There’s a game I recently played where it turns out that the guide who helped you on your journey this whole time is actually an alternate version of yourself from a different timeline who failed their quest, and now tries to help you finish yours, to not fall the same way they did. However, when you get your “happy ending”, they became jealous of you, for that you were able to get what they never could, so they became the true final boss. The way you brought up all these points about awesome tropes in final bosses, and the boss I described feels like a culmination of all of these things.
I would like to add “Protagonist loses it after dealing with bullsh*t throughout the entire game”. I’ve only seen it in Pizza Tower and Metroid Dread but I already love it
ADAM: hey Samus, plot twist, I’m you dad? You’re probably wondering, “how is my dad a robot Ai with no body” cuz guess what! Second plot twist, your a descendent of an ancient race that’s existed throughout the entire series but is only now making an on screen living appearance! Also, my name is ravenbeak and I’m a sick as fuck boss fight that’s just the right difficulty!
Okami deserves a shout-out here. It uses both 'start in a weak state but everyone lends you their power' and 'kickass remix of the original theme.' Also it rules as a final boss since it makes you use almost all of the brush strokes you have learned along the way, so it's a great culmination of your journey.
I genuinely stopped this video mid-way to go rewatch the whole Okami spirit bomb sequence for this exact reason. Truly no-one has ever done it like Okami.
Honorable mention to Ninetails for also using the Celestial Brush techniques WHILE you're trying to, genuinely caught me off guard on my first playthrough
voids theme from kirby star allies is another amazing example of a perfect motif. not only does it play the original green greens melody, but in a sadder, more hopeless fashion.
Freedom Planet has a cool inversion where normally the main antagonist/final boss will transform into a larger and more powerful body, instead, the final boss is fought in a giant robot and then when it is destroyed, you face Brevon who fights with his gun and sword. End bosses, shedding their power forms to fight in their base form that is still powerful is a neat concept.
Bro, I'm going through my Earthbound phase after I stopped playing it years ago. I caught up with it again due to its 30th anniversary and its impact on UA-cam, so I'm really happy to see Captain Astronaut talking about it.
I feel you Earthbound and MOTHER are incredibly dear to me (duh with the profile), but there really is just a period for a month or two each year when it just flips a switch in my brain. It's got that quality which I can't really compare to most other games and how I think about them.
I gotta take this opportunity to gush about the NEO TWEWY final boss, the theme is the boss' own theme, but the first part of the main theme of the game is the final boss theme since the mian theme is a medley, and during certain phases where the boss becomes invincible and starts raining fireballs on you, if you dodge roll in time with the music YOU CHARGE YOUR SUPER MOVE GAGUE BY DODGING TO THE MUSIC (This mechanic is not explained but foreshadowed because it is how you travel quickly around the game world). The final boss is a manifestation of the protagonist's failures, every time he doubted himself or messed up and had to use his time travel powers, it made the final boss stronger, and you had to get literally every character from both games in the series together to hatch a plan to make the boss fightable at all and it's so so so good.
I'll make a mention of TWEWY classic as well. All alone till your friends show up, even that one you thought sacrificed themselves. All of them get captured and you fight a powered up version of the boss you just faced with your friend trapped in it and by rules of the game technically that means you are powerless. But they still send you power, you get to see their level two fusion scenes and it keeps your multiplier for damage up. All while the full version or TWISTER is blaring over it. Still gotta play NEO, but TWEWY is such a good ride.
@@ReikuYin I think OG twewy is a better game and it also has a cool final boss too, but I think NEO twewy absically perfects the trope of the "cool as hell final boss that's just meant to hype you up and be a blast to go through" in such amazing ways.
Something else that’s awesome about Live and Learn is that you can hear its motif in the first Biolizard fight. It ready adds to the imapct when you actually get to hear the full song.
One thing I've noticed about trope 2 that applies to a series I've been playing through for at least a year, the Trails series, is that *every* final boss theme has the opening theme in it in some capacity. It's *glorious*
For the second section, shout outs to touhou luna nights, where for the final fight the music is a remixed version of the final boss's theme from her original game, only for it to change in the final phase into a remix of night of nights (an extremely popular fan remix of the theme of sakuya, the main character of luna nights)
i can't ever praise you enough for being one of Bravely Default's strongest soldiers on this platform spaceman, thank you for spreading the good word !!!!!!
I LOVE all the earthbound/mother final bosses. In none of them do you truly attack the enemy and yet they all feel so climactic and epic, or even sad, they're so good
There are many such cases, but Monster Hunter in a Mr. Spaceman video is always perfection. I don't know if that made sense, I'm filled with scotch at the moment. Anyway, great video as always.
Cuphead’s final boss combines the first two tropes. The music in the first phase of the Devil boss fight combines the themes of every other boss in the game almost like they’re rooting for you to save their souls.
Even Lord of the Rings ends kinna like this... all of the characters put their faith in Frodo to destroy the ring before they themselves are destroyed.
Personally, my favorite trope is when the final boss mixes and matches everything you've learned by reusing older attacks randomly. There are many such cases like Pizza Tower with the final boss rush, Mario Party 9 with the enemy dice that summons a previous boss in the field (and also uses dices throughout which is perfect) or even Mario Land Minigame Mayhem that I cannot recommend enough where the final boss's attacks are mostly taken from previous minigames, it really helps to make it full circle and makes the final boss so interesting when they have a lot of different attacks to choose from!
another great one is the Nega Wisp Armor from Sonic Colors where as you are trying to free the Wisps to get the final blow ready, Eggman is just throwing Nega versions of the same powers you've been using all game at you including combining them like using Cube to act as a redirector for Laser.
The first one brings to mind Ōkami, where after like four phases of battling Yami where you steadily retake all your brush techniques and use them to counter its myriad attacks, Amaterasu is finally struck down, unable to access her full power thanks to the world's dwindling faith in her and the other gods. However, funny diminutive comic relief sidekick Issun was busy busting his ass spreading the word during the start of the game's finale and that extra kick in faith restores Ammy's full power, and she proceeds to uttely CLOWN on Yami in a hype as shit final phase. Like, the power of friendship is one thing, but the power of all your friends realising you're the sun god and roiding you out with faith is something else entirely.
