20 Best Boss Battles From Recent Video Games

Bad boss fights can easily ruin a game, while great bosses can conversely be the glorious cherry on top of a title that's already so, so good.

After all, among us doesn't love an epic, cinematic, exciting, original, unexpected, even hilarious boss fight that takes us to places we never could've expected?

And of the last year-or-so, these 20 boss fights are the ones that dazzled players the most, with their ingenuity, their visual grandeur, and their sheer fun factor.

While many boss fights can end up feeling awkwardly out of place compared to the rest of the game, these boss encounters all felt like a perfect encapsulation of everything the game got right elsewhere.

From mesmerising multi-phase clashes to classic rematches with legendary villains, and perhaps the most mind-bogglingly brilliant use of guitars in any game this side of Guitar Hero, these games absolutely knocked these stunning boss fights right out of the park.

While bosses can so often end up feeling like perfunctory obligations in many games, every so often developers strike gold with one you won't forget for a long, long time...

Split Fiction is a freakin' thrill-ride from start to finish, though developer Hazelight impressively managed to save the best for last with its climactic fight with the game's overarching villain, Rader.

Rader, in his godlike form, puts players - both of them - through one hell of a 20-minute endurance trial, throwing innumerable obstacles their way and straight-up using his omnipotence to manipulate the world to his advantage.

It'd be easy for such a fight to seem overwhelmingly cheap, but it's so carefully curated and balanced by Hazelight, and so overflowing with clever ideas and exciting imagery, that this is never the case.

As a shared experience that requires both players to be at their level-best while running a seemingly unrelenting gauntlet, this feels the epitome of everything director Josef Fares has delivered up to this point in his esteemed career.

With this battle so thoroughly messing with the player's perception via an ever-shifting split screen, it's one of the most technically impressive feats of any game released this generation so far.

And frankly, it's tough to imagine how Hazelight can possibly top this for their next game - but here's hoping.