20 Best Boss Battles In Recent Video Games

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

And of the last year or two, these following 20 boss fights are the ones that dazzled players the most

with their ingenuity, their visual grandeur, and their sheer fun factor. I'm Josh from WhatCultureGaming, and these are the 20 best boss battles from recent video games

First up, Venom Spider-Man 2. We'll start with the oldest game on this list

While there was a lot of disappointment surrounding the Venom storyline in Spider-Man 2

the climactic fight with the big bad was not one of them. Though mechanically quite simple, this was a cinematic spectacle through and through

as Peter Parker took the symbiote on with his new anti-Venom suit in the first stage of the bout

Not one to be upstaged, Venom himself had a few tricks up his sleeve

sprouting demonic wings when he realizes Peter is just distracting him so that Miles and MJ

can foil the villain's larger plan. The second stage then has you take on the winged beast as

Miles before the two Spider-Men team up to take the alien down for good. It's a demanding fight

but one full of surprises, with each twist not only upping the visual spectacle, but adding new

challenges to the fight itself. It's a shame Venom didn't get more moments like this in the game

but at least he was used well when he did get a chance to shine

Tiger Sejima Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii The Like a Dragon franchise sure as hell knows how to deliver a memorable boss fight

and though the recent Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii wasn't among the series' stronger entries

it still served up its share of banger bosses. And chief among them was the mid-game clash with one of the series' all-time fan-favorite characters

the supremely badass Tiger Sejima. The terrific WWE-style pre-fight trash-talking between Majima

and Sejima gets things off to a great start, and while the fight doesn't last long, duking it out

with one of the strongest pound-for-pound combatants in the entire Like a Dragon franchise

is always going to be a hoot. In the later phases, the boss will deal some insane damage to unprepared

players, ensuring that even in defeat he comes off looking pretty damn strong. But because losing

apparently isn't enough, the boss also has to suffer the indignity of baby Tiger Goro pissing

on his shoes just a few moments later. While it is a shame that he wasn't featured more prominently

in the game, this boss fight was nevertheless one of the game's easy high points, the Griffin

Dragon's Dogma 2. Though not the most unique or most difficult boss in Dragon's Dogma 2

the Griffon, a recurring boss present in the fantasy game's open world

works to introduce players to the many surprises that this sequel has to offer

Scattered through the open world, players are able to run away from the enemy at early levels

but once they feel confident enough to take one of them on, it's up to them to figure out the best

way to bring this massive creature to your sword. Finding a nearby ballista to shoot the thing out

of the sky might be your tactic of choice, or you might risk climbing on the thing itself and let it

take you for a ride, risking falling to your death. The latter is always a spectacle as you hammer

into the beast clinging on for dear life, hoping to send it hurtling to the ground so you can then

do some serious damage. This seamless mix of grounded combat and aerial combat combined with

the thrill of improvising your way through the fight with whatever you have at your disposal

makes felling your first griffin feel like you've just pulled off something impossible

The fact that you can end up trapped on the griffin itself and transported across the entire

map, potentially even to its nest as well, only adds to the unpredictability of the fight and

makes it feel like much more than a simple boss battle. Next up, King K. Rool, Donkey Kong Bonanza

Donkey Kong Bonanza is a brilliant game, but a relatively chill time for the most part

That is, until Nintendo decides to hurl everything at you for an incredible, challenging, four-phase final boss battle against King K. Rool

The first phase largely consists of avoiding his attacks while hurling his own projectiles back at him

after which a credit screen fakeout, classic, reveals that the fight is very, very far from over

Phase 2 is a riotous high-wire affair where you need to throw more projectiles at him while he flies all around you

before the action spills out into New Donk City for a platforming-heavy third phase

and then finally a classic-style cage match. Now, nobody is going to come away from Bonanza feeling like the final boss gave them the short shrift

This is one hell of a fun and dynamic fight that offers up some of the grandest spectacle seen in any recent Nintendo game

Next up, a classic, The End, Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater

Even with the asterisks that Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater is a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3

its shiny new rendition of, debatably, the series' single most iconic boss fight, just had to make this list

Though you can still cheese the aged sniper The End by shooting him during an early cutscene

or winding your console's clock forward to make him die of old age

you'd be depriving yourself of one of the most intense and brilliantly creative boss fights ever made

The End is an expert marksman and tracker who will easily capture players who don't engage him stealthily

in turn forcing the fight to drag on for one hell of a long time This fight then is basically a puzzle in and of itself with players having multiple options for taking the end down though thermal goggles are an easy way to keep track of his movements

