Final Boss

[Floyd]

One of the many things Rare were famous for in the N64 days was the epic-as-hell final battles.

This is definitely something that should return in full force with this game!

Let's talk about some of the things we want to see. Some points I can think of:

1: The battle needs to test everything you've learned throughout the game.

This is something that is too oft forgotten in games today. A good final boss isn't just a flashy showdown, but one that serves as a final exam that pushes your skills to the limits. That also means it should be nail-bitingly hard, not something you beat on your first try!

2: We need a great, lengthy piece of music to go with it!

Or multiple pieces of music even. Grant Kirkhope was always a master of this art, so it would be a crime not to have him do the honours!

3: More is more!

With final bosses, go all the way. Throw in as many phases as you can come up with. Even if one of them is a stinker it all contributes to the climatic tension. Just make sure the last phase is memorable! Oh, and taking the battle to multiple locales is great as well. And let's not forget the aerial phase...

4: No QTEs please!

This is a plague that we've all come to loathe. Pressing buttons that appear on the screen to do "cool stuff" is never satisfying. The cool stuff should be a part of regular gameplay, or a cutscene at the end you can sit back and watch without having to fear being forced to do everything over again if you get two buttons mixed up. Exceptions taken for QTEs that are a meaningful gameplay mechanic in themselves, like the Blade Mode in Metal Gear Rising.

5: Banter!

I think we can probably trust Playtonic not to forget this. We all want to hear the villains and heroes get their snark on, maybe even in rhyme...

6: An impactful battle that tells a story of its own!

Nothing duller than a boss that doesn't react to your onslaught until the last bit of health is chipped off its HP bar. The best final battles weave a back-and-forth tale where both the villain and the hero gets to have the upper hand at times before the tides turn again, and where the attacks of both parties feel like they hit home. Of course this is a tricky thing to do right, but the Rare used to do it masterfully in the past! The feeling of getting completely overwhelmed by the awesome might of the enemy and the feeling of laying the smackdown on said enemy as it's reduced to your hapless punching bag are equally satisfying and should both be present!

What do you guys think? Anything else that's essential to ensuring Ukulele has a worthy sendoff?

I hope the dev team takes a lot of inspiration from the Grunty battle in the first B-K, because it certainly got all of these points astonishingly right!

[Taylor]

I think you've really covered most things in this post; I fully agree with every point. I think the end cut-scene should be as satisfying as Banjo-kazooie. I still remember beating Grunty for the first time and seeing the Jinjonator take her out!

I know this isn't particularly about the battle, but I would love to see some whimsical quiz make a return before the final showdown.

[Boshi]

I'd like to see a fade-out that catches us by surprise. When we think the final boss is completely and utterly defeated, he/she just jumps up and transforms into an absolute monstrosity, seemingly impossible to defeat. Either that or maybe the main henchman/woman betrays the boss and steals his/her power and then it turns into a fight against the henchman/woman. However, this of course has to be unexpected, which might be a tricky thing to do. I trust Playtonic, I'm sure they could pull something like this off.

[Xellos]

[Phineas Q. Phailboat]

Multiple stages, with participation from various NPCs from throughout the game is an absolute must. I also like when it breaks the fourth wall through the whole fight, like DK64. The whole boxing match showdown was pretty surreal.

[PatMan33]

[Scrubber]

What's a QTE?

[PatMan33]

A quick time event.

Colloquially known as "press A to win", it's when a button prompt appears on screen and the player must enter an input to progress the on-screen action.

[polomi]

Good post Floyd, I agree with most of it!

On the other hand, I'm not fond of multiple boss transformations and "twists" that are talked about in the above posts.

[PatMan33]

Agreed.

A good boss should not overstay its welcome. We don't want to end up with Final Fantasy XI or XII where bosses go on forever and you're wondering when you can get down to the shop to pick up some groceries for dinner.

[DarkTone]

Well it seems I already posted my reply...as the op

Good answers.

[Scrubber]

[Piet]

I think it should be a mad wizard, who at a point says:
'I have 1 fairy and 3 witch sisters, smacking them used to give me blisters.'
(And yes, he should rhyme (while speaking every time).)

[III H1TMaN III]

Agreed to the tits!

[dyarch]

I think you nailed everything!

Super mario galaxy really nailed the "hard mode" for people looking for a challenge but dropped the ball when it came to boss fights.

Maybe an extra hard-mode phase for people who collected all the hard objectives?

[Pgcrooner]

One thing that I would love to see in this game that had to be taken out of the original banjo-kazooie was the villain getting a final shot in. That final spell that grunty casts before falling to her doom in the first game was supposed to hit banjo and turn him into a frog. The game would then cut to tootie getting enough mumbo tokens to have mumbo turn banjo and kazooie back to normal. It was interesting part of the game that was unfortunately taken out due to time constraints. Banjo Kazooie nut&bolts made a nod to this in the beginning with LOG turning banjo into a frog and grunty into a pumpkin. I would love for the villian in this game, if he or she is a spell caster to do something along this line that would require Yooka and Laylee's friends to help them out in the end.

[Scissormetimbers]

Please make the final boss hard to kill. Everyone hates easy boss battles!

[dotEXE]

May 2015 -> January 2016

HAS NOBODY EVER USED A FORUM BEFORE?!

[Exaskryz]

[dotEXE]

I want multiple bosses for different levels of completion like Kazooie and Tooie had. Since we're bumping this anyway.