10 Best RPGs If You Like Difficult Boss Fights, Ranked

Many fans gravitate to RPGs for the freedom these games offer to build up their characters however they’d like, uncovering deadly combos and potent moves along the way. A well-built RPG character can feel like a true juggernaut on the battlefield, especially when combat encounters line up just right to showcase their true potential.

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In this context, RPG bosses serve as a valuable test of players’ abilities. Fans who go out of their way to optimize and enhance their characters as much as possible typically look forward to boss fights as a way to push their capabilities to the limit, and maybe even unlock powerful new moves or items to use on future challenges. Here are ten RPGs with some of the toughest, most demanding boss fights in the business.

10

Octopath Traveler

An Eightfold Challenge

Released

July 13, 2018

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Octopath Traveler is a remarkable game, known primarily for pioneering the “HD-2D” art style that remains popular in JRPGs to this day. The game features a group of eight protagonists, each of whom have their own distinct stories to follow as they navigate a vibrant and beautifully-realized fantasy world.

As players unwind each of the eight protagonists’ journeys, they’ll come face to face with some truly titanic challenges. Each character has some major foes to overcome in pursuit of their goals, and even with the full party at their backs, these bosses won’t go down easy. Players will have to make full use of the game’s elemental weakness system and maybe even do some grinding if they want to have a hope of succeeding.

9

Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Turn-Based Tokyo

Released

November 10, 2020

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol

Yakuza: Like A Dragon represented a major shift for the venerable Yakuza franchise. It not only showcased a new main protagonist but also a radically altered gameplay formula as the first turn-based RPG in the series. Despite these radical changes, the game still features all the charming hallmarks of the series, especially the wacky, over-the-top sidequests that players can encounter as they roam the streets.

One thing Like A Dragon is predominantly known for is its erratic difficulty curve. Several of the bosses in this quirky RPG represent a major difficulty spike, crushing unwary players in just a couple of turns if they’re not prepared. Legendary characters from previous games like Kiryu and Goro Majima return as boss fights, and their skills more than live up to the reputations they’ve built up during the rest of the series.

8

Monster Hunter Wilds

The Deadliest Game

Released

February 28, 2025

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor

The long-running Monster Hunter franchise has always had a major focus on titanic, larger-than-life beasts, which players must hunt with a variety of immense and over-the-top weaponry. Monster Hunter Wilds continues the trend, while preserving the iconic gameplay loop of hunting monsters to build up new armor sets and weapons in order to hunt even bigger monsters.

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Even with the best gear, however, players will still be challenged at every turn by Monster Hunter Wilds‘ menagerie of massive monsters. These deadly creatures each boast a flurry of deadly strikes that players will have to learn and memorize if they want to stay upright, and many of them can even command the elements themselves.

7

Final Fantasy XI

An Absolute Nightmare

Released

October 28, 2003

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Animated Blood, Violence

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Publisher(s)

Square Enix, Sony Computer Entertainment

The Final Fantasy franchise has long served as the ubiquitous JRPG series, and during this long and illustrious career, Square Enix has had ample opportunity to change the formula in some considerable ways. One major throughline, however, is the difficulty of the series’ boss fights. Final Fantasy XI exemplifies this very well.

While the campaign of Final Fantasy XI has plenty of intense bosses, none of them hold a candle to Absolute Virtue. This boss is arguably the most infamous Final Fantasy encounter ever designed, and it arguably remained undefeated for years under “legitimate” means, as the development team notoriously patched out multiple successful strategies. While it has since been nerfed, a successful encounter with Absolute Virtue will still take hours and push players to the limit of their tactical skill.

6

Darkest Dungeon

A Brutal Struggle

Released

January 19, 2016

ESRB

T For Teen due to Alcohol Reference, Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer(s)

Red Hook Studios

Publisher(s)

Red Hook Studios

Darkest Dungeon is one of the most infamously difficult turn-based RPGs on the market. Rather than building up a small team of lovable heroes, players must manage an endless flood of expendable mercenaries, who can and will die with shocking ease as they attempt to stem the inexorable tide of deadly monsters flowing from the titular estate.

