PokemonPP Battles

Pokemon has been in many of our childhoods, from the games to just the TV show, the concept of the franchise has captivated the minds of children for over a decade. And with the newest game in the franchise coming out in November, I thought this would be a good time to talk about the games and how their bosses worked with them.

Pokemon Red/Blue: 1996

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl: 2006

For those who have not played before, the way to advance is to catch Pokemon, train them, and battle your way to the champion to take the title. You have to first beat the eight gym leaders in the region, the farther in the game you are, the harder they get. Each gym leader uses a specific type of Pokemon such as fire, water, dark, etc. Once you defeat all eight gym leaders, you can now challenge the elite four. An even more challenging ordeal, you must fight four difficult to defeat bosses in a row in order to challenge the champion. This means that there is no Poke-centers to heal your Pokemon or computers to switch the ones you've lost. The elite four also follow the one type rule and specialize in that type. And after all that you have to beat the champion who is the strongest in the game.

Champions don't have a special type which at first makes them unpredictable. The challenge truly makes it worth it when you beat them and get to claim the title of new champion. And that is something I quite enjoy from these games, becoming the best by using a team I made. And that is all, if you liked any of the games which gym leaders, elite four, or champions have you enjoyed?

My Childhood Game and Its Bosses

When I played video games as a child, I wasn't exposed to games that other people my age played such as Ocarina of Time or Final Fantasy VII. I played a less popular game called Jak and Daxter by Naughty Dog which came out in 2001. Naughty dog who made other games such as the Uncharted Series. Today I want to talk about reasons I love this game and the intelligent design of their bosses.

Jak and Daxter is set in a fantasy style world where the world is filled with the natural power of "Eco". There are five different types of eco in this game with different properties and effects. Green eco is the energy of life, finding green eco restores health. Blue eco is the energy of motion, picking this up grants increased speed and can power machinery if the player is close enough. Yellow eco gives the player the ability to shoot fire balls at their enemies, and red eco gives more strength for harder hits and to move massive objects. Dark and light eco are more mysterious in this game as dark eco presents itself as a bad thing and kills the player if it is contacted, light eco was only introduced in the last part of the game which gave the player the main character the power to destroy a precursor robot in one hit.

This world is plagued by monsters called lurkers, these are the main enemy grunts which come in many forms. Even the bosses are these twisted creatures that are made of dark eco. I will use the boss from the second area, Klaww as an example for the nice use of patterns and combat.

Klaww: Jak and Daxter

Klaww is a lurker with bionic modifications, and in his boss battle he resides in a vat of lava. First, you must avoid his blaster bolts by jumping from these three platforms or risk the insta-kill of the lava. After you evade him a bridge will appear, you must get to the other side of this bridge while missing giant boulders Klaww throws at you. after you get there, pick up the yellow eco and fire at him before his new boulder can be made, if done correctly the boulder will drop right on his head. But after it bounces from his head it will fall on the bridge and roll over it so you need to run across and get back to the other platforms before you get squished. Now back where you started, you have to do that process all over again with more shots thrown at you and less of a bridge each time.

After doing this successfully three times you finally beat Klaww and you can move on. But I love this boss for its challenge, there aren't many bosses in this game but each one was done well with their own separate challenge. I truly think this is a good boss even if he isn't as popular as Sephiroth or Ganondorf. Klaww holds a special place in my heart as a challenge to the younger me, thank you for reading. Let me know your childhood bosses that you loved as a kid in the comments below.

Top 10 Dark Souls Bosses

The Dark Souls trilogy is known for its difficulty and deep lore, so of course there will be some memorable bosses. Today I'll be counting down the top ten Dark Souls bosses, I'll be using difficulty, lore, and overall fun to determine my personal list. Let it be known now that other games by Fromsoftware such as Bloodborne or Demon Souls, just Dark Souls games.

10. The Pursuer:
Dark Souls II 

This boss reappears throughout Dark Souls II, you can even encounter him before his intended arena. He hovers slightly giving him maneuverability that is tricky for first timers, armed with a greatshield and a cursed greatsword. Although he has difficulty, most people I hear that play this game have learned much from this boss. Such skills as dodging and parrying can be learned by continuously fighting him.

9. Quelaag:
Dark Souls I
 After the horror that is blighttown in the first Dark Souls game, the player has to continue through the dark cavern to only find this daughter of chaos. A monster with the top half being a woman and the bottom half being a flared spider-like creature. But she did not always look like this, her story is a sad one about caring and protecting loved ones. The witch of Izaleth was a lord of cinder who wanted to create a flame to continue the age of fire, and with her daughters she could attempt this feat, Quelaag was one of these daughters as a normal human. The experiment resulted in the transformation of the witch to an unrecognizable being creating several demons to plague the world and disfiguring the daughters who survived into these monsters. After the player defeats her, they can continue to find another daughter but she is trapped and can't move. Quelaag protected her and was her only means of staying alive. Now Quelaag is gone, and if no one helps her she will die too.