Don't forget it also effectively does the music thing with that last power up getting the double whammy of the game playing Rising Sun, a more intense version of the title screen.
Man there really are many such cases with how to make a fantastic final boss. In my eyes my personal favourite trope is that of the "call to the world" as I personally have come to call it, in as you said that cry of help or appeal to some higher level of collective care to overcome a challenge, it's cheesy but it always hypes me up. I will say though, after it's all over and the credits roll, that's when you can get my two favourite tropes in videogame period. The enemy roll call, and the end of game song medley! Enemy roll call is superb, love to see and maybe finally learn the name of all the mooks who made up the game, all the guys who I saw time and time again, now given a moment to shine with their name and maybe some other text, superb. And much like the reprise of the main melody, an end of game full game medley is the ultimate pat on the back and way to reflect on the journey you had with the game, and a chance for your brain to link all these incredible places and their music one final time. There really is nothing like it, and every time I finish the game and get one I just feel some warmth in my heart. Great video, with a super tight script and some superb comedic timing and solid points! Keep up the good work, and have a lovely day!
I'd honestly argue that Adventure 2 isn't even the coolest implementation of the main theme trope. There was this 3 game period from 06 to Colors where the final phase played an orchestral version of the main them AND THEN THEY BROUGHT IT BACK FOR THE FRONTIERS DLC AND IT'S SO COOL I LOVE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
I literally use one of those 3 themes for when I want to get serious during a game. They all give such a great sense of finality with the fast paced orchestral piece that plays. Sonic is so damn cool.
The finish ur games bit sent me, yall know how many times I see the credits of a game, sit there for 10m thinking about how awesome it is, only to see the trophies at *20% have past the tutorial* and then *3% have beat the final boss* I got a coworker that is no joke playing 10 games at the same time, he aint gonna finish a single one of those
When you brought up a game called Deer Simulator as having some of the best final boss troupes I thought it was a joke. My wallet is now 15 dollars lighter goshdangit.
This video was literally amazing. So many of the games were from my formative gaming years and are still a big part of me like splatoon and MH. The music section hit LIKE A TRUCK LOL, literally trying not to tear up. Also really cool interpretation of the ahtal-ka fight. There are many such cases in MH where it implies its themes like humans vs nature, and I think the serious generally does a good job. I also love when MH pulls from each respective entry’s main theme. And also the bravely default part was really helpful because my 13 year old self did NOT make those connections with the real world and summons. Anyway legit 10/10 video, thank you Mr. Space Man
one of my favorite final boss tropes: When the finishing move is a cinematic unique attack unused anywhere else/an extension of a move you have been using throughout the game but buffed up to make the final blow more dramatic, see examples: Tales of series with altered mystic artes that only play if used to deal the final blow on the final boss, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Zestiria Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki II interrupting the final boss's ultimate move with your own. Ys X: Nordics with their cinematic special attacks throughout the game and finishing up in style. Sonic Frontiers: The Final Horizon because nothing rocks more than letting all out and blowing through an entire planet after being shot out of a giant gun And my favorite use of that trope: Wonderful 101's Final Ultimate Legendary Earth Power Super Max Justice Future Miracle Dream Beautiful Galaxy Big Bang Little Bang Sunrise Starlight Infinite Fabulous Totally Final Wonderful Arrow with the most EPIC button mashing sequence that has ever button mashed (with Wonder Yellow trying his best in the back).
@@autismandgaming4532 hahahaha! I had forgotten (pun non intended and now I'm dead inside) about that one! It was one of the most amazing things to do in a Kirby game XD.
For Trope 2, my favorite use of it was Super Castlevania IV. Dracula's first phase uses the music from the prologue, and the second phase uses YOUR theme (from the first stage). Because not only is your victory really a foregone conclusion, it's also cyclical. And Simon's theme is awesome so it's hype as hell.
FF7: Crisis Core has an incredible variation on the "Everyone's Will Helps at the End" trope by having that just be part of the whole-ass game. It can feel kinda extra, until the very end, where they do something wild I've not seen another game do ("there are many such cases" is unfortunately not true for this variation.)
top 3 final bosses 1. mega man zero 3. Giving megaman a serious tone and actual story for once and they just make the best setup, music, combat and perfect scale of any boss fight ever. 2. majoras mask. Going from the big set piece on top of the tower and then suddenly being absorbed into the moon just to suddenly be in a big open field and then fight in this rainbow-esque sanctuary to a super creepy and weird majora fight was the best possible ending for that game. 3. Probably would've put SA2 here but for the sake of variety I'll say spiderman ps4. finishing off the sinister 6 as the games tone slowly gets darker and darker just to end in the reveal that doc knew he was peter all along and yet still did all that torture to him just to have the big punching each other on the side of a rainy building as they scream about how much they meant to each other fight, gotta be one of my favorite genders
I appreciate your asides on MHGU and Bravely Default. They did so many innovative things in that game while adhering to the basic "hero/crystals of light" trope and I will recommend it to anybody despite it's flaws. It's tragic that you can't get the full experience without the online element & the camera. It was really one of those games that made me feel like "wow, so this is what video games can be". But there are many such cases! Man, when [spoiler] appears after the [spoiler] fight in SMTV:V and a medley of the OG game music starts playing I nearly cried it was so effing good. That's not the real final boss fight, but it really felt like it with how long it too me to beat. Also the SMTV DLC fight against Demi-Fiend is a bit like the fight against Red in that he really fights the way a player would fight, not the way most bosses do, properly using 3 fully stacked up demons, no weaknesses, 99 in every stat and the best attacks. It's like all that time I spent grinding and optimising in SMT3 came back to beat my ass.
One of my favorite "final boss has main theme" is in Phantasy Star Online 2. When the final boss of every episode gets to low HP, the boss's theme is altered to include the main theme. PSO2 is a game with no life bars, like MonHun, so hearing that song is like hearing "you're almost there! one more push!"
