The Five Toughest Video Game Bosses of 2019
There have been a number of memorable video games released in 2019. Naturally, these video games include some memorable bosses, whether because of their style or because of the level of challenge that they presented to the players. Here are five of the toughest video game bosses of 2019:
Cannoneer and Blade Bearer – Code Vein
Code Vein is known for a number of things. One, it is a Souls-like, so it should come as no surprise to learn that it is one of the more challenging titles to have been released in 2019. Two, Code Vein is very, very anime, as shown by the people who have been using its character creator to recreate a wide range of characters from a wide range of anime series. With that said, it is important to note that Code Vein’s presentation doesn’t deduct from its difficulty, particularly when people choose to play on their own rather than with the help of an AI-controlled ally. For proof, look no further than the Cannoneer and Blade Bearer, who are an homage to Dark Souls’s Ornstein and Smough.
By this point, it should be clear that Cannoneer and Blade Bearer aren’t one boss but rather two bosses fought in a simultaneous manner. The Cannoneer is a fire specialist who favors long-range combat whereas the Blade Bearer is an ice specialist who favors short-range combat. Combined, this means that players will spend much of the fight being pressured by a very fast and very powerful boss while being boxed in by another boss with plenty of area of effect attacks in him. Even worse, the two won’t let up, meaning that even a small mistake can lead to punishing consequences.
Dromi – God Eater 3
Speaking of which, the people behind Code Vein released God Eater 3 in 2019 as well. However, the God Eater series isn’t a Souls-like series. Instead, it is a monster-hunting series, though it stands out in a number of respects from its initial source of inspiration. For example, each player in the God Eater series carries a weapon called a God Arc that can transform between a melee mode and a ranged mode, thus providing them with increased versatility on the battlefield. Two, the enemies in the God Eater series make no pretense of being natural creatures. Instead, they are single-cell entities called Aragami that can come together to create much bigger and much more fantastic shapes. This can be seen in God Eater 3’s Dromi, which can be best-described as a multi-headed carnivorous dinosaur moving about in a bipedal manner.
There are a number of reasons why Dromi is such a huge threat. One, it is what God Eater 3 calls an Ash Aragami, meaning that it can unleash a special Devour attack that will strip the player of their buffs when it lands before sending Dromi into its super mode. However, what makes Dromi’s Devour attack particularly dangerous is that it will home in on its target at a much, much faster speed than what its normal movements would suggest, so much so that the best strategy for evading it is to move about in an arc in order to make it turn. Unfortunately, the stage on which Dromi is fought makes this much easier said than done.
Shara Ishvalda – Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
Monster Hunter World was toned down to an extent so that it would be more accessible to an international audience that probably didn’t have a great deal of experience with the Monster Hunter franchise. Since Iceborne is a high-challenge expansion pack meant for players who have managed to beat its base game’s high-level content, it should come as no surprise to learn that it is packed full of tough bosses. Naturally, different people struggled against different monsters, but one of the most notable would be the final boss Shara Ishvalda.
In short, Shara Ishvalda combines powerful attacks with very few opportunities for players to recover from their mistakes. In fact, interested individuals should know that they are sent right into the last battle upon defeating a variant of Nergigante, which isn’t helped by how there will be very few breathers once the fight starts. The initial form of Shara Ishvalda isn’t too bad. Yes, it has a tough defense, but its relative lack of speed makes it much less dangerous than it could be. In contrast, well, suffice to say that while removing its shell is necessary, it is also a good way to speed it up thanks to a mix of rage with reduced encumbrance. On top of this, Shara Ishvalda possesses the power to turn the ground into quicksand, which is a huge problem when even a short moment’s delay can mean the difference between dodging and not dodging a potentially fatal attack.
Guardian Ape – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
The Souls series has come to a conclusion, but FromSoftware is still making Souls-like titles. For instance, there is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which is a different kind of game from its predecessors but nonetheless takes a fair amount of inspiration from them. One instance of this can be found in its challenging bosses such as the Guardian Ape.
Like a lot of bosses in Souls-like games, Guardian Ape isn’t particularly challenging when he is still on his first phase. Yes, he has incredible reach matched with even more incredible power, but so long as the player is ready to move, they should have no problems letting the Guardian Ape overextend before punishing him for it. However, when the Guardian Ape loses his head, he becomes much more dangerous, both because his physical capabilities increase and because his movements are much more difficult to read. The movements of the first phase are relatively naturalistic, which is why they are relatively intuitive to understand. Meanwhile, the movement of the second phase are much stranger as well as much more erratic, thus creating a major problem in the process.
Kingdom of Wu – Total War: Three Kingdoms
In the standard campaign for Total War: Three Kingdoms, the three most powerful factions will be named Kingdoms in the late game, thus making it more difficult for them to work with one another. One of those three kingdoms is either always or almost always the Kingdom of Wu, which was the historical name of the state founded by the Sun family in the period. In Total War: Three Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Wu is pretty much guaranteed because the Sun family has very little opposition in the southern end of the map, which when combined with the powerful characters found in the region, means that players are bound to go up against at least one challenging opponent.