Nothing denies victory worse than a video game boss who just can’t take an L. It just so happens that there’s no shortage of video games that like to recycle someboss fightsapparently for many reasons. According to the lore, these bosses just won’t quit; this trope is actually used masterfully as a mechanic in games likeSilent HillandResident Evil.
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But in hindsight, plenty of re-used bosses are simply padding or at worst, a sign that the game’s creators might have run of content. Sure enough, this reflects poorly on the game’s overall quality. Some repeated bosses not only spit in the players' faces despite all their hard work but also tend to lack imagination or variety. These bosses are the worst offenders in this category.
8Smelter Demon (Dark Souls 2)
Dark Souls 2had three DLCs and all of them are paid. When one pays for additional content, it’s only fair to expect new stuff. ButCrown of the Old Iron KingDLC straight up says no and then throws in not only a filler enemy but also a re-skin of a boss from the base game. That would be the Smelter Demon and thanks to the aforementioned DLC, it now has a blue fire variant.
Granted, the original Smelter Demon boss fight was among the toughest and most memorable inDark Souls 2. It’s just that that boss battle isn’t particularly innovative or fun compared to the others. The Blue Smelter Demon is an optional fight but that only means it’s unnecessary. Players have already defeated the Smelter Demon, so there’s not much incentive to go through the ridiculous boss run.
7Godskin Bosses (Elden Ring)
Elden Ringisn’t without its flaws, sadly, and this becomes apparent once players reach Altus Plateau. Because by then and up to late-game, they’d be bombarded with repeat bosses. The worst among these are the Godskin enemies, specifically the Noble and the Apostle. Fighting either of them once was quite enough.
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But then the game sprinkles them like confetti all over mid and late-game areas. The peak of this questionable design choice came in Crumbling Farum Azula which is an endgame area where players have to fight both the Noble and the Apostle— several times. It’s a steep drop in boss fight quality compared to Ornstein and Smough fromDark Soulsbecause the Godskin Duo are both fast and hit hard and do not complement each other at all.
6Guardian Ape (Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice)
Sekiroset itself apart well enough by being an action-adventure game instead of going downthe RPG path. Except it’s also quite notorious for some of its recurring or re-skinned bosses. There are too many to count inSekirobut what would probably offend some players the most would be the second Guardian Ape.
Because the first one was already one of the toughest boss fights inSekirodue to the multiple HP bars and resurrection gimmicks. Players will then be disheartened to know that he returns as the Headless Ape. Furthermore, the whole fight turns into a lopsided slog after the Headless Ape brings in backup come Phase 2. By then, the game’s poor camera and wonky hitboxes become all too apparent.
5Sahelanthropus (Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain)
It’s not justSoulsbornegamesguilty of re-using boss fights.Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Painalso kept recycling plenty of its content especially later on. In the previousMetal Geargames (those that feature just Snake), the metal gear enemy is usually reserved for the ending.The Phantom Painsomewhat cheapened its metal gear boss by introducing it one too many times.
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The first encounter with Sahelanthropus ended in a somewhat cheap victory since players were able to gun it down from a helicopter. Then it appears again and the magic and thrill of the boss fight are lost. There’s no more intimidation factor at that point and Sahelanthropus was but a mere annoyance by then.
4Rathalos (Monster Hunter World)
TheMonster Huntergames are not unlikeSoulsgames when it comes to re-using their bosses. Except in here, it’s more justified since the whole game is just hunting down bosses.Monster Hunter World, however, takes this privilege a little too far especially with Rathalos.
The game just keeps throwing it at players in different, artificially-enhanced versions. Suddenly there’s a pink one who’s more aggressive and a blue one that flies too much. Both of them are a pain to fight due to the bloated damage numbers and inflated stats. It also cheapened Rathalos as a monster because it turns out there was nothing noteworthy about the original version.
3All Bosses In Prince Of Persia 2008
Prince of Persiafrom 2008 took a risky approach by removing the main course and serving the dessert right ahead. There isnothing but boss fightsin this game. There are 36 boss fights in total but the problem? There are only six bosses. Each of the players will have to defeat six times throughout the game.
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That wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t so generic and also if the combat was comparable to the olderPrince of Persiagames. It isn’t. It’s a lot slower and combat actually feels more like the oldAssassin’s Creedgames. Of course, after defeating a boss five times, players are probably fed up with them already to face them in a sixth match.
2Trolls (God Of War 2018)
God of War2018 is still a masterpiece despite its glaring flaw of having too many recycled enemies or lacking in enemy variety. This design shortcoming also extended toboss fights or mini-boss fightswhere trolls are too frequently fought in the game.
Two to three trolls would have done the trick but fighting them over and over again in different styles and skins made encounters less exciting. There’s a total of 10 troll bosses inGod of Warand there are also smaller ones in regular fights. It’s a shame since they could have included moreNorse mythology monstersto fight and some of those would certainly be more epic than trolls.
1Prime Evils (Diablo 2)
As the titular bosses of the game, the Diablo brothers or the Prime Evils inDiablolore don’t know when to quit. They’re at their most persistent inDiablo 2where players have to keep running around the game world chasing them as they scramble to set their brotherly reunion. Initially, players only have to kill each of them once.
But then the updates came and introduced Uber versions of the main bosses, the Prime Evils included. They’re optional, but they hold the key to items that are too powerful to avoid. So a lot of players were compelled to kill these bosses again since they “somehow returned” as per the lore, but mostly as an excuse to gatekeep endgame items.
