7 Boss Transformations That Wiped The Smugness From Our Faces

[@wally4golly]

When Ultimecia started snapping away junctions was the moment I knew fear.

[@AdelTheForsaken]

Bruh!!!!! That was pain! Anima couldn't put up with her! Thats what i believe anyway.

[@ZanMindtrip]

and when she just erased your magic reverses... and Hell's Judgement'

[@THETOWERxXx]

Meltdown.. I always lost meltdown to this B**** but I’d keep squall in aura and haste for as long as I could

[@ZanMindtrip]

@@THETOWERxXx she went right after my Ultima and Meteor that I had on Angel Wing Rinoa

[@THETOWERxXx]

@@ZanMindtrip never got lucky enough for angel wings. Holy war trial was my best friend lol

[@PowerPandaMods]

Back before I was good at games, I had to try Ultimecia several times. The last time, I got to her final form, and managed to survive for quite a while. Then, she knocked out my entire party in 1 hit. As I was reaching for the reset button on my Playstation, Phoenix randomly appeared and revived my entire party! Squall was the first person to fill his ATB, and he had gotten a Limit. I launched off a perfect Renzoukoken, followed by Lionheart, and Ultimecia fell. To this day, it remains one of the most epic moments in my gaming life.

[@notyozuka7348]

You, my friend, performed a real life Protagonist move.

[@bennywarren9866]

Same😂 The first time I beat her I had nothing left. No Aurora stones no more healing my whole party was taken out. . It was just me and squall doing basic attacks and her talking shit. And one of those basic attacks killed her 🤣

[@airiakizuki5592]

i just popped a holy war and shit was easy after that

[@allanturmaine5496]

See, that's a good experience. My friends went in with Selphie, and just farmed The End or whatever it's called. So boring.

[@bennywarren9866]

@@allanturmaine5496 😂 I played that game on the PS1 in high School. Imagine my surprise learning 20 years later that she had a move like that.

[@gospel2dgeek]

Yunalesca was a legit jump scare. I remember playing it as a kid all on my own in the middle of the night. Stuff of nightmares.

[@GuilhermeSantos-qw5yl]

I've beaten FFX for the first time last week. It was after midnight when I was fighting her and them she SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME with that the Medusa face. I jumped off the chair. I'm 23 years old, so I can't even imagine how a kid would felt

[@holy9781]

I remember hating that battle as a kid and lost a million times

[@Dragon66898]

I always summoned when her mega death ability was about to be used.

[@fuzzydunlop1988]

can't you beat her by using potions on her?

[@QrincessQri]

Oh same. I was already disturbed by the conversation that occurs before her fight, so the actual fight itself was like the cherry on top. 😰

[@gjtrue]

Neo Exdeath's design is pure nightmare fuel. His appearance in Final Fantasy XIV as he breaks through the Dimensional Rift is also very eerie. Bartz and the gang must have been terrified combating such a foe.

[@snuggie1849]

Even after beating omega and shinryu ex death is still no joke if you beat the other two underleveled like i did. Funny enough on my first playthrough i was able to beat omega and shinryu due to elemental absorb gear but neo exdeaths almagest killed most my party in 1 hit. Man 5 is just brutal unless you know the game inside out. Twinntannia is just evil man, and its mandatory too

[@gjtrue]

@@snuggie1849 Agreed. I consider Neo Exdeath among the most difficult final bosses in the entire series, if not THE most difficult. He may as well be a damn *super boss* if y'all ask me. 😭 I put him right up there with the final battle against Ultimecia in FFVIII. I'm surprised I beat her on my first attempt way back as I was careless enough not to prepare first. Lastly, I would count Orphan from FFXIII but that fight is very hard for the wrong reasons in my opinion... 😮‍💨

[@snuggie1849]

@@gjtrue orphan gave me the most trouble but i sucked at 13 when i first played. I used vanielle and used poison to cheese that boss. Also its so dumb that a max level party can lose that fight with full chrystarium and the best weapons in the game. Nul death gear is key for that fight

[@TheAuron32]

@@snuggie1849 what else doesnt help is the "leader dies you lose" thing... glad they changed that in XIII-2 cos that was really my only gripe.

[@snuggie1849]

@@TheAuron32 i died so many freaking times because of that. I HATED that with a passion. Its like bro just use a phoenix down theres 2 other people xD

[@ikeilen6049]

Ultimecia was never a nightmare. She's just a moving piece of art.

[@lohankarachay476]

I always thought it about her final form, it's gorgeous.

[@eros4434]

Couldn’t agree more, her design is incredible

[@jinxpowder7309]

And the music too!

[@LyntzbartzkyPerez]

And the music too is just chefs kiss

[@TBoneTony]

There is a reason why you always save two save files in JRPGs. One for your current progress, the other you save up to your last town save point. Therefore if the dungeon boss is too hard and you need to level up but can't escape the current dungeon, you can use that second save file for going back to it and level grinding before taking on the current dungeon again.

[@brunobarbosa9876]

Haha 😂😅 I learned this lesson from the *hard way* in my playthrough in FF4.

[@MrVariant]

@@brunobarbosa9876 we got quality of life now with the pixel remasters though 1, 2 and 4 took away a lot. 11:55 is a funny way to say difficult 1 shot. If you didn't break fft with tailwind, life drain (beowulf's drain is instant 25% like graviga arithmeticks 50%) or manafont/mana shield (with auto potion being a decent poor man's version though you bypass learning all potions) or bypass geomancy with nature's wrath, you're not trying.

[@sphenlee]

I loved that FFXII would give you a warning if you tried to save in an area you couldn't leave (without beating the boss first). So you knew to start a new save file

[@RustyShackleford_]

Use one file like a real gamer

[@MrVariant]

@@RustyShackleford_ these games want you to use strategy guides, nowadays known as fandoms, to exploit. No reason not to use save states if on an emulator as well. I am glad people make rebalancing hacks, maps (good luck getting ff2 final dungeon stuff, and the broken pixel remaster doesn't count) and guides too.

