7 Hardest Final Bosses To Defeat

[@djmike679]

Fun fact about Ultimacia, if you try to gameshark ff8, and give yourself infinate invinciblity, she can just dispell it from you

[@kingty2550]

Really? Didn't know this

[@Qardo]

That explains why I lost to her! -.- 20 years later. The disrespect still stings.

[@rorymccann5380]

You can give everyone in your party 99 of the spell the end too. This spell kills everything in one but except final form Ultimecia. It just triggers her next dialog

[@jaredfrancis5062]

Let her take me to yellow health. Used one of the invincibles I saved for the fight and skipped till limit break popped and just repeated that process till invincible ran out then popped another.

[@rwilliamisen]

That was always an awesome f-u to those who tried to ease their way to the end.

[@cyanimation1605]

Ultimecia will always be one of those vivid gaming memories for me. I was working in a pizza place and had made pata carbonara for staff. It was my first try and turned out perfect. A coworker said "you should come over to my place and teach me how to cook it sometime" and it went over my head because I only wanted to finish FF8. Instead of finishing in my room, I put it up on my roommate's projector and ate the pasta as I chipped away at the boss rush, late into the night. Took utterly forever. I finished around 3 AM, too mentally scarred by the blurry face cutscene to sleep. it was a good night.

[@JWSoul]

My memory is so bad. I don't recall details like this at all.

[@Aware_Wolf_X4]

I remember watching my friend get to her 3rd form and failing. He was like “That’s close enough to beating her”. Imagine my surprise when I got to the 4th form when I played it for myself.

[@foxhoundbridges4851]

great story man.

[@acexxvii6778]

hehe nice!

[@Disco4ia]

I remember the struggle being REAL as a kid. I didn't research what one could really do with the junction system and I didn't even know until the remastered version that you can automatically assign the best magics to your stats based on different criteria. I also didn't grind as much as I could have so Ultimecia felt literally impossible for me. But then the day came when I finally got to her final form and in that same attempt I beat it. Anxiety was high and it knocked the breath out of me. That was quite something at the time

[@kingofthesharks]

What i loved about the YuYevon fight was that it felt it was meant to be pathetic and satirical. All the worship, religion, and craziness that transpired throughout FFX all came down to this little Metroid thing that could barely stand up for itself versus your party. It relied on external factors/beings like Aeons and fayth....which is a mark of central figures of worship that have an iron grasp on the worldview around them.

[@Vereid]

I hated the Yu Yevon fight at first after the great last boss battles from FF5 through to FF9, all usually had multi forms or multi battles, but nowadays I actually like that fight for similar reasons also. Yevon was pathetic and a literal shell of itself, which did wrap that story/religion up nicely.

[@Kira1Lawliet]

I agree, although I think the satire is ruined a little bit by the game making it literally impossible for you to die while fighting it. That was just an added unnecessary level of easy.

[@SolstaceWinters]

@@Kira1Lawliet From a narrative standpoint, I think it did it's job well. From a gameplay mechanic.... well, I've never toyed with a final boss in a FF game before. There is such a thing as "too easy".

[@Clad_in_Darkness_Gaming]

At least it wasn’t a final fight. It was more of a cinematic fight. You couldn’t lose.

[@hemrainsford6920]

@@Kira1Lawliet 😭 Except I'm embarrassed to say I died from YuYevon the first time I fought it. The stats and health carry over from your fight with Jecht so I got one shot I think...

[@月DAWN]

*The final aeon appears Yojimbo: “hold my beer”

[@cyanimation1605]

hey, even then, you have to get him to zanmato twice in a row. Which, it takes 60,001 gil in my experience to guarantee that, IF he's at full overdrive and has used Wakizashi since loading up the game.

[@AbRas644]

Shouldn't that be,"Hold my sake"?

[@ger90shields80]

😂😂😂😂 its so true

[@chileshems88]

I didn't even know what he was capable of doing because I challenged him after clearing the Monster Arena. Got addicted to tweaking the Sphere Grid.

[@mobius1965]

Hold my Gil.

[@GraveKenshin1991]

Let’s be glad X didn’t use the ATB system otherwise we all would have died multiple times headbanging to the music against Braska’s Final Aeon.

[@Arshelan]

Not with quick hit increasing your ATB gauge to go 20x before the boss gets a chance to go lol

[@cyanimation1605]

DONT YOU GIVE UP ON IT players: how bout I do anyway?

[@robertbarber1198]

If you didn’t do the monster hunter thing and just went straight to end game I can see braska being hard but if you did the game is a breeze only nemesis and penance were difficult

[@TheFreestylebeast]

The one that shot lasers?

[@beautygod0667]

@Jonathan Fakhoury wrong and false asf! Lol According to most players, they passed FFX with minimal problems and the game's battle system gives an advantage.

[@sirgibblez8613]

Love seeing Seat of Sacrifice here because it was the only normal trial in FFXIV that was surprisingly difficult. I remember staying in that instance for so long on patch day...

[@Gigaflare8822]

Bhunivelze+ on Hard Mode is truly an experience. It requires pure strategy and knowing the battle system mechanics in and out. Staggering his final phase is hell though. To this day I still don't know how to do it consistently other than spamming Overclock and spells. Ultimecia is easily my favourite final boss in the series though. Four fights in a row, attacks that hit like a freight train, awesome and unique enemy designs, and not to mention how spoiled we were for the soundtracks played (Premonition, The Legendary Beast, Maybe I'm A Lion, The Extreme).

[@jacobteague635]

The Extreme is super underrated

[@groudonvert7286]

Yeah, Bhunivelze+ in hard mode needs to know the gameplay pretty well :/ It's not the case with the other final Boss.

[@groudonvert7286]

And Almighty Bhunivelze is an underrated theme too...

[@TheAuron32]

would you say Bhuni+ on hard is worse than Aeronite on hard in a Chaos Infusion Zone? asking because im to scared to try either lol

[@groudonvert7286]

@@TheAuron32 Bhunivelze+ is probably harder. You can do Aeronite with pure strength once it's staggered, Bhunivelze is much harder.

[@SkeletalCheshire]

I love Seat of Sacrifice... it's a real culmination of so many mechanics that FFXIV teaches the players.

