Daily Debate: Does Tears of the Kingdom Have the Most Difficult Final Boss Battle?
Posted on September 17 2023 by Heather Beard
Spoiler Warning – Details of Tears of the Kingdom’s final boss battle to be discussed in detail
Before the release of Tears of the Kingdom the Zelda Dungeon team wrote out their final hopes and wishes for the game. My wish was for a “battle for the ages.” A boss battle that gets my heart racing, that makes me think strategically, that challenges me and even makes me feel like I want to quit. Having completed Tears of the Kingdom, I believe that I got my ultimate wish. So, does Tears of the Kingdom have the most difficult final boss battle?
In short my answer is, yes! The three-fold final battle against Ganondorf was one of the best boss challenges I have faced in a Zelda game since fighting Demise in Skyward Sword. I loved every challenging second of this fight! I had such a hard time that I eventually had to back out (after dying three times) to rethink and to get a little bit stronger before facing the Demon King. This was what I had wanted though, a boss battle that felt worthy of the game’s story and scale. As mentioned in the linked article above I felt that Calamity Ganon and Dark Beast Ganon were just too easy for what Breath of the Wild was. They were intimidating, but not a challenge. I managed to finish them off in one try and I didn’t feel that sense of pride. I wanted more, and I think that I got what I wanted from Tears of the Kingdom because fighting Ganondorf was difficult.
As previously mentioned I thought that the battle was Demise was incredibly difficult. On my first play through of Skyward Sword I remember it taking five tries before succeeding. Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom felt very much the same. His first phase was not too difficult, but the second phase was where I struggled the most. The additional health and my severe lack of skill in parrying didn’t help me much here either. The frustration was good though, I knew I was being challenged.
The final phase, Ganondorf’s Dragon phase, was not difficult, but more satisfactory because the hard part was over and I could see the end of an epic battle drawing to a close. My heart was still racing though as I fought through on the back of the Light Dragon and fought till the end. It felt like the challenge was coming full circle and there was a lot of pride and reward in that.
What do you think though? Did Tears of the Kingdom have the most difficult final boss battle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Hi I’m Heather! I’m Senior Editor and Art Director at Zelda Dungeon and I’ve been a member of the ZD team since 2019. I am a graphic designer, artist, and nerdy mom to an awesome little boy. When my nose isn’t in a book, working on my novel or watching anime you can find me curled up with my cats Mandy-Lynn and Daisy Mae.
