The Evolution of Superbosses [Part 3]

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Join us, as we continue exploring The Complete Evolution of Superbosses in Final Fantasy games. This time we're starting with Final Fantasy XII and moving all the way forward to Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - enjoy!
00:00 Intro
01:20 Final Fantasy XII [Yiazmat / Omega Mk XII]
09:10 Final Fantasy III Remake [Iron Giant]
11:37 Final Fantasy V Advance [Omega Mki II / Neo Shinryu / Enuo]
15:23 Final Fantasy VI Advance [Kaiser Dragon / Omega Weapon]
17:47 Final Fantasy I 20th Anniversary Edition [Chronodia]
21:18 Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings [Yiazmat]
22:17 Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Art Uhgan [Odin]
24:38 Final Fantasy II 20th Anniversary Edition [Phrekyos / Deumion]
26:45 Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System [Judge Magisters]
29:27 Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII [Minerva]
31:55 Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Art Uhgan [Pandemonium Warden]
34:15 Final Fantasy IV Remake [Proto-Babil / Geryon]
37:11 Final Fantasy IV The After Years [Omega / Nova Dragon]
38:31 Final Fantasy Tactics A2 [Magick Weapon]
40:30 Outro
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Website: www.finalfantasyunion.com
Twitter - / ffunion
Discord: / discord
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Credits
Writers: Darryl
Editors: Zhané

[@MettanAtem]

My first time fighting Yiazmat (in Zodiac Age on PC), I spent some time adjusting my gambits during the early parts of the fight. Once I was satisfied with my setup, I got up and took a nice long shower. When I came back, my team was still going at it. My gambits worked perfectly.

[@charziz6693]

The ultimate goal of the Gambit system is not having to play the game anymore.

[@MettanAtem]

@@charziz6693 Sure beats manually selecting "Attack" a thousand times.

[@darkmask5933]

The way to dodge Odin's Zantetsuken in FFXI is both brilliant and hilarious. It's supposed to be the ultimate slicing attack to lop off your head, but if you kneel/heal, the blade goes over your head and you dodge the attack!

[@AncestorEmpireGaming]

Me after getting defeated 10 times in a row by Leviathan’s Tsunami and Waterspout attacks: “I Didn’t Hear No Bell!”

[@vicsterX]

FFXII hunt system is such a underrated part of the game. I love every part of it and wished that they have even more monsters to hunt.

[@JustTouchCards]

I didn't realise it was underrated. It was always my favourite part of the game so I assumed it was the same for everyone!

[@kingplaya6558]

@@JustTouchCardsSame that's one of the aspects that I always see get praise

[@mr.worldwide2106]

Enuo is such a cool superboss, since they were mentioned in the game plenty beforehand. They took a figure that existed in the lore and elaborated on them, and actually let you fight them! It’s so sick!

[@familyoftacticaldroids309]

The sad thing about Proto Babil? You can have maxed everything, but the dude can still 1HKO you. I know this because I used cheat codes to max out stats, and that's exactly what happened. Also pretty sure "Kaiser Dragon" showed up in Dissidia Duodecim as another Shinryu under the summon of Feral Chaos. The design looks super familiar.

[@Spadesdera]

i remember fighting yiazmat for the first time. I got him down to half health which took a while since I wasn't using the ninja sword strategy and ran outside of the battleground and underneath the stands to heal up and saw him heal to full health. I put down the game for a week lol.

[@FantasySweetness766]

Better than what I did. I faced him and got him down to nearly nothing, then as I was casting Renew he casted Reflectga just before I did and in such a way I didn't notice it until the last second and then it reflected back to Yiazmat. That scars.

[@Spadesdera]

@@FantasySweetness766 i'm here if you need someone to talk to lol

[@FantasySweetness766]

It's fine. Ever since then, I've learned to be more careful about how I go about the fight, and let's face it, stuff like this helps us learn how to play.

[@maxiiehorus099]

Surprised to see Zodiark isn't a superboss. AOE instadeath that deals 9999 damage AND blinds the party, casts it every couple seconds and is immune to physical and magick till expired, only vulnerable for a few seconds till recasts his immunity. Very difficult even when fully prepared in my opinion.