[@HoneyDoll894]

It's always scary to get it, it's a total gamble if you make it through the first time or wipe 5 times. I've seen many players leave right at the start or at first wipe

[@TSGJamesR]

As for the #6 entry on the list, the theme that plays during the fight, “To the Edge”, has become one of my favorite boss themes in recent memory. After hearing about what the composer (Soken) went through during the song’s composition, it really hits differently now. But, it’s still amazing to see people enjoy it all the more.

[@agranosclem]

The lyrics hit a lot differently after learning that. Soken continues to be a god that we don't deserve

[@SkeletalCheshire]

I've been in love with the track since I first ran the fight, and the context just makes it that much more significant.

[@RyuNoZero]

Masayoshi Soken is a Musician God and there is no doubt about it, though 'Wrath of the Harrier' was a suprise for me ^^

[@RyuNoZero]

@@agranosclem I think we deserve him otherwise we wouldn't witness his mastery

[@Proudchaud]

I'm just gonna assume that ultemicia is in this video and say that I'm glad I'm not the only one who found her extremely difficult

[@raulrojas9253]

Just break the game, limit break spam and use Heroic salts, easy. (So basically min max)

[@marikosagarisarchives3281]

When I reached her I could barely get pass her first form and then the second phase simply one shot me every time I get there. So I just label Ultimacia as an impossible to defeat boss 😢

[@frostkie8002]

I just abused the junction system with triple triad lol

[@latenightgaming5057]

@@marikosagarisarchives3281 you can do it. I believe in You.

[@SpaceCorgi08]

As stated junction system, Card Mod Angelo card into Elxiers, turn Laguna card into Heros, cast aura with Carnbuckle. Super easy then.

[@rafaynoman1180]

Me who always over prepares: I have no such weaknesses.

[@TheSteelers4190]

😆

[@rafaynoman1180]

@Kobe Died Lmao I dont understand lame af gamers like yourself. Why not mind your damn bussiness.

[@kazalacker8985]

@@rafaynoman1180 nice comeback

[@kazalacker8985]

@Kobe Died Lmao don't feel bad dude

[@rafaynoman1180]

@@kazalacker8985 Thanks man. I dont mind people who want a challenging experience in a game though. I just hate it when they're jerks.

[@blaze595]

I was a bit confused with Ultamacia, since I remembered her being pretty easy to deal with... But then I remembered how much I grinded beforehand, and it all made sense again.

[@einsiedler6052]

This. FF8 invited for some hardcore max out replays. I remember that I didn‘t level Irvine until reaching the final „free roaming“ phase of the game. There is this GF ability that adds +1 attack/strength (or whatever it is called) for every levelup on Eden or some other endgame GF - so I did some of the optional endgame content, leveld the reward o ly to then start leveling Irvine from very low to 100. 😂

[@Akasha6915]

Same, I remember having way harder of a time getting my abilities back much more than dealing with Ultamecia. But I also maxed out on the card game and on the islands, so forgot the grind I put in.

[@marystone860]

When I was beating FF8 for the very first time, I kept getting my ass kicked! Then, my late-husband, who has been watching the whole time, says:'Draw her own spells from her, before she uses them on you!' I did so, and I was like:'Duh!' Also, he taught me the "use a Phoenix Down" trick to defeat GeroGero! That RE monster looking thing! Man, he helped me beat A LOT of games for the very first time! Like FF12! Vayne, in his final form, he says:' Watch closely when he starts switching elemental weaknesses, then throw everything you have!' He was a HUGE gamer, like I am! He passed 7 years ago. Those memories aren't sad for me, they're good!

[@DKarkarov]

Eh no she was a chump. I don't buy people saying you had to "grind" in FF8. It took me like an hour once I got to the end game to max every persons stats and level. It was laughably easy if you just understood how to use Quistis and where the best grind spots were. I distinctly remember killing Ultimicia in all forms so fast she never even got to take 1 action. FF8 was the FF that made it blatantly clear that you could choose to "play normally" and struggle, or you could to learn to "abuse the system" and roll every enemy like a joke. I went with "abuse the system".

[@MrDark086]

i got 3 or 4 The End slot casts so i missed a lot of the fight lol

[@Talon007]

Ultimecia has 5 forms actually. When she junction’s herself to Griever she has a part 2 form where the back part falls off.

[@gorimbaud]

That's more of a sub-form than a different form.

[@bort_hill]

@@gorimbaud your moms a subform

[@Psevdonim123]

@@bort_hill that was smart (no)

[@NotABot86]

A sub form is something like (spoilers for Metroid Dread) Raven Beak’s golden form

[@ericsbuds]

loving that piano cover im gonna admit a really huge thing. i never beat ff8... i was wayyyy too addicted to triple triad

[@deiradinn]

Lightning Returns was the hardest for me, absolutely insane and you can't really cheese it. A lot of these bosses can be outleveled quite easily.

[@etinarcadiaego7424]

I hate fights in games I can't cheese lol

[@Picmanreborn]

I remember I had to watch a KZbin vid on how to beat him and the guy was doing exactly what I was doing but he had the cloud outfit 😂😭 I just realized I needed to chalk it up to the game and play smarter

[@05jayare92]

Lightning returns was no joke

[@ameliakyle7054]

Lightning Returns wasnt so bad for me but god almighty that secret bosses were hellish though i loved the extinction system

[@revotrip2069]

Bhunivelze was easy for me. Only took me one try.

[@aducharme01]

You didn't even mention perhaps the most annoying thing about NeoExdeath - you only get a complete ending if all four of your party members are up at the end, so you're missing out if you happen to finish the fight with anyone down.

[@ReaverPrime]

Cloud of Darkness was a pretty gnarly experience.

[@darkriversaben9163]

Which versions? I played both and find it too easy if you lvl to 62.

[@mistersomaru]

Remake was cake, NES version was ass.

[@ericalexus8627]

Grinding on the ds is very time consuming

[@Ironsharp]

Through sheer force of will and pig-headedness, I beat the Famicom version without ninjas or sages. All I recall was that my party included the Red Mage I had since near the start of the game. Of course, I had to max out everyone's job levels and all that. Sheesh.

