Jump to content

Photo

Most fulfilling final boss music?


  • Please log in to reply
20 replies to this topic

#1 ShadowTiger

ShadowTiger

    The Doctor Is In

  • Members

Posted 26 January 2020 - 12:04 PM

I am on a hunt for the most fulfilling boss music - That one piece of music that truly does a monumental job of joining every one of your experiences of the game into a single epic fight, invites you in, and honorably

 

I'm going to say that for me, that honor goes to the Yakuza 0 Final Boss Theme - Twin Dragons theme.  (With a video of the fight, too) - A little bit after your final conversation with the leader of the rival Yakuza gang, you have your epic battle on top of a cruise liner after a massive shoot-out between Yakuza gangs on the dock.  You fight him from deck to deck, and given that he has a tremendous pool of health, you'll be fighting for your life for a while.  He can use most of your fighting styles as well, and does so freely. It's quite a battle.  It's one of the most satisfying ones I've ever been in, next to the second Kuze battle.  Good god, the build-up on that one is amazing. 

 

How about you?  What's your most memorable boss fight whose importance was aided by its outstanding music?


  • Anthus likes this

#2 Anthus

Anthus

    Lord of Liquids

  • Members
  • Location:Ohio

Posted 26 January 2020 - 03:47 PM

A few of my favorites, in no particular order.

 

Baby Bowser in Yoshi's Island (Original SNES)

Ganon in Ocarina of Time

The second half of Mother Brain in Super Metroid (I know it's just the Crateria song, but the way it's presented is epic)


  • ShadowTiger and Jared like this

#3 Deedee

Deedee

    Bug Frog Dragon Girl

  • Moderators
  • Real Name:Deedee
  • Pronouns:She / Her, They / Them
  • Location:Canada

Posted 27 January 2020 - 01:35 AM

Both Bravely Default and Bravely Second's final boss themes.

The Greatest Jubilee in Bayonetta

but most importantly, "After Despair and Hope" from Xenoblade 2 takes the cake. Fantastic use of a bunch of earlier themes combined into one great final boss theme.



#4 Shane

Shane

    💙

  • Moderators
  • Pronouns:He / Him
  • Location:South Australia

Posted 27 January 2020 - 02:20 AM

There's probably more, but these stood out the moment I started writing. :P
 
Ocarina of Time - Ganon
Yoshi's Island - Bowser (Glad someone else agrees. :D)
Twilight Princess - Ganondorf
Final Fantasy XIII - Born Anew/Nascent Requiem
Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Invisible Depths
Lost Odyssey - Howl of the Departed
Bravely Default - Serpent Eating the Ground
Xenoblade Chronicles - Zanza the Divine/God-Slaying Sword
Final Fantasy XV - Magna Insomnia
Octopath Traveler - Daughter of the Dark God

  • Anthus and Jared like this

#5 Russ

Russ

    Caelan, the Encouraging

  • Administrators
  • Location:Washington

Posted 27 January 2020 - 10:18 AM

If I had to pick one, I would say Megalith Agnus Dei. The song is absolutely beautiful, a mixture of symphonic, choral, and electronic music. During the fight it plays in, you can hear, over the radio, several characters dying in real time to buy you time. The song's lyrics, taken from liturgical hymns, translate to "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, give them rest, and let eternal light shine upon them."

Following that, a few runners up...

Bergentrücking/Asgore is a wonderful composition. Very few songs manage to carry the weight of a final battle against a sympathetic character, but this one nails it. It's determined (quite fitting with the theme of the game), yet sorrowful, looking back even as it marches forward. It ties in several motifs, including Determination, Asgore's theme, and Toriel's theme, hinting at several plot elements that hadn't yet been explained. It's the perfect note to end the game on. Unfortunately, the game didn't understand this and didn't have the courtesy of actually ending here.

The Light That Burns The Sky is another song that makes good use of motifs, combining Nebby's theme with Necrozma's, then trying in the Ultra Space and final dungeon themes for good measure. And then playing them on a rock organ. Because rock organs make everything better. I tend to be a fan of the more "encouraging" final boss themes, so to speak, and this one plays to that wonderfully.

The Key We've Lost almost feels like cheating, since Sawano, outside of this game, composes only anime music. But that's why the song is great. In his usual style, it's a fusion of orchestral and electronic elements, with Mika Kobayashi belting out semi-connected lyrics in somewhat broken English over the song's latter half.

The Unsung War is how I'm wrapping out this list, cuz Ace Combat deserves at least two mentions. Compared to the game's penultimate mission, the final boss is smaller in scope and quieter, and the music compliments this. The lyrics relate the tale of Razgriz, a fictional demon who the protagonists of the game are frequently compared to. Much like their own story, the song begins humbly before gradually building into something quite incredible. The song also ties in the motif of another character, the last member of the squadron who died earlier in the game while an equally beautiful song played.
  • Anthus and Matthew like this

#6 Mani Kanina

Mani Kanina

    Rabbits!

  • Members

Posted 27 January 2020 - 11:57 AM

There is only one theme and fight for me that perfectly fits that bill, and that's General Tor's Theme from Iji. On it's own it's a pretty good rock track, but in the context of the game it's really up there for me. Few games make me care about the world being at stake, cause the main villains usually don't really give you cause to care. Often you're more told they are bad and what they will do, rather than shown. Iji makes it pretty obvious through the game what exactly is on stake, even forcing you to hamper some of the plans earlier. And the build up for the final fight you can literally see they are charging up to blow up the planet, only waiting for Tor to give the command, you being there at the very last moment and literally being the only one able to stop him.

