to maneuver. Next up, Bow Sorcerer,
08:32Wuchang Fallen Feathers. Wuchang Fallen Feathers is one of the year's best Souls-likes, and what would
08:38any Souls-like be without a couple of banger boss fights? Wuchang certainly delivered in this regard,
08:44with the game's arguable highlight being the encounter with Bow Sorcerer, the feathered woman
08:50who moves around at great speed and can deal huge damage with her sword attacks and water-based spells.
08:56She's also kind of a damned tank, capable of taking a shedload of damage before finally going down,
09:03ensuring few are going to rip through her quickly. But like most bosses in the game, she also has visual
09:09and audio tells which make it easier to deduce her incoming attacks, even if it takes a fair
09:15amount of practice to get them all nailed down. And while you can summon the white-robed elder to
09:20help you take her out should you wish for that character's storyline, the real thrill lies in
09:26taking it down unassisted. It's a tough fight for sure, but it also strikes the game's best balance of
09:32fun aesthetic majesty and pure challenge. Next up, Don Teresi Mafia The Old Country.
09:38Mafia The Old Country's final battle with Don Teresi is proof perfect that a boss fight doesn't need
09:44to be a mechanical marvel to be hugely entertaining. If the story and setting arise, then it can still be
09:51a total banger. The final fight is just another knife fight with the Don set against the backdrop of an
09:57erupting Mount Etna, making this one of the most epically staged boss fights in recent times,
10:03especially for a grounded game like Mafia. Sheward Teresi actually doesn't put up that much of a fight
10:09because he telegraphs his attacks so aggressively, but it's still tremendously satisfying to stab him
10:14up while talking trash before finally putting him down, all the while staring slack-jawed at the gorgeous
10:20natural location. The Mafia franchise quite rightly isn't well known for its boss fights,
10:26but in its most recent entry it delivered one hell of a cinematic climax regardless. Like the rest of
10:32the game, it didn't reinvent the wheel, but it delivered the goods when it mattered most.
10:37Next up, Marchiona Puppeteer of Death Lies of P Overture The sheer highlight of Lies of P's
10:44Overture expansion is Marchiona Puppeteer of Death, a hellacious boss who more than lives up to the sheer
10:51theatricality of her name. The best boss in Overture and one of the mightiest in Lies of P as a
10:57whole,
10:57she is basically a quintessential Souls-like duo fight which requires the player to focus their
11:03attention on Marchiona and her puppets simultaneously. And it is quite the juggling act, ensuring that this
11:10battle serves as quite the sturdy brick wall for many players, even veterans. You'll need to attack and
11:16defend against both enemies at once and be wary of how their attacks are changed up in the fight's
11:21second phase because of course there's a second phase. Despite being only the second boss in the
11:27Overture DLC, she's one of the very toughest that you'll face, yet ultimately also one of the most
11:33fun to topple considering the freewheeling invention on display throughout the battle. It's a fight which
11:39encourages experimentation as you try again and again until you finally figure out how to answer each of
11:46her attacks, ever the sign of a brilliantly designed boss battle. Next up, The Giant, Indiana Jones and
11:53the Great Circle. Props to developer machine games for unexpectedly shoving a Resident Evil-esque stalker
11:59boss into the middle of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. In the Geezer section of the game, Indy will
12:06eventually face off against a blindfolded giant who will pursue you solely by sound. You need to keep quiet
12:14when moving around then, which is easier said than done given the near total darkness that you're forced
12:19to navigate in, making it easy to step on say, a pile of noisy coins. Success lies in illuminating the
12:27room so you can fully track the giant all while repeatedly attacking him and evading his grasp until
12:32he finally goes down for the count. Much as the combat is probably the single most divisive element of
12:38the Great Circle. This boss fights emphasis on creepy atmospherics makes it stand out among the rest.
12:44Indiana Jones always tap danced on the fringes of horror throughout its history so to see such a full
12:51throated return to that tone was hugely entertaining. Next up, Enhanced Azrak, Doom the Dark Ages.