[@mex321]

I remember having a hard time with Bizarro Sephiroth when i was 14, my friend Justin was there aswell as my father and when i finally beat him i jumped and did a stupid dance then Justin said "Uh... whats that creepy music?" and then i looked and my god i was scared and dissapointed i didn't beat him afterall. That music just scared me so much and made me nervous, then seeing Sephiroth made me mentally give up.... yes i died aswell.

[@AnotherSeeker]

Ooof. Painful.

[@gogauze]

I recall having to just reset to my last save when I first hit Bizarro Sephiroth because I had critically underused several characters, and I just didn't have the Materia to really get them into a solid fighting force between all three parties. So I went back out to grind out some XP and AP, came back, and won by the skin of my teeth. Then One Winged Angel started playing and I lost my damn mind. I'm positive that's why that track is so iconic and really ratchets up the tension to this day. I did manage to drop Safer Sephiroth, though, in that same session, since I'd been hoarding every Elixir item for just such an occasion. No regrets.

[@Immunity1080]

Wow... a hard time with Bizarro? That's kinda crazy that fight is ridiculously easy

[@andrewkkerr8435]

It took me so many goes to beat him when i first killed him all my part was dead I had on one but left. On my self and he was about to do that super nova all I could do was hit him and that one hit was enough to finish him my jaw dropped thinking no fn way

[@TheOccupants]

@@Immunity1080 #bragalert

[@distasio09]

Little trick about that Ultimecia final form. Once the bottom half reveals itself, you could draw apocalypse then use it on her.

[@iamjoehill]

DAMN THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN HELPFUL

[@NeroAM85]

Shame you can only use it on her and not keep it for later use XD

[@cgi2002]

She's both a really dangerous boss, and one that i've been lucky enough to essentially kill before she lands more than 1 or 2 hits several times. She doesn't have enough hp to survive basically any decent limit break, several characters can basically 1 shot each phase of the fight especially if you have another character hit her with vit 0 the moment the phase started. All depends really if your doing a run were you kill Omega weapon, if you are, she's insanely weak.

[@thelocust619]

​@@iamjoehillit doesnt help lol

[@thelocust619]

Why on earth would you bother when magic is useless and a normal attack does 9999

[@thegingergod3122]

I remember one of the many times I faced Ultimecia particularly well. I had leveled everyone in the party to 100, and was facing her final stage with Squall, Rinoa, and Selphie. She had just use Hell's Judgment on the party and Selphies turn came up and gave me her limit break. I selected it and it gave me "The End" immediately, so naturally I cast it. I figured due to the unique conditions of the ability that it would just force her dialogue through and end the fight. It didn't! She then proceeds to wipe my party, luckily Phoenix Pinion kicked in at that moment. Selphies turn came up again and I was planning to use Full-Cure just so I didn't get wiped again. Clicked Slot again and up pops The End again! So naturally I cast it and follow it up with Renzikukin and Wishing Star. And that's my story of how I cast The End on Ultimecia twice

[@jedgrahek1426]

Am so happy to hear someone else say they deliberately leveled to 100 in FF8. Knowing how the game works, one has to really love FF8 and truly desire an "ultimate" challenge to choose to fight Ultimecia at that level. That's the exact same party I used in my level 100 run of the game also, haha. The only sane way to face her is to have 3 real party members and 3 sacrificial lambs, so I'm assuming that was your chosen party. That's a great story too.

[@Jester_Jean]

@@jedgrahek1426 I always level to 100 in that game. Everything else is broing imo

[@aerisgainsborough2141]

it technically DOES kill her, it would've left her saying "AND...", then the next hit kills her even if it's a zero damage if I recall...

[@orelas167]

I like how they made her resistant to the game-breakers.

[@Powerkraut1]

Seymour’s third fight on Mount Gagazet in FFX is always where I seem to get the first game over of a playthrough. He’s a monster in that fight

[@homelikewater]

That had me on toes. Then you look back and think: damn he wasn’t that challenging lol.

[@Rantandum]

*Seymour watches.....and waits.....* Me: "NONONONONONONONONO!"

[@54raynor]

This was the first fight I thought of when it comes to toughest mandatory boss encounters, especially since Zombie wasn’t a common status ailment up to that point. Way more difficult than Yunalesca.

[@KeithElliott-zd8cx]

@@54raynor ironically yunalesca pretty likely to fuck you with zombie far more - you learned your lesson with seymour, and she's using cure/regen, so cure zombie... Then mega death. Tbh i tend to have an easier time - i like kimhari, i basically stockpile sphere levels, jump to mid wakka's tree and get OP as fuck after bikanel. Stealing tetra element from seymour 2, bribing for healing water in the calm lands, i've got a few uses of rikku's ultra null all mix - like a 33% dmg decrease from cheer/focus 5x, plus not missing out on shell/protect with mighty guard halving dmg, just a lack of hastega, but that's a white magic sphere away for rikku.

[@GoNuckingFuts]

Total Annihilation

[@omegajbmb]

Yunalesca's long as hell cutscreens were so infuriating to sit through that my heart still hurts a little just remembering it.

[@gamerd8709]

I quit the game because of yunalescas cut scene

[@Boyzby]

Weirdly, I didn't remember her fight at all, so either I suppressed those memories or-what I imagine actually is the case-I didn't have much issue with her. Seymour on Gagazet though... I've heard that speech about Spira and the spiral of death enough to last a lifetime.

[@Type_3_Screamer]

@@Boyzby seymour flux was a brutal difficulty lance lol

[@bunnygirlerika9489]

@@Boyzby as much as I love Seymour as a character that battle was bullshit! Anytime I have replay the game since it originally came out I normally say fuck it and use Yojimbo.

