8 MORE Video Game Bosses That Take Absolutely AGES To Beat

Settle in for a marathon boss battle.

final fantasy absolute virtue
Square Enix

It's fair to say a decent video game boss battle can make or break a title.

Whether it's taking on towering titans or figuring out a particularly pesky puzzle-based boss, these encounters often come to reflect the most daring, exhilarating and challenging aspects of their respective titles.

However, there's always been a fine line for video games to walk when it comes to player enjoyment vs actually delivering a foe that is worthy of such renown as to be labelled a "boss".

If the formula is skewed even slightly, you can end up with enemies that barely feel like a challenge, possess a litany of cheap and frustrating moves, or in this case, simply take far, FAR too long to defeat.

If you want that adrenaline rush of downing a tough boss, you best be prepared to get up early and get in a queue designed by MC Escher for how long it's going to take to scratch that itch.

8. Shao Khan - Mortal Kombat 9

final fantasy absolute virtue
NetherRealm

You might look at this entry and feel your eyebrow-raising to almost critical quizzical levels, but let me explain, for while the very bloody battles presented in Mortal Kombat are bound by time limits (unless these are switched off) that's not to say all of these encounters are going to be quick one and done affairs.

Take for example the almighty clash with Shao Kahn when the player pulverizes their way up the pugilism pantheon in Mortal Kombat 9, as this is a battle that will at once be over before you know it in most cases but will also paradoxically take you hours to emerge victorious.

This is because Shao Kahn is a cheating !*$%, who spams his heaviest hitting moves over and over without little warning or windup to these attacks. Therefore you're left in a situation where you need to actively UNLEARN all of the combos that got you to this point and instead rely on uppercut spams and corner placements to bait his AI into an endless cycle.

So, you've got a boss that will kill you in moments and hours of unlearning to do. Sounds like hell.

Contributor
Contributor

Jules Gill hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.