[@Mr.Pallanza]

I agree to this! Lore-wise - Zodiark represents the 13th Zodiac Ophiuchus - so powerful and feared that the Gods have sealed him deep when Ultima decided to cause an uprising to the Gods with the other Espers/Zodiacs. And of the 175+ hours I've spent in the OG Final Fantasy XII PS2 - I have made more than 2 dozen attemprs and never managed to hit that window between palings and barriers and take down Zodiark. It's seemingly unfair - but decent enough to deliver a tough challenge.

[@MettanAtem]

The truly painful part is that Zodiark's Darkja can instantly KO even if you're immune to dark damage. In the one FF game with with absolutely no instant death immunity available.

[@BryGuyJohn]

Hardest boss for me after the 5 Judge Magisters. And I spammed Zodiark’s final move to kill the Judges anyway. lol

[@FF-tp7qs]

I remember the first time I beat Zodiark, it was such a close call with Darkja leaving just 1 team member just a little bit of hp, yet somehow I was able to revive and heal up and finish the fight

[@zidarose]

It’s fascinating hearing about the all the connections as you go deeper into the series.

[@yaacov226]

Final Fantasy XII is such a good game, the gambit system was awesome. Yiazmat was a challenge...

[@marlonthomas8042]

I beat him first time But gosh navigating the gates in the great crystal made me want to rage quit

[@PaiDiMat]

At least in The Zodiac Age it is much easier to beat

[@marlonthomas8042]

@@PaiDiMat ah Only one I fought him on

[@crazyivan5472]

Oh yeah I have distinct memories of taking over 3 hours to kill him back on the PS2. Yiazmat definitely left a long lasting impression.

[@Eternallama1]

XII was a gem in all regards. It's a Top 3 entry in the series.

[@I_am_GOD217]

I'm just waiting for 15, it's just a giant turtle and I don't think it had any significant lore lmao

[@RadishDoctor]

15 also has Melusine and Omega lol

[@I_am_GOD217]

@@RadishDoctor oh right royal edition

[@gabrielmorga2326]

Just a bounty, that if unchecked could destroy a lot.

[@I_am_GOD217]

@gabrielmorga2326 it seemed passive until approached, a lot of creatures of 15 could cause damage if unchecked tbh

[@Vayne_Solidor]

​@@RadishDoctorThe Episode extra fights too! Ignis vs Noctis.

[@SetzerJH]

Main tanking Odin and getting Valhalla Breastplate during 75 era was one of my most satisfying accomplishments.

[@grawlix311]

Love the content! Keep up the awesome work! Your channel is a mix of nostalgia and fascination!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you for the kind words

[@Mickos18]

Yiazmat took me technically 4 hours, but i have learned (on accident ) that i could walk away, get some items, come back, but it's VERY time limited time you could actually do that

[@iandixon6842]

There was a strat for the final phase(20 percent hp and below i think) where you just walk in cast zodiark and dip. He would retain all previous damage so long as you didn't give it a chance to heal.

[@Mickos18]

@@iandixon6842 thats pretty interesting

[@georgehouliaras7239]

I clicked this faster than the treasure hunter who stole a certain Opera Floozy's heart.

[@chrislevack405]

He... clicked on her?

[@georgehouliaras7239]

@@chrislevack405 Yes.

[@pauluhliar6838]

Double clicked ​@@chrislevack405

[@aroccoification]

Neither Maria nor celes were floozys seltzer is just a creep

[@georgeblack2749]

Why she gotta be a floozy though? 😅

[@OtakuJuanma2]

bears to mention, Omega Mark 12 was created to kill Yiazmat specifically, as stated in the bestiary pages for... I think it was the Yensa, it details the creator of the Mimic species crafting a much stronger Mimic queen that got lost after being defeated by Yiazmat (same fight made this other queen unable to lay eggs too)

[@jamesmcqe9287]

I loved Tactics A2. One of my favourite games, so many memories

[@seanrhodes8817]

Yiazmat is a very easy boss in Zodiac Age. The Superbosses in Final Fantasy XII are all about testing your comprehension of the Gambit system. If you wither and sheer Yiazmat, and you have the Yagyu Darkblade and potentially the Masamune or Kumba (with Genji Gloves), and a good gambit setup to revive characters... Yiazmat is mostly just a battle of endurance. But if you use the 4x speed, the battle can be over in like... fifteen minutes. But Final Fantasy XII also has quite a few super bosses. And yes, I'd certainly count Zodiark among them. No, he does not have as much HP as the Hell Wyrm, Yiazmat, or Omega Mark XII... but he is by far the most devastating of all the super bosses to face. He meets nearly all the criteria listed here. And in the original game, it was a lot just to get to Zodiark. The path through the Henne Mines is long, full of some of the most dangerous enemies you'll encounter, tons of traps, (including invisible pathways that don't appear on your map) and there are NO SAVE POINTS during the long trek to Zodiark. Meaning if you lose the battle, you have to go through ALL OF THAT again. I found THAT to be far more challenging than Yiazmat.