[@mistersomaru]

@@Ironsharp the hardest part is tanking particle beam every fucking turn. jesus. I managed to do it without sages and ninjas too, but speed up time button grinding was involved lol.

[@cyanimation1605]

if you've done even a tiny amount of grinding for the dark aeons, Jecht goes down in 3 hits. but no less. (1 hit for the first phase, 2 for the second since he has over 99,999 HP (120k IIRC)

[@Smilley85]

Any of the Dark Aeons - with the possible exception of Valefor - are much stronger than Braska's Aeon. They are supposed to be - they were added after the initial release because people wanted an extra challenge.

[@AmazingOwnage]

The first time I fought a dark aeon I got wiped out immediately. The grind to beat Penance was real though

[@EurekaCatto]

The dark aeons + penance are ment to be done after beating the game as an extra challenge, their health literally goes into the millions and will one shot party's that don't have shpere grids that are mostly completed. So of course if you have a party prepared for the dark aeons Jecht will be easy af but for those who aren't planning to grind out the shpere grid Jecht is a pain in the ass

[@fonsobardos1212]

I remember grinding so much in ff6 using Edgar, Sabin, Locke and Setzer so much that I beat the last boss using just basic attacks

[@brianohear9452]

Despite me grinding so much in dino forest and all my characters having 9999 hp and 999 mp, I still decided to beat him by just spamming quick and ultima. The final part of the game pretty much is a total joke if you have the patience to get the economizer, because you can do 2 ultimas per turn, 3 if you have the gem box for the cost of 1 magic point. If you do decide to get the econimizer, don't use magic attacks on the brachiosaurus. From my experience your odds of getting an econimizer DRASTICALLY increase if you only use the fight option..

[@DKarkarov]

You think that is bad? I once killed Kekfa with just Edgar (no seriously) just to prove I could.

[@joshportie]

Kefka could always game over a player if fallen 1 was cast followed by an aoe unblockable.

[@arutirauland]

I just started Lightning Returns and now I'm scared. xD

[@EternianX]

Enjoy that boss fight!! It is an experience T-T You will love it though.

[@noobdude5933]

I've played through FF13LR like 4 times, had to restart that boss around 16 times in total ( most on the first run though, since I knew I should prepare on the other runs)

[@Picmanreborn]

Did you enjoy it bro? 🥺 Please say you're one of us that enjoyed the 13 trilogy

[@arutirauland]

@@Picmanreborn my laptop broke so I couldn't yet 😭 I did enjoy the first two games though.

[@arutirauland]

@@Picmanreborn update, my laptop is back and I finished my first playthrough a couple days ago, and OMG it's fantastic! Immediately started a New Game Plus on hard mode and I'm having a blast. The trilogy gets a solid 8/10.

[@BaranoJosei]

FF8 was my first Final Fantasy- so as I result I have been over-prepared for every other FF final battle.

[@PersonaMC231]

Great Video! Though I’m surprised to not see Cloud of Darkness.

[@martinacosta9554]

Yeah specially the NES version I finish that version last month and was very " ugh " to know you can use 2 times protect and that stack And also ahriman can easily one shot you if you dont have 3,5k HP or more

[@DJAB87]

Oh you died to the final boss? Have fun making your way back from outside the crystal tower!

[@aae3545]

I actually found Necron to be a pushover. I equipped everyone with as many status immunity abilities as I could fit, with room for auto-regen if possible, and boom. Barely noticed Grand Cross beyond its elaborate animation. It did help that Zidane tranced then, and ended up doing 9999 per turn with him.

[@nattobaby]

try beating him on a excalibur 2 run. game is easy when maxed out and no fun

[@icessoup]

I finished him on low level, probably lv10 while vivi was lv1, didnt use Ribbon and won easy first time. Ita a ridic ez boss

[@SwanCC]

Kind of surprised no one is mentioning Zeromeus. I've had 2 friends quit the game at the final boss.

[@Juskaey]

Zeromus absolutely destroyed me my first time playing, definitely caught me off guard.

[@IrvineFan]

Same here, everyone talking about xdeath and Cloud of darkness but noone tried zeromus. Probably bec of the terrible dropchances everyone lost interest or something 🤣

[@leelduttis4086]

Yeah Zeromus was way harder than Neo Exdeath for me

[@scwh3181]

I think it doesn't qualify because it's a fairly simple fight. It doesn't attack fast, it just hits crazy hard, so you're either strong enough to survive, and it's easy, or you're not, and it's impossible. There's not a lot of mechanics and strategies to use, you just spend forever grinding against the random encounter with the two snake creatures. It's hard purely because it basically has a set level requirement which is way higher than the rest of the final dungeon.

[@BleydTorvall]

@@scwh3181 it's not even that really, it's the phases. If you can push him through phases at the right rate, he's a complete cakewalk, but if your timing sucks, he can destroy you almost regardless of level.

[@Cloud971]

I didn't have problems on the first time with Ultimecia since before i reached her i've already figured out how broken limit breaks were in this game. Squall and Zell would beat her to death all the forms. :)

[@meeamea]

i loaded up on the items that makes your characters invincible and just endlessly used the limit breaks haha

[@shawnaustin9437]

I never had any problems with Ultimecia. Orphan from FFXIII on the other hand was the absolute annoying cause he has that retarded instant death move and if it hits your main game over...

[@Cloud971]

@@shawnaustin9437 True i remember that too.

[@jroberts2nd]

Ultimecia was mainly tedious because all my characters were well above 65 so she was just a HP sponge to me, but I never got in trouble with her. It just took a while.

[@sonic_genesis]

Try playing FF8 back in 99’ and no internet access lol that shit was hard

[@cloudstrife1983]

I actually never found Ultimecia that hard. Back in the day I had a save file at the last save point, just to replay that fight because it was fun.

[@dengue1981]

I think she’s a loaded inclusion just due to fact proper junctioning trivializes the entire game

[@pedroburgos3330]

And her final form battle theme "the extreme" Magnifique!!

[@charlestondaleambatali4158]

True. When I figured out how junctioning works, took time to gather GFs, distributed them to all members according to specialty (damage, magic, etc), Ultimecia was easy.