[@rayoflight1920]

@@Boyzby fr xD I even can recite that scene almost verbatim

[@toxickandy9669]

For a while i thought that FF8 named griever after the necklace charm that squall has. Because during my play through, i named it griever. Wasn't until years later watching ff videos on KZbin i realized, that was it's actual name. But during that time, i thought it was so cool that the name you gave the necklace was the name of the final bosses personal GF

[@QrincessQri]

God!!!! I remember struggle bussing thru the first phase of Ultimecia’s fight with my brother. Both of us were like 8 and 10 at the time lmao. The exasperated gasp we let out when phase two began was priceless. At this point both of us were fed up with the game and each other. 😂

[@kurthill9070]

it's the battle of the most powerful sorceress of all time (i believe it's a potential future rinoa for my own reasons) and she showed it. From human to guardian force to junctioned guardian force to the purest manifestation of the sorceress power her humanity depends on.

[@MarxasThomas]

@@kurthill9070 that was debunked unfortunately, and I liked that Theory😢

[@qlasalle]

Ultimecia was very intimidating when I was younger

[@UnifiedEntity]

Will never forget beating Yunalesca on my first try after hearing Aurons speech. All those forms and what not too phew. Thrilling battle

[@anglo-saxonconnor817]

The biggest fun when playing final fantasy 8 is to determine whether the whole game is about a time loop and whether the whole game is a dream dream up by a dying squall in disc one and exactly what ultimecia truly desire by doing time compression. Her inner world is something very few people have come to knowing at all even after so many years.

[@CD-Gaming]

A time loop, I can see, but it most definitely is NOT a dream of a dying Squall! He survived, he's reet! 'Twas but a scratch!

[@deltronmagnus5886]

The whole Squall being dead thing is a fan theory that has been debunked by one of the games creator's, along with the theory about Rhinoa being Ultimecia.

[@CD-Gaming]

@@deltronmagnus5886 I know, I've seen the interview as well! i also know that the Gogo from VI did NOT cross over from V and that there was NEVER any plan to let you revive Aeris! There are some people who actually don't believe that, though! I pointed that out once and someone demanded I provide proof and I jus simply pointed out said interview! That is still on KZbin! I'm about to start a VI Advance Let's Play and I'm debating whether or not to acknowledge the Theory... And as i stated, 'twas jus a flesh wound! (And no, I don't know why I've been making so many Monty Python references lately!)

[@Forever_Zero]

Ultimecia deserves indeed to be in top place, not only because of the transformations and difficulty, but also the amazing soundtrack, Maybe I'm a Lion and the Extreme hype this battle to a 100 and make it even more memorable

[@vteccomplex]

1st time I beat Ultimecia, while I did one-shot her whole fight, at the tail end of her final form, I was literally down to just Squall. Everyone else was "absorbed into time" and I got hit by the attack that brings you down to 1hp. I made the decision to not heal and use 1hp to proc Limit Break and hopefully Lionheart. With 1hp and a dream I was able to beat her. OMG was that stressful and satisfying. And then proceeded to cry during the amazing ending cutscene. That was around 23 years ago and I still remember to this day.

[@jedgrahek1426]

Yes! That whole ending is nuts, and can super get to you if you're in the right frame of mind or place in your life for it. I also distinctly remember crying pretty hard to it one time, when I was around 19 or 20, in the middle of the night and no lights but the TV screen. The kind of crying that comes from a pure overflow of emotion in general, not sadness specifically. The final ending scene music of Chrono Trigger, that plays starting as the balloon lifts off and through the credits, can pretty reliably evoke that feeling if I want it to... sigh.

[@highpriest90]

My favorite ff of all time. My first love. Have you heard or read about the fan theories on the ending of ff8?? About Rinoa being Ultemicia. The whole thing about griever / pendant backs this up... Its a serious mind fuck

[@KozKalanndok]

Actually I had exactly the same ending towards another FF game. For me it was the Safer Sephiroth where I had only had Vincent left in Chaos form, just had taken the Heartless Angel (down to 1 HP attack) and thought the fight lost when the demon just got his attack and killed the boss.

[@MrFelblood]

@@highpriest90 What really? Yeah, okay. This actually tracks. It works way better than the "Squall died at the parade and this is his brain death fever dream" hypothesis, while also explaining why time and space seem to warp more and more to accommodate the couple's story from the moment they meet Ultimecia. Also, Griever is the ghost of her attack dog.

[@Alejandro333777]

The absorbed into time thing was such bullshit

[@Leon-pq6cw]

The Deling's President impersonator was always a change boss I will remember fondly.

[@erickbelvin4781]

You know it was lost on me as a kid the importance of that Hojo fight, and I had just over leveled by the time I arrived at Hojo as I was exploring and never ran from a fight.

[@coryfusting9294]

My first run with FFT was a rough one and I got softlocked on Wiegraf due to being underleveled and not having the right abilities. Definitely learned my lesson after that.

[@Onslaught524]

Same here. Fight stopped me dead in my tracks, and I had to restart the whole game. Can't think of another time that's happened.

[@syntheticsleep]

That fight is bullshit. Same thing happened to me. There's no warning of any kind, nothing to prepare you. And then his friggin demons start spamming Dark Holy and you're toast.

[@syntheticsleep]

@@Onslaught524 I had to restart VIII at Ultimecia.

[@Shalakor]

@@syntheticsleep Wait, at the boss fight itself... or her Castle's crazy ability-locking mechanic, making what turned out to be poor choices on what order to unlock abilities in, and not being able to beat/find enough of the more cryptic optional bosses to build usable strategy against her with?

[@syntheticsleep]

@@Shalakor The fight itself. I didn't really have trouble with the castle, but I never really learned the junction system properly. Also didn't know about the forbidden magics and that kind of stuff. When I played it again later on and understood the mechanics better I fuckin smoked that ho.

