2021 saw a lot of excellent moments in gaming, fromemotionally charged scenes like inLife is Strange: True Colors, to superb needle drops like inMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but nothing really gets a player’s blood pumping quite like a nail-bitingly tense boss fight. Luckily for anyone looking for a challenge, this year featured plenty of boss fights, some of which could go down as some of the best that gaming has to offer. A quick look at the titles released this year truly showcases that good boss fights are becoming more and more common in the industry.
Returnal,Metroid Dread,Monster Hunter Rise,Death’s Door, and evenHalo Infiniteall feature memorably fights that helped define the year. While2021’s best boss momentsare all well and good, gaming enthusiasts are beginning to look onwards to 2022 for brand new boss fight experiences and things are looking great on that front. Hopefully, 2021’s boss fights are an indicator that gaming is upping its game when it comes to the big baddies who give players the most trouble.
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2021 Paved the Way for 2022
Looking back on this year, some of gaming’s most memorable moments were contained within boss fights. Some were challenging, like those featured inReturnalandMetroid Dread, while others were simply big narrative moments in games likeResident Evil VillageandPsychonauts 2. 2021 really did a good job at showcasing all of the different ways that bosses can be memorable and satisfying, whether that’s through a mechanically challenging fight, or in a fight that represents a narrative climax. Hopefully 2022 follows that lead by delivering a similar variety of encounters.
A quick glance at the titles releasing next year seems to suggest that a good balance of fights is in store for gaming enthusiasts of all kinds. From the technically demanding fights of games likeSifuandTriangle Strategy, to the more narratively focused ones ofHorizon: Forbidden Westandthe currently untitledLegend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildsequel. Of course, the game that’s directly in the spotlight when it comes to great boss design isElden Ring.
From Software is one of the pioneers of the renaissance of challenging video games and part of the studio’s reputation comes from the many excellently designed boss fights featured in its titles.Elden Ringhas some big shoes to fill following the devastating fights ofSekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but all signs point to the game being another successful title for the studio. This means thatElden Ring’s boss fightscould end up being some of the best ever featured in a From Soft game and potentially some of the best of all time.
Now that 2021 is nearly over, it’s time for 2022 to pick things up and deliver a great year of fights and encounters. It might be a tall order to ask 2022 to outdo 2021 in that regard, but many of the year’s best fights were surprises like with the Escharum fight inHalo Infiniteor all ofMetroid Dread. Hopefully, there’s a lot more to come that isn’t known to the gaming public yet that will excite fans looking for a fight on the level ofNarwa the Allmother fromMonster Hunter Rise, or the Corrupt Woodsmith fromKena: Bridge of Sprits.
Even if 2022 doesn’t give players the same number of great fights, it’s already set up to be giving a quality few that hopefully, combined with 2021’s best encounters, will help shape the future of boss fights in the games industry.
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