[@narutolover50]

Hell yeah keep em coming!!! Love these videos

[@madskilliz]

What do you mean HALFWAY I'm so excited! Looking forward to the next video!

[@ToyokaX]

Surprised to see the "spam reflected darkga through the wall" strat for Yiazmat in this video, at around 5:50 haha

[@machinet9]

Been excited for this! 😁

[@TheOneRioji]

Really love these videos!

[@ChouhouinNeko]

can't wait till we hit the super bosses in 14

[@theobscured_one]

Isnt that just the raids though

[@chumiminn]

​@@theobscured_one FFXIV superbosses should probably be the "Ultimate" raids of which there are only a handful of, and are widely considered the hardest pieces of MMO content out there

[@CPhrost]

I imagine since he touched on the big hunts in 11 he should touch on Odin and Behemoth, as well as the EX trials and Ultimate raids, UWU, UCOB, TEA etc

[@chumiminn]

yeah true there's the really big fates as well, I wonder how much of that content would qualify though

[@ultimatecalibur]

@@chumiminn During either part 1 or part 2, I mentioned FFXIV could have an entire video due to having: Super Boss fates (Behemoth, Odin, Coerlregina, Prey Online, Tamamo-no-Mae, Ixion, Archeotania, Formidable, Chi and Davadipa) Full Party Raids - Coils of Bahamut (Normal +2CoB Savage), Alexander (Savage), Omega (Savage), Eden (Savage) and Pandemonium (Savage) Extreme trials/Minstrel's Ballads - Ifrit, Garuda and Titan and Ultima's Bane at a minimum. S-Rank hunts(+SS-Rank hunts) The Diadem - Star ranks and Emergency Mission Baldesion Arsenal Ultimates Bozja/Zandor duels Delubrum Reginae (Savage)

[@8bitdee]

FFXII had more super bosses than that. Zodiark for sure and I’d even argue Ultima would still be in that list, even if at the bottom of it.

[@rammantakhsh9247]

the hypest release of the year

[@N3rd_House]

The PSP version of the After Years had a TON of cameo bosses, from FF1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and most were very difficult. Not quite on par with the likes of say, Omega, but still very challenging.

[@VectorBlade9001]

An interesting bit about FF4 DS and Proto-Babil: iirc the game could only be played until NG+2, and would stop initiating NG+ cycles after beating Zeromus on the third playthrough. This means if you waited until playthrough 3 to steal the Dark Matter from Zeromus, you would not be able to fight Proto Babil as the game would force you to start from your previous save from before fighting Zeromus and you would lose the Dark Matter item if you stole it during the battle. I remember finding this out the hard way, but thankfully I had a secondary save from the end of playthrough 2 I could load in.

[@asmodeusml]

Minerva in FF Reunion on Hard doesn't have 20 mil HP. She has 77,777,777 HP. One of her standard attacks now also removes nonpermanent buffs, like reraise. Just saying.

[@callmeshaggy5166]

I'm sure we'll get to that in a later part when we get to the 2020s

[@MLmaster135]

FF2's Deumion is prob one of the most interesting pieces of lore for FF2, with him being an eternal summoner and protecting the Destroy spell after it was created by a mage in the past. The Destroy spell is one of my fave spells in the series, the lore of it being able to destroy the world in tthe wrong hands makes it very interesting for its time. when you learn Destroy's unique quirk of permanently becoming a Gravity spell if it doesn't kill on the first hit(aka using it on the Emperor, who takes at least 5-6 hits of Destroy to kill since Destroy becomes a Gravity spell after the 1st hit), it makes it a very interesting spell to use. I always believed that both Deumion and Soul of Rebirth as a whole is deff what makes FF2 pretty lore-rich, despite the minimalish dialogues. Deumion deff has one of the more unique character designs in the series, and his words, while short, are very memorable, especially when you choose Destruction. most interestingly, Deumion is the only Boss in FF2 that cannot be Harmed by The Blood Sword whatsoever. he's completely immune to it(which's diff from zombies draining your health, yet functionally the same). which means the drain effect of Blood Sword never heals. that's his most unique mechanic that isn't found anywhere else in FF2.

