@@Hilversumbornalright, the only not dumb *Videogame* harem protagonist... At least this will work until 100girlfriends get a dating sim where we have to be the ideal boyfriend.
@@Mr_Zeniel I mean, those tend to be dumb too, but either they have high dumb luck or the world is lowered to his level of stupidity, making people forgive the protag for things that people would punch him for at the very least.
"still better than the one in 14. YECK." I hope they're referring to the character and not the idea, because the fight against Eledibus was one of the better parts of Shadowbringers
I mean, I dont think that statement fits Elidibus's character either since that patch and fight made him a fan favorite, considered up there with Emet as one of the best villains in the game.
3 is a fan favorite in the fandom,she gets all the recognition she deserves already As for agent 4…well let’s just say she needs more than just recognition at this point
@@cameroncooper5941 actually I was tired of Agent 3 being ignored on so many of Josh's bosses lists that it was about time that she finally made an appearance.
Well technically Agent 3 could be a guy too because custom player character and all that. From what I can tell though, the vast majority prefer the girl design, so it sorta feels like the "canon" one even though the canon one is still whatever the player wants them to be.
@@jacobweatherford4696 i dunno about that, Ash's greatest strength is his unpredictable nature that can overcome brute force. Though he's got some powerhouses of destruction himself, such as his transforming Greninja and his Kaio-Ken Infernape. Lucario's a powerhouse too with or without it's mega form due to Ash's strong Aura too.
@@jacobweatherford4696 did he do this in masters or is this coming from Origins? I mean if were talking masters only, Ash's sirfetch'd managed a draw with a solgaleo, and considering that's one of his more recent pokemon that's one heck of a feet. Going by the anime Ash and Pikachu complete eradicated The guardian of alola and knocked out Tapu-Koko at the same time with the sheer destructive power of their Z-move. But at the end of the day continuing this discussion is abit pointless since if they do end up fighting we have no call in who wins, no matter what they've done.
Basically: 1) You play as Character A in Game 1 2) Game 2 comes out 3) You play as Character B in Game 2 4) You meet Character A while playing as Character B, they're now a boss fight 5) There you go, a Player Boss Examples that I believe will be on the list: Trainer Red, Agent 3 (most definitely a given for being the thumbnail character), and Kazuma Kiryu. Edit: All three appeared, and Red was number 1, nice
@@Ladywizard He always does that, features an example in the transition between entries that is not on the list. The only exception I know was "Characters Hated that was Meant to be Loved" where the transition showed DMC Reboot Dante, who was on the list
My honorable mentions: -Nioh 2 = William Adams, which is also a reveal that Nioh 2 is both a prequel and a sequel! -Tales of series = Cameo battles, Now you know how it feels to fight a Tales party!
Not gonna lie i kinda wish i had played xillia before Berseria then i would have known who Jude, Mila etc were. Now that i do, i don't remember the fight from Berseria.
I like how Tales of Xillia 2, the one with weird time shenanigans plot, has a secret ending where if you beat the hard tournament where you fight a party of previous "Tales of" protags, you can just tell them that a little girl was kidnapped* and they will just... go save her and beat the final bosses for you. This is especially funny considering whatever plot stuff is going on with regards to the final boss fight and possible endings. *been a while since I played the game so forget the exact details of the plot/ending... but also any story that has time shenanigans be a major plot point will tend to have some level of weirdness, so in a way the cameo ending is the best ending because it just... skips all those shenanigans.
*Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3* - Every single Tales protagonist until that point. Every. Single. One. You fight all of them in the arena after their tales (heh) had ended. Some villains and final bosses even show up, meaning the Descender (protagonist) just waltzed up to the arena (or Brownie Mine depths in the case of Dhaos and Yggdrasil), squared up with several world destroyers and then caved their faces in just for shits and giggles. If they thought Ludger was an OP protagonist, he better pray to whatever supreme deity in the Tales series that he doesn't caught by the Descender in a dark alley because he's not coming out of that fight in anything but a body bag.
speaking of battles. theres also a crossover game of Ys and sora no kiseki which they fight each other on Ys mechanics. its really cool. and you can fight against adol
It’s a really great series And it has a lot of fascinating lore and characters The squid sisters are best girls, Big man is my spirit animal, Dj Octavio is a dictator but he’s a dictator with presentation, Pearl is a skrunkly queen, Marina reminds me of Mariah Carey or Alicia Keys, Captain Cuttlefish is one of those people from the 40’s who don’t know how to adjust to modern times. There’s also weapons where you can play with a katana, an umbrella, and a bucket. Yet it works because the world of Splatoon is so wacky and fun. There’s also a mode where you collect eggs for a capitalist overlord (hope that doesn’t affect the story) and a story mode that is not like the Mario games where most of them are the same. So in conclusion, I highly recommend this game if you want a shooter game without the blood and gore.
@@UltimateDespairado I'm not sure if dictator is the right word to describe Octavio. At the very least, he's not as evil as that word would imply. That whole thing about him mind-controlling the other Octarians is a huge misconception; Octolings like Marina and Agent 8 don't really dislike him, based on Agent 8's mem cake about him, Marina's dialogue about him in Side Order, and the fact that she had an Octavio sticker on her laptop in Octo Expansion. They wanted to escape to Inking Society due to the inherent oppression of life inside the Octarian domes, not because Octavio treated them badly. Sorry, I just wanted to correct the misconception of Octavio mind-controlling people from the video, and this seemed like a good place to do it.
@@C_Arson honestly I don’t know the best word to describe him That’s why I describe Octavio as a dictator And yes I do know that Octavio doesn’t mind-control the Octarian race (unless we’re talking about propaganda)
Shoutout to Bowser in Bowser’s Inside Story. You work together with him (despite him not knowing until the end) to make him note powerful, including getting special moves for him while you as the player control him, and he USES them on you when you fight him once halfway through the game’s story. And if you skipped some by accident, like the Shy Guy ball, he doesn’t have it! Great attention to detail. And then again in the Gauntlet, where as Bowser X, he has even MORE moves that YOU as the PLAYER helped him get, INCLUDING him turning massive and putting you through one of the most insane dodge gauntlets in the franchise.
Okay, relegating the Demi Fiend to just being the number transition and not even mentioning him is just disrespectful to the highest degree. His fight in Shin Megami Tensei V is absolutely LEGENDARY.
19:34 "I'll save Aqua." "How?" "By beating the crap out of her." "Understandable." "How did you save me?" "Sora beat the crap out of you." "Makes perfect sense."
Josh ain't lying about how hard Rex and Shulk are to fight, if anything he's underselling it. Rex hits like an absolute truck and has high crit damage to boot so once he starts going he can tear you apart, and because Shulk is a defender class, his job is to constantly force your aggro away to him, so you have difficulty stopping rex from mulching you. and your having to do this with only a healer and a tank, so your damage is pathetic in comparison.
5:22 Wait wait wait! Whaaaaat the hecks wrong with FF14s use of the Warrior of Light???? It was JUST SO phenomenally well done!? Elidibus and the Ascians truly see us as the villains of their story. All they are trying to do in their perspective is restore their distorted world, just like any RPG hero would do, and we genuinely fill that role as their villains as we become the Warriors of Darkness on that shard and put to waste all their carefully laid plans to restore their world. That Elidibus would take on everyones genuine heartfelt desire to protect and cherish their world, from shards across the rift no less, he forms the EMBODIMENT of those desires, THEE original Warrior of Light, with an incredible battle and track to boot. Hes got his power boost! Hes going to win and do his duty! HE DOES BEAT US!! And then... a shade of an old foe steps in, we get our own second phase, we're the ones with alot of nerve being alive?? We come back, and we win. We slay the hero, our version of our torn world is saved sure for a spell, but the last remnants of the Unsundered Ascians are gone, and their dreams along with it. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE IT??
I’m starting to notice a pattern with all these countdown makers. Some of them have niche topics for their countdowns. Oscar Duarte has weapons, PBG has Zelda, Josh has bosses and Will has a weekly upload schedule.
Is it bad if people have a specific genre they want to talk about? Personally I’d rather watch a video where someone is passionate about the topic rather than someone doing a video because they were forced to do it
@@witecatj6007 You survived a turn the first time you met him? I didn't even have time to see a turn because I had one imunity equiped and got Gaia Rage before the fight even started! You were lucky!
