The final boss is often the most climactic part of any video game.The game hypes you up for the final confrontation by hyping up the fight and setting up expectations that’ll pay off when you ultimatelyclaim victory.
But some games do entirely away with that.You can ignore all theside questsand main missions and go straight to the big bossto beat the game, though that might be a littleunderwhelmingfor a first playthrough.
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These challenges were rightly left to the end.
Of course, that’s going to be almost impossible for any would-be challenger unless they lock in or already know how the final fight works.Still, it’s an interesting experience to try and fight the final boss before you play the game in earnest.
This list covers 10 great games where you are free to challenge the big bad guy the second the controls are handed to you. Whether you should or not is a different story.
10Crackdown 3
Climb The Tower At Its Full Force
Crackdown 3
The main antagonistic force ofCrackdown 3is the evil corporation TerraNova, which is led by the cartoonishly evil Elizabeth Niemand, who looks down on the city of New Providence atop her gaudy tower that you can see from every point on the map. The TerraNova tower is heavily guarded, from turrets to soldiers to toxic gas that halt your progress.
The game expects you to explore the city of New Providence and shut down each branch of TerraNova to disable the tower’s defenses while upgrading your abilities and weapons. Reasonable, right? Exceptnothing is stopping you from reaching the top of the tower at level one except for your own skill.
Because of the way traversal works inCrackdown 3and the fact that the tower has scalable ledges, you can technically reach the top of the TerraNova tower and fight Niemand straight away, though beating her is another question.
9Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Impossible? No. Insanely Difficult? Yes.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
The main reason you travel throughout the overworld ofYooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lairis tosave the members of the Royal Beettalion Guard so that you may have extra protection for the final battle to come, as it is the ultimate test of your endurance. Well, the puns are also a test of your patience.
At the beginning of the game, you enter the titular Impossible Lair and fight the evil capitalist bee Capital B,but there’s a reason “Impossible” is in the title of the game: the final battle is a gauntlet of boss fightsagainst Capital B along withinsanely difficult platforming sectionsinterspersed between the fights.
Between those fights, you have to navigate his labyrinthine lair,which is filled with enemies and traps, with tight maneuvers that would make your palms sweat.
To make things even more difficult, there arenext to no checkpoints throughout the encounter.Because you barely have any protection at the start of the game,normal players are destined to lose the battle and start their true journey there.
But the talented few can zip through every obstacle with no problem, and beat Capital B with less than half an hour. Just watch the developers react to a16-minute speedrunof the game.
8Chrono Trigger
The Devs Are Proud Of You
Chrono Trigger
InChrono Trigger, you’re able to challenge the final boss, Lavos, at any point of the story, thoughhe is almost impossible to beat at the start of your journey.
Most of the listed games can be beaten early with the right skills and equipment, but when it comes to turn-basedtactical JRPGs, it’s practically impossible to beat a game early unless the developers let you or you find the right cheat/exploit.
Chrono Triggeris one of these games, as it’simpossible to beat the final boss at the very beginning.Still, it is possible to beat the final boss earlier than intended.
By beating Lavos prematurely, you’re able to unlock one of many good endings,most notablythe Programmer Ending,where you can talk to the developers and even the late Akira Toriyama.
To earn the Programmer’s Ending,players will have to either beat Lavos at the Ocean Palace, which is considered the harder method because you’re not supposed to win, or beat him at the start of a New Game+, where you have better gear and levels, though you still have limited options and asmaller party.
7Mega Man X5
Time To Put Down Sigma
Mega Man X5
It’s been a longstandingMega Mantraditionto include aStage Select where you choose which stage to tackle and which boss to fight at any point, andMega Man X5is no exception. The only difference is that now you get to play as either X or Zero.
This time,Mega Man X5lets you dictate the difficulty of the game.
While you’re able to challenge any of the many bosses in the game to gain new abilities and power-ups, you can decide when to take the fight directly to Sigma at any time, though that might be significantly harder.
AnyMega Manfan and speedrunner would revel in the challenge of a no-damage run.
6Morrowind
Welcome, Moon-And-Star
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Morrowindis a massive open-world RPG that became a benchmark for the range of freedom that the player can have to explore the world and discover new quests, while the main storyline can be tackled at any point.
Thefinal bossofMorrowindis Dagoth Ur,a delusional wannabe-godwho seeks to establish a Dunmer ethnostateand recreate reality according to his image through the use of a mechanical titan powered by a god’s heart. He’s absolutelyabhorrent but has a slight charmthat we can’t help but enjoy.
From the start of the game, you know where he is:underneath the Red Mountain, where he’s slowly accumulating power.
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Notoriously hellish and oh-so annoying.
