More often than not, video game developers make the final boss the stiffest challenge players will face. The teams are building toward an explosive finale that tests all the skills you’ve developed so far. Sometimes, developers include hidden or superbosses that are meant to be an added challenge for dedicated players, but that’s not what this list is about. Instead, this list is looking at the bosses who surpass the final boss in difficulty and are required for story progression. That means you won’t see well-known superbosses like The Nameless King in Dark Souls 3 or any of the Weapons in Final Fantasy VII. Those belong on a different list.
Here are six of the toughest non-final bosses in gaming history.
6) Whitney – Pokémon Gold and Silver
With its second-generation Pokémon games, developer Game Freak seemingly wanted to prove that the common belief that Normal-type Pokémon were underpowered was far from the truth. Of course, anyone playing in the competitive scene already knew that, but many gamers went into Pokémon Gold and Silver with the idea that Normal-types could be wiped out relatively easily.
Unfortunately for them, Whitney was here to show how wrong they were. Her Milktank was an absolute monster of an early-game fighter. Not only could she stall you out with moves like Stomp and Milk Drink, but most starter Pokémon in those games were male, which means her Attract would tank their offensive skills. Once you learned how to counter her, Whitney wasn’t so hard, but that first time through was a slog, easily making her one of the series’ toughest gym battles when accounting for how early in the game you face her.
5) Grim Matchstick – Cuphead
Grim Matchstick’s difficulty comes from the platforming you need to do while dodging its attacks and getting off enough shots of your own. The actual fight isn’t so tough, but finding a way to keep track of everything on screen without dying will take some work.
Don’t expect to come in, slam your head against the fight a few times, and learn all the patterns. Everything is completely randomized, meaning each fight is unique. There’s no way to make this easier outside of patience, though many players prefer using the Lobber for this fight to make aiming attacks a little easier.
4) Laxasia the Complete – Lies of P
Laxasia is the second or third-to-last boss in Lies of P, depending on your choices. Either way, you’ll need to take her down, and it won’t be easy. She has a wide variety of electrical attacks and makes heavy use of long combos, which can deal a ton of burst damage if you get caught. If you make it to the second phase, she re-ups her health bar, sheds her armor, and becomes even faster.
There are a few strategies to make the fight slightly easier. She’s weak to acid damage, and if you can break her shield during the first stage, you can dodge behind her to get in safer shots without risking being hit by a combo. Still, she’s far more of a problem than Simon Manus, the final boss.
3) Majima and Saejima – Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Yakuza: Like a Dragon has one of the most shocking difficulty spikes in modern gaming. You’re going around Yokohama with Ichiban and the gang, having a grand old time with the new RPG combat, before suddenly being sent to Sotenbori. You’re introduced to a battle tower, where you can level your team up, but nothing has given you trouble so far. You figure you might as well continue with the story.
Then, Majima Goro and Taiga Saejima make their grand debut. At first, you’re happy to see your old friends, but then you realize you’re going to have to fight them. After they quickly wipe the floor with you, you’re sent back to your last save, which is probably from a few hours ago, because Like a Dragon doesn’t offer any good save spots before the fight. It’s a maddening battle that forces you back to the battle tower to improve, killing the game’s momentum. Thankfully, after you improve your characters in the tower, nothing else will give you much trouble, but this fight is a real gatekeeper.
2) Ornstein and Smough – Dark Souls
Speaking of gatekeepers, there isn’t a better (worse?) one than Ornstein and Smough in the original Dark Souls. Sure, there are harder bosses in the series, but most of them, including fan-favorites like Malenia in Elden Ring, are optional. This duo is required if you want to finish Dark Souls.
Fights against two bosses are always tough in FromSoft games, but Ornstein and Smough are the worst of the bunch. You’ll want to do your best to separate them using the pillars in the room; however, some of their attacks have enough range to clip through the pillars, so you’re never really safe. The good news is that if you can finish this fight, the rest of the game should be no problem.
1) Belias – Final Fantasy Tactics
The Belias fight in the original version of Final Fantasy Tactics takes the cake. First, you have to fight a one-on-one fight against Wiegraf, which is tough enough on its own. The original version doesn’t let you save between fights, so if you fail the Belias fight (which is likely), you’ll have to do the whole thing over again.
Making that even more annoying is that most players likely made a save during the dungeon run to the boss. If you did that, you cannot leave and level up your party. That means having to start the entire game over if you get stuck and cannot beat Belias. Thankfully, The Ivalice Chronicles rectified most of those issues. The fight is still a doozy, but at least you won’t be soft-locked on accident.
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