I'm not sure if it would qualify for the list, but I want to give credit to the Civil Trial in Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice. For one, it's Phoenix Wright. The guy you've played as in 4/5 mainline games before and some cases in SoJ. You know that he's only ever lost once in his career and always beat the odds no matter what. It also gives some interesting perspective about what Phoenix is like from the outside. When we play as him, we can tell when he's bluffing through his inner thoughts, but from the outside, it almost seems like he's always a few steps ahead and actually pretty capable. As Josh pointed out in his Spirit of Justice review, every blow to Phoenix's case felt satisfying, making you feel the joy and glee all the prosecutors in the past get from picking on him. And as Wambu would add in that same review, there's also a sense of conflict from seeing Apollo and Phoenix, two characters who have worked together and have become allies duke it out in court. I'll grant that the Civil Trial against Phoenix may not be as great as it could be, if only because, again, it's Phoenix Wright. You know that he didn't REALLY become evil or whatever, and there's some good reason why he's doing this. That said, I'd say the actual confrontation against him still holds some weight.
I'd also note the specific moment of when Phoenix pulls out his signature turnabout. I don't remember it exactly, but from what I can recall, Apollo and Athena are talking to each other like, "We have to got him now, the trail is over!" and pan to Phoenix with his hands in his head, the classic, "What do I do?" pose. Then he gets up, and just, in classic Phoenix Wright fashion, presents a stupid argument that works JUST ENOUGH to buy him more time to think of a way out of his situation. I love it so much, because tome, that nails down the feeling of, "Oh, THIS is how the prosecution feels going against Phoenix." It's the best.
While it doesn’t apply to the civil case, that whole “he seems like he’s two steps ahead at all times when you’re not in his head to know he’s bluffing” effect is how he felt as a mentor figure back in Apollo Justice. Oddly in some of the time you WERE playing as him, too…namely the jumping back and forth between points in time, not when you play him for his last trial. We’ve been in his head long enough to know he just barely has it together most of the time, but to an outsider, he comes off a lot smarter and more calculating than he really is.
@@isenokami7810 I never thought about it like that, but you're right. All he needs to do is stay silent, internally scream for a moment, and just say something off the cuff and it gives people pause.
I know its probably way too recent to make the list but gotta mention the recently added extra fights in Octopath Traveler 2 where you fight the original 8 Travelers from the first game. They're split into the Noble and Rogue path action teams but even going 4v4 does not change how BRUTAL the fights are. Each traveler has their own mechanics that can easily bring ruin on you, and thats BEFORE learning they can do team attacks to inflict even more suffering. AND ON TOP OF THAT if you get one weak enough they'll change jobs which adds even MORE problems like RUNELORD TRESSA GIVING HER SIDE PHYSICAL DODGE
Honorable Mentions: *Old Monk - Demon's Souls -This one's an interesting case. You can actually be summoned from outside the boss arena and become the boss yourself. And the whole fight basically boils down to a PvP-style battle. *William - Nioh 2 -This fight only ends when he hits half health, but it's the prelude to the team-up before the final boss. *Kessler - Infamous -Yeah, Kessler is an alternate future version of Cole. And you fight yourself at your most powerful. *Pit's Body - Kid Icarus Uprising -You fight this hollow shell as Pit, who is "borrowing" Magnus' body to do it.
I had this idea similar called Top Ten Protagonist Bosses where the player fought the previous main character or themselves like Red from Pokémon, Omori from Omori and Peter Parker from Marvel’s Spiderman 2 PS5
Yeah, that took me by surprise too. Subjectivity aside, the context of 14’s WoL battle is… way different, but “To The Edge” is by far my favorite Trial song so far. The song also hits different knowing what Soken endured during its composition.
I do admit that caught me off guard as well, but I would like to hear his reasoning. It's don't see that often people not like Shadowbringer's Warrior of Light (Full title because spoilers if I said the real name), mostly because the context of "To The Edge" and stuff, but if her ever give his reason, I'm sure it's a solid one.
I also really liked that fight, so I'm surprised by Josh's take on it. The only complain I have about it, is how little screentime Elidibus as one of the crucial Ascians was given once he started taking direct actions, instead of scheming behind the scenes. He appears as Ardbert somewhere around Patch 5.1 or 5.2, and then it's all over halfway through the Patch 5.3. Lahabrea and Emet-Selch direct presence were way longer in comparison.
Speaking of returning player avatars, The Old Republic brought back the player-created protagonist of Kotor 1 for several of its plotlines. First you free him from the Maelstrom Prison... then you have to stop him from re-activating an ancient Forge and committing genocide on the Empire. *Then* there's an entire expansion dedicated to stopping him and his followers across various factions and creeds, all of whom have been maintaining faith in him for centuries after his disappearance. The Galaxy Far Far Away is full of badass characters, but only Revan earned that kind of following.
One instance that's somewhat fresh in my mind comes from Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice. Personally, I'm not even sure if he counts as a boss, but it's none other than Phoenix Wright himself. Apollo and Athena have to face him from opposite sides of the courtroom, knowing exactly how he operates in court, and actually surpassing him.
Number one being Red feels really cliche. Like yeah, I get it, obvious things are obvious for a reason, but come on, you can't have Demi-Fiend as the bumper and not even put him as an honorable mention! Demi-Fiend as a boss is actually a really interesting case. In Digital Devil Saga, that's all he was, a surprise boss to utterly body the party out of nowhere, a true test of player skill and luck that only the most insane and insanely well-prepared could hope to pass. But in the DLC of SMT V, there's a lot more going on. You play as what is called a "Nahobino", which, to HEAVILY summarize, is the pure godly form of a demon who is capable of claiming the throne of God (specifically a fusion between a demon and a human possessing the lost Knowledge of said demon after YHVH ripped it from all his peers to reduce them to mere demons who couldn't challenge him for the throne). The final boss of the DLC is the Demi-Fiend of course, but to get the privilege of fighting him, you have to walk the same path he did, killing each of the Fiends one by one and claiming their Menorahs, just like in Nocturne. When you face him, he's easily the hardest boss in the game of course, and he has some of the best demons possible, especially his trusty friend the Super Pixie. When it becomes really interesting however is when you look at it in context of the true ending. In the true ending of the game, you go through the neutral route, but if you've fought Shiva as well as performing some other prerequisites, you can fight Lucifer in an extended battle compared to the other routes. Once you defeat him in his transcended form, you prove yourself worthy in his eyes, and you take the throne, creating your new world. Two worlds, actually: a world for humans, and a separate world for demons. Thus finally ending the cycle of demons destroying the world of humans, allowing humans to live by their own power and merit, freed from demonkind's meddling with their fates. Something Lucifer also wanted for the Demi-Fiend, for a human to gain immense power and break the cycle of creation and destruction, albeit in that case it was by killing God. And that's when it hits you. The Nahobino's fight with the Demi-Fiend isn't just a battle of protagonists. You've gone through the same journey the Demi-Fiend did, even gaining power in the same way (you can augment your resistances and attacks with the essences of demons, rather than with Magatama, but it's a similar principle), but whereas the Demi-Fiend failed to end the cycle (presumably, the ending cuts before we see what happens in their war against God), the Nahobino succeeds. Hell, you even have your own Pixie-esque sidekick in the form of Amanozako, whom you also meet very early on in your journey and who can eventually join your party in super powered-up form just like the Super-Pixie! You aren't just another protagonist, you're the true form of what the Demi-Fiend was SUPPOSED to be. You're his _replacement._ That said, great video as always, can't wait for Kirby Month!
Honorable mention : Warcraft III Frozen Throne How did you enjoy playing the Blood Elf campaign ? Guess who's showing up at the last mission, all decked out and max level while you're depowered ? Good luck !
An obscure Player Boss that left a impression on me due to the tragic story behind them, the challenge, and their boss theme being a remix of the first game encounter theme is: the Love Nightmare from Mary Skelter 2.
@@ya-kiri794 Death End re;Quest is awesome, I love the aesthetics Compile Heart just generally kinda pops off with aesthetics and worldbuilding and such
You know Josh, your really gonna need to explain that "Still better then 14's" comment given that both the fight and the character are among some of the most well liked in the entire game, and almost everyone that has played 14 considers that to be one of the best fights in the game, and how it easily blows the Stranger of Paradise fight out of the water.
I understand why Josh has been using cartoon frames of himself instead of him in live action, with him being a father and all, but a part of me misses when he would rant or make jokes in live action. Hope we can see him in the near future
I think give it a few years. So maybe he can go show him on live action to his kids once they matured. At this point, cartoon frame can be a better sell for infants or kids around Josh's children's age.