[@lillianafarron7870]

Aura + Pulse ammo/Lionheart ftw

[@molol44]

Dude I did the exact same thing! Anytime I needed to destress, I'd load up the battle and stomp her. The Extreme is such good music.

[@JohnThaDreamer]

I remember being on CQ while in the Army at Fort Hood and to keep a long story short, the last 5 hours of my shift was me fighting and defeating Ultimecia during my first playthrough. No joke, it took me 5 hours to beat her. I remember going through so many different emotions in the fight. My anxiety was through the roof. I remember one of my friends going to bed and coming back 15 minutes before my shift ending to see me finally defeat her and being in utter shock to know that I was in the one fight the whole time. Great memories.

[@Vini_48]

I love final fantasy 8! This game is amazing.

[@Walamonga1313]

I just finished it yesterday, and 100%achievements this morning. Definitely an amazing game. May be on my top 3 FFs

[@Vini_48]

@@Walamonga1313 i'm so glad to hear it! It's so good to see that there is more and more people falling in love with this game.

[@arvincrest4873]

7,8,9 and 10 captured the fantasy aspect thu s I love them

[@Smilley85]

Glad to see some love for FF8. It was the first one I completed on my own, and despite some broken mechanics, it remains one of my favorites.

[@s.l.r.9407]

FF8 is my top game of all time, not becaise it is perfect, but for the sheer amount of fun I have with it! Just the aesthetic and the music are top notch.

[@secretscarlet8249]

Gah, I wish they'll remake FF8 too. I want to fight Ulti in HD!

[@vincevvn]

I wanna see all the beautiful cutscenes in HD. It has some of the best cutscenes in any video game ever

[@ARCEUS493ZELDA]

i wanna see FF8 in the style of FF7R ngl

[@zidane0017]

For sure! It might take a decade but theyll remake both FF8 and FF9

[@wiseguy240Winston]

After FF6 I'd be cool with 8 getting a remake.

[@OghuzKhaghan]

Do not hope it, Because If they make remake of any ff game it will be action game, not turn based. Yoshinori Kitase, main developer of FF said every main(numbered) FF game will be action based, turn based era is closed for FF.

[@JediRouge]

Final Fantasy VIII has always been my favorite of all Final Fantasy games, with X a close second, but after seeing this I want to try IX once more. Lol

[@TehTy777]

FFIII Cloud Of Darkness, to me at least, was the hardest. I remember having a Max level party going into the fight and still getting destroyed

[@romannikonenko7325]

I've beaten Famicom Cloud Of Darkness in three rounds. Cider/Haste on your Ninjas with shurikens and she's a toast.

[@jaistar96]

I agree, if you did not have 2 healers constantly on healing duties you were done. Love FFIII though :)

[@groudonvert7286]

The biggest problem with the Cloud of Darkness is how punishing it is to lose against that Boss.

[@SolstaceWinters]

I didn't have the internet to tell me to throw Excalibur at Zeromus (IV).... Big Bang spam sucked.

[@recodegamesstudio]

Same, still haven't beat her to this day and Cba to even try anymore

[@The_One_In_Black]

I must have been overprepared, because Jecht was never a challenge for me.

[@Vyrsahus]

When you come after you clear the training center, he's just a trash mob x)

[@sebastienbusque2312]

Same. I had my Eidolons maxed before the battle and unleashed Bahamut, Anima, and the Magus Sisters. It made the battle a walk in the park.

[@Ra18SJ]

I needed only 1 overdrive from Wakka 😬 And I didn't max any stats 😅

[@kingofthesharks]

I got stuck on Sin and forced me to grind for hours to do enough damage and stuff. So it kinda forced me into being prepared for Jecht.

[@kieragard]

Jecht was super easy with zombie strike.

[@andresfelipemendozavelez1493]

I just finished FF8 again, man!, Ultimecia is hard lol

[@tylergray2506]

Hahahahahaha.

[@Pikachu-qr4yb]

@@tylergray2506 hahahahahhaha

[@taylorseymour2906]

*laughs in Triplecast Meteor*

[@andresfelipemendozavelez1493]

Never had a problem with Neo exdeath, or Necron....Braska´s final Aeon was also hard as f.

[@Pikachu-qr4yb]

Well its in the name ;) The ultimate ultimate boss if you will lol

[@dannyxu9569]

The song Otherworld that played during the final battle with Braska's Aeon was incredible

[@hypnometal]

Necron is really the only one I had difficulty with (I haven't played FF14, so can't speak to that one). And yes, Grand Cross was nasty! The four phases of Ultimecia weren't that hard once you realized you were supposed to use limit breaks rather than GFs, and you really could still load up on three chosen party members and just let your non-chosen party members get taken out easily so you can get to the three preferred ones.

[@astrisperspecto4130]

My first dance against Necros was a massive fail. Underleveled, wasted a huge load of Aether beforehand and neither Dagger nor Eiko in the party . Never agai

[@katyadade1041]

Braska's Final Aeon was it for me, because I didn't want to obtain Celestial weapons.

[@srirachasoda8961]

You dont need the celestial weapons to beat it. I was rocking Tidus with maxed Brotherhood, Auron with a mid tier custom weapon, and same with Yuna, who had access to the "aga" tier spells + flare. Rikku for her overdrive. Wakka just for an extra physical bruiser.

[@jessebradley1617]

Just inflict zombie on him and the piers he has beside him damage him every few rounds for you. Pretty simple final boss tbh

[@katyadade1041]

@@jessebradley1617 they heal all statuses, as far as I remember. Or are these the second-stage pagodas only?

[@jacobteague635]

@@jessebradley1617 It only cancels the damage out. The first Pagoda heals the status/damages him, and the second one heals him again, reverting to normal.

[@akasumora]

First time I fought Jecht. I was unaware of the strategy for him. I was dealing mere 300s of damage after he healed.

[@gjtrue]

Not surprised to see Neo Exdeath in first place. I truly find him the hardest final boss in the entire mainline FF games I've played. Alongside Ultimecia too.