PSO2 Enjoyer sighted Always loved how every major UQ boss had their own rendition of A Whole New World play near the end of the fight Also funnily enough, it was the original PSO that inspired Monster Hunter in the first place, so it's not surprising if SEGA ended up borrowing ideas from Capcom as well
More music examples where the main theme is the final boss theme: Elden Ring Vigil: The Longest Night (Technically not the final boss, but the hardest fight in the game required for the true ending)
Proof of a Hero is my lifeblood. There are many such cases, whether it's playing Splatoon or finishing up a paper, where I put it on and feel a surge of energy while I think "I've got this"
my favorite trope is when the game says FUCK YOU and throws out everything youve learned and gained for the final boss and switches genres. (i.e. Drakengard 1 and 3)
@@Clock1-work7 Not RTDL. It just had super ability spam and two regular fights against Magolor. The segment before was different, but the fight itself was with the regular mechanics.
@@CorviKid999 There's no/minimal break between each fight. The Lor is just as much of a final boss as Magolor is, in my opinion. I'll probably not reply again because extended fights in comments are kind of pointless, and I don't want to be seen as a troll or something.
One of the best series that does "main theme as the final boss theme" is Kirby. Many of the series final boss tracks incorporate the series main theme Green Greens in there somewhere. And in the case of both Planet Robobot and Forgotten Land, they incorporate melodies that have been used throughout the entire game as part of the final boss themes of both.
While yes, there are many such cases, but I have a personal favorite, the Trails series of JRPGs. All of the games takes place in the same fantasy world telling an over arcing story that's split into various arcs, each focusing on a different cast of characters in a different country. So events of previous games gets referenced in later games and major characters return in new roles and the whole thing is just so awesome and well done...
There are many such cases One of my favorite endings in a video game was with Gravity Rush 2. You and Raven are at the end of your energy and have accepted defeat. The boss has knocked you across the room and you're on life support and your best friend is thrown through three buildings and they're down for the count. It's that trope of everyone singing the theme and telling you to not give up after the boss is boasting for a minute or two and destroying other parts of the town. It's the first trope, but after all the singing and your character standing up for one more hoorah she does her ultimate attack (something only exclusive to the ending) to deliver a final blow but in the process it kills her too. I think after the credits you get a secret ending of playing as the best friend visiting all pieces of the previous town and collectable, but if you do one specific quest its implied that your best friend lived as its a cut scene of your best friend looking extremely happy to see an old face again.
A combination of parts 2 and 3, in some of the SMT/megaten games where you can fight the demifiend, the boss fight theme is the random encounter theme from nocture, because to him you are nothing more than a random encounter
16:43 I hope you make a video about videogames and how they use the hardware it’s in as immersion, but the main point is just glazing the ending to a DS escape room puzzle game that barely anyone remembers
A nice variation of trope #2 is when games with limited party sizes suddenly expand to include the entire party in one fight. Taking this variation into account, Cassette Beasts incorporates all 3 tropes with a final boss theme that remixes the intro music, all party members on the field at once, and a secret boss fight against the protagonist of the studio's previous game. This is just one of many such cases of things that Cassette Beasts handles well and that is why it became my favorite game of 2023.
Super Metroid has a very surprising and unique ending of the many such cases of tropes 1 & 2 (not sure if they could even be called tropes yet since this was 30 years ago). It's not really a story/character based game, and barely even has a main theme. So I was totally expecting a normal SNES super hard final boss. Instead you have a mostly scripted fight where Mother Brain is unbeatable, and then the game does the closest thing to trope 1 with the only "character" who isn't a boss, the last Metroid, coming in to save you and sacrifice itself. This scene always hits hard despite how simple it is. And then after you become super powered up, trope 2 kicks in by playing the music from the first area and totally recontextualizing the song. When you first hear it the song is a sort of generic "heroic space theme" that plays on the surface, but in the context of the final boss it is pretty emotional. I love this game's ending, it feels like they could do this exact sequence in a game released today and it would be just as impactful. And in an action adventure SNES game it stands out so much.
Monster hunter does such an amazing job with the soundtrack. To this day I still tear up over fighting Lao Shan in MHF2 and hearing the Proof of a Hero ring out as Lao Shan enters the final area. Memories of me and my grade school friends screaming at each other to grab cannon balls, place bombs, who has the dragonator! It's such a beautiful moment I'll never forget.
My favorite game final boss where every character yout meet helps you is A Hat in Time. So many characters, mostly ones that you even FOUGHT against, but they still all come together because they care about the main character and they care about saving their world.
24:20, well Toby Fox is going to have a tough act to follow with the vessel after learning this exists when he finally gets around to finishing Deltarune
i know you already mention mh but i really like how on top of the proof of a hero sections theres usually the main village theme present in the final monsters theme
So many great choices, it's true that there are many such cases but Bravely Default will always be a favorite of mine. The complete theme being a combination of each character theme is another fun trope, I like that it and Octopath does it.
If we are talking final battle theme the song playing during the fight against star dream in planet robobot is up there That shit is the hypest stuff around
If you're talking about the title theme being remixed for the third phase, then yes that is absolutely hype. Also shout out to the green greens motif being used in almost every final boss theme since return to dreamland.
While there are many such cases of the motifs crossing over into the final boss, fire emblem does so well in this. Shoutout to persona 3 taking the velvet room theme, a the,e made to comfort and soothe, and turning it into a hype up song for the “final” boss, just to use the original opening song at the final moment (too bad reload kinda messed with this)
A cool final boss ost is in Pandora's tower: in the game you have a friend who in universe sings a song witch is the main theme than SPOILER While your friend Is posessed you hear her singing louder and louder while the boss loses hp
Imagine trope 2 to the extreme, where the entire second half of a game goes through remixes of all the forst half's songs in reverse order, like a sorta funhouse mirror.