I dunno, I don't think Iji's story is amazing or anything, but the build up for the final battle is pretty darn good, and when this tune starts playing as the fairly long fight starts, it's just too good.



#7 Jamian

Jamian

    ZC enthusiast

  • Members

Posted 27 January 2020 - 12:02 PM

Mother Brain from Super Metroid : Simple but effective theme that truly makes you feel you're fighting absolute evil.

 

Dancing Mad from Final Fantasy 6 : 17+ minutes long, multi-part composition that perfectly conveys the epicness of the fight and the importance of what's at stake.

 

Final boss (don't know if there's an official title) from UN Squadron : A theme that alternates a slower, sinister motif with a more uptempo, adrenaline-pumping one, which works extremely well for a final boss song.

 

Those are the three off the top of my head right now.


  • Magi_Hero likes this

#8 Avaro

Avaro

    o_o

  • Members
  • Real Name:Robin
  • Location:Germany

Posted 27 January 2020 - 12:22 PM

Lmao, all 3 xenoblade games have been mentioned now, by a different person each.

 

I don't know, I find this a hard question. I've considered all my favourite games, but the final bosses aren't THAT amazing. One stands out though: Confronting Myself from Celeste. It's kinda that game's final boss? The awesome music complimented the awesome showdown perfectly. The fight in the story's context, the feeling and the gameplay were satisfying. And what's more, it's music gets remixed in the same game, in an optional chapter.


Edited by Avaro, 27 January 2020 - 12:25 PM.


#9 klop422

klop422

    Guess I'm full of monsters and treasure

  • Members
  • Real Name:Not George
  • Location:Planet Earth

Posted 28 January 2020 - 06:44 AM

Technically not the final boss theme, but from Chrono Trigger, World Revolution. Seriously epic and ties up the music of the game well - and much better than the actual final battle theme.

 

And, of course, the classic Ultimate Bowser. You can argue back and forth about whether the game aged well, but the lighting and music for this fight are really effective.

 

idk, that's what's come to mind, I probably like something else more and forgot about it :P


  • ShadowTiger likes this

#10 NoeL

NoeL

    Legend

  • Members
  • Real Name:Jerram

Posted 28 January 2020 - 08:29 AM

Fighting Gruntilda in Banjo Kazooie had some great epic music that always stuck with me.



#11 Titanium Justice

Titanium Justice

    Justice is served!

  • Members
  • Real Name:Jared
  • Location:Ontario

Posted 30 January 2020 - 02:21 PM

A lot of Final Fantasy games I've played have had absolutely epic final boss music. Granted, their music in general is usually quite epic.

One that stood out to me the most was Dancing Mad from FFVI. When I first fought Kefka and heard that I thought I was going to have an awesomegasm.

Lightning Returns (while not the best game in the series) had an especially magnificent last boss theme. Both the physical appearance of the boss itself and the music reminded me of Jubileus from Bayonetta, which also happened to have an amazing last boss theme. (And both the bosses are thrown into the sun. What's up with that?)

The first Xenoblade qualifies for this. The Xeno series in general has some of the best videogame music I've heard alongside Final Fantasy.

Howl of the Departed from Lost Odyssey is great. (Haven't actually beat the game yet, but I'm working on it. Hearing the ost online is partially the reason for getting me into this.)

Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword come to mind. I don't particularly remember Breath of the Wild's final boss music. I might have to listen to it again at some point.

Aaaaaand that's all I can think of at the moment.

Edited by Titanium Justice, 30 January 2020 - 02:38 PM.

  • Magi_Hero likes this

#12 DarkFlameWolf

DarkFlameWolf

    Murana Wolford

  • Members

Posted 04 March 2020 - 04:16 PM

I'm still a fan of whatever the heck I used for Lost Isle's final boss musics. I really don't remember where it's from though...



#13 DarkFlameSheep

DarkFlameSheep

    Polm The Fathomless (Slime)

  • Members
  • Location:Japan

Posted 04 March 2020 - 09:51 PM

I'm still a fan of whatever the heck I used for Lost Isle's final boss musics. I really don't remember where it's from though...

 

I think it's from (Japanese) Final Fantasy3's final boss music.


Edited by Stray Sheep, 04 March 2020 - 09:54 PM.


#14 klop422

klop422

    Guess I'm full of monsters and treasure

  • Members
  • Real Name:Not George
  • Location:Planet Earth

Posted 05 March 2020 - 05:37 AM

I think it's from (Japanese) Final Fantasy3's final boss music.

That's a fantastic piece of music for a sadly underwhelming boss fight.

 

The Black Mages version is also pretty great.


Edited by klop422, 05 March 2020 - 05:38 AM.


#15 Hergiswi

Hergiswi

    don't look for me, i'm just a story you've been told

  • Members
  • Real Name:chris
  • Location:house

Posted 06 March 2020 - 08:23 AM

the pokemon gen 1 music that plays during the final battle with your rival will forever be in my heart


  • ShadowTiger likes this


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users