12:58Though it isn't the last time you face Azrak in Doom the Dark Ages, the fight against his enhanced form
13:04is absolutely incredible, albeit one that doesn't suffer weak players lightly. This epic, long as balls
13:12three phase fight will test the full extent of your dodging and parrying abilities, without which you're
13:17liable to get the floor mopped with you. In the battle's second phase, Azrak sprouts his wings,
13:23this is becoming a theme in this list isn't it, to dart around the arena at great speed while continuing
13:29his
13:29attack salvo. And in phase 3, a thoroughly pissed off Azrak's attacks will grow more frantic, throwing
13:36pretty much everything out of hell's kitchen sink right at you. You'll need pin sharp reaction times
13:42to get through this in one piece, and in addition to each phase being trickier than the one before,
13:48there are no mid-fight checkpoints to speak of, meaning you have to start the whole 15 minute boss
13:54fight again should you perish. Still, the combination of neat setting, fun combat, and satisfying payoffs
14:01makes this the most badass fight in the game. Next up, Destroyer Charadrius, Metaphor Re-Fantasio.
14:08Metaphor Re-Fantasio's final boss is Destroyer Charadrius, the ultimate form of antagonist Louis,
14:14who players end up fighting numerous times by the end of the game. This is somehow even tougher than the
14:20prior fights though, but it's also an absolute blast. Charadrius is level 82 and has no weaknesses,
14:27and even once you've hacked away his three masks, you'll still need to deal with the grotesque face
14:33underneath. Many have admittedly complained that Studio Zero overregged the pudding a little bit with
14:39this boss, that it simply goes on for far too long and the sheer number of attacks that they can
14:44dole out
14:45in a row is just unfair. And it's tough to argue with in a way, but yet the sheer epic
14:51staging of
14:52the fight and the overwhelming satisfaction that comes with finally defeating him basically makes
14:58it all worth it. Nobody could blame you for dropping the difficulty to get through on this one, but it's
15:03a suitably fierce stamina draining battle on which to wrap up the whole journey. Next up,
15:09Iltaga Senua's Saga Hellblade 2. Senua's Saga Hellblade 2 is one of gaming's best showcases yet
15:16for Unreal Engine 5, and no sequence in the game proves more dazzling than the confrontation with
15:22the giant Iltaga. But this is far from a typical boss fight where you need to chip the giantess's health
15:29bar away. Rather, you need to traverse myriad environmental obstacles in order to actually set
15:35her free. Rhythmic, pulsing molten lava can kill you at a moment's notice, requiring you to time
15:42your movements between protective pillars carefully, all the while systematically breaking the various
15:47chains holding the giant prisoner. And this is beautifully symbolic of course, as you're actually
15:54freeing Iltaga, whose real name is Ingun, from the grief of her baby's death. Once the chains are all cut,
16:01Senua heads over to the remains of Ingun's late child, and she's finally
16:05able to rest, turning to stone. Boss battles that aren't combat-centric are always a little
16:10bit of a gamble, but in this instance, it most certainly enhanced the emotion of the sequence.
16:15And again, those cutting-edge visuals are just downright insane. Next up, Lord Saito,
16:20Ghost of Yotei. Before we start though, this is the most recent entry on this list, so he used a
16:25huge
16:25spoiler warning for the end of this game. Though Ghost of Yotei allows you to take down most of the
16:30Yotei 6 in any order that you please, the overarching antagonist Lord Saito is always
16:36left for last, and that makes sense considering he's far and away the most entertaining boss in the
16:42game. Everything about this fight feels like it was ripped from a classic samurai movie. The emotional
16:47build-up, the cinematic staging, and the fact that it's two masters of their craft duking it out for
16:53all the marbles. What more could you possibly want? It goes without saying, of course, that Saito will
16:59kick your ass if you let him, so you'll need to deploy a variety of tricks and attacks to get
17:04through it in one piece. Throw in the added drama of Jubay's demise and the fight's cinematically
17:10fiery crescendo, and this is far and away the most thrilling boss fight from arguably either of the
17:16two Ghost games to date. Next up, Arkfeld, Monster Hunter Wilds. Monster Hunter Wilds is of course entirely
17:22concerned with felling awesome monsters, and it surely saves the best for the very end when you
17:28take on the game's cover monster, Arkfeld, one last time. Much of the key to this fight lies in
17:35attacking the monster's wings and the chain blades to prevent it from absorbing energy and dealing
17:40incredibly damaging attacks. To call this fight a lot is quite the understatement, but between the epic
17:47elemental visuals and the incredible musical score, it's tough to not be thrilled even when struggling
17:52to make it all the way to the end. Yet there's also a deeply tragic undercurrent to Arkfeld's story,
17:58given that it isn't really in control of the rampage that he embarks upon, even if it absolutely has to
18:04be put down for the greater good. This is a boss fight that has it all then, epic staging, fun
18:11combat,
18:11and even a sneaky emotional kick to boot. Next up, Scarlet Stellarblade. The best boss fight in the
18:18terrific Stellarblade actually arrived as DLC more than a year after the main game was released.