Also there’s the trope of the final blow to the final boss or last moment of gameplay incorporating button mashing like Mario Odyssey, Kirby Forgotten Land, etc. My favorite being Wonderful 101 where you need to button mash with the mission prompt being: “SAVE THE WORLD”
There are many such cases when I’m having the worst time of my life but then silly spaceman drops an absolute banger and I survive for another month or so
I'm absolutely a sucker for the final phase of the final boss being the main theme of the game because I just LOVE that feeling of staring at em and going "Look at me, I AM THE FINAL BOSS NOW!"
To be fair, there are many such cases when there is no final boss to be seen in the end of the game, but I think these tropes are in fact, pretty great.
On the topic of Main Themes in final boss themes, Destiny actually does this really well. Because of the dynamic music, the main theme tends to kick in during the parts of the fight where you're actually doing damage back to the boss
There truly are many such cases. Special shoutout to Xenoblade 3, which has all the optional party members you could recruit throughout the game and the military units they command join together for a joint attack against the villain faction while you fight the final boss, and also has the main protagonist's theme play during the final boss theme. And then, in the DLC campaign, you find out that one of the characters from the first game split into two separate entities, and one of them is one of the party members in the DLC campaign and the other is the DLC's final boss. And before you can fight that final boss, you have a two-v-two with two of the newly introduced party members fighting against the protagonists of the first two games.
There are many such cases where someone talks about this fight, but I was surprised you didnt mention Soul of Cinder from Dark Souls 3! Alas, thanks for bringing atention to Athal Ka, thats boss is AWESOME!
There are many such cases where the final boss manages to properly reflect the themes of the games, but it's always satisfying to see it pulled off ESPECIALLY well. More importantly though I enjoyed the detour to Generations Ultimate because I expected Spaceman to just get hype about some good ass final bosses and instead it actually turns into a philosophical analysis of Ahtal-Ka.
Octopath Traveler 2's final battle is fantastic. You fight at first like a conventional boss fight, but halfway through the first form it traps your party of 4 in uh... the Shadow Realm, I guess. So the other half of the roster steps in and continues the fight. Once the first form is beaten, the boss assumes its "serious" stance, and the party you started the fight with is released. Those Who Deny the Dawn (a more energetic version of the final boss theme) kicks in and you realize you're controlling all 8 travelers at once for this final showdown. Live A Live 2022 does something similar too, but the really cool thing is that they added an extra step to the final battle that wasn't in the 1994 original. The power of hate itself manifests into the shape of the previous Lord of Dark, using Odio/Oersted as its core, which gradually gets chipped away throughout the fight. It proves to be too powerful a foe for the party of 4 you brought in, but the other 3 heroes join in. But not even that is enough, as they too get incapacitated. What happens then is peak JRPG storytelling. Oersted, with the hold of hate wanned just enough for him to break free, delivers the final blow himself and becomes the hero he and we always knew he was deep down. It's an act that kills him, but it is done to save the lives of 7 other heroes who needed it most.
Great video, I like many of the games you showed here....in other words there are many such cases of great final bosses 2:04 nice thought...and I knew you'd like BG3
With the first trope of the team having an final boss speach, there are instances of you defeating the boss before everyone was done, or you failing so you will have to hear everyones speach again and again in the case of an difficult one. Also some where allies join and speak but the allies just die and they keep going with their speaches while already defeated 😅
I loved the "Victory is Right Before your Eyes" in the Pokemon Blacks Whites but there are many such cases where Game Freak does something cool in one game, and then deletes it in future installments like it never happened in the first place But then they do, in fact, bring it back randomly???
There’s a game I recently played where it turns out that the guide who helped you on your journey this whole time is actually an alternate version of yourself from a different timeline who failed their quest, and now tries to help you finish yours, to not fall the same way they did. However, when you get your “happy ending”, they became jealous of you, for that you were able to get what they never could, so they became the true final boss. The way you brought up all these points about awesome tropes in final bosses, and the boss I described feels like a culmination of all of these things.
Which is this game
@@Grickens Spoilers:
In Stars and Time
I almost thought this was Tunic but i was wrong
@@antoniocalcano777 that’s a good game too
@@Sleepy-Yeah game spoilers
I KNEW YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT ISAT i didnt expect to actually predict that
I would like to add “Protagonist loses it after dealing with bullsh*t throughout the entire game”. I’ve only seen it in Pizza Tower and Metroid Dread but I already love it
Agreed, i need to see more of that.
ADAM: hey Samus, plot twist, I’m you dad? You’re probably wondering, “how is my dad a robot Ai with no body” cuz guess what! Second plot twist, your a descendent of an ancient race that’s existed throughout the entire series but is only now making an on screen living appearance! Also, my name is ravenbeak and I’m a sick as fuck boss fight that’s just the right difficulty!
Gotta add the final boss from Devil May Cry 5. Won't spoil anything, but that F-bomb felt so... fucking... good
In Stars and Time literally fits perfectly into this
LiveALive does it.
Finally... Somebody recognizes the true peak that the final boss in DEEEER simulator is
Okami deserves a shout-out here. It uses both 'start in a weak state but everyone lends you their power' and 'kickass remix of the original theme.' Also it rules as a final boss since it makes you use almost all of the brush strokes you have learned along the way, so it's a great culmination of your journey.
I genuinely stopped this video mid-way to go rewatch the whole Okami spirit bomb sequence for this exact reason. Truly no-one has ever done it like Okami.
Honorable mention to Ninetails for also using the Celestial Brush techniques WHILE you're trying to, genuinely caught me off guard on my first playthrough
voids theme from kirby star allies is another amazing example of a perfect motif. not only does it play the original green greens melody, but in a sadder, more hopeless fashion.
Star allies is honestly all three of the tropes here cause void is a version of Kirby in lore and you use the power of your friends to beat him
Freedom Planet has a cool inversion where normally the main antagonist/final boss will transform into a larger and more powerful body, instead, the final boss is fought in a giant robot and then when it is destroyed, you face Brevon who fights with his gun and sword. End bosses, shedding their power forms to fight in their base form that is still powerful is a neat concept.
Freedom planet mention (W!!!)
Let's gooo freedom heads
Senator Armstrong. Need I say more?
