boss-battles
Latest
New preview available for Final Fantasy XIV's Garuda fight
The primals are among the greatest forces within Eorzea, something that Final Fantasy XIV players are no doubt acutely aware of after the clash with Ifrit. The second primal battle is coming, pitting players against Garuda, deity of the Ixali. That means another pitched battle against a superior foe in the Howling Eye, a battle which the official site has just recently previewed with a video of the fight in hard mode and a video preview of the new weapon rewards. According to the lore, the Ixali revere Garuda as the Empress of Birds, a soaring deity who maintains an appetite for the flesh of land-dwelling creatures. She is the incarnate strength of the bird-men as well as a source of great terror. But just as with Ifrit, players who defeat her can expect to have a variety of fantastic weapons, as illustrated in the video just past the break. Just be careful -- if you aren't on the ball when you fight her, you could find yourself completely blown away. [Thanks to Alex for the tip!]
Daily iPhone App: Boss Battles
I was just saying that we'd see more freemium action from Backflip Studios soon, but I didn't think it'd be quite this soon. The studio has released its second big freemium title, called Boss Battles. This time, they're taking on the space shooter genre. As you might guess from the title, the game is indeed a series of boss battles, pitting you against a number of different space shooter bosses that can earn you a bounty of gems. Those gems can be used to upgrade your weapons and ship's accessories, and they also serve as currency for your ship's lives. If you need more, you can buy more, or you can earn them as you play. There is one hitch on this one, and it's that Backflip has included ads in the package -- even if you buy one of the in-app purchases, you still have to deal with ads on the screen. But they aren't that distracting, and considering that the game is free in the first place, the ads aren't too much trouble. The game also offers full Game Center integration, and five different difficulty modes to play with. Boss Battles is available for free right now on the App Store.
GDC 2011: Backflip Studios' Boss Battles, Army of Darkness Defense, and more
Backflip Studios' Julian Farrior was here in attendance at GDC 2011 this week. His company has been doing quite well lately, and he tells me that they've recently hit 85 million downloads across all of their free apps, with over 23 million monthly active users. In plain terms, that means that tons of people have downloaded Backflip's apps (like Paper Toss, Ragdoll Blaster and the popular NinJump), and they're playing them often as well. As I heard at last year's conference, Farrior is all about experimentation, using paid downloads, freemium apps and a large, well-organized network of in-app advertising to drive traffic around and monetize his company's users. He has a relatively large slate of games due out in 2011, including four social games that we'll be hearing about later in the year, and a few games using various models that I got to see in action. Boss Battles was the first -- it was still in an early stage of development, but the idea is that Farrior wants to try to marry a scrolling arcade shooter (like Gradius) with the freemium business model.
Warhammer Online previews Thanquol's Incursion
If there's one note that Warhammer Online has been hitting rather steadily of late, it's the solid note of the Skaven. The vicious rat-men have been a popular race in the franchise for years, and the promise of an increased presence for the group has been met with nothing but anticipation. So it's unsurprising that Thanquol's Incursion is the newest element of the game under development as a 24v24 RvR dungeon -- a chance for both Order and Chaos to fight back against a Skaven operation of enormous scope. While the dungeon contains several Skaven bosses, the theme is still RvR, with boss fights tallying victory according to both damage dealt and enemy players slain. Players will engage in battles on multiple fronts, and the preview suggests that there's a definite element of trying to work the bosses to deal the most damage possible to your enemies. Take a look at the full preview for what promises to be an all-out brawl between three different sides for Warhammer Online enthusiasts.
The Daily Grind: What's the hardest boss you've ever fought?
The video game boss is as traditional as it is feared. From the earliest days of the console generation to our fancy-schmancy Eminem-Os, gamers have cut their teeth on challenging villains such as the Sleeper, Mallyx, Tarinax the Destroyer and the Watcher in the Water. Boss battles always seem impossible at the outset, punishing parties with a complete wipe at a single mistake. Strategies are memorized, patterns are ingrained and teamwork polished until that big baddie hits the floor, sobbing like a baby. So what's the hardest boss you've ever fought in a MMORPG? Was it an epic one-on-one battle, a harrowing party fight, or even a raid boss so mighty that its mere gaze stopped you in your tracks? What made this confrontation so difficult -- the sheer pool of hit points, the complex strategy or the way it almost seemed to cheat to win? And no, "Hogger" doesn't count for this Daily Grind. These memes have a statute of limitations, you know.
The Mog Log: Hours of entertainment from just one boss
Every so often, column topics fall into my lap. Like when someone mentioned in the comments the other day that they were dreading the 18-hour boss fight from Final Fantasy XI would return in Final Fantasy XIV. For those of you who don't know what in the world that was referencing... well, it's time to take a look back at Pandemonium Warden, and the now legendary story of what it took for one linkshell to bring him down. Although by "bring him down," we really mean "fight him for nearly a full day and finally give up." That's the image that Final Fantasy XI's boss fights have in a lot of people's heads. It's a great and evocative image, and it's also riddled with inaccuracies. That having been said, the nigh-on insanity of some boss fights in the game merits discussion as we get closer and closer to Final Fantasy XIV's release. Whether you're wondering about the warden's odds of return or just still believe that the boss fight properly went on for nearly a day, jump on past the break. There's a lot to go over.
Aion 2.0 bosses viewable on Korean test server
MMOSite brings word of a few new boss sightings on Aion's Korean test servers. These bosses, part of the recently released 2.0 update, include Kaisinel's Agent Vielle and Marchutan's Agent Mastarius, as well as the nasty final boss from the Debris instance at the core of the Abyss which requires a 12-man group and plenty of coordination. Additionally, a new rock-themed world boss has been sighted, as well as the Red Tear dragon, the latter of which reportedly reflects player damage and must be killed in under one hour. Drop by MMOSite for the full article as well as a selection of screenshots from the test server.
Latest Champions Online trailer shows who's boss
Where would a superhero story be if it didn't include a cast of dastardly supervillains for the good guys to face off against? In Champions Online, the Nemesis system will allow players to customize their own ultimate enemy boss -- but that doesn't mean that there aren't top tier villains already built into the game's lore, planning evil deeds and waiting for brave heroes to challenge them. The game's latest trailer (located past the break) introduces some of these big bosses and shows groups of players in combat with them. Qwyjibo, Kigatilik, Grond and Dr. Destroyer make up the roster for the video, and from the looks of things, each of them will put up a mean fight when cornered on their home turf.Hit the jump to see these four pillars of evil-doing in action.
Wii Warm Up: Say goodnight to the bad guy
For us gamers, boss fights are something to be cherished and savored, like a fine bottle of wine. Over the years, we've had some pretty memorable boss battles. This, obviously, got us thinking about you all and what memorable boss encounters you might be able to recall.So tell us about your favorite boss battles, either of recent memory (like, say, taking on Ganon at the end of Twilight Princess) or your favorites of all time (uh, the secret ending of No More Heroes, anyone?). Who did you enjoy defeating? Who did you hate fighting?