While you can follow the story and complete the main story quests to increase your power and obtain some useful gear,you can also go straight to the Red Mountain and take the fight to Dagoth Ur.
Unfortunately,Dagoth Ur is invincible, and his source of power is the Heart of Lorkhan, which can only be destroyed with the Dwemer tools Sunder and Keening.
5Soul Sacrifice
Relive The Past
Soul Sacrifice
InSoul Sacrifice,you play as an innocent bystander enslaved by the cruel and powerful sorcerer Magusar. During your imprisonment awaiting to be sacrificed, a talking book called Libromhelps you by letting you relive memories of past battles to gain experience.
Of course, you may choose to undergo these Phantom Quests to become more powerful and to defeat Magusar and put a stop to his tyranny,but you can also talk to Librom and tell him you want to fight Magusar before completing all the main stories.
There are two endings if you play through the game normally, whereyou can either spare or sacrifice Magusar.If you manage to beat Magusar before completing all the story quests, then you’ll unlock a third ending where you don’t get to choose either option.
The problem is thatthe third ending is probably not worth the effort since all you get is an anticlimactic credit rolland your character musing about the future of the world.
4Devil May Cry 5
Deadweight No Longer
Devil May Cry 5
At the beginning ofDevil May Cry 5,you play as Devil Hunter Nero, who climbs the demon tree Qliphoth to reclaim his left armafter the demon Urizen took it from him to fuel his conquest for more power.
Urizen, through some technical andpredictable plot twists, is the final boss of the game, and you get to fight him from the jump. However,you’re meant to lose this boss fightbecause all you have is one arm and your basic attacks and abilities.
Throughout the boss fight, Urizen sits idly on his throne, dishing out attacks as youhack and slashhelplessly against his crystalline shield.
Although the crystal blocks your attacks against the demon, it has a health bar, soif you manage to break the crystal, Urizen will be vulnerable, and you can deal some serious damage to himuntil the crystal recovers.
While you’re meant to lose this fight,it is entirely possible to win against Urizen prematurely, giving you a half-assedjoke ending.You can also get the same ending if you beat him in your rematch later in the game.
3NieR: Automata
Making Yoko Taro Proud
NieR: Automata
After several playthroughs, not even I knew about this secret. InNieR: Automata, which is easily one of thebest hack-and-slash gamesever made,there’s a secret code that lets you bypass the entire gameall the way to the post-credits and final ending.
There are a total of five main endings toNieR: Automata, each requiring a playthrough of the story to achieve. However, with this secret code,you may skip pastEnding Eand unlock Chapter Select and Debug Mode,where you have complete freedom to mess around in the game.
This secret, which was discovered by Lance McDonald,took more than three years to find after the release of the game.According to him,this secret code can only be used right after the prologue boss fight against Marx,and you need to stand right in the middle between two conspicuous barrels to activate the code.
If you’re curious about thecheat code,Lance providedthe following instructions in his video: While holding R2, press Up, Down, up, Right, Left, Square, Circle, Triangle, and Cross.This creates a pattern that resembles the logo ofPlatinumGames.
2Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Straight To Ganon
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
As one of the best open-world games in recent memory,Breath of the Wildgives you complete freedom to craft your own narrative. Whether you want to follow the main story, get distracted by the hundreds of side quests and collectibles, or head straight to Hyrule Castle and slap Calamity Ganon with a tree branch,the choice is yours.
But to even begin your free-roam adventure,you must first completethe gorgeous Great Plateauprologue section, where you can earn your paraglider and unique Sheikah Slate abilities.Without those, you won’t be able to beat the game unless you use exploits or glitches.
The journey toHyrule Castleand Calamity Ganon is tough, even if you’re well-prepared.Some have taken to the ultimate challenge by heading straight to Ganon right after the Great Plateau section.
Much likeMetal Gear’sNaked Snake,these challengers are equipped with nothing but their skills and knowledge of how to navigate the castle,procuring upgrades and gear on-site.
1Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
A True Test Of Endurance
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
While this may seem like a two-in-one becauseTears of the Kingdomis a direct sequel toBreath of the Wild,the execution of the open-world and final battle is quite different and significantly harder.
On your quest todestroy Ganondorf, the game expects you to follow the main story and complete story missions to gather not just equipment and abilities but alsoallies who will accompany you during the final battle.These allies will hold off the army and bypass any boss fights you’ve fought previously.
Without your allies,you’re forced toface the Demon King’s army all by yourself,all the while facing the many bosses that you would’ve fought if you had played the game normally.
But that’s not all.Fighting Ganondorf himselfis an incredibly tough challenge even when you’re prepared as he hasthree phasesbefore you can beat him,so it takes aspecial kind of skillto beat him without the necessary equipment and upgrades.