Shoutout to Borderlands 3 where, in Krieg’s DLC, you fight Lilith. She’s hard as hell and a really fun fight. Yeah sure it’s an imaginary form, but cmon, it’s close enough.
Tbh with Rean in CS4, the whole series had so many ridiculously hard fights that I don't recall finding Rean difficult at all. One of the hardest fights I found were the 2 dogs in the sewers in CS1. It was the "You need to know the system now..." fight as the ones before that you could breeze through. By the Rean fight in CS4, you knew your characters capabilities and you knew how to break the system. So you just cheese it and he went down fast.
Huge Eternal Sonata spoilers ahead: I doubt he's on the list, but I'd love to see Frederic Chopin at some point. While he doesn't do much in the game's story after the early parts, knowing the plot revolves around him and his upcoming death makes the final fight really tragic, albeit very fun. He becomes the final boss of the story, and since the player has been guiding him primarily, the player is the one to decide how the game ends.
Some of a few I can think of: - Kingdom Hearts 2 (Final Mix): In the final world when Roxas confronts Sora, now it's an actual boss battle instead of a cutscene cinematic. - Drakengard 2: Caim, protagonist from the first game, is fought as a boss halfway through.
Yeah, but mechanically, its just a team of the most commonly used Pokemon jacked up to an extreme level. The rest of the top five have so much more going for them when it comes to callbacks, references and mechanical nuances that make them feel like characters built up over multiple games. That's what he has to compete with. Red is a perfectly fine boss, but he doesn't even touch the payoff that a lot of these bosses are able to pull off just by being built up consistently, over a entire game series.
Oh yeah, I remember you asking this one on Twitter/X. Might as well give the same opinions I gave there. If Red isn’t here. I will be thoroughly suprised. Chuck from Dead rising 2: off the record is interesting since he takes the place of one of the bosses from the original DR2. It’s a bit sad since I do like Chuck. Byleth from 3 Hopes is terrifying at first but isn’t too bad. You play as Roxas in 358/2 and the beginning of KH2 so I think he should be included. And I’ve heard the guy from Prototype is the main villain of the sequel so I assume there’s a cool boss fight to go with it.
I really wished Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice appeared here, at least as an honourable mention. It really helped show that Apollo was ready to become a lawyer on his own
Ironically part of the build up with Rean is that you got a surprise in being able to control him just before this. He was depicted throughout from the start of the 3rd game to now for literally 10+ hours of story as the target to be rescued, the damsel in distress that has been captured and is slowly losing his mind.....but just as you get to the base in a surprise twist Rean is released by Celine and control swaps to him. You get to control him in perma-Ogre state as he rips his way through the base with only a sole ally.....and he is absolutely carrying her and solo wrecking every fight in his path. To this point in the games, you have never been in a situation where you are the absolute power, you always play as a team of many or as scripted boss fights. This section brutally changes this, as Celine is literally just spectating Rean wrecking everything in his path with his rage. You can feel just how dangerous he is right now......and then the students finally catch up and are opposed to him.....oh dear twice over.....
10 - RIP Akira Toriyama. He’ll be missed. 9 - The Warrior of Light is a unexpected surprise in Final Fantasy Origins. Albeit given that the game is supposed to be a retelling of Final Fantasy I. 8 - No wonder Future Redeemed is the best DLC of all the Xenoblade games. It explains a lot of things in XC3... Besides some things. 7 - Oh yeah! Dante FTW! 6 - Kiryu as well. 5 - So far Trails Series has the biggest lore of the JRPG games... It’s trying to be Kingdom Hearts, but without Disney things. 4 - Splatoon? Never heard of it. 3 - Kingdom Hearts? In this list!? Something that I expected... Talk about a festival of deep-lore gaming. 2 - Am I supposed to be happy with FromSoftware’s existence? Because I wish to call the studio out for the ridiculously difficult games. 1 - Called it!
My honourable mention is the Nameless Shade in Persona 3 The Answer. While he's more a reflection, using your party's Persona's against you, he does have his Wild Card and his own tricks, which you've both used ad gotten to play with as a new Wild Card holder.
My inner monolog between agent 8 and agent 3 at the end Agent 3: "I have hone these skills for years, fighting many foes defeating me is a testament to the skill you now possess. Agent 8: "Dude you cheat like crazy."
I can name one, but it's from a fan game. It's called "Phobia: The Awakening" a FNAF fan game. On night 5, the main character, Mark, gets captured by the animatronics, and gets stuffed into a suit, and on night 6, we play as someone else as we deal with Mark, who's become aggressive after being forced into the mask
Insane they use Demi fiend in every transition but don’t put him on the last. Bro had a whole quest line getting gassed up and then became like the hardest boss in smt
How are you not going to mention Prototype 2 on a list like this? The player character of the first game becomes one of the main villains of the second game.
Josh-Rex went from fantasy dumpster diver to only intelligent harem protagonist. Me-Rex meet Rentarou the greatest and most intelligent harem protagonist to have every live so don't feel bad for second place to him
Ah... it seems a reader of 100 Girlfriends came in to this video to (Proudly) talked about the main character of the manga. I'm not complaining about that though.
(spoilers for Blaster Master Zero 3) Honestly, Kane Gardner/Jason Frudnick would’ve fit so well on this list. Kane was the original character of the Famicom MetaFight, and fighting him with all the equipment from the original Famicom and NES game is Really challenging and an amazing call back While Jason Frudnick as the final boss (and in a way a Super Boss) utilizes every equipment you picked up throughout the adventure and even utilizing his best hard hitting attacks It’s pretty meta, using the localized version of a character against it’s original predecessor, all while they use their respective weapons and tools against you WHILE fighting with a remixed version of the original Boss Themes from the NES/Famicom is really, REALLY spectacular
With the Soul of Cinder, it actually has four forms with the fourth being the most terrifying. Greatsword: pure martial combat Staff: casting misses and kamehameha Spear: Mix of martial and miracles Shortsword: mix of martial and pyromancy, but the most terrifying part of this form is that he can parry YOU.
I hope a different type of Player Bosses countdown pops up later, one about player characters you played as earlier and sometimes even right after in the game, such as Bowser in Bowser’s Inside Story.
Also, here’s one boss countdown that I suggest: Top 10 Wake Up Call Bosses The “Wake Up Call” boss is the boss that forces you to truly adapt to the game’s play style. It’s not the same as the tutorial boss, as the tutorial boss helps you assure that you’re in your comfort zone. The wake up call boss brings you straight out of that comfort zone and tests you to see if you’re REALLY ready for what’s to come. It’s not a boss you can just beat with brute force alone. Most of the time, at least. Some good examples that I can think of are Blade Wolf from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Father Gascoigne from Bloodborne. LQ-84i, also known as Blade Wolf, is there to humble you after you’ve fought the Metal Gear RAY (although, Sam technically is the one who humbles you, but that’s beside the point). With RAY, you’re just putting the basics to the test. With Wolf, you’re forced to learn how to parry at the right moment. RAY is a big, mechanical behemoth that you can climb on and slash apart, Wolf is more agile and closer to your size (and the size of most of the other bosses in the game). Thus, keeping up with Wolf is a lot easier said than done for most new players. Father Gascoigne is there to show you that you won’t just be fighting beasts (or disgruntled Br*ts). Unlike other enemies up to this point (including the Cleric Beast boss that you may or may not have fought first), Gascoigne is at your level (and paradoxically enough, above it as well) in more ways than one. Like you, he’s a hunter, he’s fast, he may or may not use the same tools you’re using at this point, and he can swap his weapon modes at a dime. In his second (technically third?) phase, (SPOILERS FOR BLOODBORNE) he turns into a beast, but he still retains his speed, and he only becomes more aggressive and dangerous. This is your first clue that there’s more to the beasts in Bloodborne than what meets the eye.
For the Xenoverse 1 CAC, you actually get to fight them at their full power if you played through the Conton City Tournament, where the XV1 Protag will transform depending on what race they are (Ssj2 for Saiyans, Golden for Friezas and Potential Unleashed for the rest of the races)
Josh, I hope you realize that with the tease of the upcoming future, you are hereby obligate to collab with a certain dude for at least one entry/list. Also thank you for bringing up Xenoblade again (and Splatoon).
I highly doubt this one will be on here, but…spoilers for Momodora: In the postgame of Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, you, playing as Momo, have the opportunity to spar with Isadora, who was playable in I and III, as well as being a helpful NPC in this game. And Dora won’t make it easy for you!