While there was understandable worry that Konami's sans Hideo Kojima remake would result in some seriously compromised reworkings of the game's beloved boss encounters

that, thankfully, wasn't the case at all. Next up, Bale of the Dread, Elden Ring, Shadow of the Earth Tree

Choosing just one boss from Shadow of the Earth Tree is a thankless task, and realistically, any one of the newer, brilliantly designed bosses from Elden Ring's expansion could have gotten themselves a place on this list

But choose we must, and I'm going to go with Bale the Dread

Let's start with the build-up to the boss. You've undoubtedly already seen Bale's resting place long before you get there

with the jagged peaks and harsh mountainous terrain being visible from numerous points around the map

Then comes time to scale the thing itself, with lesser dragons littering the caverns as you make your way up to the boss arena

Once you're finally there, you're faced with Bale's might. But before you can even begin, you'll notice the grandiosity of the setting

and the red lightning around the arena, and the gigantic bale being able to take to the skies

for some breathtaking range combat being incredible. The music as well is as dramatic as it gets, evoking a classic monster movie in terms of its gothic grandiosity

The fight takes on an even larger cinematic slant if you summon in Eigon

whose shouts and personal vendetta raises the intensity to almost melodramatic levels

Elden Ring has no shortage of incredible dragon fights, and the fact that it was able to one-up itself in the DLC is nothing short of jaw-dropping

Next up, Lady Venomara Astro Bot. Last year's Consensus Game of the Year winner Astro Bot is an endlessly creative platformer

which also serves up a bevy of fun and inventive boss fights

Enough so that it isn't really easy to pick just one. But we just have to go with Lady Venomara, the boss of the game's third world, Serpent Starway

This is a classic case of a boss that just throws a whole lot of everything at you

Minion-filled eggs, devastating tail swipes, laser breath, and even a drill attachment to its tail

Even when it seems like the fight is over, it continues for a frantic ride through a jungle

where you need to travel along Venomara's body, avoiding myriad obstacles, before giving her one final clip on the chin

None of Astrobot's boss fights are massively challenging, but this boss can absolutely get one over on inattentive plays

given the sheer force of her attacks, how scarcely her tail swap is telegraphed

and how little room we're given to maneuver. Next up, Boar Sorcerer, Wuchang Fallen Feathers

Wuchang Fallen Feathers is one of the year's best Souls-likes, and what would any souls like be without a couple of banger boss fights

Wu Chang certainly delivered in this regard, with the game's arguable highlight being the encounter with Bo Sorcerer

the feathered woman who moves around at great speed and can deal huge damage with her sword attacks and water-based spells

She's also kind of a damned tank, capable of taking a shedload of damage before finally going down

ensuring few are going to rip through her quickly. But like most bosses in the game, she also has visual and audio tells which make it easier to deduce her incoming attacks, even if it takes a fair amount of practice to get them all nailed down

And while you can summon the white-robed elder to help you take her out should you wish for that character storyline, the real thrill lies in taking it down unassisted

It's a tough fight for Shua, but it also strikes the game's best balance of fun, aesthetic majesty, and pure challenge

Next up, Don Terezi, Mafia The Old Country. Mafia The Old Country's final battle with Don Terezi is proof perfect that a boss fight doesn't need to be a mechanical marvel to be hugely entertaining

If the story and setting arise, then it can still be a total banger

The final fight is just another knife fight with the Don set against the backdrop of an erupting Mount Etna

making this one of the most epically staged boss fights in recent times

especially for a grounded game like Mafia. Sheward Torezi actually doesn't put up that much of a fight because he telegraphs his attacks so aggressively

but it's still tremendously satisfying to stab him up while talking trash before finally putting him down

all the while staring slack-jawed at the gorgeous natural location. The Mafia franchise, quite rightly, isn't well known for its boss fights

but in its most recent entry, it delivered one hell of a cinematic climax regardless

Like the rest of the game, it didn't reinvent the wheel, but it delivered the goods when it mattered most

Next up, Marciona, Puppeteer of Death, Lies of P, Overture. The sheer highlight of Lies of P's Overture expansion is Marciona, Puppeteer of Death

a hellacious boss who more than lives up to the sheer theatricality of her name

The best boss in Overture and one of the mightiest in Lies of P as a whole, she is basically a quintessential Souls-like duo fight which requires the player to focus their attention on Markiona and her puppets simultaneously

