Repeat Bosses

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Zelda games have done this a few times, where you have to fight the same boss at least twice or they're demoted to a mini boss later on. Examples like Gohma [among a couple others] in the original Legend of Zelda, the chu chus in Minish Cap, or Skyward Sword's....take your pick. And I guess maybe the Hinoxes and Stone Taluses from Breath of the Wild count?

Anyway, what do you think of this idea? Were there some repeat bosses you liked or would rather they just stop doing it altogether?

 

[VikzeLink]

To a certain degree I think it's fine, just don't overdo it. I personally don't have any issues with the Imprisoned, but I know many of you do, so that might be a bit too much (or at the very least too often.) In some cases, it's a good way to show the player how much they've progressed since they last faced that type of enemy. So as long as you don't overdo it, I think it's a good idea!

But not the Wizrobe from Majora's Mask... It's a boring fight, and you fight way to many of them...

 

[Farore's Chosen]

I like unique bosses.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

I like it if they can find a way to make the boss unique a second time, or if it does a good job of illustrating how much better you've gotten
for example, people tend to complain about asylum demon, stray demon, and demon firesage all basically being the same boss and that's pretty much true
whereas moldarach, it's the same thing but you're like OP now so it's whatever

 

[AwdryFan1997]

Bosses being reduced to minibosses (or sometimes regular enemies) is a sign of progress for the player. They know that they've come far.

 

[MapelSerup]

If it’s a major boss (not like the bosses littered across the map in BOTW) it needs to be different the subsequent times. Ghirahim is a great example. While one way to go is to show how much stronger you have become in that you can easily defeat the boss, another idea is to have the boss grow with you to show what you’re up against.

 

[Greenie]

I think repeat bosses can be done well but they run the risk of feeling like padding. The Wizzrobe in Majora's Mask is an example of how it can be tedious. For whatever reason that game feels the need to repeat that battle four times, five if you are going for 100%. That fight is largely uninteractive for how long it drags on and it's never enjoyable. I'm not a fan of the Imprisoned battles for similar reasons, though admittedly those are at least somewhat more dynamic and involved. If a boss is going to be repeated I would ask that the boss in question be fun, or that you place the refights carefully as to avoid having the player feel like their time is being wasted.

I didn't mind the refights in the Wind Waker for the latter reason. They are placed in the final dungeon and it helps add to the scope of that dungeon as well as highlighting how far Link has come. Even better is how it is handled in a Link to the Past's final dungeon, where the fights have some mild changes to separate them from their original battles. Both of these cases remind me of the end game boss rush you would usually find in Megaman games. They offer one collective challenge to help supplement the final challenge of the game; expecting you to show mastery over the previous fights before you are deemed worthy enough to take on the last battle.