[@Yeaster]

My sister watched me beat Ultimecia. I was so damn relieved. It felt like a workout lol

[@vexinglex4996]

While Sephiroth was my first encounter with this trope, I can honestly say that Ultimecia was the one that I could never forget. Her multiple forms, endless monologues, and unchecked power over MY OWN ABILITIES made me practically hate her. My friends and I started the fight midday and ended up finally winning late at night. We were too tired to celebrate immediately.

[@alexjones50]

ff8 was the first jrpg I ever played so Ultimecia was my first experience of a jrpg final boss, took me a while to realise 4 phase final bosses weren't the norm, lol.

[@gorillamac]

My oldest brother was so mad at not being able to beat Yunalesca and even more so when I beat her with ease for him.

[@indimopi]

ff8's fake president was the one that wiped my smugness from my face.

[@tylersmith9868]

You use a Phoenix down on him and it's over. Even if you don't, not a hard fight at all lol.

[@scratch5120]

I always found undead enemies in Ff8 interesting. Even the undead bosses were pretty credibly weak to basic healing items and spells. Gotta wonder if that was just an oversight on their part

[@syn710]

I always thought Seymour at mount gagazet was by far the hardest boss for me every time I play ffx

[@jedgrahek1426]

The first time I played FFX, I was rushing through it as fast as possible, because I was literally borrowing a PS2 and a copy of the game from two separate people over a 2.5 day period, and I remember that fight being one of the very worst in the whole game to get past in that 'underleveled' state, even harder than Yunalesca, because while that was just about gaining knowledge of how to handle her tactically over a number of tries, Seymour at Gagazet was more like a hard power check that I remember it feeling like a miracle and super lucky when I finally scraped by him after a good little number of failed attempts. Every other time I've played the game, free to indulge RPG OCD and being overleveled for everything, he's gone down like nothing. But I super understand what you mean about how difficult a boss he can be if you're just going straight through... he was the hardest boss in the whole game for me too that first rushed playthrough.

[@MrFelblood]

That "Total Antihalation" move he's got did exactly what it says on the tin to me 20 years ago, and I still remember the name.

[@whocares4274]

Honestly I didn’t think he was that bad I’ve beaten the game 3 times and never died to him. Hardest things in the game are the Chocobo race to get Titus weapon and grinding enough to beat the monster arena, I did the first not the latter.

[@ianbraun271]

@@whocares4274 i was the opposite. I cleared and abused the monster arena, couldnt do the chocobo race, butterfly catching, or lightning dodge.

[@LilCyco223]

"Pitiful mortal. Your hope ends here! AND YOUR MEANINGLESS EXISTENCE WITH IT!!"

[@drunkdrag0n]

Ultimecia was the one boss I had to return to several times before I got a full handle of her abilities and skills. The best strategy I had, through a lot of item refinement, acquiring and upgrading, was to boost everyone's stats to at least 150, and then select 3 characters to use against her. With a Holy-War item, you could put your Party into Aura, throw it up and pelt her with Limits. With a little luck, it'll last until she junctions herself or her final stage.

[@AbRas644]

He probably got training from Yunalesca. Lance of Atropos with Full cure, and Total Annihilation to delete your party.

[@thelocust619]

...what? Just junction meteor to your attack and kill her by accident. I usually have 1 char healing her cuz she's so weak

[@drunkdrag0n]

@@thelocust619Teenage me returned to Final Fantasy VIII AFTER going through up to XII; I couldn't get a full handle on the system and mechanics of VIII until guides became a thing.

[@thelocust619]

@drunkdrag0n ah yea that makes sense. I do remember when I first started I kept using summons cuz they did the most damage until it stopped working around the time you fight those waterway slugs. I was just enough of a loser to draw 100 spells with no magic junction, then i regretted it. After that everything just died, forever.

[@neoshadowdukeofgames8223]

I’d say Yunalesca and Hojo were the most nightmare inducing. Although I do like Auron’s speech before fighting Yunalesca

[@FuzzfingerGaming]

Currently playing through FFX and I am surprised I forgot how genuinely tough the Yunalesca battle is, it really tests the player's metal in putting into practise all of the battle mechanics that must be used. Also, the design of that boss' various forms are grotesque and it is a overall a stand-out in the franchise.

[@vlahakisnick]

Yunalesca was the first time I ever had to look up a game guide on how to beat a boss in a game. I was 10 when that game came out. I also to this day still have Aurons speech pre-fight memorized

[@adamlombardo]

I feel like Ultimecia was ridiculously easy if your weapons and limit breaks were up to snuff. Lionheart made that fight a walk in the park, and you could DRAW the apocalypse spell and use it on her yourself.

[@kaptaink420]

In FFT, There’s also a brutal battle where there’s a gate involved where you have to get on the other side of the gate when you’re on the outside. Fighting the guys at the bottom and also the guys shooting you from above.

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

The first phase of the Orphan fight is fraught with peril, especially that attack with the giant sword that can occur at the most random moment. But the second phase is much easier than the first, actually.

[@AbRas644]

The real issue is the first form’s Progenitorial Wrath, cause if luck is not on your side, it would kill your party leader, which is basically Game Over.

[@jedislayer7378]

You can actual cheese the second form by spamming vanille’s death spell once it is staggered. Which is a super easy way to get the Superstar achievement for getting a 5 star rating on that fight.

[@AT-il2ej]

@@AbRas644 another reason why 13 was a shit game.

[@yunan7692]

Yunalesca's zombie Gorgon form scared the crap out of me the first time it appeared, then I casted Cure-All and it was Game Over

[@stewartglencrose9023]

“You have yet to see my final form!”

