There are many tough bosses that make players sweat, but sometimes it’s not just about complex mechanics and strong attacks. Sometimes, as a player, you can also be lied to, as MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes had to experience firsthand.
I love Kingdom Hearts. Even though the story and dialogue of the action RPG from Square Enix are often complete nonsense, the Disney worlds and the different combat systems always drew me back.
Even in the first part, which is often described as badly aged
, I quite enjoyed doing almost everything in the game, even though I made a silly mistake along the way.
To really do everything in the game, you also have to defeat the secret bosses. One of them still makes me sweat today, also because he lied to me.
You can find the trailer for the latest installment in the series here:
You shouldn’t always trust health bars
Which boss are we talking about? Right before the end of the story, you have the opportunity to participate in optional stages in the tournament at Olympus in Kingdom Hearts. At the end, Sephiroth awaits as the final opponent in the tournament. Fans of Final Fantasy 7 know: You shouldn’t mess with him.
In 2017, with the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX (terrible name), I then tried my luck against him as well. After all, I wanted to have all the trophies on the PS4.
The fight begins and I start hitting him. But to my surprise, his health bar just doesn’t drop. I die after a few seconds and try again. Maybe it was a bug. Well, even on the second attempt, I simply do no damage. After more frustrating fights, I turned to Google to see if other players had the same problem.
Quickly, I stumbled upon forum posts like on GameFAQs. As I then found out: He simply has so much health that the health bar can’t display it. In Kingdom Hearts, bosses usually don’t have a large display, but several color indicators that you have to whittle down one after the other.
However, Sephiroth has so much health that there is no displayed bar, and you just have to deal a bit of damage until you see a difference. But the game doesn’t signal that, which makes it look like you’re doing 0 damage.
You can see what it looks like in the video from Boss Fight Database:
Even aside from the bar, Sephiroth is a real beast
Does the information make the fight easier? No, absolutely not. I had the certainty that it is possible, but I was just too weak, and let’s be honest: also just too bad. Countless levels (and hours) later, I was as well-equipped as possible.
I grinded for the best weapon in the game, the Ultima Blade, had the best abilities, and many items. But he was still a real monster. Sephiroth has many wide-ranging attacks that are hard to dodge, and if you let your guard down for a moment or two, you’re done, no matter how well-equipped you are.
Since you have to fight the battle without Donald and Goofy, you also have to take care of healing yourself. After all, there was the Leaf Bracer ability that prevents you from being interrupted while casting healing spells.
Still, I just couldn’t do it. One evening, I sat down with my buddy and we did nothing but challenge Sephiroth alternately. But then, after countless grind sessions and sad attempts, my buddy managed to do it. He dodged the flame pillars and was finally able to defeat him. I was relieved and happy about the trophy (even though it still annoys me that I didn’t take him down).
As a reward, there is a cool cutscene with Cloud and Sephiroth and the new sword Winged Angel
, which I couldn’t use thanks to the Ultima Blade.
Many bosses have made me suffer. I still think of Manus from Dark Souls or Malenia from Elden Ring, but none have stayed in my memory as strongly as Sephiroth. Which bosses will you never forget? Please feel free to write it to us in the comments. You can find annoying boss enemies here: 5 annoying boss enemies from video games that annoy for a certain reason