@@phoneybaloney9158 I thought that immediately. Just pure hands LMAO
Bro, I'm going through my Earthbound phase after I stopped playing it years ago. I caught up with it again due to its 30th anniversary and its impact on UA-cam, so I'm really happy to see Captain Astronaut talking about it.
I feel you Earthbound and MOTHER are incredibly dear to me (duh with the profile), but there really is just a period for a month or two each year when it just flips a switch in my brain. It's got that quality which I can't really compare to most other games and how I think about them.
I gotta take this opportunity to gush about the NEO TWEWY final boss, the theme is the boss' own theme, but the first part of the main theme of the game is the final boss theme since the mian theme is a medley, and during certain phases where the boss becomes invincible and starts raining fireballs on you, if you dodge roll in time with the music YOU CHARGE YOUR SUPER MOVE GAGUE BY DODGING TO THE MUSIC (This mechanic is not explained but foreshadowed because it is how you travel quickly around the game world). The final boss is a manifestation of the protagonist's failures, every time he doubted himself or messed up and had to use his time travel powers, it made the final boss stronger, and you had to get literally every character from both games in the series together to hatch a plan to make the boss fightable at all and it's so so so good.
I'll make a mention of TWEWY classic as well.
All alone till your friends show up, even that one you thought sacrificed themselves. All of them get captured and you fight a powered up version of the boss you just faced with your friend trapped in it and by rules of the game technically that means you are powerless. But they still send you power, you get to see their level two fusion scenes and it keeps your multiplier for damage up. All while the full version or TWISTER is blaring over it.
Still gotta play NEO, but TWEWY is such a good ride.
@@ReikuYin I think OG twewy is a better game and it also has a cool final boss too, but I think NEO twewy absically perfects the trope of the "cool as hell final boss that's just meant to hype you up and be a blast to go through" in such amazing ways.
I played the first game but not this ill check
My absolute favourite version of the final boss theme being a different version of the main theme is when the final boss theme adds LYRICS
There are many such cases where Captain Astronaut makes good videos. This is one of them.
Something else that’s awesome about Live and Learn is that you can hear its motif in the first Biolizard fight. It ready adds to the imapct when you actually get to hear the full song.
There are many such cases for the second one, like the final boss in Star Rail using a remix of the town theme
Jarila VI and Penocony final bosses are such peak like damn
One thing I've noticed about trope 2 that applies to a series I've been playing through for at least a year, the Trails series, is that *every* final boss theme has the opening theme in it in some capacity. It's *glorious*
please help me get through sky fc it’s painful
What kind of help? Like orbment building, battle strategy, or...?
@@mechaswool literally just the first half of the game, i’d prefer it as a summary, but estelle and joshua are so bland
@@giganticmoonkeep playing, it gets better
@@yoshidoor5229 ok
Deer Simulator cannot be real. It looks and sounds like a fever dream that someone perfectly remembered and then animated in blender
For the second section, shout outs to touhou luna nights, where for the final fight the music is a remixed version of the final boss's theme from her original game, only for it to change in the final phase into a remix of night of nights (an extremely popular fan remix of the theme of sakuya, the main character of luna nights)
Touhou mentioned
captain astronaut at home depot helping me pick out paint for my room: "there are many such bases"
i can't ever praise you enough for being one of Bravely Default's strongest soldiers on this platform spaceman, thank you for spreading the good word !!!!!!
I LOVE all the earthbound/mother final bosses. In none of them do you truly attack the enemy and yet they all feel so climactic and epic, or even sad, they're so good
bravely default is the most forgotten masterpiece from 3ds era yall need to play it right now
16:34 And you’re so real for that. Bravely default was one of my favorite games on the DS and deserves the attention for its stellar soundtrack
There are many such cases, but Monster Hunter in a Mr. Spaceman video is always perfection. I don't know if that made sense, I'm filled with scotch at the moment. Anyway, great video as always.
Cuphead’s final boss combines the first two tropes. The music in the first phase of the Devil boss fight combines the themes of every other boss in the game almost like they’re rooting for you to save their souls.
Bravely Default final boss's theme is soooooo good man
Even Lord of the Rings ends kinna like this... all of the characters put their faith in Frodo to destroy the ring before they themselves are destroyed.
And tragically he fails at the final hurdle. Thankfully Gollum came in clutch by being so broken and greedy that his downfall saved Middle Earth
@@Gloomdrake exactly!
I’m PRAYING that Hades II has a secret boss fight where you fight Zagreus!!!!
hes lost it after years in Time Prison
Personally, my favorite trope is when the final boss mixes and matches everything you've learned by reusing older attacks randomly. There are many such cases like Pizza Tower with the final boss rush, Mario Party 9 with the enemy dice that summons a previous boss in the field (and also uses dices throughout which is perfect) or even Mario Land Minigame Mayhem that I cannot recommend enough where the final boss's attacks are mostly taken from previous minigames, it really helps to make it full circle and makes the final boss so interesting when they have a lot of different attacks to choose from!
another great one is the Nega Wisp Armor from Sonic Colors where as you are trying to free the Wisps to get the final blow ready, Eggman is just throwing Nega versions of the same powers you've been using all game at you including combining them like using Cube to act as a redirector for Laser.
The first one brings to mind Ōkami, where after like four phases of battling Yami where you steadily retake all your brush techniques and use them to counter its myriad attacks, Amaterasu is finally struck down, unable to access her full power thanks to the world's dwindling faith in her and the other gods. However, funny diminutive comic relief sidekick Issun was busy busting his ass spreading the word during the start of the game's finale and that extra kick in faith restores Ammy's full power, and she proceeds to uttely CLOWN on Yami in a hype as shit final phase. Like, the power of friendship is one thing, but the power of all your friends realising you're the sun god and roiding you out with faith is something else entirely.
Don't forget it also effectively does the music thing with that last power up getting the double whammy of the game playing Rising Sun, a more intense version of the title screen.
Final bosses might lowkey be my favourite things in games
Man there really are many such cases with how to make a fantastic final boss. In my eyes my personal favourite trope is that of the "call to the world" as I personally have come to call it, in as you said that cry of help or appeal to some higher level of collective care to overcome a challenge, it's cheesy but it always hypes me up.