[@reggieziet]

Man I used to play FF 7 and 8 when I was really young, couldnt finish of both final bosses for years, and then one day, i decided I was going to get trough and finished both games the same day. Finishing two FF games the same day has a impact on you. I was quiet the rest of the day, happy and sad. I will never forget.

[@reiddutchess9955]

There is no simultaneous happiness and sadness quite like finishing a final fantasy game, especially from 6-10

[@GrimlanderMG]

I apparently was the only person who didn't have a 'chosen party' for Ultimecia. I junctioned something to everyone. Two somethings? Basically I had everyone fully equipped with GFs and magic and didn't bother swapping them around through the entire game. Squall had Shiva, Quistis had Siren, Zell had Quetzalcotl, etc. The encounter with Ultimecia was a joke. If she whisked away someone, no big deal, I had backups. What did hurt me was Omega Weapon, as Lv 5 Death one-shot my level 100 party.

[@anlize3422]

Unless I'm misremembering, Ultimecia had Hell's Judgement too no? That move where the lowered the entire party to 1 hp. I'm pretty I had cold sweat going down the first time I fought her and she used that crap on me.

[@deltronmagnus5886]

Good video. For me, the Ultimecia battle is the winner. It's definitely not the most difficult in the series, nor does it have the most emotional weight, but it is the nevertheless the best. Everything about it is so well designed and executed. It also has this sheer COOLNESS that not even Sephiroth can top.

[@jedgrahek1426]

I love Ultimecia so, so much as a final boss (and FF8 in general), because it's essentially impossible to have an underwhelming experience fighting her due to being overleveled. No matter how much you've prepared and made yourself powerful, she is always going to kick your ass and keep you on the edge of your seat, and make the experience of defeating her a huge emotional high, which is exactly where the player should be mentally when watching the ending that follows. And yes, it is possible to make it an "easy battle" via low-level and Triple Triad-refining shenanagins... but at that point the player is truly deliberately choosing that path, which is very, very different from playing 6 or 7, doing everything in the game because you love it so much, and then feeling like you maybe shouldn't have when Kefka and Sephiroth feel like jokes upon finally facing them, and no real option but starting a new game and imposing a bunch of arbitrary handicaps on yourself to maybe have a better experience at the end. FF8 will always be my absolute favorite in the series because of that (and everything else about the game)... and as an 80's kid who grew up playing the original Final Fantasy after getting the guide to it in the mail from Nintendo Power and knowing I had to have that game and begging my parents for it, and thought, after playing 7, that nothing would ever be able to top FF4 and 6 and the nostalgia I had from playing them as a child/adolescent.... it still to this day blows my mind how good (and brave and inventive and original and clever and beautiful) Final Fantasy 8 is.

[@franconnorton7087]

Yep. I totally agree. I did not like seven nearly as much. Same with Ten. For me FF8 was by far the best with so many scenes that just made the game. I remember the boat assault on timber with the storming of the beach. The run to the boat with the giant spider and quistus saving your a** with the machine gun. Wow. The garden starting up to avoid the missiles and its take of to start flying. The battle of the gardens I didn't think could be topped but then we get sent to outer space. Floating in space to save Rinoa and we get Ragnarok the coolest ship in all FF. Then (as if that was not 'Final Fantasy' enough) we attack the lunatic pandora with Ragnarok. Blasting our way in through the shields with Ragnarok crawling the last bit of the way, literally pulling itself inside. Sceifer beating Odin (wtf!!), Edel absorbing Rinoa and then Time compression. The game had so many moments that just made me say WOW.

[@Vaquix000]

@@franconnorton7087 FF8 had some of the best music, art and scenes in the franchise. However I did find some parts in the story questionable... For those that haven't played it, there are Spoilers in comment so you may not want to continue reading. Anyway, them suddenly remembering that they somehow all knew each other in the orphanage. Adds nothing to the story and is just ridiculously silly. I also found the main villain rather dull. Not designwise or battlewise of course, but it was never explained why she does what she does, she just does evil laughs like a simple villain from a cartoon or something. I felt the creepy sorceress Adel who was sealed on the moon to be more original since the whole hot evil sorceress thing was done already with Edea. Ultimecia is basically just Super Edea. The whole Rinoa being Ultimecia theory could have saved the villain from dullness but nope squareenix was adamant about her having nothing going for her plotwise, just super powerful witch that wants to compress time because she can. Oh well at least she has a great evil hot design and her final form is equal parts beautiful and creepy.

[@franconnorton7087]

@@Vaquix000 Yeah the story plot is not great. But the whole reason its my fave is because it makes you feel part of an epic fantasy. Thats why its my fave. Its plot, junction and gf system and mechanics were not the best but the visuals and locations and scenes made each new location unique and new. Think about it. You go from the epic war in dollet, to timber where you unhook trains to the assasination of the sorceress. It is a true 'Fantasy epic' with so many memorable moments.

[@VRDejaVu]

@@Vaquix000 About the villain: it was in purpose so each player can form their own opinions on who Ultimecia is and what are her motivations. You can still find articles saying she is Rinoa even though Hashimoto said on an interview that she isnt. In my heart Ultimecia will always be Quistis. On an alternative timeline the party gets to Ragnarok (when it lands after the the lunar cry) and finds Squal dead. Quistis Blames Rinoa so she is the one that breaks her out of Odin's lab but not to help her. Quistis uses her blue magic to somehow bind Rinoa and leech her powers. She also animates Griever using Squall's ring (to me its no coincidence that Griever's attack is one of Quistis limit breaks).

[@not_yotei7517]

Weigraf/Belias haunted my childhood and it nearly did softlock me for almost a month until I managed to pivot into monk and got an EXTREMELY lucky crit with a dodge on the counter-attack! Good times, good times :'D

[@xrenzo1991]

I remember vividly the fight against Ultimecia when I was a kid. I was late for school, but was finally being able to beat her (after going back to do Ultimecia Castle mechs properly). I finally beat her 3rd form. You can't imagine my happiness thinking I finished the game. Then, I realized there was yet another form... Had to shutdown my PSOne and catch the bus. Oh, the frustation.