[@Harrowing999]

I’m so glad that Seat of Sacrifice was put on this. The normal version was difficult for those that are new, and the EX version of it still catches players off guard. The most difficult part of the battle however, is staying focused while listening to the outstanding piece of music attached to the fight. Even more so knowing that it’s composer, Masayoshi Soken, was hospitalized fighting cancer while making this song.

[@austinmartin612]

Elidibus is actually a fun fight and I went in to the EX with a group and we got it to like 20% in maybe 3 pulls, but it was rather late so we had to call it

[@boosk2127]

Neo xdeath did it for me....the only boss I have ever finished off with literally 1 character remaining, with 1 hp remaining as well...threw the masamune sword at him out of a last desperation move, and somehow it worked....hands down my most memorable boss fight of all time as well.

[@BOABModels]

Grand Cross from Necron was so unfair to me as a 13 year old playing FFIX for the first time. It was my second game over in my first ever playthrough and it took me a while to start again. I played it again recently and got lucky with its results and beat him first time.

[@Zeraphire]

In high school I was fighting Necron; he wiped the party except for Garnet. He would frequently use grand cross, but time and again the only effect she suffered was berserk: every other attack he used against her missed. I lost control as he repeatedly missed and dagger relentlessly bopped him. My friend and I went to go cook dinner and when we came back dagger had one the fight. I will never forget that

[@legionairesunny5507]

I just beat Seat of Sacrifice Extreme the other day! Lots of wipes but we got it in the end!

[@ThymeSplitter]

Neo Exdeath is such a fun fight to me. At least once a year I go through FFV on a challenge run, and whatever jobs I get is what I need to use. There are many creative ways to tackle him, and I think it's pretty great.

[@smellaby]

100% agree with NeoExDeath - I was so unprepared for that fight! 😂😂😭

[@jonpendragon2066]

I just beat it i just spammed rapid fire and bahamut and Phoenix when someone died

[@lillianafarron7870]

I remember as a kid, after beating phase 3 of Ultimecia, thinking it was over, I left the room. Came back to the game over screen and was very confused.

[@Shalakor]

There are so many times in that game where leaving it unattended as a boss is dying can get you a game over still, or at the very least make you miss a cinematic, so that was a bad move even if it were over. The arrogance of childhood.

[@MoonMagicks]

My boy Exdeath getting some recognition :)

[@BenjaminGoose]

Your boy? Are you his dad?

[@darkriversaben9163]

Imo the final boss was too easy but fun.

[@Vereid]

The VOID!!!!

[@shadenox8164]

It sure is nice to see these lists branching out.

[@dustintanksley9950]

I would have to go with cloud of darkness from FF3. Not that the boss itself is terribly hard if you know what you need.... but having to go thru an entire dungeon, fight a boss, then get put into another dungeon where you are required to fight 4 more bosses or the final boss will 1 shot you (at least in the remake, in the original not fighting the bosses just resulted in more hp, from what I have heard), followed by the final boss, who is basically a "Can you keep your healer alive, if not you lose" check. The bad part though is you are trapped in that area, without a save point, no way to restock, if you don't get the ribbons you have a huge disadvantage, and if you die at any point, bye bye 2+ hours of playtime.

[@kingofthesharks]

My soul was crushed upon losing to her first time as a teen. I only recently decided to beat the game a couple years ago because podcasts+grinding exists. Overdid it on the shurikens cuz i absolutely didn't wanna experience the 3-hour dungeon gauntlet setback again.

[@DG-nv4pf]

Neo xdeath is always next to impossible for first timers. Even now I grind the movers for BPs just to be extra sure of a win. Also if you leave the last segment for last, it will spam meteor.

[@TheAuron32]

for me the worst bit is he has dummy targets that meteor for example will hit but deal 0 damage to him... as if they needed to make him tank more hits lol

[@LogeenthLive]

@@TheAuron32 It's even worse if you have the GBA version - Neo Shinryu and 1st Phase Enuo in particular exploits the crap out of those dummy targets which renders Rapid Fire + Spellblade an unwise tactic at first. Archeoaevis also has those dummy targets too, but you can technically HIT THEM and do damage regardless.

[@TheAuron32]

@@LogeenthLive ah, this explains why i had so much trouble fighting them, multiple hit strategies are punished...

[@Judgment]

Imagine playing Neo Exdeath (like I did) for the first time back in the mid 90s pre-internet, no strategy guide to speak of, on a genuine import, and only being semi-literate in Japanese at that time...! FFV forced me to learn what グランドクロス meant 🤣

[@TheNightstalker80]

Oh boy, seeing this I can't belive I beat most of those back then. The only fight I really remember was the one vs. Bhunivelze... It was so intense, you had to mesh buttons like crazy to time everything right... but it was also kinda fun.

[@Nefusk4n]

Bhunivelze from FF13:LR and Jet Bahamut from FF13-2 were so hard for me

[@wiseguy240Winston]

Hypernova and Dancing Mad were pretty much insta kills.😭

[@Hiraishin247]

Try surviving Exaflare

[@Mantosasto]

Funny story about 8: When I played it as a kid, the game and all its copies (Spanish translation) had a problem in which the final battle stopped after defeating phase 3. So I thought it ended there and I was only missing the ending. Years later, probably a decade, I played it again in English... and the battle didn't end where I thought. It blew my mind to find another boss "hidden" after all those years!

[@drinkmorecareless]

I never knew Jecht had such cheap moves because I killed him in 1-hit with Blitz Ace.

[@Eddafred]

Thankfully they're pretty easy to deal with. Like if you inflict Zombie on him, his minion's healing spells will damage him.

[@Harrowing999]

He also has Ultimate Jecht Shot that he uses for his second phase. But it’s really rare for him to use

[@Dr_Trumpet]

@@Harrowing999 if he gets his overdrive when below 60k hp in the second phase he'll use it on the party.

[@Sattva468]

This brings back fun memories! Necron one-shot killed my whole party except Amaranth, who had auto-life and regen and who now also had the Berserk status. I almost restarted but Amaranth was hitting at 9999 and single handedly beat the game.

[@diegoarmando5489]

FF8 isn't my favourite, but I love the last dungeon and battle.

