Boss battles are the bread and butter of Team Ninja, who developed Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. They truly proved their impressive abilities to design rewarding, engaging, and thematically compelling boss fights in their previous work on the Nioh series. Today, they continue to provide players with incredible fights in their latest game.
Players of SoP: FFO will experience an incredible number of deeply challenging bosses over the course of the game, many of which are either inspired by or directly referencing other past Final Fantasy games. How these bosses make the players feel is important to the experience of the game and important to the story itself. Not all bosses are as critical as the next, however.
Captain Bikke
Surprisingly, the first boss is among the best. One of the best returning characters, Captain Bikke, is the pirate captain who has taken over the town of Pravoka. His battle axe is something he swings around with glee - especially when the player makes mistakes during his battle. Older fans of Final Fantasy might recognize Captain Bikke as one of the most charming characters from FFI.
The good Captain Bikke is among the best bosses in the game because of his place in the story and game itself. As an early boss, he challenges players to use their skills and abilities but isn't punishingly difficult like some of the others. He serves as an excellent introduction to the world of Stranger of Paradise, as well as the fighting system in full.
Dragon Zombie
The Dragon Zombie was a standard enemy from the first Final Fantasy game, which has returned as a boss enemy. The boss is a mixture of grandiose, terrifying, and somewhat sad as players chip away at the creature's body. Taking what was once a fearsome and legendary beast and rendering it down into almost nothing.
This battle is made most difficult by the constant creation of damaging pools and the creature's relentless attacks. But the zombie dragon battle is most memorable for the quiet after you defeat it and the recognition that it wasn't itself. It's a sad fight, in the end, watching an incredible creature be shattered into nothingness.
Chimera
The Chimera boss battle features another long-standing Final Fantasy enemy in a boss role. The Chimera is a lion with bat-like wings and a tail that ends in the head of a snake. This creature comes from Greek myths but is made something uniquely Final Fantasy in its execution here.
The Chimera boss battle is something that seems relatively simple at first but then catches players by surprise in the second half. The first phase is made difficult only by the creature's ability to fly, but the second phase is when it gets tricky. The creature will grow two new heads of a dragon and goat to match the Greek myth and become much more deadly for it.
Cray Claw
The Cray Claw is one of the most well-designed boss fights in the game. The magic-meets-tech aesthetic of the gigantic robot-scorpion is something that will be familiar to any Final Fantasy player. The Cray Claw fight builds on those aesthetics with a tough fight that requires preparation.
The Cray Claw fight is made much easier by utilizing casters with the Water spell prepared, but even then, it will be difficult. The scorpion is extremely quick, particularly when attacking with its tail. Positioning and movement are critical in this fight, especially in its second phase when the robot is even faster.
Fused Elemental Core
In an early boss, the elemental core provides players with a unique challenge, as well as a distinctive fight filled with a variety of attacks to deal with. The elemental core begins as a relatively simple fight against the Core, which will alternate between the fire and ice attacks that come with the twin elementals within itself.
The second phase is disturbing and incredibly difficult. After breaking the metal encasing that controls the elementals, they fuse into one being that is at war with itself as much as the player. The visuals in this fight are incredibly beautiful, even as it remains a relatively easy boss.
Marilith
Marilith is a boss that has been homaged time and time again throughout some of the best Final Fantasy games, from bosses to basic enemies. The multi-armed snake-woman is a design that is simple to build or alter but very iconic throughout the series. In SoP: FFO, the game provides players with an epic re-imagining of Marilith.
As a boss fight, Marilith can be impressively difficult, from her speed and constant motion to her punishing damage output if players let their defense slip. Marilith is a memorable boss in no small part thanks to her arena. The dramatic lava-soaked caldera provides an epic backdrop for an epic boss battle.
Black Knight
The Black Knight is another one of the few bosses who was originally a standard enemy type. Final Fantasy featured these enemies prominently in the Flying Fortress and has a design so simple - yet memorable - that it has made a return as a boss character.
The Black Knight fight is a battle that is memorable partly because of the setting - the simple background of a technologically advanced fortress makes the old-school knight on a horse stand out that much more. The clash between the old and the new really exemplifies the themes of Stranger of Paradise well.
Astos
In the original Final Fantasy, Astos was a trickster-type character who stole from the elf kingdom and used magic to put the prince into an enchanted slumber. In this boss battle, one sees many of those same themes - alongside some major twists. In Stranger of Paradise, Astos is a much more complicated character but a far more difficult fight.
Astos's first phase is almost expected - a trickster sort of fight involving lots of teleportation and magic. But the second phase is when Astos takes the form of the Ultima Weapon Origin, which is far more hulking and dangerous. Players have to essentially prepare for two very different fights with this iconic boss.
Great Malboro
The Malboro is one of the most iconic Final Fantasy enemies, not only for its consistent appearance throughout the games but for how frustrating and difficult it can be to fight. The Great Malboro is one of the more scary appearances that the Final Fantasy enemy has taken on, but its shape is unmistakable.
This is not the most difficult of bosses, as long as players prepare well, but seeing the origin of a Final Fantasy mainstay is very rewarding. The Great Malboro fight is made most memorable by the frustrating status effects that it causes with its toxic breath. Players should be prepared to cleanse these effects.
Tiamat
Tiamat is another creature with a consistent habit of appearing in the Final Fantasy series. Tiamat, the many-headed dragon, has taken many forms over the decades, but here, they appear as a very large humanoid with six draconic heads. The fight is very difficult thanks to the hard-to-track attacks that Tiamat will use over the course of the battle.
Tiamat's primary difficulty comes from their ability to regenerate health, which can cause this fight to become a very long and drawn-out battle. However, players have many skills that burn down the boss's break gauge, which will stun the boss and cause them to become vulnerable.