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

Remember that weird cheese strat in FF5? With a Chemist job in the party you can combine the items "Maiden's Kiss" and "Holy Water" which gives enemies some kind of debuff that will hinder them from transforming. ... even bosses. So after beating the first form of Exdeath the battle's over!

[@yeahsure.6083]

The one that fucked me up the most was yunalesca the first time i fought her. I did not expect the 3rd form

[@saladinboss2507]

I wasn't aware Ultimecia could still kill you after she started talking. I would be so pissed if that happened to me! Great video, FFU!

[@mrskye08]

Haha i was reading a walkthrough back, it said "you'll know it's over when she says 'reflect on your...' " once i saw it, i left my keyboard 😂

[@iantaakalla8180]

Technically, it should say “stop battling when you see ‘And…’ “ but even then that is not true because you need to hit her every time she gives her final speech.

[@akumathelion535]

The final boss fight for FF8 took me one and half hours if I recall. I had the 99 mega elixirs too so I was virtually invincible and I had the top limit breaker/weapon for all 3 characters, doing hundreds of thousands of damage with each character per round. First you fight Ultimecia, then her summon, then she fuses with the summon, then they evolve to something else. And this goes on and on. I was wondering if the fight would ever end. I remember thinking, "There better not be a power outage in the middle of this shtye." Most ridiculously long final boss fight in all FF.

[@beeniecat9411]

The fight with Weigraf was brutal, like make you justifiably rage quit bad. The only job that pulled me through was the orator since it made dwindling enemy numbers easy by recruiting them to take down their old boss. I love that job and I'll fight argue anyone who thinks the job that can make turncoats out of the enemy party is a bad job.

[@snuggie1849]

I used the squire job and i kept raising my speed until i got multiple turns and i ran away, healed and buffed until i could near 1 shot him.

[@jedgrahek1426]

@@snuggie1849 Yeah, that's the soundest way to deal with the battle. I think I remember reading to do that on GameFaqs, but one really has to kind of think outside the box on a first play to try going back to squire to deal with that situation without being informed about its effectiveness.

[@snuggie1849]

@@jedgrahek1426 i play squire the whole game on my first playthrough so for me that was my normal strat. Buff then fight but for that one i prioritize speed and grid movement speed where in most fights i buffed a few times and was good

[@indecision6326]

Ultimecia's Absorb Into Time ability is actually quite useful for the player, as they can choose what party they want to use, KO anyone who they don't want after the battle begins, and end up with their desired party.

[@allo1824]

I never found Ultimecia to be that difficult when I played ff8 as a kid. I seemingly got lucky with Selphie each time I fought her and all of her forms by using The End

[@iceviking8280]

Ultimecia was a bitch. I’ve learned to just refine cards and use items for most of the final battle. Gilgamesh card gives 10 Holy wars which is an item when used the whole party is invincible for a time. Bahamut card gives you 100 megalixirs to heal the entire HP full with one use. Then you just get aura on squall, and have at it.

[@ZechsOZ00MS]

FFVIII was my first FF game and I remember a long time ago when I had reached the final boss fight, I had trouble with it. My cousin, who had given me the game, had this to say when I asked him for advice "for the first two forms fire off ultimas and GFs, after that, everything you got".

[@kylemiller2920]

I had an overall mixed experience with FF8, but I loved ultimecia's castle and ultimecia as a final boss. FF7 was the only other JRPG I had played to that point and the premise of defeating bosses to unlock your abilities and the puzzle to face omega weapon was a really cool concept.

[@Cross177]

VIII is the first final fantasy I beat. When I got to Ultimecia, I did not realize she had the ability to DELETE your Junction stacks in the fight. That shit scared me

[@XRookSX]

7 is the fave, 8 and 13 follow up right behind. But Ultimecia is the fave baddy. Always loved her

[@inkedsephiroth3210]

Same

[@thanjay1867]

I had to restart the game when I first encountered Belias in FFT. I used a weird strategy where I just ran from weigraf and used yell until I was getting 3 turns to his 1, and then keeping the party really spread out against Belias to avoid his summon magic, it took me hours to finally beat him.

[@Stuy777]

Ultimecia also had an attack (Hell's Judgement) that dropped your entire party down to 1hp, 12yo me really "enjoyed" that move...

[@ZanMindtrip]

Following Yunalesca with Wiegraf downright made me scream

[@paulhiggins6433]

There were two for me. First was in FF8. The fake president. I had no idea that phoenix downs would work on him, so I tried to out muscle him and it didn't work. Of course, that was my first playthrough, so yeah. No worries anymore. The second was In FFX. Yunalesca. Had no idea how Mega Death and the other big attack (the one that gave everyone zombie) worked together. I lost so many times on that fight because I kept healing zombie then getting hit with Mega Death.

[@badventist-petite]

While I wholeheartedly agree with most of this list, the one that gave me the MOST grief was not final (orphan) barthandelus but the 2nd time you fight him in oerba. For the life of me, I couldn’t beat him. Then I put that game down and didn’t pick it back up again for another 8-10 years. But I did finally beat him when I picked it up again around 2017-2018 so that was nice 😊 And yes, yunalesca was definitely some high octane nightmare fuel the 1st time I played it.

[@nathanwilcut3360]

You should try the beast arena then. Lol

[@EvanTomiko]

Ultimecia and Sephiroth final battle still one of my favorites Final Fantasy battle.

[@jahipalmer8782]

Yunalesca is still one of my favorite boss fights ever. It was the first time I had to think during a boss fight.

