This is why I only play multiplayer FPS games. Single player games are boring AF.

I'm fine with it, as long as when you die, you restart at the same round in which you died.

HossAg said:

---

This is why I only play multiplayer FPS games. Single player games are boring AF.

---

This. I no longer attempt single player games because I had a horrible track record of buying the $60 game on PS only to get quickly bored and never get past the first quarter. Just to mundane and I'd rather test wits against other humans or play together as fireteams.

Quad Dog said:

---

I'm fine with it, as long as when you die, you restart at the same round in which you died.

---

You'd like Hollow Knight.

Hogwarts legacy has restored my faith in single player games. Not every boss fight was 3 phase, but the combat felt good and was very fluid.

Also:

Bosses sends out a shockwave which stuns you while they change. You can't move or attack them during this time.

Boss never uses that shockwave during actual fight, despite it's tactical applications

There are some interesting ways to do this including boss rushes, event/trigger mechanics, etc. I mean this has been the standard in RPG games back to at least Final Fantasy IV (II US) back in early-mid 90's.

aezmvp said:

---

There are some interesting ways to do this including boss rushes, event/trigger mechanics, etc. I mean this has been the standard in RPG games back to at least Final Fantasy IV (II US) back in early-mid 90's.

---

Judging by HossAgs comment above, I'd hazard a guess they didnt cut their teeth on such classics. Smells like Mountain Dew and CoD in here all of a sudden

I played plenty of classics back then. I just don't enjoy the grind of single player games anymore.

I like that these complaints against bosses could also be complaints against player characters made by the cannon fodder enemies.

Pet peeve of mine: when people justify objectively bad game design because it aligns with how things have always been done

A great example is the "grind" segments common in jrpgs... I shouldn't have to beat the exact same dungeon 200 times just to level up enough to unlock the next part of the story.

These days if I run into something like that, I just check out of the game entirely. Loved the Yakuza series, but Like a Dragon was "just ok". That said, I was happy to play it and continue the stories in that universe until I hit a massive grind/level wall. Turned it off and I doubt I'll ever go back to the series unless they return to the original game style as a beat-em-up.

The gaming community criticizes level-gated content in Assassin's Creed but somehow defends it to the death when it comes to jrpgs.

Gamers, like many people, have a hard time letting go of nostalgia.

I enjoy single player games but I feel like the style of "tiny hero/giant boss" with multi-stage fights and changing move-sets got played out 10 years ago. Not that there aren't games today that don't execute the concept well, or build upon it. But rather that games have been rather slow to evolve narratively and in terms of boss/level design.

While my earlier post was mostly teasing, I do understand that for sure.

I played the crap out of Dark Souls when it came out. I loved it!

With Elden Ring, I knew I just didnt have that kind of time anymore and I didnt even pick it up. Its grind heavy and I enjoy the challenge but I dont have the time to really put into that these days. I stay away from most multiplayer games, especially competitive ones, because I just dont/cant play enough to keep up with Jimmy 12yo.

Gimme a good story and I'll get to it... years after release but Ill get to it.

Thanks for this bull**** Mega Man!

I'm not disagreeing that the standard phase 1 -> phase 2 -> phase 3 fight is some reiterative game design. It is, but even with that as I mentioned above some games will have some decent additional mechanics and flavor.

What do you think about that same set in MMO's like WoW or FFXIV? They will generally experience the same set up but then have new mechanics. I also think the drive towards more action RPG style single player games and away from the traditional turn based stuff helps alleviate some of this.

Kampfers said:

---

I enjoy single player games but I feel like the style of "tiny hero/giant boss" with multi-stage fights and changing move-sets got played out 10 years ago. Not that there aren't games today that don't execute the concept well, or build upon it. But rather that games have been rather slow to evolve narratively and in terms of boss/level design.

---

Soloing Wotan the Invincible in Borderlands 3, (TVHM and Mayhem 11), no good corrosive legendaries, sucked with all the different stages. All of them bullet sponges except for the intentionally easy 1st one.

I haven't played a game with a 3 round boss is some time it seems. But I also don't play on a console with a controller.

