Team Talk | What's your favourite boss battle?

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A teaser trailer for Gears 5's campaign premiered during Opening Night Live, giving us a brief look at the terrifying creatures we'll be taking on come September. This left us pondering the big set pieces in some of our favourite games.

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by Chris Brand

@SuperCrisco

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by Team PTC

@pass_controller

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Chris | Psycho Mantis - Metal Gear Solid

The Metal Gear series is known for breaking the fourth wall but it was handled with such finesse that it increased immersion, rather than shattering it, and Psycho Mantis was the embodiment of that idea.

Upon meeting him for the first time in Metal Gear Solid, Mantis demonstrates his telekinetic chops by having you set the controller down so he can move it using the power of his mind. Arthur C. Clarke claimed that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and, though this was clearly just the Dualshock rumbling its way across my floor, the magic was there.

He was also adept at reading minds, not only remarking on other Konami games saved on your memory card, but avoiding your attacks until you plugged the controller into the second port.

These small touches added to the enigma that is Psycho Mantis, ensuring that his first appearance wouldn't be his last, despite his untimely death at the hands of Solid Snake mere moments after their encounter.

​Whilst the actual fight itself is fairly standard, the buildup elevates Psycho Mantis to a level above his Foxhound peers.

This may look like someone used photos of Psycho Mantis to make a collage of Psycho Mantis, but in 1998 he was frightening.

Sam | Soul of Cinder - Dark Souls 3

In a series famed for its boss encounters - many of which see you face off against unspeakable, towering horrors - Dark Souls 3’s concluding encounter with the distinctly humanoid Soul of Cinder might seem like an underwhelming choice. 

Soul of Cinder is the game’s cover star, with everything from the moment you first set eyes on the game building towards the final battle; not just of Dark Souls 3, but the entire Dark Souls trilogy. A trilogy that’s one of my all-time favourites, beautifully brought full circle by an ending that mirrors and also furthers that of the first game.

I could mention the amazing original track that accompanies the fight, but then that’s nothing unique - the same applies to pretty much every Souls series boss fight. Without spoiling too much, the encounter is a sentimental one years in the making. Anyone that finished the original Dark Souls knows this character well, in both of their forms, thanks to the significant mid-fight phase changes introduced in this third entry.

You’re given a very literal taste of your own medicine by a character skilled in all distinctions, plus you can’t parry them, avoiding the encounter being trivialised as with the first game’s conclusion. You could summon a co-op buddy to help, but that’d just be wrong for such a personal duel.

You'll get no spoilers from us.

Liam | Moldorm - A Link to the Past

​Boss fights are usually all about learning patterns and memorising attacks, a deadly ballet where even the slightest misstep means failure. And then there’s Moldorm.

Moldorm, if you’re unfamiliar, is the worm-like creature with the disturbing eyes that can be found guarding the top of the Tower of Hera in A Link to the Past. Its attack - if you can call it that – is extremely simple; all it does is charge around its small arena bouncing off walls and edges, wiping out anything standing in its path. I’m not 100% convinced it’s even aware of what it’s doing, or that you’re even there, which raises several moral questions when it comes to ending it.

Despite only needing six hits to the tail for a victory, Moldorm was one of the more challenging bosses in ALTTP because it could knock you down to the floor below, forcing you to start the fight again from scratch.

I always enjoyed the chaotic mess that were these battles. Trying to avoid the wriggly bastard as it careened around like a headless chicken was a frantic and often hilarious experience, especially when you factor in the limited range of movement afforded by a SNES controller.

Again, the graphics don't really do Moldorm justice.

James | Saren - Mass Effect

The Mass Effect series made a splash on the Xbox 360 and it all began with the first game in 2007, ushering in a new era of story-driven RPG/action games.

One of the shining stars of the game was the antagonist and fallen Spectre, Saren Arterius, who sided with the original trilogy's big bad, the Reapers, to act as the Darth Vader of this sci-fi tale.

Like many compelling villains, he feels as though he's working for the greater good, enabling the Reapers to "reset" the galaxy by destroying the Mass Relays used to travel between star systems, a fate you must work through the entire trilogy to prevent.

Saren's fight goes through multiple stages, forcing you to call on the powers of your class to take him down, and in fact you can even avoid the first stage of the final fight altogether by convincing him he's possessed and so must take his own life.

The sort of depth to his character is atypical and your numerous interactions with him through the game, constantly trying to get him to see your perspective, only build the impact of the final showdown. Without it, there's no doubt the series as a whole wouldn't have had as much impact as it did.​

Saren was far more charismatic than anyone we encountered in Mass Effect: Andromeda.

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Share your favourite boss battle with us in the comments below.