[@JustAnotherGamerUS]

ultimecia still gives me nightmares to this day. i honestly believed final fantasy viii would be the sole game in the series that i would never finish all because of ultimecia. furthermore i wasnt playing the game with strategy guides, youtube tutorials, forum tips or anything, so i went in having to do everything legit making her otherworldly formidable. great job ffviii team

[@mutevampire]

Feels good seeing someone remember the Wiegraf fight. That battle was my first experience with a soft lock. I could not handle it with what I brought, and had to start over. Pretty satisfying coming back over prepared and spanking him though.

[@jamesmcgowan8898]

Ulti was so hard being in middle school and my first ff. I had also leveled everyone to level 100 which apparently makes it a little harder what with her hp being over a million or something like that. Either way got it done with aura and lionheart but Jesus did it take a while.

[@jedgrahek1426]

Haha yes it makes her waaaay harder if you're max level, that's something I love about the game, I'm sorry you had to deal with that without intending to, but it's also really cool that you did defeat her at that level.

[@TheJCHarkins2]

At age 11, I found Wiegraf and got absolutely trucked my first time around. I had to restart the game and grind Ramza through the Monk class (I had initially ground up his Knight and I believe Archer for the focus charge attacks the first round) to get there and somehow limped through him the second time. Barthandelus in mid game absolutely gave me fits for a week when I first played. I had been trucking through without issue then I just hit a cliff with him I couldnt scale without literally rebalancing my entire line up and using characters I was unfamiliar with for the encounter. I didnt have that issue in the end game oddly enough, but the midgame cliff was something I never expected and was a head/table experience that had me actually put the game down for a few days to just decompress from frustration.

[@ry2950]

Exdeath was hard to beat traditionally until you learn about the power of yeeting money.

[@hewmengshen7781]

Throw Gil is so op

[@yaboyken]

If we're talking about all bosses, lost number in ff7 was the first time I can remember thinking to myself "oh shit..." lol.

[@picchikaru8428]

I'll give you ultimecia and orphan though: the mechanics alone could make you lose 1000 times between the level up punishment of 8 and the stat capping of 13 those are hard but I personally found Barthandelus 2(based on when you fight him in Oerba) the hardest thing in FF 13 barnone. probably the toughest part of the mandatory fights in FF up to that point for me.

[@snuggie1849]

Imo ff13 is the hardest ff unless you play on easy, then its doable even for a casual playthrough and its great for grinding money crazy fast. Bartandelus probably killed me more than every superboss in the series combined. Every form of his is bs and orphan took me hours till i realised i could equip nul death and spam poison as vanille

[@LyntzbartzkyPerez]

What I love about the Ultimecia fight is when she starts rambling about time and she knocks everyone to 1 HP, every time I get a Lionheart. I’m pretty sure that was intentional

[@darkmatter32x]

Weigraf's battle for those unprepared can be a game restart event. However, you can cheat your way through it by using Ramza's squire ability. Keep using 'yell' until speed is at 50 and then use 'accumulate' until physical is at 99.

[@jacquesduplessis6809]

I remember that OH SH@T moment with Hojo and Yanalesca.....

[@MyMedicinalReality]

Belias in Tactics softlocked my save as a young teen back in the day... The first game I ever gave up on. Tragic, but if I can find a more modern copy [not phone, I'm awful with mobile controls] I want to give that game another run! It's one of my favorite FF titles

[@Talon007]

Ultimecia killed your GF instantly. Time compressed KO'd characters And casted the most powerful magic in the game YOU didn't even have access to Apocalypse.

[@maddal1705]

Lady Yunalesca annihilated me on the first few tries so I had to work out her attacks and patterns before rethinking my strategy on how best to defeat her. As for Ultimecia, she shocked me too. I didn't expect to fight her three times and her GF, Griever, as well. I thought she was done after beating her when she fused herself with Griever. I guessed Hojo and Vayne Solidor would also be on this list too and they gave me trouble too on my first play through of both FFVII and FFXII.

[@nathanwilcut3360]

Be glad you didn't try to do the beast arena challenge on ffx, most of those monsters are stronger than the final boss

[@EvilPichu]

Great video as usual FFU👍🏻 I have a question: Where is the amazing footage at 1:45 with Kefka from? 😳😳😳

[@DJAB87]

That's from FF14.

[@EvilPichu]

@@DJAB87 awesome, thanks a lot!

[@DJAB87]

@@EvilPichu You're welcome.

[@xiaocheng6643]

I remember Ultimecia being pretty easy. I chose my 3 favorite characters, equipped the G.F.s I had in a way that I could slot my strongest spells to all of their attributes and made sure they had the best possible weapons. I had a bunch of elixiers, only used melee attacks during the fight and abandoned everyone else.

[@ecritdelajaponographie8565]

5:04 Seriously? Hojo's not even the hardest fight in the return to Midgar.

[@shanematthews1985]

Orphan was a challenge as was Ultimecia, the rest I don't really remember being that much of a challenge but it has been a fair while since I last played them

[@troyschram7211]

FF8 became a cake walk as soon as you collected enough magic to junction. This is probably the only FF game I've replayed more than twice, I've probably beaten this game 6-8 times, and I still don't know everything about it. It left so much to interpretation and it always felt like there was more hidden in it, the world and the lore left you wanting more too, and to actually know the significance of various locations. It also had locations that looked accessible but were inaccessible dangled in front of you at various points. FF8 really broke in the playstation one. It was a grand experience to have.

[@joshshrum2764]

Yeah it’s going better for me in my proper playthrough, and i need to continue that.

[@Vayne_Solidor]

"History begins anew."

[@jeremyjohnson9585]

I'm not sure why Vayne was on this list...by the time you fight him, you are generally so overleveled that the whole fight is a cakewalk.

