What Makes A Good Colossal Boss?

Colossal bosses are instant centerpieces for any game, but their very presence can wreak havoc on a game’s camera, mechanics, movement, and animation systems. Let’s talk about how to design a giant boss fight, work around some of the issues, and make a truly epic encounter.

Featuring:
Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Streets of Rage 4
The Legend of Korra
Final Fantasy XV
Asura’s Wrath
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy XIV
Shin Megami Tensei V
CrossCode
Bowser’s Fury
Ikaruga
Solar Ash
Metal Gear Rising
Shadow of the Colossus

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[furavyoff]

Fighting as giant Bowser while flipping the DS on its side in Bowser's inside story has always be one of my absolute favorite boss fights ! It's must have years and years since I last played it, but everytime I think about it I have a residual feeling of how fun I found it

[matrix]

Metal Gear Rising is a great example of a game that simply refuses to compromise its amazing mechanics, no matter how big the bosses are. For its colossal bosses, something still has to be compromised though, so Platinum chose to compromise realism, which unironically makes the boss fights even more over the top and amazing. You better believe we're parrying this giant robot the size of Rhode Island!

[angelo]

Omega Flowey is certainly creative, letting all that space where the fights usually happens free to the player and the enemy, an amazing fight

[primary_magic]

Ultrakills 'corpse of king minos' boss is pretty amazing, it's seeing him looming in the distance in each stage leading up to the boss battle which makes it so cool.

[gamignman]

Personally I think another important part of a giant boss is the arena size. One of my least favorite boss fights was the giant robot from mgs5, partially because of one shots but mostly because of how much space there was to actually fight him. Most of the fight consisted of me running away to get more ammo (another issue with the fight).The reason giant bosses are so threatening is their presence, but if the area is also colossal they have much less of a presence. Fighting a somewhat large boss in a small room is a lot more intense than just upscaling everything dramatically.

[-elthiccy-]

I always though that Calamity Ganon was super boring, especially compared to the other bosses. I hope there’s a better final boss for BOTW 2

[DarkRaven]

Divine Dragon from Sekiro will always stick in my mind as an excellent collossal boss. Probably the easiest in the whole game, but goddamn, when the music swells and you get hurled into the air to redirect lightning? Still gives me chills just to think about it.

[iceagebaby]

I feel like Botw's Dark Beast Ganon fight was supposed to be more cinematic rather than actual gameplay, and the fight against Calamity Ganon was supposed to have the real gameplay in it. But I do agree that the fight against Dark Beast should have had a little bit more to offer gameplay wise

[nothingtoseehere]

I think that Super Mario Odyssey’s Ruined Dragon boss is a good example of this, it has a very epic feel, is camera-friendly, and has good gameplay. Plus, you can even climb on the dragon after defeating it, giving you a sense of scale.

[elijahleonard]

I keep thinking of Subnautica. Where it's less about fighting the collosal creatures and more about hiding and escaping. It introduces these monsters less as a enemy and more as a force of nature to be avoided at all cost. Like a game of cat and mouse. Except underwater and the cat is a gorgeous bioluminescent titan.
Specifically I'm talking about the giant dragon at the magma level. The other reapers are neat too but they have definite weaknesses to exploit.
The only other thing I wished you mentioned was sound design. The aesthetic to these fights can very easily be adjusted just with some super neat sound design. Naturally when we *hear* something that large it makes the fight much more intimidating and exciting. But maybe that's just me.

[woolguide]

I know Sonic Frontiers wasn't out at the time this video was released but Sonic Frontiers did really well with their colossal bosses. There some of my favourite bosses from any game

[arthusmariet]

Hades and Medusa in Kid Icarus Uprising are two epic and long fights against an immense enemy that you have to beat by quite literally ranging them to find their weaknesses, dodging their minions and astonishing attacks.
Wonderful giga boss fights.

[lilliangoulston]

The boss of the Ancient Cistern in Skyward Sword has always been one of my favorites. Being able to steal its colossal swords to use against it was really, really cool.

[mcs]

Horizon Zero Dawn’s world bosses were really fun to me. Large, highly damaging, and having a lot of moving parts that can not only be targeted and knocked off for extra damage, but can be used against them if picked up off the ground.

[RedTheWeeb]

Sonic, spyro, God of war, monster hunter. All of those have such memorable giant boss fights in my mind

[spacetaco]

I'm so super glad you mentioned Shadow of The Colossus. And saved it best for last too! That game was the greatest thing I didn't know I needed in my life.

Everything about that game makes it the most unique thing I've ever played and is really the first thing that got me into story based games. (Though I haven't played many games in my life)

[frozennoob_]

Personally, Terraria and hollow knight come to mind. They aren’t like some of the games you mentioned but those games are super good with their bosses. Terraria allows you to shape the arena around the boss, the creativity it allows for is just great.

[coreymyers]

Personally, I like bosses that feel like a final check of all of my skills. Make it colossal, and you could really show how well you are doing.

[KlldbyCuriosity]

Atahl Ka is the single best boss fight I’ve had the pleasure of challenging. It starts off with a normal fight against a bug before it constructs a giant mech that you have to dismantle by attacking the threads holding it together. Best boss fight and a perfect end to GU

[Casual_PKBeats]

Seeing the title paired with the thumbnail, my first thought was "That is NOT what makes a good colossal boss" lmao. Really hope BotW 2 does the idea better, if at all. My first thoughts for great examples were, of course, Shadow of the Colossus, as well as Metal Gear Solid Revengeance. It's such a cool concept, I really love when games flesh it out well. Great video!