I've decided to start a new series (I'll still do reviews), and decided to base it on tough boss fights. Part of the decision was due to how well the contest turned out, and the other is simply because I wanted to do something new. Be warned, I will probably cover a few Shin Megami Tensei bosses, but I will cover other series too.

(spoilers alert)



This is the son of a bitch.

In Digital Devil Saga 2, you will come face to face with Heat not once, but twice. The first time is easy enough, but the second is just murder. I actually sold the game because of the frustration he put me through. Only recently did I get the game again, and I decided to take cover one of the more difficult bosses I've ever faced.

Vritra, like I said before, is one tough son of a bitch. He has quite a bit of health, can hit hard, has 4 turns, and likes to target weaknesses if possible. Preparation is key in this fight, and even then things can go south in an instant (especially in hard mode). The fight is long, and there are plenty of ways to get fucked over if you're not careful (even if you are, you can still get messed up). Needless to say, I got my ass handed to me often.

His moveset is just one of the factors that makes this fight such a problem. He has Agidyne, Infernal Roar, Silent Howl, all the -kunda spells, Power Wave, and Gelid Torrent. His tentacles will just use sweep (hits everyone) or attack, but can easily finish you off if you do not keep up the healing. Now, let me tell you what these moves do. Agidyne is a high damage fire spell that targets one person. Silent Howl does Mute damage to everyone in your party, and has a good chance of inflicting that status to your party members. Gelid Torrent is a nasty high damage, party hitting Ice attack. Power Wave is a physical attack that hits your party for good damage. The -Kunda spells just lower your party's stats (which is bad). And finally, Infernal Roar is a powerful Almighty attack that hits your party (and there's no way to block it). It's a pretty nasty list of moves.

While his moveset is a threat, it's how he uses those moves that really makes this fight a nightmare. Often times, he'll just use Agidyne on Sera or hit your party with a -Kunda. He also likes using Power Wave, which seems to critical often. He'll use Gelid Torrent somewhat rarely, unless you do something stupid (like I did). If you kill his tentacles, he pulls oput his big gun: Infernal Roar. That move hurts like fuck, and can outright kill you in hard mode. After using Infernal Roar, he'll follow up with a Silent Howl (possibly finishing you off). After a while, he'll regenerate his tentacles and resume with his usual strategy.

Vritra does have a weakness, and it is not what you would think it is. He's actually weak to Electricity, and not to Ice. Also, if you're stupid enough to use an Ice move, he'll berate you and counterattack with Gellid Torrent (I was that stupid). While he may be weak to Electricity, his tentacles are not. This wouldn't be that much of a problem if they didn't automatically block all attacks on the main body. Fortunately, the tentacles do not have much HP, so they should go down in no time. Oh, and needless to say, he absorbs Fire (if you use Fire on him,you deserve the game over you'll inevitably get, moron).

Another problem is that the enemies that inhabit the level are dangerous or just extremely annoying. One group has an attack that can Charm the whole party. This led to many other game overs, and a whole lot more frustration. Also, it took forever to level up and obtain more skills. Just another factor in the equation.

Overall, this fight was extremely tough. He just made me so angry; not at him, but at myself. I can honestly say that he was one of the hardest bosses I've ever fought (and I have yet to try hard mode *Shudders*).

Difficulty rating:
He's a fucking beast.