15 Most Influential Video Game Boss Battles Of All Time
5. Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII
What It Did First: Creating a real emotional, relatable connection to a final boss.
You can definitely point to older Final Fantasy titles as depicting incredibly-realised characters (FF VI's Kefka stands out as a highlight, for one), but there was something about Final Fantasy VII taking Square's exemplary world-building and making it 3D, that heightened those base qualities to another level entirely.
As such, scenes like the burning of Nibelheim, understanding Sephiroth's anger at his own creation and seeing it all be shown in his (admittedly simplistic) animations was revolutionary.
We actually cared on multiple levels about challenging his reign of terror and eventual world-ending plans, alongside having an in-world connection through Cloud/Zack that paid off whenever the two would meet.