Final bosses serve as the true test of a player's skill after they have spent hours in a game making sure that their playable character — or characters, in some instances — are as powerful as can be. Given the weight of these encounters, it can be rather underwhelming if these final bosses don't end up being all that challenging and can be taken out with relative ease.

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Thankfully, some video games conceal their true final boss. In the majority of instances, these enemies can prove to be a pain to deal with, and this frustration can become especially exacerbated if the path to unlock these true final bosses is also pretty tiresome. Gamers hoping to take on such foes will be in for a rude awakening when they realize what must be done in order to do so.

5 Galdera (Octopath Traveler)

Complete Certain Side Quests And Go Through A Boss Rush To Face Galdera

Octopath Traveler is a retro JRPG with beautiful visuals and simple yet fun combat that gamers can easily get into. However, the job systems hide a surprising amount of depth that players must exploit if they wish to take out the toughest bosses in the game. Some of the optional bosses in this title are harder than the final boss for each character's narrative, but what's really mind-blowing is that the toughest boss in the game by a country mile is a mandatory encounter that players must complete to unlock the true ending.

Players must complete some side quests revolving around a mysterious woman who turns out to be the daughter of Galdera, Lyblac. She aims to unleash the god's wrath upon the world, and it's up to the heroes to ensure that this foe is stopped. However, this is only possible after players unlock the path to the fight against Galdera and go through a boss rush that needs to be repeated every single time players fail to defeat this god, which is about as irritating as it sounds.

4 Dauragon (The Bouncer)

Beat The Game Three Times To Unlock Dauragon's Toughest Version

Square Enix should definitely be lauded for going out of their comfort zone and developing a beat 'em up game after making JRPGs their forte for the longest time. However, for all the risks they took, it's a shame that The Bouncer was simply too short and featured mind-numbing gameplay that didn't really ingratiate itself to the masses. Combat was frustrating to deal with, and the bosses could be downright nightmarish unless players were willing to exploit the game's systems.

Despite the novelty of three playable characters with different levels, it was still a huge chore to go through the game with each character and beat Dauragon, a boss so ridiculously challenging that players may just give up following a single encounter. However, players who want to access the true ending of the game must beat this boss a total of three times (with difficulty escalating in each encounter) before getting an opportunity to tackle the toughest variant of this boss. The effort required to defeat the strongest enemy in The Bouncer is truly intimidating.

3 Feral Chaos (Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy)

Beat This Boss To Get The True Ending At The End Of Confessions Of A Creator

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy is the best version of this crossover fighting game that lets players control their favorite Final Fantasy characters and help them win against the many foes that stand in their way. The story mode could've been a dumpster fire, but some engaging writing coupled with enjoyable gameplay and high stakes ensures that this game didn't feel like elaborate fanfiction. Players who complete the main story will find themselves going toe-to-toe with Chaos himself, which is ridiculously challenging and can take quite a few tries before gamers eventually emerge victorious.

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However, for the true final ending, players must play through the unlocked chapter titled Confessions of a Creator and fight against Feral Chaos, which is one of the hardest boss fights in gaming history. Players will get a taste of how powerful this foe is midway through the story before engaging in a proper fight with the strongest version of this foe at the end of this chapter. It is unbelievably hard and has probably led to several frustrated players smashing their PSPs for understandable reasons.

2 Zero Mech And Archarin (Infinity Blade)

A Two-Boss Gauntlet Featuring Two Of The Toughest Battles In The Game

• Platform: iOS
• Released: December 9, 2010
• Developers: Chair Entertainment, Epic Games
• Genre: Action RPG, Fighting

It's a shame that players can't access Infinity Blade anymore, with this title staking a claim as one of the best mobile games ever made. Featuring amazing graphics for a mobile game coupled with an addictive gameplay loop that made the most of the touchscreen, it's easy to see why the high-octane gameplay of this series was something that enamored many fans and pushed them to fight the God King over and over again until they finally succeeded.

However, the game didn't end there. Instead, defeating the God King once lets players unlock the path to fight the three Deathless Kings, who are pretty challenging in their own right. Only by doing this can players unlock the dual-boss gauntlet against the Zero Mech and Archarin, uncovering some unique lore that tied into the plot of Infinity Blade 2 and letting players unlock the game's true final ending.

1 Moon Presence (Bloodborne)

Without A Guide, Players Will Have No Idea That This Boss Even Exists

The Moon Presence is the true final boss of Bloodborne, so players may not be all that enthused about the fact that this boss is actually one of the easier foes they'll encounter in the game. In fact, most people would argue that the path to unlock this boss fight is arguably harder than the battle itself. To get the true ending, players must consume three out of four possible One-Third of Umbilical Cords that can be found in the game.

This is easier said than done, especially since only one of these items can be found via the main route. Everything else requires a fair bit of exploration and some forethought on how to make progress in the game's side stories since failing to do so means that two of these umbilical cords will be unobtainable after a point. It's a nightmare to deal with, and one can only wonder how players were supposed to figure this out without a guide telling them exactly what to do.

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