18:23The DLC crossover with Goddess of Victory released this past summer and allowed players to do battle
18:29with the series' swordswoman Scarlet after beating the DLC's quests. For one, the fight takes place in a
18:35gorgeously secluded forest area and Scarlet packs one hell of a punch, her frantic battery of attacks
18:42requiring players to constantly dodge and parry. The second phase ramps up considerably as well,
18:48with Scarlet attacking with shadows of herself, and if you can't quickly figure out the offensive
18:53patterns here, you will not last long. Phase three then gets even more dangerous as Scarlet is able
18:59to deliver a one shot kill if you don't quickly break her shield. Like I keep saying, this is another
19:05one that kind of has everything. The gorgeously cinematic setting, incredibly intense pulse pumping action,
19:11and even the well earned reward of unlocking Scarlet's outfit once you beat her.
19:15Next up, the Cogwork Dancers Hollow Knight Silksong. Hollow Knight Silksong managed to deliver above and
19:21beyond unimaginable expectations, and though there's no real consensus on the game's best boss yet,
19:28let's make a case for the Cogwork Dancers. For starters, together they're one of the most unique and
19:33challenging bosses in the entire game, because they're not necessarily actively trying to hurt you.
19:39They're just doing their perfectly choreographed dance, which you happen to get in the whale.
19:45And so it falls to the player to dodge clear of their dance moves while landing attacks during brief
19:50windows of opportunity. The strangely hypnotic allure of the dance combined with the lovely music
19:56makes it a tough fight to forget, and it even becomes melancholic once one of the robotic bugs is
20:01defeated, leaving its sluggish partner behind to fend for itself. This is a boss fight that manages to be
20:08mechanically clever, deeply difficult, and even unexpectedly affecting all at once. Who'da thunk it?
20:15Next up, Higgs, Death Stranding 2 on the beach. Nobody does a final boss fight like Hideo Kojima,
20:22and it's fair to say that Death Stranding 2's closing clash with Higgs was, in a word,
20:28peak Kojima. This almost impossibly epic multi-phase boss fight sees you and Higgs attacking one another
20:35with your own battle guitars. After a phase where you need to continually chase and pressure an ever
20:41teleporting Higgs, it morphs into a melee battle as you and Higgs beat seven shades of snot out of one
20:48another with your guitars. Mechanically speaking, it's incredibly simple and maybe lacks some of the
20:53genius of Kojima's more iconic boss fights, but it's undeniably visually stunning and surely features
21:00more guitar solos than just about any boss encounter in video game history outside of Guitar Hero 3.
21:08And if that's somehow not enough, once you've put Higgs down, you'll get to watch him be eaten
21:12by a Kaiju-sized spirit form of Baby Lou, because why the hell not? In the event that Higgs somehow
21:20returns for a potential Death Stranding 3, Kojima will need to do a lot to top this fight.
21:27And finally, The Paintress Claire Obscure Expedition 33. Pretty much this entire list could contain
21:33boss fights from the incredible Claire Obscure Expedition 33, but the best of the lot must surely
21:39be the climactic battle against The Paintress. Though she isn't the final boss in the game by any means,
21:45she's by far the most anticipated enemy considering how thoroughly she's been hyped up as the big bad
21:51since the start, even if things are ultimately a lot more complicated than that. Still, this is a
21:58devilishly tricky fight that'll test the full extent of your offensive and defensive skills learned up to
22:04this point. You'll need attack-sharp reflexes to dodge and parry her relentless attacks while dealing
22:10enough damage to eventually end her. Each of the three phases feels distinctly different,
22:15they're all visually stunning in their own way, and the music, unsurprisingly, threw out absolutely
22:21rocks. Defeating The Paintress also unlocks the Painted Power Pictos, finally allowing players to deal
22:27more than 9999 damage as is vital for surviving the tricky battles ahead. So that's our list, let me know
22:36in the comments whether there are any boss fights here that I missed that you think deserve a shoutout,
22:40and if you want more content like this, click one of the videos on screen right now for more good
22:46stuff.
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