I will say though, after it's all over and the credits roll, that's when you can get my two favourite tropes in videogame period. The enemy roll call, and the end of game song medley! Enemy roll call is superb, love to see and maybe finally learn the name of all the mooks who made up the game, all the guys who I saw time and time again, now given a moment to shine with their name and maybe some other text, superb.
And much like the reprise of the main melody, an end of game full game medley is the ultimate pat on the back and way to reflect on the journey you had with the game, and a chance for your brain to link all these incredible places and their music one final time. There really is nothing like it, and every time I finish the game and get one I just feel some warmth in my heart.
Great video, with a super tight script and some superb comedic timing and solid points! Keep up the good work, and have a lovely day!
I'd honestly argue that Adventure 2 isn't even the coolest implementation of the main theme trope. There was this 3 game period from 06 to Colors where the final phase played an orchestral version of the main them AND THEN THEY BROUGHT IT BACK FOR THE FRONTIERS DLC AND IT'S SO COOL I LOVE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
I literally use one of those 3 themes for when I want to get serious during a game. They all give such a great sense of finality with the fast paced orchestral piece that plays. Sonic is so damn cool.
That was incredible. I love the energy, I love the jokes, I love the positivity. There are many such cases.
One game I did not expect Trope 2 to appear in is Elden Ring, with its penultimate boss remixing the Title theme into something truly grand
The description of Deer Simulator sounds like a story you're making up as you go along while not entirely sober.
The finish ur games bit sent me, yall know how many times I see the credits of a game, sit there for 10m thinking about how awesome it is, only to see the trophies at *20% have past the tutorial* and then *3% have beat the final boss*
I got a coworker that is no joke playing 10 games at the same time, he aint gonna finish a single one of those
When you brought up a game called Deer Simulator as having some of the best final boss troupes I thought it was a joke. My wallet is now 15 dollars lighter goshdangit.
Same, I got massive whiplash when the deer started doing a bunch of sick gun tricks and was instantly sold.
This video was literally amazing. So many of the games were from my formative gaming years and are still a big part of me like splatoon and MH. The music section hit LIKE A TRUCK LOL, literally trying not to tear up. Also really cool interpretation of the ahtal-ka fight. There are many such cases in MH where it implies its themes like humans vs nature, and I think the serious generally does a good job. I also love when MH pulls from each respective entry’s main theme. And also the bravely default part was really helpful because my 13 year old self did NOT make those connections with the real world and summons. Anyway legit 10/10 video, thank you Mr. Space Man
one of my favorite final boss tropes:
When the finishing move is a cinematic unique attack unused anywhere else/an extension of a move you have been using throughout the game but buffed up to make the final blow more dramatic, see examples:
Tales of series with altered mystic artes that only play if used to deal the final blow on the final boss, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Zestiria
Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki II interrupting the final boss's ultimate move with your own.
Ys X: Nordics with their cinematic special attacks throughout the game and finishing up in style.
Sonic Frontiers: The Final Horizon because nothing rocks more than letting all out and blowing through an entire planet after being shot out of a giant gun
And my favorite use of that trope:
Wonderful 101's Final Ultimate Legendary Earth Power Super Max Justice Future Miracle Dream Beautiful Galaxy Big Bang Little Bang Sunrise Starlight Infinite Fabulous Totally Final Wonderful Arrow with the most EPIC button mashing sequence that has ever button mashed (with Wonder Yellow trying his best in the back).
And that last one with the lyrics being sung over the usual theme music power up. Such an AMAZING moment.
Kirby and the forgotten land (spoilers)
What better way to end an Isekai than with Truck kun
@@autismandgaming4532 hahahaha! I had forgotten (pun non intended and now I'm dead inside) about that one! It was one of the most amazing things to do in a Kirby game XD.
Octo Expansion’s Princess Cannon is another example.
There are many such cases where the final boss run is just a blast of emotions.
BRAVELY DEFAULT MENTION IN THIS DAY AND AGE? LETS GOOOO
For Trope 2, my favorite use of it was Super Castlevania IV. Dracula's first phase uses the music from the prologue, and the second phase uses YOUR theme (from the first stage). Because not only is your victory really a foregone conclusion, it's also cyclical. And Simon's theme is awesome so it's hype as hell.
9:40 You didn't mention in the main theme bit how Soul of Cinder from DS3 incorporates the main theme from the FIRST GAME
FF7: Crisis Core has an incredible variation on the "Everyone's Will Helps at the End" trope by having that just be part of the whole-ass game. It can feel kinda extra, until the very end, where they do something wild I've not seen another game do ("there are many such cases" is unfortunately not true for this variation.)
god actually playing through Crisis Core when Reunion launched, that final bit HITS
There are many such cases of me playing games and hearing a leitmotif and going “hell yeah!”
Hearing someone gush about Bravley Default is so rare! I loved that game.
I wanna see Bryce Papenbrook at a con and have him sign my copy
This video took me from tearing up a little with nostalgia and fond memories to laughing my head off at the conclusion.
There are many such cases...
top 3 final bosses
1. mega man zero 3. Giving megaman a serious tone and actual story for once and they just make the best setup, music, combat and perfect scale of any boss fight ever.
2. majoras mask. Going from the big set piece on top of the tower and then suddenly being absorbed into the moon just to suddenly be in a big open field and then fight in this rainbow-esque sanctuary to a super creepy and weird majora fight was the best possible ending for that game.
3. Probably would've put SA2 here but for the sake of variety I'll say spiderman ps4. finishing off the sinister 6 as the games tone slowly gets darker and darker just to end in the reveal that doc knew he was peter all along and yet still did all that torture to him just to have the big punching each other on the side of a rainy building as they scream about how much they meant to each other fight, gotta be one of my favorite genders
I appreciate your asides on MHGU and Bravely Default. They did so many innovative things in that game while adhering to the basic "hero/crystals of light" trope and I will recommend it to anybody despite it's flaws. It's tragic that you can't get the full experience without the online element & the camera. It was really one of those games that made me feel like "wow, so this is what video games can be". But there are many such cases!
