Most games are not perfect and that may be because of a character or an enemy. Here are 10 mediocre bosses in great games. The list isn’t ranked in any order and there aren’t spoilers for the games listed here except for the bosses themselves.
Demon of Hatred – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Demon of Hatred was a great boss, story-wise. But gameplay-wise, it sucked. He seemed like a Dark Souls boss put in Sekiro; he was ridiculously difficult to beat, and it’s frustrating. Because of his size, it was very difficult to dodge attacks and many attacks could not be parried. You needed to perform more than you usually would against him and it felt ridiculous.
Bed of Chaos – Dark Souls
Bed of Chaos is such a bad boss and it’s probably the worst boss in Dark Souls. It was absurdly unfair and you mainly had to run around without falling to your death rather than fighting it. It felt like a puzzle and was frustrating to beat. You need to attack certain areas of the boss and because the ground opens up to swallow you, it’s rather difficult.
Alduin – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Alduin is the final boss of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and he’s said to be a mighty dragon that’s immensely powerful. But in the end, he felt like just another dragon and it was very disappointing. There really isn’t much to say about Alduin, except he’s great story-wise but gameplay-wise, he’s not a good boss at all.
Godskin Duo – Elden Ring
Many players consider Godskin Duo to be one of the most frustrating fights in Elden Ring. As the name implies, this is a duo boss and the issue is the arena isn’t as nearly big as it should be. It’s a cramped place where these two try to kill you, and the fight is kind of “inaccessible” in some ways if that makes sense… It’s certainly not an enjoyable fight. You just want to be done with it as soon as you can.
The Pursuer – Dark Souls II
The Pursuer is the definition of a badly designed boss. The hitboxes are completely off and he can kill you by damaging you with hits that won’t actually land on you. It’s not a very difficult battle in any way but it sure is frustrating. There are methods to cheese this boss and win easily and to be honest, that’s a better way to get through him rather than suffer through this painful fight.
Kyohei Jingu – Yakuza Kiwami
Kyohei Jingu is one of the main antagonists of Yakuza Kiwami and boy is this fight a pain! There are three of them against one of you: Jingu plus two lieutenants. All of them wield guns and knives and Jingu even throws grenades. Sure, you’re the Dragon of Dojima and canonically he would’ve crushed all three of them in a split second. But gameplay-wise, you’ll just end up wasting your resources and the brilliant final boss will then be a pain to go through.
The Black Hand of Sauron – Shadow of Mordor
The Black Hand of Sauron in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is one of the most disappointing boss battles ever. In fact, I kind of doubt that you can even classify it as a boss fight. It’s basically only a quick-time event and this could’ve been such a great showdown. The game itself was very good but this fight was such a letdown.
The Excavator – Batman Arkham Knight
This boss fight almost made me delete the game. Seriously, an excavator? The Batman Arkham games are famous for their great showdowns with iconic enemies of the DC comics but this was seriously a letdown. To be fair, many fights of Arkham Knight were not nearly as good as the fights in the previous games but with this abominable fight, it was certain that Arkham Knight had the worst boss fights in the franchise.
Rodrigo Borgia – Assassin’s Creed II
Rodrigo Borgia felt like just another fight and it had no memorable moments whatsoever. Assassin’s Creed II was such a masterpiece and they could’ve made the final boss better. The conclusion to the fight is also very dissatisfying: Ezio spares Borgia and he becomes even more powerful in the sequel.
This game has one of the best openings in games, so the final boss contrasts sharply with that. It was a poor conclusion to a great game. The ending itself is very good though, and the final boss is the bad apple.
The Destroyer – Borderlands
The Destroyer is another final boss that was seriously disappointing. The huge and grotesque creature takes so long to kill and by the time the fight finally finishes, you’ll be bored out of your mind. You have to target its weak points and it’s not even difficult. It’s simply time-consuming and made for a ridiculous boss battle.