I loathe the 3 phase boss fights....especially if you deplete one health bar (thinking you beat it)...then it refills...this is not fun or exciting...its just infuriating and flat out not fun. (especially in difficult games).

Thats just not fun. Surprise! 3 phase fights are not cool.

Some games have diff color health bars and as you work on it you can see a different colored bar beneath instead of it being empty. That way you know it's gonna be a slog and can strategize accordingly. I think thats a better way to go about it

The Fife said:

---

Kampfers said:

---

I enjoy single player games but I feel like the style of "tiny hero/giant boss" with multi-stage fights and changing move-sets got played out 10 years ago. Not that there aren't games today that don't execute the concept well, or build upon it. But rather that games have been rather slow to evolve narratively and in terms of boss/level design.

---

Soloing Wotan the Invincible in Borderlands 3, (TVHM and Mayhem 11), no good corrosive legendaries, sucked with all the different stages. All of them bullet sponges except for the intentionally easy 1st one.

---

The "invincible" bosses in the Borderlands games are brutal. I remember one of them in Borderlands 2 it seemed impossible to beat without cheesing. It doesn't help that you can finally have the gear to beat some of them and they go and nerf certain weapons.

I dunno, maybe I just spent too much time with the mechanic. I get the frustration from an action standpoint, but I don't mind bosses having different mechanics or using the big fights to get across story beats. It's done better some places than others assuredly but I'd get bored with one pattern the whole fight. I kinda like fights that will have multiple layers that also protect you (somewhat) from cheesing the mechanics. We've all played games where you can exploit a broken stat, combo, set up and yeah that's fine but if you have to balance your setup and game play to avoid that because of changing mechanics I think that's fine too. But again my favorite series is in it's 13th connected game and each one has a script as long as all 3 Lord of the Rings books plus the Hobbit for each game (or all the Harry Potter books combined, if that's an easier reference). Different strokes and all that.

Jinx said:

---

Thats just not fun. Surprise! 3 phase fights are not cool.

Some games have diff color health bars and as you work on it you can see a different colored bar beneath instead of it being empty. That way you know it's gonna be a slog and can strategize accordingly. I think thats a better way to go about it

---

That's better. (Or just have the health bar divided into three phases).

At least you know you are in for it...rather than going for it in the first phase to then be completely unprepared for the rest of the slog.

I don't know who actually likes this stuff.

I suppose there is some consideration for execution. Persona 5's last boss did something like this and I didnt mind so much. Maybe it's more "ha, gotcha!" that I find a bit annoying.

This reminded me of one of my favorite video game joke moments: the Spider-Man 2 fight against Mysterio. You see his health bar fill up three times, so you get ready for a big fight, but he goes down in one punch.

This thread brings back my PTSD from this fight that I still haven't finished.

Jinx said:

---

I suppose there is some consideration for execution. Persona 5's last boss did something like this and I didnt mind so much. Maybe it's more "ha, gotcha!" that I find a bit annoying.

---

No spoilers punk! Picked it up on the Steam Sale and will play it later this summer. I've got too much on my backlog and not enough time.

I mainly play Team Fortress and CS still. But when I'm tired of sitting at a desk, I'll max out in the couch and play some Xbox. Just recently did a replay of Halo 1-5 and Gears of War 1-5. I'm surprised at how few boss fights are even in those games.

I'm actually kind of in favor of the 3 phases..? The final fight on Breath of the Wild was 2 stages and I was honestly very let down, to the point that it reduced my score of the game. It's a weird feeling when you go "here we go, time to use all those items I saved up" but then the credits roll. Anticlimactic, unfulfilling, disappointingly brief.

Some games (RE6) do a 4+-phase fight that really overstays it's welcome… but 3 usually feels about right.

When you've spent 100+ hours getting OP as ****, fighting lynels and guardians, they really needed to make that final fight a much bigger challenge than it was. I didn't necessarily need a whole other phase, but just make him much tougher than he is. One of the easiest final bosses ever, sadly.

At least the DLC final boss makes up for it though. What an awesome fight.