Man, when [spoiler] appears after the [spoiler] fight in SMTV:V and a medley of the OG game music starts playing I nearly cried it was so effing good. That's not the real final boss fight, but it really felt like it with how long it too me to beat. Also the SMTV DLC fight against Demi-Fiend is a bit like the fight against Red in that he really fights the way a player would fight, not the way most bosses do, properly using 3 fully stacked up demons, no weaknesses, 99 in every stat and the best attacks. It's like all that time I spent grinding and optimising in SMT3 came back to beat my ass.
One of my favorite "final boss has main theme" is in Phantasy Star Online 2. When the final boss of every episode gets to low HP, the boss's theme is altered to include the main theme. PSO2 is a game with no life bars, like MonHun, so hearing that song is like hearing "you're almost there! one more push!"
PSO2 Enjoyer sighted
Always loved how every major UQ boss had their own rendition of A Whole New World play near the end of the fight
Also funnily enough, it was the original PSO that inspired Monster Hunter in the first place, so it's not surprising if SEGA ended up borrowing ideas from Capcom as well
Bravely Default's boss battle theme That of the Name is one of the best I've ever heard.
More music examples where the main theme is the final boss theme:
Elden Ring
Vigil: The Longest Night (Technically not the final boss, but the hardest fight in the game required for the true ending)
Proof of a Hero is my lifeblood. There are many such cases, whether it's playing Splatoon or finishing up a paper, where I put it on and feel a surge of energy while I think "I've got this"
my favorite trope is when the game says FUCK YOU and throws out everything youve learned and gained for the final boss and switches genres. (i.e. Drakengard 1 and 3)
Every Kirby game:
@@Clock1-work7 Nah, just Planet Robobot and Kirby 64.
@@CorviKid999 And Star Allies, Return to Dreamland, and maybe Kirby 3 (don't quote me on that last one)
@@Clock1-work7 Not RTDL. It just had super ability spam and two regular fights against Magolor. The segment before was different, but the fight itself was with the regular mechanics.
@@CorviKid999 There's no/minimal break between each fight. The Lor is just as much of a final boss as Magolor is, in my opinion.
I'll probably not reply again because extended fights in comments are kind of pointless, and I don't want to be seen as a troll or something.
absolute banger vid from astro, many such cases
One of the best series that does "main theme as the final boss theme" is Kirby. Many of the series final boss tracks incorporate the series main theme Green Greens in there somewhere. And in the case of both Planet Robobot and Forgotten Land, they incorporate melodies that have been used throughout the entire game as part of the final boss themes of both.
While yes, there are many such cases, but I have a personal favorite, the Trails series of JRPGs. All of the games takes place in the same fantasy world telling an over arcing story that's split into various arcs, each focusing on a different cast of characters in a different country. So events of previous games gets referenced in later games and major characters return in new roles and the whole thing is just so awesome and well done...
There are many such cases
One of my favorite endings in a video game was with Gravity Rush 2. You and Raven are at the end of your energy and have accepted defeat. The boss has knocked you across the room and you're on life support and your best friend is thrown through three buildings and they're down for the count. It's that trope of everyone singing the theme and telling you to not give up after the boss is boasting for a minute or two and destroying other parts of the town. It's the first trope, but after all the singing and your character standing up for one more hoorah she does her ultimate attack (something only exclusive to the ending) to deliver a final blow but in the process it kills her too. I think after the credits you get a secret ending of playing as the best friend visiting all pieces of the previous town and collectable, but if you do one specific quest its implied that your best friend lived as its a cut scene of your best friend looking extremely happy to see an old face again.
A combination of parts 2 and 3, in some of the SMT/megaten games where you can fight the demifiend, the boss fight theme is the random encounter theme from nocture, because to him you are nothing more than a random encounter
EARTHBOUND MENTIONED 🗣🔥🔥🔥
Okay monster hunter scholar. That analysis was fire!!
16:43 I hope you make a video about videogames and how they use the hardware it’s in as immersion, but the main point is just glazing the ending to a DS escape room puzzle game that barely anyone remembers
A nice variation of trope #2 is when games with limited party sizes suddenly expand to include the entire party in one fight. Taking this variation into account, Cassette Beasts incorporates all 3 tropes with a final boss theme that remixes the intro music, all party members on the field at once, and a secret boss fight against the protagonist of the studio's previous game. This is just one of many such cases of things that Cassette Beasts handles well and that is why it became my favorite game of 2023.
1:32 do you love Sonic Generations ending and the “You’ve got this, Sonic” from Shadow? XD
Super Metroid has a very surprising and unique ending of the many such cases of tropes 1 & 2 (not sure if they could even be called tropes yet since this was 30 years ago). It's not really a story/character based game, and barely even has a main theme. So I was totally expecting a normal SNES super hard final boss.
Instead you have a mostly scripted fight where Mother Brain is unbeatable, and then the game does the closest thing to trope 1 with the only "character" who isn't a boss, the last Metroid, coming in to save you and sacrifice itself. This scene always hits hard despite how simple it is. And then after you become super powered up, trope 2 kicks in by playing the music from the first area and totally recontextualizing the song. When you first hear it the song is a sort of generic "heroic space theme" that plays on the surface, but in the context of the final boss it is pretty emotional.
I love this game's ending, it feels like they could do this exact sequence in a game released today and it would be just as impactful. And in an action adventure SNES game it stands out so much.
all without a single line of dialogue...
F*** you Malcovitch
Monster hunter does such an amazing job with the soundtrack. To this day I still tear up over fighting Lao Shan in MHF2 and hearing the Proof of a Hero ring out as Lao Shan enters the final area. Memories of me and my grade school friends screaming at each other to grab cannon balls, place bombs, who has the dragonator! It's such a beautiful moment I'll never forget.
My favorite game final boss where every character yout meet helps you is A Hat in Time. So many characters, mostly ones that you even FOUGHT against, but they still all come together because they care about the main character and they care about saving their world.