[@snugglyduck6534]

I feel the biggest threat of all boss battles is the lengthy cut cinematics that you have to endure, or the realization you cut off your power up path (point of no return) by overwriting key save points and you're not powerful enough to beat the boss. However, the worst boss, that just keeps coming back again, and again, and again in reality is Sephiroth who we're all probably still battling to this day - I mean, Prince did sing the world ended in 2000, so I'm just waiting for Aizen to shatter the reflection of reality and say everything since then has just been something he was forcing us to sit through and was all part of his plan to make us weaker.

[@crazzluz1702]

Ultimecia was too hard for me as a kid. Got to her when I first got the game when I was, like, 7? But I was literally just spamming GFs and didn't even know how to junction cause I was a kid. Went back and beat her later and it is still a hard fight, for sure. But I'll remember it forever because little 7 year old me tried for months to get her down with no junctions and mindless gf spam.

[@socialxchameleon]

Funny thing about the Hojo fight is you can actually glitch skip that fight all together lol

[@luster5497]

Yes, final fantasy tactics classic on ps1 version has a softlock mid-fight saving spot if i remember correctly.

[@Vereid]

Ultimecia and Kefka are ff versions of the “this isn’t even my final form!“ lol. Both have awesome battles and music.

[@icarus212001]

If I didn't hold on to the War Cry item I would not have been able to beat Ultimicia

[@chocobro7863]

Orphan gave me a really tough time my first playthrough. He had a move that insta killed a party member at random i think and 95% of the time it always hit the party leader resulting in a game over

[@G_Rad_Ski]

Agreed, really made me dislike that battle system.

[@groudonvert7286]

Progenitial Wrath has a hidden mechanic in the first phase : it targets a random character if you have no Medic or Sentinel in your Paradygm (that is the primary target).

[@BirdOfHermes83]

Because of Safer Serpiroth I had the habit of over grinding. I did that with FFX and all the endgame boss fights were pretty much all easy. I dont do that anymore because it takes too much away the fights and it's no fun. It's the challenge of the battles and over coming them that makes it fun! Another thing I love about the series is that they're always other fights that are harder than the actual boss over the game. And you feel so much pride when you defeat those as well!

[@jedgrahek1426]

That's what's so great about 8, it's impossible to overlevel lol... and anyone who tried to not knowing what was up was in for a bad time.

[@MrFelblood]

But.. but.. you need that Gelnika money to race your chocobos, to breed them, to make a black chocobo! I can't just NOT collect the Knights of the Round Materia.

[@KeithElliott-zd8cx]

@@jedgrahek1426 yeah, i love games that force you to think and plan more, rather than the usual idiot about rpgs 'they're no fun cause they force you to grind and they're too easy'. Uh, no, you don't need to spend an hour before every boss grinding, and when you do and beat the boss without trouble then whine about that too, that's your fault. Course, i also love disgaea, the god of 'postgame grind' games, where the strats involved are how to break the game to be OP and likely still get bodied by the highest tier content.

[@JoeBee9]

Surprised Dr. Lugae from FF4 wasn't mentioned. Like the Hojo fight, he can really throw you off guard with more powerful forms just when you thought it was the end. Especially in the 3D version where his final form can cast reversal gas on your party causing healing to hurt and vice versa. If you are not prepared, this unexpected maneuver can result in a quick party wipe.

[@eliotwildermann]

I was six when the G.O.A.T final fantasy x came out after my struggles to get to yunalesca I died like 3 times in dat battle but it was worth it listening to aurons speech multiple times

[@GMetzo]

Hi , I need to know from which game is this awesome Ultimecia cinematic at 15:15.

[@thisdadsplatinumjourney]

I got it from Final Fantasy Mobius 👍

[@picchikaru8428]

and btw if you're a mega-grinder like me you can abuse the monster capture for monster arena and make Lulu invincible to death and give the others zombieproof so you could just use mega-phoenix every time Yunalesca used mega death. problem solved but if you're like most players and are too lazy to do that, you kinda deserve to have yunalesca destroy you.

[@UGNPFU]

Yunalesca is actually really easy once you realize 4 things about the boss. 1) Knowing when her turn is coming up, 2) Keep half of the party as Zombies 3) She is WEAK against Holy, Cure, Regen & Life is an instant death for 2nd form, & 4) MEGAFLARE THAT BITCH! Use Summons, especially Bahamut as he was made to deal with Yunalesca's 3 Form use the rest as canon fodder her Ultimecia is also very easy to deal with especially if you fought Omega Weapon. Use the same strategy on her as you did Omega. Meltdown, Aura, Lionheart Combo from Squall, AP Shots from Irvine, Booya to Punch Rush Combo Loop from Zell, Shockwave Pulsar from Quistis, Anything from Rinoa, hope to god for any High level Magic from Selphie but you see The End spell........ Play the Lottery!

[@Fingerknee]

I like that you included the trap of saving in the weigraf fight. Got me my first time thru lol

[@Duran8998]

Its nice to see what other players have trouble with. I didn't have trouble with any of these but I had trouble with other bosses in the same games. Oh and of course Velius. Everyone gets screwed by Velius on their first playthrough.

[@warrengreen46]

Ultimecea was so underused, and clearly meant as a form of jenova, even Eden was originally meant as a king of jenova devoted witch for 7

[@Falconslash3]

While Belias himself in FFT is a spike in difficulty, one must not forget the fight just afterwards which is even more.. frustrating.

[@Shalakor]

Oh, wait, yeah, isn't the fight with the assassins right after that? Man, that sequence of events was way too stacked.

[@MrFelblood]

Yeah, I had to respec into speed accessories for that one. Of course, I had to chase Ramza's blue magic, so that was half the problem.

[@seanpope1890]

wasn't orphan's second form not necessary to beat though?

[@zackwoods5077]

The first fight with Exdeath was also a difficulty spike. I breezed through every boss except for the Exdeath fights. I didn't grind much levels for the final boss, but I did have to get the Golem summon and everyone to a minimum of White Mage level 5.