The boss battle is a sacred art. Traverse a perilous dungeon, equip your best armor and weapons, find the nearest checkpoint or ‘bonfire,’ and brace yourself for a head-to-head challenge against the big baddie. Slay the boss, collect the loot, and on to the next one! It was a simple formula, until one day some brave game developer came along and asked: “But what if there weretwobosses?”
Many infamous double boss battles live on as some of the most frustrating gaming experiences in our memories. But for every imbalanced ‘gank fight,’ there’s a one versus two battle that feels cohesive instead of just two random enemies tossed in a room together. Looking at you,Godskin Duo.
10Agni & Rudra - Devil May Cry 3
Can’t We Just Talk This Out?
Agni and Rudra fromDevil May Cry 3bring a certain charm to the table that most fights like this are lacking. While the fight itself is a standard scrap against two nearly-identical enemies, the playful banter between the twins before and after the fight adds an entertaining undertone to the scenario.
The battle eventually devolves into a standard one-on-one fight, but the second phase isn’t wildly different. Some strategic planning and you can whittle down both twins' health to minimze on how long the second part lasts.
9Twinrova - Ocarina of Time
Fire And Ice, Twice As Nice
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Spirit Temple pits you against a fire and ice entity at the same time. It’s a showdown against bickering elemental sisters Kotake and Koume, dubbed Twinrova by the game.
One sister slings elemental attacks at you, which you need to deflect towards the other, then they combine into one body at the mid-way point and change the composition of the fight. Nothing complicated, but effortlessly fun. Majora’s Mask attempted to recreate the success of this fight with Twinmold, but it’s not nearly as memorable in comparison.
8Reno & Rude - Final Fantasy 7
Turks With An Agenda
You usually have a party of 3-4 characters in mostFinal Fantasygames, and encounters often consist of enemy swarms or multiple bosses. That means it’s a bit of a cheat to call the Reno and Rude battles fromFinal Fantasy 7a true 1v2 fight, but it’s still you, the player, versus several foes at once.
This tagteam shows up multiple times throughout your journey, with occasional help from fellow third Turk-in-the-making Elena. The duo’s cooperative skills were enhanced inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, and their dynamic was mimicked with Raijin and Fujin from Final Fantasy 8.
7Double El Gigante - Resident Evil 4
NowThat’sA Giant Problem
Resident Evil 4isn’t exactly subtle, so it’s not surprising when you find yourself trapped in a small boiler room squaring off against two giants at once. You’ve encountered El Gigante once already by this point, so why not up the ante with a second?
Though it’s originally a solo endeavor,the RE4 remakegives you the assistance of Luis while maintaining the option to plunge one of the giants to an immediate death via vat of lava. From there it’s your usual fight against a bigResident Evil baddie, but the first half certainly keeps you mobile.
6Magni & Modi - God Of War 2023
Thor Would Be Proud
God of War’s 2018 reboot brought pure emotion to the series, something that wasn’t prevalent in the original timeline. This shines through in sequences like the boss encounter against Thor’s sons, Magni and Modi. Technically, you have Atreus to help, but he’s only so useful in this installment, so let’s call it a 2-against-1.5 fight.
It’s an excellent brawl between gods with story-driven intermissions and a poignant aftermath that has implications for the sequel. Speaking of which,Ragnarokdelivered another excellent double-boss with Hrist and Mist, though that’s more all-out spectacle than a fight any with real emotional weight.
5Cloud & Leon - Kingdom Hearts 1
A Fantasy Come True
TheKingdom Heartsseries is fairly light on tagteam bosses that pose any sort of significant challenge. you may face off against some titans inKH3or two Crimson Pranksters at once in 358/2 Days, but most of the multi-foe battles happen in the Olympus Coliseum.
The Cloud and Leon tagteam in KH1 stands out, pitting you againstlong-time Final Fantasy favorite protagonists. Donald and Goofy are here to ‘help,’ but you’ll be putting in most of the work dodging Cloud’s flurries and Leon’s jumping slashes. The fan service is sure to make any Final Fantasy fan giddy.
4Lothric & Lorian - Dark Souls 3
Brothers ‘Til The End
EveryDark Soulsgame inevitably locks you in an arena with multiple bosses taking pot shots at you at once. The Nameless Kings, double Crucible Knights, the Godskin Duo, every other boss from Dark Souls 2… The series is littered with encounters like this.
The Twin Princes fromDark Souls 3puts other fights like this to shame. It’s a harrowing trial against one tiny prince that hurls magic at you and the large prince that teleports and flattens you with an enormous sword. It’s aesthetically amazing and about as difficult as you’d expect from a Dark Soul duo.
3Donu & Deca - Slay The Spire
In The Best Shape Of Their Lives
Double-battles in a roguelike deckbuilding game are a completely different affair from those in a real-time action-adventure game. You have more time to methodically plan out and execute a strategy, as evidenced by the Donu and Deca boss at the end ofSlay the Spire’s Act 3.
The bosses themselves aren’t complex; they alternate turns with one buffing and the other smashing, with no variation to their pattern. However, they put constant pressure on the player and hit harder with each passing turn, so you need to bunker down and take one of them out as soon as possible.
2Theseus & Asterius - Hades
You’re In For An Underworld Of Pain
Spend any amount of time withHadesand you’ll become quite familiar with the battle against Theseus and Asterius, which bars entry to the final area of the game. You face Asterius on his own enough to become familiar with his patterns, but adding Theseus to the mix makes the encounter twice as chaotic.
It’s the classic mix of one slow, lumbering beater and a faster, range-based boss, with some environmental pillars to help separate the opposition. Gluttons for punishment can amplify the difficulty by enabling Extreme Measures inthe Pact of Punishment, granting Theseus a flashy golden chariot.
1Ornstein & Smough - Dark Souls 1
The Moment That Broke Dark Soul Players
FromSoftware’s ‘Soulslikes’ are no stranger to the double boss battle, withOrnstein and Smoughfrom Dark Souls 1 being the dreaded posterchild for such encounters. Lightning-fast Ornstein and cumbersome, hard-hitting Smough, at the same time. And there’s a phase two? The audacity.
This fight is likely one of the greatest hurdles for a new Dark Souls player to overcome, made even more maddening when you discover that fast travel in Dark Souls 1 is locked behind this boss battle. It’s brutally difficult the first time through, but ultimately fair, balanced, and about as exhilarating as they come.