When first saw this I was excited. Hearing Rean on the list of course is my absolute favorite! Because yeah there is **A LOT** of buildup to this fight! I mean the whole first act is retrieval and trying to find him! Plus there's nothing like going at it while you got the main theme playing. Fun fact the lyrics of theme translated heavily relate to Rean's situation at the start of 4.
Definitely caught me by surprise with the Warrior of Light take on Shadowbringers. A take I do strongly disagree with, but I'd be intrigued to hear your reasoning on that.
Red from pokemon. Akuma from street fighter. King dedede as he can be played in later games. Meta knight too. Orson from Fe sacred stones. Berrus whis from the later DBZ games or freeza and his brother who have broken sets. Vegeta from DBZ kakarot. Unicorn overlord every recruitable ally that was controlled. Paper Mario ttyd your allies and you when dooplis comes.
You want to know what the funny thing about the Soul of Cinder is? Solaire is part of it as well! In his world, he linked the first flame. He found his sun.
From my opinion the best "Player boss" is Kain /Raziel from the "Nosgoth franchise". In the first Soul Reaver, you fight twice against Kain (the protagonist of the Blood omen 1 and 2 games) and in Defiance you have a double "Player boss fight" One as Kain against Raziel, and after that ona as Raziel againts Kain
Honestly while I was disappointed that Alex Mercer from the Prototype series didn’t get on the list, let alone an honourable mention, after a few minutes of thinking, I’m starting to maybe understand why that could be the case: - his turn to villainy happens in a tie-in comic and the reasoning is “debatable” depending on who you ask - he’s barely around during the first and second acts of the sequel, only appearing personally during the prologue and in 4 cutscenes (not counting web of intrigue moments) before we enter the Red Zone/Manhattan in the third act where he’s the most active in the plot. Thus there’s not much of a connection between Mercer & the new player character James Heller outside of the latter wanting revenge against the former. - the boss battle itself only has Mercer use a fraction of the powers we’ve previously used as him during the first game. Only using three powers in stages (Blade, Whiplash & Hammerfists) and one of his charged attacks (the Hammerfist’s charge being to send spikes underground to a target) while everything else he does is either QTE moments or just countering the player if they’re using the same power he’s using (meaning we can just stick with Claws & Tendrils for the whole fight since he doesn’t use those). No devastators outside of Heller using his to counter swarms of infected crows (a QTE), no armoured form, no mobility or shields, nothing else. Hell, even his death scene is little more than another QTE. If Josh sees this and wants to correct me or clarify his reasonings that’s okay, just need to learn to temper my expectations whenever he posts another Twitter post asking for names to use for his next top ten subject.
I'm stoked. Sanitized!Agent 3 gave me some trouble initially, but I've yet to meet the requirements for Inner Agent 3 (which I understand to be a lot trickier, since this is what Agent 8 sees them as). Wonder where they'll be on the list.
Seeing your footage of the Warrior of Light battle from Stranger of Paradise, I noticed something which I think helps even more with making it a "Player Boss". He is using a LOT of his attacks and animations from the Dissidia games, where he was one of the playable characters. Interesting how it's a fighting game spinoff series that marks the playability of that particular design/version of the OG WoL.
8:50 so here's the thing. On dmd difficulty, he has access to his entire _arsenal_ This includes gilgamesh, lucifer and most importantly _pandora_ Combine that with the fact if you try shooting him in the air he will counter with ebony/ivory or air trick for charge shots, your only option is to do the one thing dante cannot counter: your buster arm. He cannot stop a pull and buster, and try as he might with royal guard or the qte... a quick dt pop will _overpower him_ He is the one fight in dmd that has a completely different strat and i gotta say... i do appreciate it
Woo! Kirby Month is next! I was actually hoping for that one when I saw it on the wheel! Also a bit of a weird coincidence that next month is my birthday.
28:28: So... A Kirby month......is there a possible Antdude crossover I potentially see?? ( being the gaming sphere's "Kirby guy" is his whole shtick after all)
Honestly glad to see how much your loving and milking Trails, but for the same reasons I love that, I have to nope out of its segment. It’s an amazing RPG series, but also one I really need to catch up on-at least I’m actually doing so at the moment-and really Trails segments are gonna be spoilers more likely than not. For the record for anyone reading this, my experience has been sporadic. Technically started with Sky FC-thanks, Linkara-but I have more experience with Cold Steel, with CS1 being the only game so far I’ve finished and half of CS2 under my belt. Was half of Sky FC too, but again, seriously working my way through the series now, current file’s made it to Grancel this time and in too deep to stop now.
I laughed so hard, when he called Rex the only not dumb harem protagonist
I disagree with that notion, cause the best harem protagonist is Rentaro Aijo
@@Hilversumborn Yep-
@@Hilversumbornalright, the only not dumb *Videogame* harem protagonist... At least this will work until 100girlfriends get a dating sim where we have to be the ideal boyfriend.
@@franconunez925protagonist of any harem eroge doesn't count, I suppose?
@@Mr_Zeniel I mean, those tend to be dumb too, but either they have high dumb luck or the world is lowered to his level of stupidity, making people forgive the protag for things that people would punch him for at the very least.
Calling it right now, Red from Pokémon is gonna be at least top three.
What a surprise, he’s Number One.
I expect to see Dante in top 3 too with either his fight in 4 or 5.
That or agent 3, that damn ooze really the fight hard but worth it!
The first example coming to mind is Alex Mercer from Prototype. Heck, one of the taglines for the sequel is “murder your maker”.
Agreed but I expect him to be number 1
Took the words right out of my mouth.
"still better than the one in 14. YECK."
I hope they're referring to the character and not the idea, because the fight against Eledibus was one of the better parts of Shadowbringers
Not to mention the surprise visit from a certain shadow man halfway into the fight was just icing on the cake on top of the fun fight.
I mean, I dont think that statement fits Elidibus's character either since that patch and fight made him a fan favorite, considered up there with Emet as one of the best villains in the game.
Agree to disagree.
Yeah I don't get where his beef is with that one. Everyone I know *LOVES* the Elidibus fight.
@@jtlego1I don't think it was Josh's own opinion since he's never played Shadowbringers. Just one of his writers.
Bout Time Agent 3s getting the Recognition she Deserves.
Oh they’re a no-brainer wouldn’t be surprised if red made it too
JJJlaugh.mp4 You serious? The fandom couldn't get enough of them since Octo expansion. Or do you just mean on this channel?
3 is a fan favorite in the fandom,she gets all the recognition she deserves already
As for agent 4…well let’s just say she needs more than just recognition at this point
@@cameroncooper5941 actually I was tired of Agent 3 being ignored on so many of Josh's bosses lists that it was about time that she finally made an appearance.
Well technically Agent 3 could be a guy too because custom player character and all that. From what I can tell though, the vast majority prefer the girl design, so it sorta feels like the "canon" one even though the canon one is still whatever the player wants them to be.
you know what's even funnier, Ash ended up in Masters EX...and Red wants to battle him, he even spoke because of Ash saying "i'll be waiting"
Red would destroy ash lol
@@jacobweatherford4696 i dunno about that, Ash's greatest strength is his unpredictable nature that can overcome brute force.
Though he's got some powerhouses of destruction himself, such as his transforming Greninja and his Kaio-Ken Infernape.
Lucario's a powerhouse too with or without it's mega form due to Ash's strong Aura too.
@@dethtroy2185 true but unlike ash red has beaten and even caught mewtwo which ash has yet to do either.
@@jacobweatherford4696 did he do this in masters or is this coming from Origins?
I mean if were talking masters only, Ash's sirfetch'd managed a draw with a solgaleo, and considering that's one of his more recent pokemon that's one heck of a feet.
Going by the anime Ash and Pikachu complete eradicated The guardian of alola and knocked out Tapu-Koko at the same time with the sheer destructive power of their Z-move.
But at the end of the day continuing this discussion is abit pointless since if they do end up fighting we have no call in who wins, no matter what they've done.
Anime Mewtwo is just ridiculously strong compared to any Mewtwo that has fought Red before though so that isn’t a perfect comparison
Basically:
1) You play as Character A in Game 1
2) Game 2 comes out
3) You play as Character B in Game 2
4) You meet Character A while playing as Character B, they're now a boss fight
5) There you go, a Player Boss
Examples that I believe will be on the list: Trainer Red, Agent 3 (most definitely a given for being the thumbnail character), and Kazuma Kiryu.