And it is quite the juggling act, ensuring that this battle serves as quite the sturdy brick wall for many players, even veterans

You need to attack and defend against both enemies at once and be wary of how their attacks are changed up in the fight second phase because of course there a second phase Despite being only the second boss in the Overture DLC she one of the

very toughest that you'll face, yet ultimately also one of the most fun to topple considering

the freewheeling invention on display throughout the battle. It's a fight which encourages

experimentation as you try again and again until you finally figure out how to answer each of her

attacks, ever the sign of a brilliantly designed boss battle. Next up, The Giant, Indiana Jones

and the Great Circle. Props to developer machine games for unexpectedly shoving a Resident Evil-esque

stalker boss into the middle of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. In the geezer section of the game

Indy will eventually face off against a blindfolded giant who will pursue you solely by sound

You need to keep quiet when moving around then, which is easier said than done given the near total darkness that you're forced to navigate in, making it easy to step on, say, a pile of noisy coins

Success lies in illuminating the room so you can fully track the giant all while repeatedly attacking him and evading his grasp until he finally goes down for the count

Much as the combat is probably the single most divisive element of the Great Circle

this boss fight's emphasis on creepy atmospherics makes it stand out among the rest

Indiana Jones always tap-danced on the fringes of horror throughout its history

so to see such a full-throated return to that tone was hugely entertaining

Next up, Enhanced Azrak Doom the Dark Ages. Though it isn't the last time you face Azrak in Doom the Dark Ages

the fight against his enhanced form is absolutely incredible, albeit one that doesn't suffer weak

players lightly. This epic, long as balls three-phase fight will test the full extent of your

dodging and parrying abilities, without which you're liable to get the floor mopped with you

In the battle's second phase, Azrak sprouts his wings, this is becoming a theme in this list

isn't it, to dart around the arena at great speed while continuing his attack salvo. And in phase

three are thoroughly pissed off as Rax attacks will grow more frantic throwing pretty much

everything out of hell's kitchen sink right at you you'll need pin sharp reaction times to get

through this in one piece and in addition to each phase being trickier than the one before there are

no mid fight checkpoints to speak of meaning you have to start the whole 15 minute boss fight again

should you perish still the combination of a neat setting fun combat and satisfying payoffs

makes this the most badass fight in the game. Next up, Destroyer Charadrius, Metaphor Re-Fantasio

Metaphor Re-Fantasio's final boss is Destroyer Charadrius, the ultimate form of antagonist Louis

who players end up fighting numerous times by the end of the game. This is somehow even tougher than the prior fights though

but it's also an absolute blast. Charadrius is level 82 and has no weaknesses

and even once you've hacked away his three masks, you'll still need to deal with the grotesque face underneath

Many have admittedly complained that Studio Zero over-egged the pudding a little bit with this boss

that it simply goes on for far too long, and the sheer number of attacks that they can dole out in a row is just unfair

And it's tough to argue with in a way, but yet the sheer epic staging of the fight

and the overwhelming satisfaction that comes with finally defeating him basically makes it all worth it

Nobody could blame you for dropping the difficulty to get through on this one, but it's a suitably fierce, stamina-draining battle on which to wrap up the whole journey

Next up, Il Toga Senua's Saga Hellblade 2. Senua's Saga Hellblade 2 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 Il Toga

But this is far from a typical boss fight where you need to chip the giantess's health bar away

Rather, you need to traverse myriad environmental obstacles in order to actually 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 the while systematically breaking the various chains holding the giant prisoner

And this is beautifully symbolic, of course, as you're actually freeing Iltorga, whose real name is Ingan, from the grief of her baby's death

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

Boss battles that aren't combat-centric are always a little 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 downright insane. Next up, Lord Saito, Ghost of Yotei

Before we start though, this is the most recent entry on this list, so here's a huge spoiler warning for the end of this game

Though Ghost of Yotei allows you to take down most of the Yotei 6 in any order that you please

the overarching antagonist, Lord Saito, is always left for last, and that makes sense considering he's far and away the most entertaining boss in the game

Everything about this fight feels like it was ripped from a classic samurai movie

The emotional build up, the cinematic staging, and the fact that it's two masters of their craft duking it out for all the marbles

What more could you possibly want? It goes without saying of course that Saito will kick your ass if you let him so you need to deploy a variety of tricks and attacks to get through it in one piece Throw in the added drama of Jubay demise and the fight cinematically fiery crescendo and this

is far and away the most thrilling boss fight from arguably either of the two ghost games to date

