This is a good idea.
The podcast mentions this great hate for the classic boss level wherein the boss is waiting at the end of the level within a closed-space arena. While I really have no intense hate for it, I also like his suggestion: bosses that roam the level.
A lot of games already do this:
* God of War: where sometimes the boss
is the level
* Enslaved: where this mechanical gigantic dog chases you, though the events are largely scripted: defeating the boss is done in multiple parts, normal gameplay is interspersed with encounters of the boss, where it finishes with either you or the boss retreating, until you encounter it again, and in the final part the boss is meant to die
* Dead Space and Resident Evil: where an invincible boss chases you around the level and the only way to kill it is to lure and trap it in a special way
* Clock Tower: where a serial killer hides in various places in the mansion to ambush you. unfortunately, the game has you needing to investigate those various places
Its true that sometimes the arena-type boss level gets shoehorned forcefully into the narrative (why is the boss patiently waiting for you at the end of the level?). And sometimes when you see those health stations just before a big door, its a relief for the player, but it doesn't make sense in the narrative.
So this is one idea that I approve of.
You guys know of any other games that do this?
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Similarly and for good reason, games that include the boss in with the usual rabble allow the usual rabble to spawn continuously, or in games like Vindictus the boss will spawn with an entourage.
An honorable mention to your list would have been Lost Planet and Lost Planet 2. Both of those games incorporate large - ever present enemies which are in a lot of ways similar to Monster Hunter's major foes. With monster hunter the large enemy will roam within an area and can be expended allowing a short amount of time to loot. Where with Lost Planet the level end sequence starts and throws you into a scheme or directly into another portion of the game.
There are actually several games that do the 'boss in level' thing and do it well. Practicality suggests large 'boss' enemies be either large and difficult to kill or - elements are in place to pace that portion of the game.
On this note, one of the most annoying things about paced fights are 'tells' which are windows to attack or - and this is my peeve, the boss can only take so much damage and then has an invulnerability break. Man those are bad.
[SPOOOOOOOOOOOILERS FOR RESIDENT EVIL REVELATIONS!!!1]
Resident Evil: Revelations have two 'bosses' that basically chase you/you chase it across at least a large portion of the free-roam setting.
resident Evil is one of few games where the "Ho Ho Ho I got a Rocket Launcher" method of killing a boss works because in RE you're notoriously underpowered until the game's climax. Inn other words, it makes sense according to the gameplay narrative in this case, too.
TrevHead: I guess I gotta try that out too.
Sir Tobbii: Sorry about that. I haven't really played the game but only heard stories about it from friends.
Stephen: The part about Resident Evil I remember is in 4, where you are chased around by this spiny black enemy that was practically invincible, taking him down will only incapacitate him for a few seconds, then he chases you again. If I remember right, the only way to kill it was either this liquid nitrogen to freeze him or this intense heat. I forgot. RE 5 revisits this with a blob of tentacle mass that can only be killed by luring it into a blast furnace. I think it all started with Nemesis in RE 3.