Edit: All three appeared, and Red was number 1, nice
Sanitized agent 3/inner agent 3, red, etc
What got me was smt 5 clip with smt3's protag played between on the countdown numbers and he didn't show up in the actual list
@@Ladywizard He always does that, features an example in the transition between entries that is not on the list. The only exception I know was "Characters Hated that was Meant to be Loved" where the transition showed DMC Reboot Dante, who was on the list
Just remember that the Demi-Fiend is one of very few demons to fight Dante numerous times. And live.
My honorable mentions:
-Nioh 2 = William Adams, which is also a reveal that Nioh 2 is both a prequel and a sequel!
-Tales of series = Cameo battles, Now you know how it feels to fight a Tales party!
Not gonna lie i kinda wish i had played xillia before Berseria then i would have known who Jude, Mila etc were. Now that i do, i don't remember the fight from Berseria.
Alex Mercer=Prototype 2
I like how Tales of Xillia 2, the one with weird time shenanigans plot, has a secret ending where if you beat the hard tournament where you fight a party of previous "Tales of" protags, you can just tell them that a little girl was kidnapped* and they will just... go save her and beat the final bosses for you. This is especially funny considering whatever plot stuff is going on with regards to the final boss fight and possible endings.
*been a while since I played the game so forget the exact details of the plot/ending... but also any story that has time shenanigans be a major plot point will tend to have some level of weirdness, so in a way the cameo ending is the best ending because it just... skips all those shenanigans.
*Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3* - Every single Tales protagonist until that point. Every. Single. One. You fight all of them in the arena after their tales (heh) had ended.
Some villains and final bosses even show up, meaning the Descender (protagonist) just waltzed up to the arena (or Brownie Mine depths in the case of Dhaos and Yggdrasil), squared up with several world destroyers and then caved their faces in just for shits and giggles.
If they thought Ludger was an OP protagonist, he better pray to whatever supreme deity in the Tales series that he doesn't caught by the Descender in a dark alley because he's not coming out of that fight in anything but a body bag.
speaking of battles. theres also a crossover game of Ys and sora no kiseki which they fight each other on Ys mechanics. its really cool. and you can fight against adol
Don’t mind me, I’m just glad that Josh finally talked about Splatoon
It’s a really great series
And it has a lot of fascinating lore and characters
The squid sisters are best girls, Big man is my spirit animal, Dj Octavio is a dictator but he’s a dictator with presentation, Pearl is a skrunkly queen, Marina reminds me of Mariah Carey or Alicia Keys, Captain Cuttlefish is one of those people from the 40’s who don’t know how to adjust to modern times. There’s also weapons where you can play with a katana, an umbrella, and a bucket. Yet it works because the world of Splatoon is so wacky and fun. There’s also a mode where you collect eggs for a capitalist overlord (hope that doesn’t affect the story) and a story mode that is not like the Mario games where most of them are the same. So in conclusion, I highly recommend this game if you want a shooter game without the blood and gore.
WOOMY B*TCHES!!!
@@UltimateDespairado I'm not sure if dictator is the right word to describe Octavio. At the very least, he's not as evil as that word would imply. That whole thing about him mind-controlling the other Octarians is a huge misconception; Octolings like Marina and Agent 8 don't really dislike him, based on Agent 8's mem cake about him, Marina's dialogue about him in Side Order, and the fact that she had an Octavio sticker on her laptop in Octo Expansion. They wanted to escape to Inking Society due to the inherent oppression of life inside the Octarian domes, not because Octavio treated them badly.
Sorry, I just wanted to correct the misconception of Octavio mind-controlling people from the video, and this seemed like a good place to do it.
@@C_Arson honestly I don’t know the best word to describe him
That’s why I describe Octavio as a dictator
And yes I do know that Octavio doesn’t mind-control the Octarian race (unless we’re talking about propaganda)
Shoutout to Bowser in Bowser’s Inside Story. You work together with him (despite him not knowing until the end) to make him note powerful, including getting special moves for him while you as the player control him, and he USES them on you when you fight him once halfway through the game’s story. And if you skipped some by accident, like the Shy Guy ball, he doesn’t have it! Great attention to detail.
And then again in the Gauntlet, where as Bowser X, he has even MORE moves that YOU as the PLAYER helped him get, INCLUDING him turning massive and putting you through one of the most insane dodge gauntlets in the franchise.
Okay, relegating the Demi Fiend to just being the number transition and not even mentioning him is just disrespectful to the highest degree. His fight in Shin Megami Tensei V is absolutely LEGENDARY.
agreed
19:34
"I'll save Aqua."
"How?"
"By beating the crap out of her."
"Understandable."
"How did you save me?"
"Sora beat the crap out of you."
"Makes perfect sense."
Man Justapancake.. where did he went? I don't know, could he be in the realm of darkness?
Josh ain't lying about how hard Rex and Shulk are to fight, if anything he's underselling it.
Rex hits like an absolute truck and has high crit damage to boot so once he starts going he can tear you apart, and because Shulk is a defender class, his job is to constantly force your aggro away to him, so you have difficulty stopping rex from mulching you.
and your having to do this with only a healer and a tank, so your damage is pathetic in comparison.
Stoutheart Rex and Godcleaver Shulk better be on here.
5:22 Wait wait wait! Whaaaaat the hecks wrong with FF14s use of the Warrior of Light???? It was JUST SO phenomenally well done!? Elidibus and the Ascians truly see us as the villains of their story. All they are trying to do in their perspective is restore their distorted world, just like any RPG hero would do, and we genuinely fill that role as their villains as we become the Warriors of Darkness on that shard and put to waste all their carefully laid plans to restore their world.
That Elidibus would take on everyones genuine heartfelt desire to protect and cherish their world, from shards across the rift no less, he forms the EMBODIMENT of those desires, THEE original Warrior of Light, with an incredible battle and track to boot. Hes got his power boost! Hes going to win and do his duty! HE DOES BEAT US!! And then... a shade of an old foe steps in, we get our own second phase, we're the ones with alot of nerve being alive?? We come back, and we win. We slay the hero, our version of our torn world is saved sure for a spell, but the last remnants of the Unsundered Ascians are gone, and their dreams along with it. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE IT??
I’m starting to notice a pattern with all these countdown makers. Some of them have niche topics for their countdowns. Oscar Duarte has weapons, PBG has Zelda, Josh has bosses and Will has a weekly upload schedule.
Is it bad if people have a specific genre they want to talk about?
Personally I’d rather watch a video where someone is passionate about the topic rather than someone doing a video because they were forced to do it
what about Adam, aka Quarterguy?
@@wolfknightleon3264 idk what he has as a gimmick content. I don’t exactly follow his work.
@@UltimateDespairadoThey never said it was bad.
@@wolfknightleon3264He's more about Megaman most of the time.
5:23 That is aCERTAINLY A TAKE.
"Still better than the one in [FFXIV]. YECK."
Debatable, ESPECIALLY with Pandaemonium's contributions to the character behind the Warrior's visage.
Demi-Fiend HAS to be on the list.
Well, yes, but actually, no
When he shows up unannounced in DDS1, that was one hell of a surprise. And then he torched me in 2 turns.
@@witecatj6007 You survived a turn the first time you met him? I didn't even have time to see a turn because I had one imunity equiped and got Gaia Rage before the fight even started! You were lucky!
10:58 James my boy-! Glad to see Dead Meat being recognized more :>
Aw, that's nice!
BUSINESS!
And I recognize which Kill Count it's from, Smile
@@erichfiedler1481 Noice
I’m honestly shocked that Josh trashed one of the most popular fights in FFXIV with that Elidibus sleight
Hey. As a final fantasy XIV player myself. I'm greatly offended. The warrior of light trial in Shadowbringers was alright. For the most part.
I'm not sure if it would qualify for the list, but I want to give credit to the Civil Trial in Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice.
For one, it's Phoenix Wright. The guy you've played as in 4/5 mainline games before and some cases in SoJ. You know that he's only ever lost once in his career and always beat the odds no matter what. It also gives some interesting perspective about what Phoenix is like from the outside. When we play as him, we can tell when he's bluffing through his inner thoughts, but from the outside, it almost seems like he's always a few steps ahead and actually pretty capable.
As Josh pointed out in his Spirit of Justice review, every blow to Phoenix's case felt satisfying, making you feel the joy and glee all the prosecutors in the past get from picking on him. And as Wambu would add in that same review, there's also a sense of conflict from seeing Apollo and Phoenix, two characters who have worked together and have become allies duke it out in court.
