Every game has final battle of some sort. Obviously it greatly depends on the game how this turns out exactly, but the story needs some form of closure. A final challenge that delivers the ultimate feeling of satisfaction when the player finally topples it. Some games pull this off excellently and, of course, others completely fail. The entire game is usually focused around increasing challenge and player skill, and players feel cheated if the ending fails to meet their expectations. Let's take a look at some examples across the spectrum for a little perspective on this.
The Ugly: Fable II.
When it comes right down to it, there is actually very little story to be had in Fable II, which is odd given its name. Most of the story points come down to "Go here and beat this". One could argue that most games, certainly RPGs, are this way and they would be right. But never has it felt so obvious as it did to me when playing Fable II. What is truly sad though, is the final encounter. Here you have the man who killed your sister and your dog (of you do the good ending), nearly killed you, enslaved thousands, and is attempting to take over the world using a method that destroyed the world the last time someone tried it. How do you defeat such a devious foe? By shooting him. Once. That's it. Didn't pull the trigger in time? No worries. The blind lady will shoot him for you if need be.
The Final "Boss"
"I thought he'd never shut up." I think the entire game was worth it just for that.
The Bad: Two Worlds.
I played this on the PC unlike most of my friends, and therefore thought the game was only half bad. The Xbox 360 port was quite hard to control. In any case, again, this was a game surprisingly lacking in heart. By that I mean depth. Most things seemed very shallow, and like Fable II, the story was stupefyingly short. I was disappointed, but not surprised, when I arrived to steal an artifact from a White Dragon nest to find no dragon. The actual story could probably be completed in a couple hours. Talk to this guy, this guy, this guy, that guy again (mind you there about ten feet away from each other), your sister, this guy again, collect these four things (the longest part, one of these things is in a white dragon nest oh no!), talk to this guy, go to one of five towers, kill the guy on top, go to final battle. The final boss is not the actual last fight in the game, but it is more difficult so I count that as the final one. This guy (one of the ones you talked to earlier, yay!) transforms into a demon and you kill him, through whatever means your character fights. As an archer, I ran away and shot him a lot. It took me about ten minutes. The entire time he hit me once, and instantly killed me. I appeared about 100 feet away with full health, went back and finished him off. Not that amazing, went like every other boss fight in the game.
Here's The Final Boss As I See It (Jump to 2:00)
Goes a bit faster as a melee, just wish his attacks weren't so obviously coming.
The Good: Donkey Kong 64.
All around an amazing game. The story was very simple, again, but unlike the other two this is not an RPG really. The goal was to collect enough Golden Bananas to proceed to the next area. That, and beat the boss of each area. It actually played a lot like Super Mario 64, but seemed to have so much more to it. There was a truly incredible number of abilities spread across the five Kongs, and you had to master each in order to reach the end of the game. Things really picked up when you go on a timed invasion of the enemy's stronghold, but he runs away before you can reach him. He attempts to fly away but ends up crashing behind your island. With nowhere left to run, he stands his ground and bring out one of the most complicated and amusing boss battles I have ever seen. It's set up as a boxing match (with how an entire boxing stadium fit inside his ship left conveniently unexplained). Each Kong is given two three minute rounds to take out K. Rool in whatever way matches their style. It truly requires you to master each and every Kong, since you have to play as each to beat this fight. This tops off the learning curve quite well. Unfortunately, it also means you DO have to be good with each and every one and Lanky's fight in particular is infamous for giving people trouble. In the end, a challenging fight that feels very rewarding to overcome. It also fits in very well with the game's undercurrent of slap stick humor.
The Introduction And The First Three Kong Battles. Don't feel like you have to watch the whole thing if you don't want to, it is quite long. But do give it a look.
"Fair and Unbaised" Give me a break.
The Excellent: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.
This one has frequently topped people's "Best Games of All Time List" or their "Top 10" type lists. I've only ever seen one person who did not like this game, apparently he didn't like the transition to 3D (this was the first 3D Zelda game). Most however, consider it a milestone, and a benchmark to measure other games by. Unlike all of the previous games I've mentioned, the story in this game cannot be summed up in a sentence or two. Oot had a complex story, though not hard to understand by any means (a problem plaguing many games today). Each boss felt like a nice finish to its respective dungeon. But then came the final battle. You had to climb to the top of his tower, hearing faint organ music that grew louder as you climbed higher. Finally, you entered the room where he was waiting for you. After giving the required speech, you fight him one on one. For the first time ever, your fairy is blocked from getting close to him, which means you can't actually target him, except when he is down.
Link VS Ganondorf
The way the light hits him when you shoot him with a light arrow looks so painful.
But wait! There's more! As he lies dying, Ganondorf commands his tower to collapse, initiating a timed escape from the falling tower! The path you have to take is different from the one you took up, so you gotta learn the way to go to get out in time. Just as you make it out the door, the tower crumbles behind you leaving nothing but a pile of rubble.
Yay! The Game Is Over, Right?
Obviously, there was a little more to do.
I love everything about that fight. I find it a bit odd that Navi could target this boss and not the previous one, but I'll let it slide. But seeing Ganondorf transform into Ganon, the King of Evil, and then having your sword (which is the sword of evil's bane mind you) knocked to where you can't get it just tops off the intensity. Unlike some bosses where each form is just a more powerful version of the previous one fought in that same way, the phases of this fight seem to flow into each other. Ganondorf's refusal to give up no matter what comes through here with his sheer determination. It truly was the crowning moment in an amazing game.
The Odd Man Out: The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask.
I don't feel this discussion is complete without mentioning this curious little bit. We've looked at games whose final boss is no challenge, through to ones that place the final cap to close the game. But about games like Majora's Mask? This is the only example that readily comes to mind but I'm sure there are others. What about games, whose final boss can be either super challenging and a nice wrap up, or that you can just walk over like its nothing?
This final boss comes in three stages, and requires you to be pretty good with Link. Unfortunately, I think they missed a lot of potential by having you transform into the other forms (Deku, Goron, and Zora). Transforming to these forms is not even possible. In any case, the fight is a nice challenge, and while not as good as Ocarina of Time, it is still a nice close.
There's a little secret though. If you collect all the masks in the game and complete an event requiring you to give them all to little kids with brain damage and limited vocabulary (seriously, those kids are scary weird) you obtain the Fierce Deity Mask. Wearing this (only possible in boss rooms) transforms you into Fierce Deity. FD is about seven feet tall, looks like Adult Link, and wields an awesome looking double helix sword. This sword shoots beams of power when swung at a targeted enemy. All three forms of the final boss have no defense against this beam... none whatsoever. So, if you're FD, you can stand in one place and swing your sword over and over until the boss dies. No challenge at all. The reason I exempt this from "Ugly" status, is because this is essentially a reward for completing everything the game has to offer. Most of the masks are not required, and some are very hard to track down and obtain. An interesting way to reward the player for their extra work.
It's also odd to note that the mask is given to you by the boss itself (effectively).
Final Battle, Without Fierce Deity
Final Battle With Fierce Deity (and getting the mask itself)
What's your favorite final?
Not actually the final boss of DK 64. This is the boss from the last level, a cardboard cut out. It was harder to defeat than it sounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment