I know, but I didn't know if others have played Phantom Crash as well to help me with the fact if I should put this in the "Wake Up Call Boss" list or "That One Boss" list.
Plus, like I said before I've forgotten the name of the ranker that uses the Scoobee I talked about.
Edit: I think her name was Mitch but I'm not 100% sure.
Edited by Bigbattle1990
Angry Gargoyle
Final Fantasy Ix has the 'Plant Brain' boss, listed as happening before Black Waltz 1. I remember Black Waltz 1, he was infuriating — I don't remember this 'Plant Brain' whatsoever; The game was a breeze for a few hours before /and/ after Waltz 1. Can someone go into detail on this thing?
...Or is it supposed to be the plant from the end of Evil Forest? 'Cause... I guess I disagree wholeheartedly.
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The Plant Brain was the boss in Evil Forest, yes. It serves first as the tutorial for the trance mechanic and later as an actual boss. Though I wouldn't really call it an example of this trope either.
To be fair, though, my rant I posted a few months ago probably evidences I have a lot narrower view of what this trope is and isn't than others do.
Master Of Dimensions
Why the hell isn't this a YMMV trope? Not everyone finds the same bosses as difficult as other people! I say this because Flowery Woods from Kirby Triple Deluxe was put here, and I found that boss easy! If people can disagree on examples, it's a YMMV trope! Why the hell is That One Boss considered YMMV, yet this isn't?! Seriously, WHY?!
Never trouble trouble unless trouble troubles you. Hide / Show Replies
Huh, first off, we don't need that many exclamations. It makes you look hysterical.
Tone aside, "video game boss hardness" is a dicey subject YMMV classification wise - might want to mention it here
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It's a shame there aren't Issue Helper notifiers for discussion page posts.
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This is a bit long-winded so bear with me.
I'm noticing a lot of major overlap in discussion/explanation of examples between this and the entries in That One Boss. As I understand it, this trope is supposed to be a reasonably early boss fight that: 1) Shows a noticeable increase in difficulty and/or skill required to defeat compared to what would likely be used by new players up to this point. 2) Sets the tone of said skill and difficulty progression expected out of the player for the rest of the game.
What I'm seeing in a lot of the examples are bosses that are either moderately far into the game, represent tonal shifts more than a difficulty curve being made apparent, are notoriously hard for reasons other than simply being not being totally familiar with the game's expectations, or otherwise fit far better in the That One Boss trope.
A few key examples I noticed just out of games I've played, keeping in mind the inherent subjectivity of difficulty:
Tales of Vesperia's Gatsuo: Yes this boss is both early and difficult, but it's almost to the point of unfair for your party's comparative level at this point in the game. This sort of difficulty in bosses in Vesperia isn't really seen until much later in the game in my experience.
Persona 4's Shadow Kanji: Again, this is an early boss, but also considered by many fans of the game to be THE hardest main storyline boss in the entire thing. Shadow Yukiko sets the tone for what's expected out of the game's boss fights, but
Kingdom Hearts's sets of examples seems to have almost every Organization XIII member that doesn't appear in the final level, including mid/end-game bosses like Demyx, Xaldin, and even Xigbar. We also see Hollow Bastion from the first game where you get your weapon removed. This isn't a wake up call especially considering it's the second to last level; it's a hindrance for the sake of plot/character development. This simply is far too along in the game to be a "wake up call" for the rest of the game.
I've also noticed that a few entries dotted around have phrasing a long the lines of "Every boss in X example qualifies" simply because the game itself is generally hard.
I feel this heavily cheapens what this trope is supposed to be and a slightly better clarification on what qualifies as an example and what doesn't may be needed.
That's my two cents anyway.
Should we include Flowery Woods from Kirby: Triple Deluxe? It's second stage is completely different then what you would expect from a Whispy Woods clone and really forces you to pay attention to the 3D mechanics.
Brock in Pokemon Red and Blue? He's easy pickings, even for Charmander. Geodude and Onix only know Normal type moves (Tackle and Bind), and their poor Special means that Ember will still deal a fair amount of damage, especially if it manages to Burn. Defense Curl (Ember doesn't care) and Bide (just Growl until Onix unleashes its energy) are practically non-factors.
Honestly, I think Misty's Starmie, or even that Rocket with the high level Raticate in Mount Moon, are better examples.
The Ultimate Nerd
Why exactly is the quintessential Wake-Up Call Boss, the Chemical Plant Zone boss from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, no longer listed on the page? For that matter, why are various platformer bosses listed in either the Action folder or the Action Adventure folder, instead of their own separate folder?
BOOM. Ah, frig, the fourth wall was broken AGAIN.
It's not a flip-side to Breather Boss. That One Boss is the opposite of Breather Boss. Instead this trope is about a boss that provides the first example of what the game is really going to be like.
Brock from Pokemon is probably the best example. He's incredibly hard to beat unless you level grind or take advantage of type disadvantages. It sets the tone for "how" the game should be played.
dysfunctional human artistry
Does it make sense to list Evrae as a Wake-Up Call Boss, considering that you fight it more than halfway through the (rather large) game, and well after you've mastered every aspect of combat? Sure Evrae is tough, but this far into the game, how does it serve as a wake-up call? If anything, Sinspawn Gui is the closest thing FF X has to a Wake-Up Call Boss, and that fight still occurs pretty far into the game (though much earlier than Evrae).
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As lengthy as this is could we have some folders?
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I'll do some folders, but it could also help if someone would go through and cut natter.
dysfunctional human artistry
I have one for this list.
In Phantom Crash (X Box game, came before Steel Lancer Arena International in case anyone is asking) there was a Ranker that would show up in the D-rank battles and some free battles as well (I think she was one of the B-rankers). I forgot her name but she used a Ventuno Scoobee that was painted light blue/green and had hover legs, two Grenade Shoulder weapons, and (the worst part) two L50 Javelin arms. (Laser arms in case you're asking) Her AI seemed to had a knack for finding you even when you was using your Optic Camouflage and was aggressive as well once she was attacking you. Worst part is that the Laser Weapons in Phantom Crash had no ammo unlike in Steel Lancer Arena International meaning that if you had one (let alone two of them) most Scoobees can go down in no time. She was a reason that you had to learn to focus on a Scoobee that can kill you in a short time or knowing when it's time to get out of the battle if you're using a Scoobee that isn't ready to take on the bigger Rankers.
And if not for this list then can you put it in "That One Boss" list?
Edited by Bigbattle1990 Hide / Show Replies