I'll grant that the Civil Trial against Phoenix may not be as great as it could be, if only because, again, it's Phoenix Wright. You know that he didn't REALLY become evil or whatever, and there's some good reason why he's doing this. That said, I'd say the actual confrontation against him still holds some weight.
I'd also note the specific moment of when Phoenix pulls out his signature turnabout. I don't remember it exactly, but from what I can recall, Apollo and Athena are talking to each other like, "We have to got him now, the trail is over!" and pan to Phoenix with his hands in his head, the classic, "What do I do?" pose. Then he gets up, and just, in classic Phoenix Wright fashion, presents a stupid argument that works JUST ENOUGH to buy him more time to think of a way out of his situation. I love it so much, because tome, that nails down the feeling of, "Oh, THIS is how the prosecution feels going against Phoenix." It's the best.
While it doesn’t apply to the civil case, that whole “he seems like he’s two steps ahead at all times when you’re not in his head to know he’s bluffing” effect is how he felt as a mentor figure back in Apollo Justice. Oddly in some of the time you WERE playing as him, too…namely the jumping back and forth between points in time, not when you play him for his last trial.
We’ve been in his head long enough to know he just barely has it together most of the time, but to an outsider, he comes off a lot smarter and more calculating than he really is.
@@isenokami7810 I never thought about it like that, but you're right. All he needs to do is stay silent, internally scream for a moment, and just say something off the cuff and it gives people pause.
I know its probably way too recent to make the list but gotta mention the recently added extra fights in Octopath Traveler 2 where you fight the original 8 Travelers from the first game. They're split into the Noble and Rogue path action teams but even going 4v4 does not change how BRUTAL the fights are.
Each traveler has their own mechanics that can easily bring ruin on you, and thats BEFORE learning they can do team attacks to inflict even more suffering. AND ON TOP OF THAT if you get one weak enough they'll change jobs which adds even MORE problems like RUNELORD TRESSA GIVING HER SIDE PHYSICAL DODGE
Honorable Mentions:
*Old Monk - Demon's Souls
-This one's an interesting case. You can actually be summoned from outside the boss arena and become the boss yourself. And the whole fight basically boils down to a PvP-style battle.
*William - Nioh 2
-This fight only ends when he hits half health, but it's the prelude to the team-up before the final boss.
*Kessler - Infamous
-Yeah, Kessler is an alternate future version of Cole. And you fight yourself at your most powerful.
*Pit's Body - Kid Icarus Uprising
-You fight this hollow shell as Pit, who is "borrowing" Magnus' body to do it.
28:22 Now im hyped. Im a huge Kirby fan. Can't wait for Kirby Month.
Antdude must be dancing by now.😂
I had this idea similar called Top Ten Protagonist Bosses where the player fought the previous main character or themselves like Red from Pokémon, Omori from Omori and Peter Parker from Marvel’s Spiderman 2 PS5
Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice. In the first half of the finale, you face off with none other than Phoenix Wright himself
"Still better than the one in 14" YOU FUCKING WOT?!
Yeah, that took me by surprise too.
Subjectivity aside, the context of 14’s WoL battle is… way different, but “To The Edge” is by far my favorite Trial song so far.
The song also hits different knowing what Soken endured during its composition.
I do admit that caught me off guard as well, but I would like to hear his reasoning.
It's don't see that often people not like Shadowbringer's Warrior of Light (Full title because spoilers if I said the real name), mostly because the context of "To The Edge" and stuff, but if her ever give his reason, I'm sure it's a solid one.
Took me by surprise as well, that is imo, one of the most significant fights on XIV, aside from being one of the best ones ever.
I also really liked that fight, so I'm surprised by Josh's take on it.
The only complain I have about it, is how little screentime Elidibus as one of the crucial Ascians was given once he started taking direct actions, instead of scheming behind the scenes. He appears as Ardbert somewhere around Patch 5.1 or 5.2, and then it's all over halfway through the Patch 5.3. Lahabrea and Emet-Selch direct presence were way longer in comparison.
The 14 trial of WoL is literally my favorite fight. So it literally caught some strays
Speaking of returning player avatars, The Old Republic brought back the player-created protagonist of Kotor 1 for several of its plotlines. First you free him from the Maelstrom Prison... then you have to stop him from re-activating an ancient Forge and committing genocide on the Empire. *Then* there's an entire expansion dedicated to stopping him and his followers across various factions and creeds, all of whom have been maintaining faith in him for centuries after his disappearance. The Galaxy Far Far Away is full of badass characters, but only Revan earned that kind of following.
Imagine how cool it would be if the Commander Shepard clone in the Citadel dlc was Your Shepard with the exact same loadout.
Wheel of morality, Turn, turn, turn, show us the horrors that we'll explain.
One instance that's somewhat fresh in my mind comes from Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice. Personally, I'm not even sure if he counts as a boss, but it's none other than Phoenix Wright himself. Apollo and Athena have to face him from opposite sides of the courtroom, knowing exactly how he operates in court, and actually surpassing him.
Number one being Red feels really cliche. Like yeah, I get it, obvious things are obvious for a reason, but come on, you can't have Demi-Fiend as the bumper and not even put him as an honorable mention!
Demi-Fiend as a boss is actually a really interesting case. In Digital Devil Saga, that's all he was, a surprise boss to utterly body the party out of nowhere, a true test of player skill and luck that only the most insane and insanely well-prepared could hope to pass. But in the DLC of SMT V, there's a lot more going on. You play as what is called a "Nahobino", which, to HEAVILY summarize, is the pure godly form of a demon who is capable of claiming the throne of God (specifically a fusion between a demon and a human possessing the lost Knowledge of said demon after YHVH ripped it from all his peers to reduce them to mere demons who couldn't challenge him for the throne). The final boss of the DLC is the Demi-Fiend of course, but to get the privilege of fighting him, you have to walk the same path he did, killing each of the Fiends one by one and claiming their Menorahs, just like in Nocturne. When you face him, he's easily the hardest boss in the game of course, and he has some of the best demons possible, especially his trusty friend the Super Pixie. When it becomes really interesting however is when you look at it in context of the true ending.
In the true ending of the game, you go through the neutral route, but if you've fought Shiva as well as performing some other prerequisites, you can fight Lucifer in an extended battle compared to the other routes. Once you defeat him in his transcended form, you prove yourself worthy in his eyes, and you take the throne, creating your new world. Two worlds, actually: a world for humans, and a separate world for demons. Thus finally ending the cycle of demons destroying the world of humans, allowing humans to live by their own power and merit, freed from demonkind's meddling with their fates. Something Lucifer also wanted for the Demi-Fiend, for a human to gain immense power and break the cycle of creation and destruction, albeit in that case it was by killing God. And that's when it hits you. The Nahobino's fight with the Demi-Fiend isn't just a battle of protagonists. You've gone through the same journey the Demi-Fiend did, even gaining power in the same way (you can augment your resistances and attacks with the essences of demons, rather than with Magatama, but it's a similar principle), but whereas the Demi-Fiend failed to end the cycle (presumably, the ending cuts before we see what happens in their war against God), the Nahobino succeeds. Hell, you even have your own Pixie-esque sidekick in the form of Amanozako, whom you also meet very early on in your journey and who can eventually join your party in super powered-up form just like the Super-Pixie! You aren't just another protagonist, you're the true form of what the Demi-Fiend was SUPPOSED to be. You're his _replacement._
That said, great video as always, can't wait for Kirby Month!
Honorable mention : Warcraft III Frozen Throne
How did you enjoy playing the Blood Elf campaign ? Guess who's showing up at the last mission, all decked out and max level while you're depowered ? Good luck !
Pokemon, Prototype, Live-A-Live (kinda), Yakuza… quite a lot of ‘em.
It’s a very common boss trope you know
An obscure Player Boss that left a impression on me due to the tragic story behind them, the challenge, and their boss theme being a remix of the first game encounter theme is: the Love Nightmare from Mary Skelter 2.
I... _heavily_ approve of the Mary Skelter respect.
@@thomasthecoolkid7228 The games are very underrated gems. 👍
@@ya-kiri794 I could honestly say that about _a lot_ of Idea Factory/Compile Heart games. I still want a big crossover fighting game for their stuff.
@@thomasthecoolkid7228 True that. One of my favorite Compile Heart games are the Death End Re;Quest games, with 2 being my fav.
@@ya-kiri794 Death End re;Quest is awesome, I love the aesthetics
Compile Heart just generally kinda pops off with aesthetics and worldbuilding and such
The kaboom after revealing kirby months feels....fitting
You know Josh, your really gonna need to explain that "Still better then 14's" comment given that both the fight and the character are among some of the most well liked in the entire game, and almost everyone that has played 14 considers that to be one of the best fights in the game, and how it easily blows the Stranger of Paradise fight out of the water.
5:23 Hold on one moment, whats wrong with the Warrior of Light in XIV?
I understand why Josh has been using cartoon frames of himself instead of him in live action, with him being a father and all, but a part of me misses when he would rant or make jokes in live action. Hope we can see him in the near future
I think give it a few years. So maybe he can go show him on live action to his kids once they matured.
At this point, cartoon frame can be a better sell for infants or kids around Josh's children's age.
Shoutout to Borderlands 3 where, in Krieg’s DLC, you fight Lilith. She’s hard as hell and a really fun fight.
Yeah sure it’s an imaginary form, but cmon, it’s close enough.
Honerable mention to Katagawa junior. He's not really Zero, but he has has all of Zero's gear.
Tbh with Rean in CS4, the whole series had so many ridiculously hard fights that I don't recall finding Rean difficult at all. One of the hardest fights I found were the 2 dogs in the sewers in CS1. It was the "You need to know the system now..." fight as the ones before that you could breeze through.
By the Rean fight in CS4, you knew your characters capabilities and you knew how to break the system. So you just cheese it and he went down fast.
Huge Eternal Sonata spoilers ahead:
I doubt he's on the list, but I'd love to see Frederic Chopin at some point. While he doesn't do much in the game's story after the early parts, knowing the plot revolves around him and his upcoming death makes the final fight really tragic, albeit very fun. He becomes the final boss of the story, and since the player has been guiding him primarily, the player is the one to decide how the game ends.
Some of a few I can think of:
- Kingdom Hearts 2 (Final Mix): In the final world when Roxas confronts Sora, now it's an actual boss battle instead of a cutscene cinematic.
- Drakengard 2: Caim, protagonist from the first game, is fought as a boss halfway through.
12:31 “sign me up” you want to end up in the hospital?
Another Honorable Mention
Armored Core 4 Answer: Anatolia's Mercenary/White Glint.
Oh shit, you right! 👍
Yup, even the operator returns to mark the occasion.
Red being at the top makes sense, it is kind of where the theme started almost. It's pretty much the most well known.
Yeah, but mechanically, its just a team of the most commonly used Pokemon jacked up to an extreme level. The rest of the top five have so much more going for them when it comes to callbacks, references and mechanical nuances that make them feel like characters built up over multiple games. That's what he has to compete with. Red is a perfectly fine boss, but he doesn't even touch the payoff that a lot of these bosses are able to pull off just by being built up consistently, over a entire game series.
I was shouting "Kirby" in my head over and over for that final segment. So imagine my surprise...
28:22 everyone do the kirby!
Red and Agent 3 are some serious powerhouses, if you think you have a strategy, guess again!
Anyway, excited for Kirby Month!
No Anakin/Obi-Wan from their mustafar fight in Lego Star Wars is crazy
Oh yeah, I remember you asking this one on Twitter/X. Might as well give the same opinions I gave there.
If Red isn’t here. I will be thoroughly suprised.
Chuck from Dead rising 2: off the record is interesting since he takes the place of one of the bosses from the original DR2. It’s a bit sad since I do like Chuck.
Byleth from 3 Hopes is terrifying at first but isn’t too bad.
You play as Roxas in 358/2 and the beginning of KH2 so I think he should be included.
And I’ve heard the guy from Prototype is the main villain of the sequel so I assume there’s a cool boss fight to go with it.
Splatoon is the Agent 3 of lore.
Kirby, meanwhile, is INNER Agent 3.
Splatoon is deep, but not QUITE that deep.
You knew #1 before you even clicked this video.
I really wished Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice appeared here, at least as an honourable mention. It really helped show that Apollo was ready to become a lawyer on his own
Ironically part of the build up with Rean is that you got a surprise in being able to control him just before this. He was depicted throughout from the start of the 3rd game to now for literally 10+ hours of story as the target to be rescued, the damsel in distress that has been captured and is slowly losing his mind.....but just as you get to the base in a surprise twist Rean is released by Celine and control swaps to him.
You get to control him in perma-Ogre state as he rips his way through the base with only a sole ally.....and he is absolutely carrying her and solo wrecking every fight in his path. To this point in the games, you have never been in a situation where you are the absolute power, you always play as a team of many or as scripted boss fights. This section brutally changes this, as Celine is literally just spectating Rean wrecking everything in his path with his rage. You can feel just how dangerous he is right now......and then the students finally catch up and are opposed to him.....oh dear twice over.....
The warrior of light boss was actually easy to predict since i played way too much of dissidia
10 - RIP Akira Toriyama. He’ll be missed.
9 - The Warrior of Light is a unexpected surprise in Final Fantasy Origins. Albeit given that the game is supposed to be a retelling of Final Fantasy I.
8 - No wonder Future Redeemed is the best DLC of all the Xenoblade games. It explains a lot of things in XC3... Besides some things.
7 - Oh yeah! Dante FTW!
6 - Kiryu as well.
5 - So far Trails Series has the biggest lore of the JRPG games... It’s trying to be Kingdom Hearts, but without Disney things.
4 - Splatoon? Never heard of it.
3 - Kingdom Hearts? In this list!? Something that I expected... Talk about a festival of deep-lore gaming.
2 - Am I supposed to be happy with FromSoftware’s existence? Because I wish to call the studio out for the ridiculously difficult games.
1 - Called it!
I shouted "YES!" when you got to honorable mentions and showed Vent/Aile, instantly made my day!
I'm personally a huge fan of Vent! Love seeing him and his magnificent hair being acknowledged. :D
My honourable mention is the Nameless Shade in Persona 3 The Answer. While he's more a reflection, using your party's Persona's against you, he does have his Wild Card and his own tricks, which you've both used ad gotten to play with as a new Wild Card holder.
My inner monolog between agent 8 and agent 3 at the end
Agent 3: "I have hone these skills for years, fighting many foes defeating me is a testament to the skill you now possess.
Agent 8: "Dude you cheat like crazy."
I can name one, but it's from a fan game. It's called "Phobia: The Awakening" a FNAF fan game. On night 5, the main character, Mark, gets captured by the animatronics, and gets stuffed into a suit, and on night 6, we play as someone else as we deal with Mark, who's become aggressive after being forced into the mask
Insane they use Demi fiend in every transition but don’t put him on the last. Bro had a whole quest line getting gassed up and then became like the hardest boss in smt
0:20 I see Alex there.
Simpia for Cynthia is now a slogan I'll keep close to heart
How are you not going to mention Prototype 2 on a list like this? The player character of the first game becomes one of the main villains of the second game.
6:48 THANK YOU JOSH!
The 9th place has made me curious. What is Josh's problem with Elidibus?
I feel like we’re not getting an answer but probably asking him on Tumblr could do.
I've been waiting for this one!
The transition being Demi-Fiend is fantastic.
Looks like Josh will be visited by Wambu next month for the whole month. I can't wait.
Josh-Rex went from fantasy dumpster diver to only intelligent harem protagonist.
Me-Rex meet Rentarou the greatest and most intelligent harem protagonist to have every live so don't feel bad for second place to him
Ah... it seems a reader of 100 Girlfriends came in to this video to (Proudly) talked about the main character of the manga.
I'm not complaining about that though.
(spoilers for Blaster Master Zero 3)
Honestly, Kane Gardner/Jason Frudnick would’ve fit so well on this list. Kane was the original character of the Famicom MetaFight, and fighting him with all the equipment from the original Famicom and NES game is Really challenging and an amazing call back
While Jason Frudnick as the final boss (and in a way a Super Boss) utilizes every equipment you picked up throughout the adventure and even utilizing his best hard hitting attacks
It’s pretty meta, using the localized version of a character against it’s original predecessor, all while they use their respective weapons and tools against you WHILE fighting with a remixed version of the original Boss Themes from the NES/Famicom is really, REALLY spectacular
Kain from legacy of kain. We play as him in blood omen 1, we then fight him in soul reaver 1 as raziel
I didn't even think about Aqua. I feel stupid.
