20 Best Boss Battles From Recent Video Games

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is one of gaming's best showcases yet for Unreal Engine 5, and no sequence in the game proves more dazzling than the confrontation with the giant Illtauga.

But this is far from a typical boss fight where you need to chip the giantess' health bar away - rather, you actually need to traverse myriad environmental obstacles in order to set her free.

Rhythmic, pulsing molten lava can kill you at a moment's notice, requiring you to time your movements between protective pillars carefully, all while systematically breaking the various chains holding Illtauga prisoner.

This is beautifully symbolic, of course, as you're actually freeing Illtauga - whose real name is Ingunn - from the grief of her baby's death. 

Once the chains are all cut, Senua hands over the remains of Ingunn's late child, and she's finally able to rest, turning to stone.

Boss battles that aren't combat-centric are always a bit of a gamble, but in this instance it most certainly enhanced the emotion of the sequence. And again, those cutting-edge visuals are just insane.