[@fattymacd69]

I'm the exact opposite. Love every part of that game except the final dungeon. I hate when games split parties up

[@ajaverill08]

And final boss was so easy. Just kill party members till you got the group you wanted

[@sonic_genesis]

the final dungeon was the best tbh. You find all kinds of stuff including Omega Weapon. wasn’t a fan of the story. Ultimecia is queen!

[@wiseguy240Winston]

That final dungeon was trash, outside the some of bosses and the design of the castle, the constant party switching and no new or tough enemies like in traditional ff games was disappointing. All the enemies in the final dungeon camp at lv50.

[@beautygod0667]

No one cares! FF8 was one of the top best games!

[@karazsteel]

Bhunivelze + after doing just one normal run and one hard run was a rough fight.

[@TardustheToasty]

Yes Neo Exdeath kicked my ass the first time I played FF5. A great and fun Challenge to overcome again and again.

[@vincent112233445566]

Yeah same here I had a feeling he was going to be 1# to!

[@JeffCreature]

Whole vid I was wondering "where's NeoExdeath"? Glad they got the #1 spot!

[@ssj4broly974]

I remember getting grand cross at grand cross during lockdown.. I had never completed FF9 even though id played it alot and once got to the final fight as a kid! so I decided to actually do the final dungeon, got to the final fight and he used Grand cross which was Death - Death sentence/confusion/berserk - Death - Death.

[@cyanimation1605]

Man, I miss those few weeks I was gasping for air and scared for my life. FF7R, 9, and 12 (and Anthem (hey it was $10)) while I survived on pizza and chinese food because I couldn't breathe well enough to make it to the kitchen and cook No it was legit a good time.

[@idminister]

On my first and only attempt and clear of ff9 necron: zidane, eiko, dagger, vivi. got a grand cross that killed eiko and dagger, and beserked vivi and zidane... was tempted to just restart the game but decided to watch.... put the controller down and was amazed at how OP auto-potion can be.

[@ssj4broly974]

@@idminister haha yeah autopotion is very op! It took me far to long to realise that if I sold all my normal potions it's even better!! you managed the fight in the end I take it

[@ssj4broly974]

@@cyanimation1605 well I'm sorry you had to deal with that, and I'm glad you got through it! But it's good you had those games to pass the time! And very good choices too!! My brother and I have decided we will play through every main FF together and 7 (new threat mod) 9 and 12 are the ones we are probably looking forward to the most

[@rizu-kun9687]

I find it funny that you mentioned Neo Exdeath as the hardest final boss. A few years back I did a four job fiesta run where I defeated Neo Exdeath with a full party of frogs by Gil Tossing him to death.

[@Yukari_MAiG]

Fighting Ultimecia on my first time playing any FF game to the end. Boy that was a tough one experience to say the least haha.

[@lohankarachay476]

Other trivia. Necron's grand cross is a reference of an astrology aspect where four planets are forming a cross in one's chart

[@usvidragonslayer3091]

The final boss in ff5 is brutal but i beat it even though i played the gba verison of the orginal ff5.

[@florianbuteaux9545]

Same for me, Zeromus was more a challenge for me.

[@alexsklavenitis302]

I beat it with knight, red mage, geo and dancer. Four job fiesta ftw

[@d3m3nt3d_t3acup_]

Man, I remember that tree guy. Boss fight had me on the edge of my seat

[@thumbhead3370]

I ran into Jecht and Ultimecia knowing I wasn't optimally leveled and should probably grind a bit, but I went ahead anyway. It made for a very intense battle where literally every move was life or death for large sections of the fight. It wasn't optimal, it was ugly, it was close, but these were really great memories for me.

[@BlackKoiRecords]

This was a great video, well done! I appreciate the work you put into these and you can see the passion with every video! Is there a way you could do a future video on the hardest Dark Aeons??

[@AmazingOwnage]

I remember personally struggling with Yojimbo, Anima, Shiva, and Ixion. Once you grind hard enough, you can cheese the entire game.

[@RasenRendanX]

That WOL fight sounds absolutely nuts

[@kerrycherry3713]

IT IS I did it day one ( oh boy was it worth it) in healed it and cuse I know what LD (living dead does) I popped all my oh fuck heals and healed the team to full the ATM is what can fuck people over as he said IF ONE yes ONE person fucks it up we all die and if ur not distracted by a thing that happens during that phase transition tank lb should have if the tanks doesn’t use it we die and start phase 1 again XD is nuts but is fun

[@chrisreinhart6421]

The Bhunivelze fight was poetry and violence in motion. One of my favorite battles in any game.

[@kevincubillo3114]

Bhunivelze's was progressively orgasmic, it was such a piece of art

[@chrisgonzalez5883]

@@kevincubillo3114 he was a pain in the neck to fight on new game plus hard mode. He keeps switching forms.

[@miarose5156]

Great list guys, personally I never had any issue with Braska’s final aeon but when you where reading off the list of what his moves can do I totally saw why he was on this list, also I had flashbacks to you guys fighting NeoExdeath when he came up on the list 😂

[@TLOWNSU]

Zeromus was a real MF in FF4. Had to grind for about 6 hours just to beat him

[@Mastabacc]

8:10 I never fought him as intended as I am always too OP by the time I feel like beating the game. FFX is my most fav in the series and whenever it is time for me to go inside Sin, I go straight to the Omega ruins. I just love redoing the same path I did the very first playthrough. The nostagia from the very first time you entire Omega ruins and that music hits.

[@spritle3377]

I think you missed the final Boss of FF 3. I played the DS Version for years but never managed to beat that cloud. Incredible long walk to that boss and a big power spike to previous bosses.

[@Vidiri]

I remember barely beating the boss and just putting down the game and watching the ending in silence.

[@corndog3648]

Grind! Grind! Grind! That's what I learned early on. I would make myself so overpowered that nothing could touch me.

[@CrabieGames]

Bhunivelze was such a fun final boss !!

[@FMLArtVlog]

Great job as always

[@R0D3R1CKV10L3NC3]

For me, it was Orphan (FF13). You can't overlevel it because of the way the leveling system worked, and it was literally impossible to 100% protect yourself from death (and it was game over if your player-controlled character died), so it's entirely possible you could do everything perfectly, be as prepared as humanly possible, and still lose due to bad RNG. It may not have been hard in a traditional sense when compared to some of these other final bosses, but at least those were mostly hard in a way that you could prepare for them, Orphan was just unfairly hard.

