[Discussion] How do you define a fun boss fight?

[Lord_Zlatan]

Omega Weapon from FF8 without Holywar/Limitbreak strategies

Omega Mk.12 from FFXII.

Level 50 Ruby Weapon Solo bluemage mode in FF7.

Emerald Weapon Solo in FF7 (Red XIII FTW)

Iselia Queen from SO2 on Universe Mode (hardest fight in any game I've played IMO, and funnest).

All of the above fights have a level of difficulty that can be adjusted based on the strategy u employ or restrictions you choose to put on yourself, except Iselia queen which requires completely maxed out game file plus tactical awareness and strategy with no scripted mechanics at all.

If we are talking about an MMO, an example IMO of a great boss fight is Draigoch's Lair from LOTRO. 24 man single boss raid that requires positioning, movement, OHKOs (not for everyone), great music, and multiple setups.

[Royze]

I'd type out a wall of text, but instead I'll post a sexy woman's explanation of it in a british accent to really drive it home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBjMDvi6Bzo

[Lord_Zlatan]

I'd type out a wall of text, but instead I'll post a sexy woman's explanation of it in a british accent to really drive it home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBjMDvi6Bzo

Those are all good, although I never played Batman. OoT being my favorite from that selection.

[Ryios]

1. Tons of mechanics and wipe mechanics
2. Lot's of things to remember to do and understand
3. A fun fight should require paying attention and constant interaction with the mechanics.

Unfortunately, in this game, this is a double edge sword. E.g. I think TItan Extreme is the most fun fight. However there is ALWAYS someone who can't get out of plumes due to latency/lag. I've seen countless videos of people that are clearly out of plumes and still get hit. I've even seen a guy who was out of plumes on my screen get hit.

[MichuAmane]

Ash in Hauke Manor and King Moogle are pretty fun.

[Bearssi]

From infamous game WoW. Mimiron with red button and Algalon, both sadly forgotten.
A choice of difficulty. Randomness on some features. Phases. Unavoidable and coordinated damage. Target priorities. Lore with fun or immersive stuff. Mystery in mechanics "what happens if...?".
Just some or all of these so that the boss fight stands out from other encounters.

[Astarica]

A fun encounter by definition is going to be something easy. People talk about the thrill of overcoming challenges but if you can't actually beat it, it's not going to be a fun. It'd have to be an encounter that's got a lot of reasonably complicated mechanism that screws you up but doesn't wipe you, so the encounter most likely can't have an enrage timer (or at least a very generous one).

[Astarica]

Iselia Queen from SO2 on Universe Mode (hardest fight in any game I've played IMO, and funnest).

Iselia is not even harder than Indalecio with limiter off. Earthquake hits everyone and seems harder to guts through. Sure she looks intimidating when she knocks a guy back for 9999X20 or whatever, but most of the time the guy getting knocked back can still parry/guts through that.

[Zfz]

I think the keywords is "unforgiving".

What if Landslide doesn't knock you back 20 meters, but knocks you back 5 meters plus give you a 3min stackable debuff that increases knockback distance by 200%? (First time knock back 5m, second time 15m, third time 45m.) What if WotL doesn't do burst damage but gives a stackable damage over time? Eating one WotL is perfectly healable, eating 3 makes you lose heath faster than the tank---but you could still be saved if the healers are very over-geared.

Or, instead of putting all the recovery responsibility on healers, we transfer some of that to the DD. For example Landslide will always only knock you back 10 meters, but each time you are knocked back, Titan gains a "Hardened" buff that lasts for 30 seconds, reducing damage taken by 5% times the number of people knocked back. Or maybe each WotL that hit you could spawn a stack of rock on your back, and you suffer a heavy effect as long as that stack exists. The rock can be targeted and destroyed, but its HP is proportional to the number of stacks. (This is to avoid the eat-it-and-aoe-it strategy.)

This way you still have to dodge things, or you will get one-shot eventually. Mistake recovery is no longer only by healers, but sometimes by the DDs.

New mechanisms are all good and well, but the key to the complaints I've seen up to now are centered on the "unforgiving" nature of the mechanics---i.e., no room for recovery.

[Tazo]

More boss fights with tank swapping.