Even a minor encounter in Darkest Dungeon can have devastating and lasting consequences, which means that the bosses in the game can get truly overwhelming. Each of the bosses has a uniquely devastating gimmick, from the Hag, who cooks heroes alive, to the Flesh, whose squamous, morphing form can spell doom for a party that isn’t flexible enough to adapt to its constant shapeshifting. The final battle will test nerves and skills alive, but any boss can lead to a total wipeout if players aren’t prepared and wary.

5

Dark Souls 2

Sinfully Punishing

Released

March 11, 2014

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Violence

Dark Souls 2 may be the most controversial entry in FromSoft’s iconic trilogy, but it cannot be denied that when it comes to the quantity of boss fights, it’s the top of the heap. There are a lot of massive and menacing foes to contend with throughout Dark Souls 2. The game has a particularly high number of imposing, armored foes, like Velstadt and the iconic Pursuer, but stranger encounters like the Demon of Song and The Rotten are no less perilous.

This philosophy carries forth into the DLC; the Fume Knight from the Crown of the Old Iron King expansion is one of FromSoftware’s most difficult boss fights, and an intense challenge for any Soulsborne veteran. Amidst the wackier fights like the Royal Rat Vanguard, Dark Souls 2 has some incredible challenges in store.

4

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

Seeing Red

Released

October 12, 2004

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence

Shin Megami Tensei III has received a lot of credit for bringing the Shin Megami Tensei franchise into prominence, and the success of subsequent games like the Persona spin-offs owe a lot to this legendary title. The major success of SMT3 is especially remarkable considering its overwhelming difficulty. The bosses in this game require players to think out every move they make and study their opponents’ movesets closely.

One particularly notorious boss encounter in the game is the Matador, a very early-game foe who can and will carve up players who don’t pay very close attention to the lessons the game is trying to teach them. The Matador deploys a series of potent buff moves before laying into players with a flurry of attacks that can decimate them in seconds. This brutally unforgiving boss serves as a particularly foreboding taste of things to come for players who want to take on the rest of the game.

3

Bloodborne

Carving Up The Streets

Systems

Released

March 24, 2015

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Violence

Bloodborne took a pretty major swing away from the typical FromSoftware tradition, presenting a much faster-paced and much more aggressive fighting system than the previous Dark Souls games. This approach paid off handsomely for the game’s Lovecraftian setting. Ferocious beasts and eldritch horrors crowd the streets, and players will need to stay on their toes and push the offensive if they want any hope of success.

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The beasts prowling the dark corners of Yharnam present a gnarly challenge in their own right, but if players want the ultimate challenge, they can turn to the Old Hunters DLC. This expansion introduces players to the Orphan of Kos, a strong contender for the most difficult boss FromSoft has ever created. The Orphan pummels players with a nonstop barrage of crushing blows, and players who aren’t completely focused on dancing around their hideous, screaming foe will never stand a chance of beating him.

A Challenging Tale

RPG

JRPG

Action

Adventure

Released

October 11, 2024

ESRB

T For Teen // Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence

Developer(s)

Studio Zero

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a new and unique IP from Atlus, but it borrows a lot of DNA from the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games. One hallmark it borrows from its predecessors is its extremely difficult boss fights. When players get to the end of a dungeon, they’ll be confronted with a truly intense challenge, one that will require them to react to the boss’s strategies and act tactically if they want to survive.

Players who want a truly intense challenge can take things a step further by participating in the Dragon Trials. These optional late-game sidequests pit fans against some of the most intense RPG encounters in modern gaming, forcing players to abide by a very specific set of rules to persevere. These dragons can and will one-shot whole parties if fans don’t do their homework.

1

Elden Ring

Getting Shattered

Released

February 25, 2022

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

If players just want the largest amount of murderously difficult boss fights possible, Elden Ring is the way to go. This sprawling open world is rich with countless boss fights to test players’ mettle as they journey in search of the titular Elden Ring. Massively powerful shardbearers like Malenia, Radahn, and Mohg stand before anyone who hopes to seize control of the Lands Between.

The recent DLC expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, ups the ante with a wide roster of new and devastating foes. The iconic Messmer the Impaler is a particularly brutal warrior, but the DLC’s final boss, Promised Consort Radahn, is on a whole other level. No matter where players turn in this vast fantasy world, their skills will be tested.

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