24:20, well Toby Fox is going to have a tough act to follow with the vessel after learning this exists when he finally gets around to finishing Deltarune
He’ll pull it off with the power of a fever dream from college.
i know you already mention mh but i really like how on top of the proof of a hero sections theres usually the main village theme present in the final monsters theme
So many great choices, it's true that there are many such cases but Bravely Default will always be a favorite of mine. The complete theme being a combination of each character theme is another fun trope, I like that it and Octopath does it.
If we are talking final battle theme the song playing during the fight against star dream in planet robobot is up there
That shit is the hypest stuff around
If you're talking about the title theme being remixed for the third phase, then yes that is absolutely hype. Also shout out to the green greens motif being used in almost every final boss theme since return to dreamland.
There are many such cases
This might be genuinely the best video of all time
While there are many such cases of the motifs crossing over into the final boss, fire emblem does so well in this. Shoutout to persona 3 taking the velvet room theme, a the,e made to comfort and soothe, and turning it into a hype up song for the “final” boss, just to use the original opening song at the final moment (too bad reload kinda messed with this)
Hold up I haven’t played Thousand Year Door yet. Remind me to watch this video in like a year
A cool final boss ost is in Pandora's tower: in the game you have a friend who in universe sings a song witch is the main theme than
SPOILER
While your friend Is posessed you hear her singing louder and louder while the boss loses hp
Imagine trope 2 to the extreme, where the entire second half of a game goes through remixes of all the forst half's songs in reverse order, like a sorta funhouse mirror.
Also there’s the trope of the final blow to the final boss or last moment of gameplay incorporating button mashing like Mario Odyssey, Kirby Forgotten Land, etc. My favorite being Wonderful 101 where you need to button mash with the mission prompt being: “SAVE THE WORLD”
BRAVELY DEFAULT MENTIONED 🔥
had to stop the video to not spoil me that awesome looking deer game any more
"The real final fantasy 7"
You're so real for that
There are many such cases when I’m having the worst time of my life but then silly spaceman drops an absolute banger and I survive for another month or so
I'm absolutely a sucker for the final phase of the final boss being the main theme of the game because I just LOVE that feeling of staring at em and going "Look at me, I AM THE FINAL BOSS NOW!"
To be fair, there are many such cases when there is no final boss to be seen in the end of the game, but I think these tropes are in fact, pretty great.
On the topic of Main Themes in final boss themes, Destiny actually does this really well. Because of the dynamic music, the main theme tends to kick in during the parts of the fight where you're actually doing damage back to the boss
Space Channel 5 Part 2 is my favorite example of the first and second trope.
There are many such cases of these tropes, but my favorite "the final boss is you" is Dante in the Vergil Route of DMC5. He's a beast.
There truly are many such cases. Special shoutout to Xenoblade 3, which has all the optional party members you could recruit throughout the game and the military units they command join together for a joint attack against the villain faction while you fight the final boss, and also has the main protagonist's theme play during the final boss theme. And then, in the DLC campaign, you find out that one of the characters from the first game split into two separate entities, and one of them is one of the party members in the DLC campaign and the other is the DLC's final boss. And before you can fight that final boss, you have a two-v-two with two of the newly introduced party members fighting against the protagonists of the first two games.
There are many such cases where someone talks about this fight, but I was surprised you didnt mention Soul of Cinder from Dark Souls 3! Alas, thanks for bringing atention to Athal Ka, thats boss is AWESOME!
11:38
Narration: "This is a clash of FOILS"
Footage: PISS ATTACK??????
There are many such cases where the final boss manages to properly reflect the themes of the games, but it's always satisfying to see it pulled off ESPECIALLY well.
More importantly though I enjoyed the detour to Generations Ultimate because I expected Spaceman to just get hype about some good ass final bosses and instead it actually turns into a philosophical analysis of Ahtal-Ka.
There are many such cases! Another great video
Octopath Traveler 2's final battle is fantastic. You fight at first like a conventional boss fight, but halfway through the first form it traps your party of 4 in uh... the Shadow Realm, I guess. So the other half of the roster steps in and continues the fight. Once the first form is beaten, the boss assumes its "serious" stance, and the party you started the fight with is released. Those Who Deny the Dawn (a more energetic version of the final boss theme) kicks in and you realize you're controlling all 8 travelers at once for this final showdown.
Live A Live 2022 does something similar too, but the really cool thing is that they added an extra step to the final battle that wasn't in the 1994 original. The power of hate itself manifests into the shape of the previous Lord of Dark, using Odio/Oersted as its core, which gradually gets chipped away throughout the fight. It proves to be too powerful a foe for the party of 4 you brought in, but the other 3 heroes join in. But not even that is enough, as they too get incapacitated. What happens then is peak JRPG storytelling. Oersted, with the hold of hate wanned just enough for him to break free, delivers the final blow himself and becomes the hero he and we always knew he was deep down. It's an act that kills him, but it is done to save the lives of 7 other heroes who needed it most.
Great video, I like many of the games you showed here....in other words there are many such cases of great final bosses
2:04 nice thought...and I knew you'd like BG3
With the first trope of the team having an final boss speach, there are instances of you defeating the boss before everyone was done, or you failing so you will have to hear everyones speach again and again in the case of an difficult one.
Also some where allies join and speak but the allies just die and they keep going with their speaches while already defeated 😅
There are many such cases, including Okami which hits the first 2 of these tropes! Amazing ending!
The Bravely Default idea of using real-life stuff reimagined as summon is such a great idea
I loved the "Victory is Right Before your Eyes" in the Pokemon Blacks Whites but there are many such cases where Game Freak does something cool in one game, and then deletes it in future installments like it never happened in the first place
But then they do, in fact, bring it back randomly???
a banger captain astronaut video. there are many such cases.
Last trope: Imagine genuinely literally a game that makes you ANOTHER REAL PLAYER'S endboss.
Bro, I'm telling you, there ARE many such cases.
a youtuber who's also a musician making banger videos? there are many such cases
there are many such cases of good final bosses and this is one of them