[@SifaDukye]

Wasn't Orphan able to be poisoned though? That made the fight go pretty quick for me iirc

[@japan100100]

Agreed. 13 was pretty easy in my opinion, but then Orphan came outa nowhere and would just stop my game in it's tracks when it killed my player controlled character. Felt so sudden and cheap. Honestly, that part of 13 was a stupid part of gameplay. It shouldn't be a game over from 1 character dying. It's FF, just have the others fight and revive you, seriously.

[@R0D3R1CKV10L3NC3]

@@SifaDukye yeah, but even then, the RNG aspect was so bad that a streak of bad luck could see you hitting the game over screen over and over again, and even the means of making the RNG of the battle less annoying required a huge amount of time investment and/or more RNG fighting adamantoises with the summon + saboteur technique. It honestly took me as many days to finally beat Orphan as I spent playing the rest of the game (albeit with less play time since I could only grind or throw corpses at Orphan for so long at a time before taking a break) just due to bad RNG killing my player controlled character over and over.

[@Ty-ub4nc]

The music, the commentary, the accuracy 😔 Nice video 👌

[@JC-cb8oi]

Loving this but had to stop at #6 because I JUST got to Shadowbringers. Don’t want spoilers. But want to say love this content!

[@taitloyek7980]

Enjoy the story my dude!

[@jekw23]

“Dispatched with a high degree of quickness” my new favourite way of saying “quickly killed”. I’m going to use that next chance I get

[@blitzdotexe2527]

If you cast Zombie on Jecht, he became trivial to fight. Also, who starts a list at number 1?!

[@WilliamJulienNkogheOlympio]

a simple phoenix down will take down any zombie, final boss or not lol

[@kevlar1482]

When a list isn't ranked it's pretty common ...

[@danthemancushecan]

Watching that old footage of Ultimecia is giving me ptsd.

[@2paclove]

While I agree on most entries I must say you could switch out Jecht for the DS version of Zeromus. I just beat Jecht the same way I did with all the other bosses, by simply using my own aeons with their overdrives.

[@jroberts2nd]

What makes #6 truly difficult is that Seat of Sacrifice is a *story* trial, one that every player has to do in order to progress through the game. Eight raiders will plow through the fight with only slight discomfort, but so often, that fight is people who only do instances in the MSQ, and that one has a lot going on at once. It's insanely difficult for a casual player, and I really think the ATB thing being someone you fail if one person fails it works against it. The first time I did it, one person failed it because they figured they'd just be raised afterwards so they took a break. We were, to say the least, amused and annoyed at once.

[@sergel02]

I always remember the triple Bahamut fight in FFXIII-2 being so challenging for me.

[@ETBowser]

Agree, this was by far the most challenging boss I faced.

[@wiseguy240Winston]

Bhunivelze: Hold my Hypernova

[@zedorian6547]

Glad to see Seat of Sacrifice on this list. So many of these lists exclude the FF mmos as though they don’t count or something, especially considering there is never a good excuse given either.

[@zackfair6203]

Are the piano versions of the boss battle themes the official ones or some fan interpretations? If the latter: could you tell where they are from? I want to add them to my playlist

[@joshsnider2586]

If you have spotify it's an artist called TPR. He has quite a few collections of FF hits done in a melancholy piano version. Highly recommend it

[@zackfair6203]

@@joshsnider2586 thank you!

[@LordWhirlin]

I'm a little disappointed that the battle with Absolute Virtue from FFXI wasn't mentioned. It was a legendary fight that was attempted for about 48 hours in a huge siege, and the players eventually failed. Players were unable to down the boss until multiple years later when the level cap was raised and the battle had become trivialized. I mean, I understand that the FFXIV raid sounds bad... but if players actually ever completed it before half a decade and two expansions later, it can't hold a candle.

[@LordWhirlin]

It was referenced recently in a cracked article: www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-most-impressive-dick-moves-in-online-gaming-history?+article&wa_ibsrc=fanpage%2F Destructoid also ran an article pointing towards an older 1UP article. I was an active player back then... they EVENTUALLY won after an 18 hour fight... but that was after their first attempt was closer to a 48 hour attempt: www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-xi-boss-causes-vomiting-takes-18-hours-to-beat/

[@Hiraishin247]

That's basically a hopeless boss fight.

[@kingofthesharks]

Just my gut, but feels wrong to have Ultimecia and BraskaFinalAeon on this list but not include Cloud of Darkness from FF3. I played the DS remake in 2006/2007 and lost to her Particle Beam.... all the way at the end of the Crystal Tower + Boss gauntlet finale. Since there were no saves beyond the world map, this loss sent me into a 12 year ragequit of FF3. And I didn't pick up my file until 2018 when I decided to over-grind on exp and shurikens in order to finish what I started. Not sure if Cloud of Darkness is designed to be more complex/harder than the other final bosses on this list, but the punishment for losing to her is by far the most brutal I can recall imo

[@martinacosta9554]

The Ds version honestly is more balance because the particle beam is a " phase " move when she is at low health And also viking is like the best tank in the game only because the provoke + 2 shields works very well with every in the game outside of Garuda And also when you use everyone with ribbons + know that tentacle is weak to every element even if you dont have a magic user in your party ( bc is inmune to physical damage ) the battle is not to hard but you need to have the right setup And also grind job levels more than levels

[@icessoup]

Yep FF3 boss should be included

[@leonchok784]

I learn early on if your random team that gets chosen to fight Ultimacia consist of Squall, Zell, and Irvine, casting aura immediately and keep refreshing your turn to get your limit break, and you literally have the goodbye boss squad. Squall with his Renzokuken followed by Lionheart, Zell with his Armageddon Fist combo (the god killer), and Irvine with his quick shot to deal as many rounds in a single turn.

[@Jozaros]

I think Cloud of Darkness from FFXI from Raphsodies of Vana'diel was very hard. She was no joke.