[@devonfree4781]

Jus commenting for support

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you so much, that's much appreciated! ~Darryl

[@f937r]

The bots are getting quicker.

[@triplefstudios294]

Fr

[@raimarulightning]

Final Fantasy 11 and 12 Devs getting upset that people didn't play the way they wanted them to is a tale as old as time lol. So stupid

[@jawiermasters]

I was waiting for this...

[@theobscured_one]

I literally just finished watching the first two 😅

[@cdunlap0008]

Seeing some of these super bosses in FFBE is a nice homage to past games

[@jollaffle]

I never realized that the DS remake of FF3 came out *before* the GBA versions of 5 and 6.

[@jinyboi]

Ff12 had some of the best dungeons and bosses in FF imo. I love it almost as much as ff7

[@Spadesdera]

this is cinema content!!

[@ytmndman]

I considered Neo Shinryu to be harder than Enuo, but maybe that's because my party was stronger when I faced the latter.

[@bernardschaeffer8000]

Just started playing final fantasy xv on PC it's great

[@RadishDoctor]

Looking forward to World of Final Fantasy: XG Cogna, Enna Kros (with Tama & Serafie), and The Immortal Dark Dragon

[@shiningkingghidora]

You left out The Lost-Babil in Final Fantasy IV The After Years

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Hey there, thanks for the comment! For clarity, Lost-Babil was left out on purpose. Why? Because it will will feature in Part 4 due to it being exclusive to The After Years on PSP... which didn't release until a few years after the original version of The After Years! ~Darryl

[@arbiter771]

Wondering if FFXIV is going to have all of the Ultimate fights be talked about

[@desa35]

Regarding Crisis Core: I'm curious on Hard Mode exclusive upgrade you guys were talking about as there is no such thing in Crisis Core, anything you can obtain in Hard Mode you can also obtain in Normal Mode. Also Minerva actually has 77,777,777Hp on Hard in Reunion, the 20,000,00Hp were for the the PSP version making her even more durable on the rerelease.

[@MgoRavenSama]

Og absolute virtue was unbeatable

[@36inc]

honestly my favorite super bosses are the ones i still havent beaten ozma and penance. while the weapons in both 7 and 8 were difficult and totally beatable- i feel like i like those fights cause i like the game around them, and ozma comes from the game i like the least for its mechanics (and how easy it is to just ignore some characters existence) but the fight itself is interesting and challenging in a way that makes me wanna get better just to best it. penance doesnt have a simular hang up X satisfies me mechanically in such a way that i think its the perfect first final fantasy to play- it does all the final fantasy stuff really well while retaining a unique identity we havent seen since, so penance doesnt compel me to get past a frustrating game in fact the after story bit only feels more fun cause once you get done collecting side missions you suddenly shift to fighting several next level fights- just to prepare for the dark aeons. the game rewards you for understanding its systems and it becomes a satisfactory loop of preparation, customizations, and execution. you fight alot but readjusting your strategy quickly becomes a necessity youll craft several armors and use your hard earned ultimate weapons to finish th sphere grid literally my favorite progression system they ever did and a wonderful adaptation of something like materia for stats and skills- and the predictable nature of enemy drops and steal results make it pretty easy to grind for the materials as youll likely target several monsters in the same location for their various crafting fodder. cleaning up the beastiary and fighting bosses that can reward powerful spheres or items that can be fought just by having all that money you got getting the hunts done. the flow entirely shifts to an ever greater opponent like youre a prized fighter just constantly moving up till the games upper limits it kinda gets hype as you clear them. by the time you get to penance the games your bitch you have every node filled every stat maximum and every skilla nd ultimate has been optimized. even after taking on dark aeons with all their own rules sometimes multiple times, you finally get to penance and it can still just slap your party down like trash- outside the obvious just use the bounty hunter- i wanna do it legit.