Next up, Arkfeld Monster Hunter Wilds. Monster Hunter Wilds is of course entirely concerned with

felling awesome monsters and it surely saves the best for the very end when you take on the game's

cover monster, Arkveld, one last time. Much of the key to this fight lies in attacking the monster's

wings and the chain blades to prevent it from absorbing energy and dealing incredibly damaging

attacks. To call this fight a lot is quite the understatement, but between the epic elemental

visuals and the incredible musical score, it's tough to not be thrilled even when struggling to

make it all the way to the end. Yet there's also a deeply tragic undercurrent to Arkveld's story

given that it isn't really in control of the rampage that it embarks upon

even if it absolutely has to be put down for the greater good

This is a boss fight that has it all then. Epic staging, fun combat, and even a sneaky emotional kick to boot

Next up, Scarlet Stellarblade. The best boss fight in the terrific Stellarblade actually arrived as DLC

more than a year after the main game was released. The DLC crossover with Goddess of Victory released this past summer

and allowed players to do battle with the series' swordswoman Scarlet after beating the DLC's quests

For one, the fight takes place in a gorgeously secluded forest area

and Scarlet packs one hell of a punch, her frantic battery of attacks requiring players to constantly dodge and parry

The second phase ramps up considerably as well, with Scarlet attacking with shadows of herself

and if you can't quickly figure out the offensive patterns here, you will not last long

Phase 3 then gets even more dangerous as Scarlet is able to deliver a one-shot kill if you don't quickly break her shield

Like I keep saying, this is another one that kind of has everything. The gorgeously cinematic setting, incredibly intense pulse-pumping action

and even the well-earned reward of unlocking Scarlet's outfit once you beat her

Next up, the Cogwork Dancer's Hollow Knight Silksong. Hollow Knight Silksong managed to deliver above and beyond unimaginable expectations

and though there's no real consensus on the game's best boss yet

let's make a case for the Cogwork Dancers. For starters, together they're one of the most unique and challenging bosses in the entire game

because they're not necessarily actively trying to hurt you. They're just doing their perfectly choreographed dance which you happen to get in the way off

And so it falls to the player to dodge clear of their dance moves while landing attacks during brief windows of opportunity

The strangely hypnotic allure of the dance combined with the lovely music makes it a tough fight to forget

and it even becomes melancholic once one of the robotic bugs is defeated

leaving its sluggish partner behind to fend for itself. This is a boss fight that manages to be mechanically clever, deeply difficult

and even unexpectedly affecting all at once. Who'd have thunk it? Next up, Higgs, Death Stranding 2 on the beach

nobody does a final boss fight like hideo kojima and it's fair to say that death stranding 2's

closing clash with higgs was in a word peak kojima this almost impossibly epic multi-phase

boss fight sees you and higgs attacking one another with your own battle guitars after a

phase where you need to continually chase and pressure and ever teleporting higgs it morphs

into a melee battle as you and Higgs beat seven shades of snot out of one another with your guitars

Mechanically speaking, it's incredibly simple and maybe lacks some of the genius of Kojima's more

iconic boss fights, but it's undeniably visually stunning and surely features more guitar solos

than just about any boss encounter in video game history outside of Guitar Hero 3. And if that's

somehow not enough once you've put Higgs down you'll get to watch him be eaten by a kaiju-sized

spirit form of baby Lou because why the hell not? In the event that Higgs somehow returns for a

potential Death Stranding 3, Kojima will need to do a lot to top this fight. And finally, the

paintress Claire Obscure Expedition 33. Pretty much this entire list could contain boss fights

from the incredible Claire Obscura Expedition 33. But the best of the lot must surely be the climactic battle against the Painteress

Though she isn't the final boss in the game by any means, she's by far the most anticipated enemy

considering how thoroughly she's been hyped up as the big bad since the start

even if things are ultimately a lot more complicated than that. Still, this is a devilishly tricky fight

that'll test the full extent of your offensive and defensive skills learned up to this point. You'll need attack-sharp reflexes to dodge and parry her relentless attacks

while dealing enough damage to eventually end her. Each of the three phases feels distinctly

different. They're all visually stunning in their own way, and the music, unsurprisingly

threw out absolutely rocks. Defeating the Painteress also unlocks the Painted Power

Pictos, finally allowing players to deal more than 9,999 damage, as is vital for surviving

the tricky battles ahead. So that's our list. Let me know in the comments

whether there are any boss fights here that I missed that you think deserve a shout out

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