As a huge Splatoon fan, I'm glad to see Agent 3 on this list
With the Soul of Cinder, it actually has four forms with the fourth being the most terrifying.
Greatsword: pure martial combat
Staff: casting misses and kamehameha
Spear: Mix of martial and miracles
Shortsword: mix of martial and pyromancy, but the most terrifying part of this form is that he can parry YOU.
I hope a different type of Player Bosses countdown pops up later, one about player characters you played as earlier and sometimes even right after in the game, such as Bowser in Bowser’s Inside Story.
Also, here’s one boss countdown that I suggest: Top 10 Wake Up Call Bosses
The “Wake Up Call” boss is the boss that forces you to truly adapt to the game’s play style. It’s not the same as the tutorial boss, as the tutorial boss helps you assure that you’re in your comfort zone. The wake up call boss brings you straight out of that comfort zone and tests you to see if you’re REALLY ready for what’s to come. It’s not a boss you can just beat with brute force alone. Most of the time, at least.
Some good examples that I can think of are Blade Wolf from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Father Gascoigne from Bloodborne.
LQ-84i, also known as Blade Wolf, is there to humble you after you’ve fought the Metal Gear RAY (although, Sam technically is the one who humbles you, but that’s beside the point). With RAY, you’re just putting the basics to the test. With Wolf, you’re forced to learn how to parry at the right moment. RAY is a big, mechanical behemoth that you can climb on and slash apart, Wolf is more agile and closer to your size (and the size of most of the other bosses in the game). Thus, keeping up with Wolf is a lot easier said than done for most new players.
Father Gascoigne is there to show you that you won’t just be fighting beasts (or disgruntled Br*ts). Unlike other enemies up to this point (including the Cleric Beast boss that you may or may not have fought first), Gascoigne is at your level (and paradoxically enough, above it as well) in more ways than one. Like you, he’s a hunter, he’s fast, he may or may not use the same tools you’re using at this point, and he can swap his weapon modes at a dime. In his second (technically third?) phase, (SPOILERS FOR BLOODBORNE) he turns into a beast, but he still retains his speed, and he only becomes more aggressive and dangerous. This is your first clue that there’s more to the beasts in Bloodborne than what meets the eye.
Anjanath in Monster Hunter World, he’s known to be wall for new players
Queen of Hatred, Library of Ruina.
The difficulty spike indeed is vertical.
For the Xenoverse 1 CAC, you actually get to fight them at their full power if you played through the Conton City Tournament, where the XV1 Protag will transform depending on what race they are (Ssj2 for Saiyans, Golden for Friezas and Potential Unleashed for the rest of the races)
Josh, I hope you realize that with the tease of the upcoming future, you are hereby obligate to collab with a certain dude for at least one entry/list.
Also thank you for bringing up Xenoblade again (and Splatoon).
That skit in the end was quite funny. Good work as always.
I highly doubt this one will be on here, but…spoilers for Momodora:
In the postgame of Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, you, playing as Momo, have the opportunity to spar with Isadora, who was playable in I and III, as well as being a helpful NPC in this game. And Dora won’t make it easy for you!
When first saw this I was excited. Hearing Rean on the list of course is my absolute favorite! Because yeah there is **A LOT** of buildup to this fight! I mean the whole first act is retrieval and trying to find him! Plus there's nothing like going at it while you got the main theme playing. Fun fact the lyrics of theme translated heavily relate to Rean's situation at the start of 4.
Definitely caught me by surprise with the Warrior of Light take on Shadowbringers. A take I do strongly disagree with, but I'd be intrigued to hear your reasoning on that.
Animaniacs ref at the end gives me life. Bravo!
Red from pokemon.
Akuma from street fighter.
King dedede as he can be played in later games. Meta knight too.
Orson from Fe sacred stones.
Berrus whis from the later DBZ games or freeza and his brother who have broken sets.
Vegeta from DBZ kakarot.
Unicorn overlord every recruitable ally that was controlled.
Paper Mario ttyd your allies and you when dooplis comes.
You want to know what the funny thing about the Soul of Cinder is? Solaire is part of it as well! In his world, he linked the first flame. He found his sun.
From my opinion the best "Player boss" is Kain /Raziel from the "Nosgoth franchise". In the first Soul Reaver, you fight twice against Kain (the protagonist of the Blood omen 1 and 2 games) and in Defiance you have a double "Player boss fight" One as Kain against Raziel, and after that ona as Raziel againts Kain
Champion Red, Demi-Fiend, Rex & Shulk, and Sacrifice Rean better be on here
YEAH, 3 OF EM WERE ON HERE AND THE OTHER ONE WAS ON THE COUNTDOWN
10:58 Nice to see I'm not the only one who mentally quotes James when I see something nice/not nice
Honestly while I was disappointed that Alex Mercer from the Prototype series didn’t get on the list, let alone an honourable mention, after a few minutes of thinking, I’m starting to maybe understand why that could be the case:
- his turn to villainy happens in a tie-in comic and the reasoning is “debatable” depending on who you ask
- he’s barely around during the first and second acts of the sequel, only appearing personally during the prologue and in 4 cutscenes (not counting web of intrigue moments) before we enter the Red Zone/Manhattan in the third act where he’s the most active in the plot. Thus there’s not much of a connection between Mercer & the new player character James Heller outside of the latter wanting revenge against the former.
- the boss battle itself only has Mercer use a fraction of the powers we’ve previously used as him during the first game. Only using three powers in stages (Blade, Whiplash & Hammerfists) and one of his charged attacks (the Hammerfist’s charge being to send spikes underground to a target) while everything else he does is either QTE moments or just countering the player if they’re using the same power he’s using (meaning we can just stick with Claws & Tendrils for the whole fight since he doesn’t use those). No devastators outside of Heller using his to counter swarms of infected crows (a QTE), no armoured form, no mobility or shields, nothing else. Hell, even his death scene is little more than another QTE.
If Josh sees this and wants to correct me or clarify his reasonings that’s okay, just need to learn to temper my expectations whenever he posts another Twitter post asking for names to use for his next top ten subject.
I'm stoked.
Sanitized!Agent 3 gave me some trouble initially, but I've yet to meet the requirements for Inner Agent 3 (which I understand to be a lot trickier, since this is what Agent 8 sees them as).
Wonder where they'll be on the list.
Oh inner agent 3 is harder by I don’t know how much. I don’t plan on fighting inner agent 3 myself honestly sanitized agent 3 was enough for me
Inner agent 3 is a bitch
And not in a fun way
@@macaylacayton2915 Apologies for late reply, but yeah. Sanitized!Agent 3's enough. They're not even themselves, for one.
Seeing your footage of the Warrior of Light battle from Stranger of Paradise, I noticed something which I think helps even more with making it a "Player Boss". He is using a LOT of his attacks and animations from the Dissidia games, where he was one of the playable characters. Interesting how it's a fighting game spinoff series that marks the playability of that particular design/version of the OG WoL.
8:50 so here's the thing. On dmd difficulty, he has access to his entire _arsenal_
This includes gilgamesh, lucifer and most importantly _pandora_
Combine that with the fact if you try shooting him in the air he will counter with ebony/ivory or air trick for charge shots, your only option is to do the one thing dante cannot counter: your buster arm.
He cannot stop a pull and buster, and try as he might with royal guard or the qte... a quick dt pop will _overpower him_
He is the one fight in dmd that has a completely different strat and i gotta say... i do appreciate it
Woo! Kirby Month is next! I was actually hoping for that one when I saw it on the wheel! Also a bit of a weird coincidence that next month is my birthday.
So the demifiend being a related topic but stuck as transition shots and not getting any part or even honorable mention?
Number 2 was an amazing pick, great list Josh!
28:28: So... A Kirby month......is there a possible Antdude crossover I potentially see?? ( being the gaming sphere's "Kirby guy" is his whole shtick after all)
This is quite as a unique list I've seen so far, well done Josh.
Honestly glad to see how much your loving and milking Trails, but for the same reasons I love that, I have to nope out of its segment. It’s an amazing RPG series, but also one I really need to catch up on-at least I’m actually doing so at the moment-and really Trails segments are gonna be spoilers more likely than not.
For the record for anyone reading this, my experience has been sporadic. Technically started with Sky FC-thanks, Linkara-but I have more experience with Cold Steel, with CS1 being the only game so far I’ve finished and half of CS2 under my belt. Was half of Sky FC too, but again, seriously working my way through the series now, current file’s made it to Grancel this time and in too deep to stop now.