[@MoniqueBoulangerMSG]

I was so mad with Zodiac Age when they got rid of the early acquisition of the Zodiac Spear...

[@beejaytea5964]

Tuning Gambits to autobattle and defeat Yiazmat is hella cash

[@JoshuaVerscha]

P Warden was just too harsh. There’s things put in games to physically harm human players. He was one of them.

[@user-wf5nb4jd1y]

Kaizer Dragon was challenging? 😂

[@ZanSuken-pv1rn]

I remember dying, crying then dying again because Zodiark is unfair, damn Darkja

[@magemeganutts1642]

Can you do the newer games like 14,15,16? Love those games would be cool to see what you have to say about Omega in 15

[@sockbat25]

So a part 4 eventually right?

[@tvdinner1986]

Never heard of Enuo until this video. The sprite art makes him look like a bit like Gilgamesh x Asura's Wrath, imo

[@ominiish]

Missed Hell Wyrm

[@GHNeko]

last time i was this early i got wiped by the boss because I was underleveled.

[@williamlafond1319]

Minerva was easy imo, the puzzles was gathering the right gear.

[@scottb8540]

XI from 2004-2006 was the best game in the series

[@Pmirum]

Cool

[@Mawkatz]

22:37 how does that person have that name? Caulifla didn't exist at that time. Dragon Ball Super started many years after FFXI servers closed.

[@ilikestuff9250]

Cauliflower Which the dbs character is named after

[@JustSkram]

"Yiazmat could be easily defeared with automation" yup sounds like 12, just a long and glorified "if, then" statement via gambit.

[@franimal86]

The first time I beat Yiazmat, I set up my gambits and went to bed

[@franimal86]

To be clear, Yiazmat still had half his health when I woke up, and the game had paused after he did some instant death attack where my characters didn’t have time to raise them. But at least, I had him down to half his health

[@darkmatterpancake9824]

I'll be real sad if we dont cover FFXIV in this series

[@twosadcows4549]

Reflectaga + scathe = easy yazzi

[@pichugirl6]

I feel like you gloss over too quickly on FF12 revenant wings. I get it he's not that threatening as OG FF12, but at the same time, the challenge of the dungeon you're traversing, as well as Yiazmat upon being defeated. If you push through the many gauntlet in the dungeon, including fighting off Yiazmat, the weapon, Anastasia can get power'd up. Whats more is if you continue repeating this dungeon, not only can Anastasia become so powerful, but with the right equipment and monsters to summon, Vaan can roughly solo any remaining late game including the final boss.

[@jiskool1]

By the time we get to ff16 it’ll be part 10 and gta6 still hasn’t come out 😂

[@eu4um]

Final Fantasy 12 Final Fantasy 12

[@aldwinjasperjoniega8973]

I see yiazmat i like...

[@IamH8ted]

Why no videos on ff5? I couldn't find a one. Only giglamesh

[@OtakuJuanma2]

I was today years old when realizing that Yiazmat was supposed to be Yas-Mat, Yasumi Matsuno

[@enoyna1001]

I don't understand how the designer expected people to fulfill different roles with every character if the original FFXII License Board makes every character the same by default.

[@YPYT90]

Because the best set up is not 3 tanks for example. The best set up even today is hybrids of offensive and heal types. At max stats it's all about SPEED

[@mattsully2238]

Algorithm

[@BaldingSasquatch]

I can't stop farting

[@Guardian978]

Anytime something is updated for "modern audiences", even in the 2000s, it means they made it garbage. I hated the 3D versions of 4 and 5 so much. I wanted nicer looking sprites, not ugly ass polygons.

[@MrCharly780]

This channel really hates FFXIV huh? no mention of ultimate raids and at least the OG, Ucob as the superboss of the game...

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Hey there MrCharly780. Your comment is much appreciated, however, it appears as though you might have missed that this is a chronological video series, and Final Fantasy XIV did not release before either Final Fantasy Tactics A2 or Final Fantasy IV on the DS. The good news, is that based on currently progress, I'd expect Final Fantasy XIV to start featuring in Part 4, but it may not appear until Part 5. ~Darryl

[@moso-bunnie]

Dude you use the word "iteration" way too much. It's like that one vid where you said "hulking mechanical monstrosity" like 10 times... Maybe get a new editor lol

[@emailjwr]

*Superbosses (title)

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Ty :)