And so my series continues, because I didn't see anyone else doing it and video game bosses stand out as some of my most poignant virtual memories. Whether it is Mother Brain, Bowser, Ganon, Tyrant, or some overpowered motherfucker from Final Fantasy, bosses are integral parts of video games. I want to focus on the emotions I felt when facing these horrors over the mechanics of actually fighting them. Hopefully this feature will help trigger some of your special memories.



Diablo


The thought of a place of eternal suffering used to scare the piss out of me. Hell, even though Diablo was a 2D game I still had nightmares thanks to the creatures roaming the halls of the Monastery in Tristam. It was this sense of dread that made destroying the physical manifestation of the Lord of Terror himself one of the most satisfying experiences I ever had in my young life, right alongside other favorites of mine like the Zelda series and Super Metroid.

Looking back, Diablo is a bit of a grind. Click, click, click, get better gear, click, click, repeat. I played a Warrior, which probably helped to contribute towards my grind since Warriors were limited in what they could do magically. Still, I loved exploring the Monastery, going deeper and deeper into darkness, until I reached the lair of the Lord of Terror himself.



To be honest, the actual battle with Diablo isn’t nearly as epic as I remember it being. Over the years I romanticized it until it became an epic battle with the Devil for the soul of the world, and all of the Hollywood action sequences that would come along with that. Still, Diablo remains a satisfying conclusion to a classic game.

Years later, with the release of Diablo II, I would once again be asked to defeat the horned devil and his minions. Little did I know that they’d be throwing his brother Mephisto into the mix, something that I’ve grown to fear more than the Lord of Terror himself.

Mephisto


Everything thing about Mephisto is horrifying. His tentacley head, his choice of strongholds, the blood filled pools that surround his throne, and his spider like structure all filled me with dread when I first fought him. Mephisto had corrupted the once beautiful jungles of Kurast, filling all life within their reaches with an intense hatred, driving all to madness. Fighting through waves of corrupted wildlife and the resurrected dead eventually led me to find and defeat Mephito, the Lord of Hatred.



Mephisto nearly got the better of me the first time I fought him, but I knew that he was what was standing between me and sealing away the Lord of Terror forever. I returned to fight him a second time, now with a much more powerful axe. With a final cleave, I watched as Mephisto exploded into a pile of meat and the world exploded in fire around me.

Afterthoughts
Apologies for the brevity of this post, but I’m sick tonight and exhausted to boot. I think I’ll head to bed now, and I hope that you enjoyed this. See you next time.