[@a.d.woodbury]

The first FF game I beat of my own will, with no outside help, was VIII - I was 9 or 10 (01’, 02’; pre internet connection). I limped in the fight, died God only knows how many times throughout the castle and walked into the fight lvl 60-70 with just a handful of companions. I had unlocked GF, item, save and maybe magic. I was beaten to bare. Whatever I had junctioned was blown away. GF’s gone well before the second phase. I used up all of my healing items in the second and third forms. In her final form, I had a handful of Heroes/Holy Wars (before I knew a Laguna card even existed) and only Squall left standing. It was a solid hour plus of simple attacks and praying for the chance to cast another hero. Eventually, she started speaking and I started getting excited. Line by line, blow by blow - doing so little. For a kid, it was the most intensely awesome thing ever. Finally she dropped, the cut scenes played out, credits rolled and afterwards, my PlayStation never booted up again. It gave its life up for a child’s greatest achievement.

[@Enharmony1625]

He may not be the hardest of them all, but Kefka is, to this day, the best final boss of any FF game! The incredible music (Dancing Mad), the incredible artwork of the statues and of Kefka himself, and the progression as you rise up through each of the statues and reaching Kefka himself, bathed in light. Amazingly impressive for its time in 1994 and it holds up even today.

[@odealianaffairs9001]

hes definitely the most memorable one for me

[@Vereid]

I think Kefka and Ultimecia have the best collection of music and (despite how both can be cheesed) the best feeling for me, as they are both multi state bosses that feel as if they really do throw everything at you. I wouldn’t call either of them hard but they have awesome implications. I miss those sort of final boss fights.

[@R0D3R1CKV10L3NC3]

While I'll personally always prefer Sephiroth and One-Winged Angel (due to FF7 being my first, and the reason I fell in love with JRPGs), I can fully admit that Kefka and Dancing Mad are fantastic as well.

[@ReneAensland]

Final Fantasy 8 was the first Final Fantasy I ever beat, and I didn't know about Hero's, or Holy Wars, or Cards, so beating her felt like I did everything right. I'll never forget.

[@genemano3921]

I'm glad nobody actually said that Sephiroth deserves to be on this list; because he certainly doesn't.

[@damontinsley2101]

I would only consider Sephiroth to be a difficult final boss if you level up all of your party members to 99. He gets a bunch of stat boosts for each level 99 party member, which can be seen as a little bit difficult, but I wouldn’t say he’s as hard as anyone on this list. I had far more trouble with Necron than I did with Sephiroth tbh.

[@R0D3R1CKV10L3NC3]

He was pretty hard for me the first time I got to him, although I was like, somewhere between 8 and 10 years old at the time and had literally no idea how to actually effectively use or build up materia and basically just brute forced/lucked my way to him and never managed to beat him before getting distracted by all kinds of other games. Ended up finally going back and actually beating FF7 on my psp years later and it was indeed super easy, although I also basically 100% completed the game and had beat Emerald and Ruby weapon and gotten all the master materia and whatnot, so by that point Sephiroth was a joke.

[@Cloud971]

@@damontinsley2101 Heroes Drink + Limits, Knights Of The Round, yes i'm that type of guy who overleveled characters and search for everything in FF games.

[@Judgment]

Yeah, once you got Knights of the Round (which was ridiculously overpowered on its own), outside of the US exclusive optional Weapon super bosses, the game was pretty much a cake walk. I think Ultimecia was the end of that whole easy boss era phase of Final Fantasy (Kefka himself followed by Sephiroth).

[@taylorlukes4810]

I dont think Sephiroth was particularly easy its just that Final Fantasy 7s materia system was so broken, that just having the game basics down and a couple good materia combo's made everything trivial. I really don't think Braskas Aeon deserves to be on this list either. If you beat Yunalesca and then do the end game side objectives like Omega Ruins and Monster Arena then Jecht is a joke. You're just able to be too strong with too little overall effort and its not a challenge in either game.

[@dog8668]

Griever kept killing me with shockwave pulsar lol

[@noobdude5933]

FF13LR was definitely the hardest final boss for me :/

[@QuantemDeconstructor]

LR had some serious bosses, between Bhunivelze, Aeronite, and Caius (when fought early), that game was not messing around

[@jukemaid]

was lucky enough to be some of the players to go through 5.3 in ffxiv the morning of release and lemme tell you... seat of sacrifice? INCREDIBLY challenging. it's the perfect final boss for the shadowbringers storyline and brings together a ton of different mechanics from both past fights (including optional raids) and ones used by players (true walking dead, the limit breaks). learning it blind featured a ton of wipes but man was it rewarding to clear. not to mention i was so hyped and screaming bc of the story that it felt like i was running around in some kind of manic state. 10/10 would simply not tank lb3 and die to the phase transition again

[@izzuddinyusof1093]

this is the 1st time i heard ultimecia had an att called great attractor

[@joshsnider2586]

Same!!

[@Magna_Dragon]

My brother just used the ultimate summon on necron and just regenerated all the damage with its very long animation

[@robdiquattro5590]

Auto regen, and summon Arc w/boost! hahah I did the same

[@mrskye08]

Bhunivelze was really hard for me. Probably because im not used to action games. He's too fast and I'm too slow at blocking real time attacks.

[@venkelos6996]

Weird as this will sound, I want to say thank you for featuring Ultimecia here. I know she is a hard final boss, and that that fact doesn't somehow make FF8 a better game, but as one of those weird people who actually likes Final Fantasy VIII, and has nostalgic memories of playing it, back in the 90s, it was nice to see the reference here. It's a crap game to many, I know, buy I enjoyed it, and I agree Ultimecia could be a beast, especially if you did do all the grinding. So many tough bosses, the eventual answer is "grind until it can't beat you!", and 8 even gives you the easy grinding options of the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell, but sometimes 8 actually punishes you fir being level 100, and I personally feel Ultimecia is one such example; she's a much more fun, manageable boas, when you're more around level 70, and you aren't so restrained by your health caps and damage caps, since she can deal damage in excess of 9999s, and you often can't, while her total health makes even 9999 damage not a big hit. Leonhart, Eden, and some other stuff can mitigate, but sometimes you just need to NOT max out.😊