Boss battles often represent the most climactic moments in games, raising the tension to a peak and leaving gamers on the edge of their seats. However, if the quality of these battles is subpar and doesn’t meet expectations, it can quickly dampen the player’s mood. Conversely, there are boss battles that are not only well-designed and creative but also leave gamers feeling utterly perplexed about how to tackle them. Below is a list of 10 bosses that leave players confused, requiring 100% brainpower to defeat them.
The Phantom (Kingdom Hearts) – Use magic to stop Big Ben’s clock
The Kingdom Hearts series has its fair share of bizarre bosses, and perhaps the most peculiar is The Phantom from the first installment. It has a rather annoying attack called Death Sentence. When it uses this move, a doom timer will appear over one of your party members’ heads. When this clock counts down to zero, it means saying goodbye to that party member for the rest of the battle, with no chance of revival.
To “counter-attack,” you need to cast Stopra on Big Ben’s clock. The clock will temporarily halt, allowing you to focus on defeating the boss. Fortunately, you are not required to fight The Phantom. However, if you choose to take it on, a sincere piece of advice is to be fully equipped before facing this boss, as it will be a tough battle. Another interesting fact is that after defeating The Phantom, you will be rewarded with the Stopga spell – a more powerful version of… Stopra.
Two Pyramid Heads (Silent Hill 2) – Try to survive until the time runs out
When talking about Silent Hill 2, the infamous antagonist Pyramid Head comes to mind, haunting the main character James Sunderland throughout the game. Right before the final boss encounter, players will face Pyramid Head once again, but this time there are… 2 Pyramid Heads. Previously, you had faced a single Pyramid Head, so you know just how tough it is, and now facing two at once seems nearly impossible.
They move quickly and hit hard; a slip-up means Game Over. However, the crux of this encounter is not to defeat the two Pyramid Heads but to endure for a specific duration. The catch is that it doesn’t inform you that a timer is counting down. If you run out of ammo, you have to run around until the two Pyramid Heads accidentally collide; if you have plenty of ammunition, each shot you land will reduce the countdown timer accordingly.
Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear Solid) – Switch the controller port
Another creation by Hideo Kojima, this time featuring Psycho Mantis from the original Metal Gear Solid. He is a very powerful boss with psychic abilities, so you’ll need to use your brain if you want to win (or cheat by looking up a guide online). Because of his psychic powers, he can “read” the player’s control commands, thus responding with corresponding actions. Given that he has the upper hand, how can you possibly defeat him?
It’s simple: unplug the controller and plug it into the second port. This will prevent Mantis from reading your thoughts and predicting how you control Snake. Everything else isn’t too difficult, as long as you don’t underestimate him. If anyone bothers to read the codec conversations in the game, they will learn this trick through Colonel Campbell; for the rest of you, good luck!
Mr. Freeze (Batman: Arkham City) – Master Batman’s moves
It’s hard to deny that the villain Mr. Freeze in Arkham City is the toughest boss in the series. The interesting thing is that Mr. Freeze has a way to nullify Batman’s attacks, meaning you can only use each move once; if you try to use the same move again, he’ll counter it. There are 12 different ways to attack Mr. Freeze, and you need to successfully land 5 hits to defeat him on Normal mode, 8 on Hard mode, and 9 times on New Game+.
To beat this boss, you truly must master Batman’s moves and skills. Consequently, many players have found themselves stuck here, not knowing what to do next. This can be incredibly frustrating for gamers; however, it is also a boss designed creatively and uniquely, requiring players to fully understand Batman’s capabilities to proceed.
Anubis (Zone Of The Enders) – Wait for help to arrive
Zone of the Enders is a linear game with a rather short runtime, but the final boss Anubis is quite tricky. Despite the preceding cutscene making it clear that it possesses infinite power and that you are no match for it, you will still want to rush in for a showdown to see who will emerge victorious.
But in reality, you’re not ready for this fight. Right from the start of the battle, Anubis teleports around, dodging every attack you can think of. Conversely, just one hit from it will likely send you to your doom.
At higher difficulty levels, Anubis will relentlessly attack you, while the solution to this dilemma is to “stall” long enough for Elena to appear and rescue you. Of course, you would never expect this to happen, and it feels quite anticlimactic. Therefore, in the second installment, the developers allowed players to face Anubis one-on-one without any unexpected elements added.
Source: What Culture, translated by GVN360