Hardest Boss Fights in Modern Videogames

[KeySpirits]

By modern I mean from any game released in the 21th century, nothing earlier.

I was getting down to complete the very last quest I have left on the portable version of Monster Hunter 1, and it happens to be the infamous “Wyverns of Land and Sky“ where you have to fight two metal variants of Rathalos and Rathian, in their G rank difficulty (the harderst), in a single arena and with strict timer. Suffice to say you'll never get to focus on just one, for the other one will come charging and depending on your gear and health, one-shot you. It reminded me of a similar case with Ornstein and Smough in Dark Souls, but speaking from experience they pale in comparison... at least they have a health bar so that you can track how much health left they have.

What would your pick for the most nerve-wrecking boss fight in modern times be? Anything goes.

 

[Bakuma1997]

This little POS got me walled for a SOLID HOUR, he moves slowly but hits like a truck, and the mooks he sends throws you off guard, i found how to cheese him... RIGHT AFTER I FINALLY BEAT HIM!

 

[zombie100379]

the bosses in "god hand" often have 2 energy bars going the entire length of the screen - that's bad enough as it is.

 

[Guinea]

Basically every boss in this game is insanely hard but I really hated this mf.

 

[hyperdeathRainbow]

This noisy rat is intended to be about unwinnable. Bullet hell games aren't my bread and butter, but you get a sweet weapon out of beating it, plus the music bangs.

 

[KeySpirits]

I'll be taking your examples as recomendations for games to play What best way to spend an evening than nervous as hell and having your controller slip out due to the sweat on your hands...

 

[HoyeBoye]

Final boss from Kirby and the Forgotten Lands. Sweet Jesus! I didn’t yell or throw my controller, but my kids kept asking me to take a break because I was getting so stressed out. Didn’t help that my kids were too freaked out by the boss to pick up the other controller and lend a hand with Waddle Dee
The ending cutscene was totally worth it, though.

 

[Ikagura]

By modern I mean from any game released in the 21th century, nothing earlier.

If that means starting by 2000 then I could say probably DMC and Bayonetta's bosses?

As well as Treasure games (although I think their productions from the 90's were harder).

Cave's games were infamous for their TLBs as well as Touhou games from the Windows era (which started with the 6th entry from '02).

Final boss from Kirby and the Forgotten Lands. Sweet Jesus! I didn’t yell or throw my controller, but my kids kept asking me to take a break because I was getting so stressed out. Didn’t help that my kids were too freaked out by the boss to pick up the other controller and lend a hand with Waddle Dee

Many Kirby game's extra mode had quite difficult bosses.

 

[BrawlMan]

If you're not looking for something from the 6th or 7th gen era, Megatron himself is pretty difficult even on Normal mode in Transformers Devastation. The gloves really come off in the two hardest difficulties, Magnus and Prime. Even Starscream can give you a run for your money, if not careful.

Ryu Hayabusa in Ninja Gaiden 4 is the toughest boss in this game.

 

[CheesyExplosive]

After 50 attempts, power offs and resets

Blood fang:

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

The underground tunnel on the original Last Of Us took me no less than ten tries to beat.

Just brutal, man.

 

[Rez09]

I tried playing Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox once. I’d suggest a single boss, except it was Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox. I hear there are stages after those guys with spears on horseback.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Given that my reflexes are whack I'd say Ashina Isshin, Magaki from KoF XI(retro I know but I couldn't think of anyone) and DMC5 Vergil DMD.
Oh and Dark Fact from Ys 1

 

[Haizujard]

Spoiler

Vergil - Dmc 5

 

[BrawlMan]

Spoiler

Vergil - Dmc 5
View attachment 214323

Yet DMC5 Vergil is easier to handle than DMC3 Vergil on any difficulty.

 

[KamakoKamako's icon]

Without guides or cheese tactics:

Nelo Angelo 3 on Dante Must Die! (DMC1)

Metal Gear RAY on E-Extreme (MGS2)

Hitsohura/Satan - (Digital Devil Saga 1/2)

I'm not familiar enough with the genre, but I'd bet there's been some nigh-impossible bullet hell bosses in the last two and a half decades.

 

[Metroid_Hybrid]

I was getting down to complete the very last quest I have left on the portable version of Monster Hunter 1, and it happens to be the infamous “Wyverns of Land and Sky“ where you have to fight two metal variants of Rathalos and Rathian, in their G rank difficulty (the harderst), in a single arena and with strict timer. Suffice to say you'll never get to focus on just one, for the other one will come charging and depending on your gear and health, one-shot you.

This actually triggered a happy memory for me, believe it or not. The one gamer GF I had almost 20 years ago (Kung-Fu Action GF #1) was inspired to get the game herself after watching me ALMOST beat that exact mission on PSP (ran out of time). We put in a crazy amount of time into that game together..

I beat the first Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) on Hard. That took months to do. Every section of that game was harder than the last. I managed to pull it off literally the night before most of my games were stolen while I was at school..

 

[KeySpirits]

This actually triggered a happy memory for me, believe it or not. The one gamer GF I had almost 20 years ago (Kung-Fu Action GF #1) was inspired to get the game herself after watching me ALMOST beat that exact mission on PSP (ran out of time). We put in a crazy amount of time into that game together..

I beat the first Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) on Hard. That took months to do. Every section of that game was harder than the last. I managed to pull it off literally the night before most of my games were stolen while I was at school..

Damn dude, I'm nowhere close to bringing down just one of them... It's great that you got to bond with your girl over that but how come your games got stolen?

 

[Metroid_Hybrid]

Damn dude, I'm nowhere close to bringing down just one of them... It's great that you got to bond with your girl over that but how come your games got stolen?

It certainly wasn't my first attempt that she saw, but I eventually beat it a few days later (I had well over 500 hours saved in that game)..

This happened ~22 years ago, but I found out about 9 months ago that it was apparently a so-called "friend" of mine from back then. I'll probably break his legs if I ever see him again..