8. Lothric and Lorian:
Dark Souls III

Fromsoftware really stepped their game up in the third addition of the story with bosses. These TWO princes of the kingdom of Lothric also have a deep lore that adds to this awesome fight. This kingdom wanted to produce a successful heir to link the first flame. Lorian was a possible candidate but became crippled which is why he crawls in the battle. Lothric later was born but he was the prince that was promised and linked the fire, despite being frail. In the first half of the fight, the player fights one on one with Lorian who can teleport and send large bursts of energy with his sword. After defeated, Lorian seems dead until Lothric weakly comes to Lorian and resurrects him. Now in the second half, Lothric holds onto his brother to send sorcery projectiles at the player and resurrects Lorian whenever he dies. The only way to win is by killing Lothric, but that is quite the challenge.

7. Ivory King:
Dark Souls II

Not many kings in this game are very good men, but the Ivory King was. He was a warrior who fought for his country with no second thought. Many kingdoms have walls to keep those out and to protect those inside, but this kingdom was built to keep something from coming out. The Chaos, previously mentioned on the list, is always hungry and feeds on what it can. To add more to the king's shoulders, his wife was a literal daughter of the source of darkness which affected the king. So to appeal to the chaos he sacrifices himself, to become the champion of chaos. The actual fight is one of the most epic ones to date. You fall down to the bed of chaos with a legion of Ivory Knights and fight taken knights to bring out the Ivory king. The idea to fight with a group of knights make this fight amazing and the scenery of fire all around made it all the more epic.

6. Aldrich:
Dark Souls III

Imagine a lord who gained his title not by virtue but by sheer might. The gluttonous Aldrich was once a deacon of the cleansing chapel who ate and ate until he bloated, and then ate humans to gain more power then turned to a sludge but wanted to continue his consumption. When the player encounters this boss he is consuming Gyndolin, a Dark Souls I boss. Aldrich is an incredibly hard boss due to his strong melee attacks and punishing ranged attacks. He is one of the few characters in the game who linked the fire along with Lothric from earlier.

5. Abyss Watchers: 
Dark Souls III

Another linker of the fire, the Abyss Watchers are a legion of undead who watch over the abyss where darkness seeps to the world. This boss definitely has the cool factor, the cinematic shows a room filled with dead legionnaires and two are fighting each other. One gets the advantage and kills his brother in arms before turning to you. The abyss set in and overtook them causing madness. The Abyss Watcher is fast and hard to keep up with, tracking him is rough and once you get it another abyss watcher swoops in to attack. Trying to avoid them both is hard enough but trying to also attack can be frustrating too. Another drops but amazingly this one actually fights with you. Once you defeat the first Watcher, phase two begins. The blood of the many legionnaires joins around another resurrecting him and igniting his sword, he hits harder with a flame effect. The music and the tone of the battle made it a beautiful fight indeed.

4. Nameless King:
Dark Souls III

Now this boss is a hard one, most in the community says that this boss is the hardest in Dark Souls III. It is said that this boss is the son of Gwyn, the lord of fire, and it's possible that it's true since this is a godly difficult boss. He rides in on a feathered dragon which breathes fire and he calls lightning to ruin your day. After you kill the dragon he absorbs its power and now has wind attacks along with his lightning, he also is fast and fights aggressively which makes it hard to counter. Better summon a friend or pray.

3. Ornstein and Smough:
Dark Souls I

These are the celebrities of Dark Souls, regarded as on of the best bosses in video games by some. The player has to handle both of these, Ornstein is fast and uses a spear with lightning damage while Smough is slow and uses a devastatingly powerful hammer. Both complement each other to show a very challenging boss fight. But if you kill one of them phase two begins, one absorbs the other's power. Ornstein does more damage and gets bigger, Smough gets a lightning bonus. They are a favorite from the community and it shows why.

2. Soul of Cinder:
Dark Souls III

If you put the full feeling of nostalgia into a boss that would be the Soul of Cinder. The final boss of Dark Souls III, he is the collective being of all who have linked the fire. This includes the player's character from the first or second game. During the first phase, the Soul of Cinder uses many different fighting styles the character used. Such as a sword, spear, curved sword, and staff for magic. Trying to fight the many fighting styles is incredibly fun and challenging, but if you beat it you move on to stage two. The song changes to the theme from the first final boss Gywn, and his sword changes plus his moveset to mimic Gwyn's. Which was absolutely beautiful to go through and a perfect close to the game.

1. Artorias the Abyss Walker:
Dark Souls I

Artorias was one of Gwyn's royal knights, like Ornstein, he was ordered to fight the abyss to keep the age of fire rolling. But he was unprepared for the power of the abyss. He lost himself to the abyss and became consumed, going mad. But any mention of him talks of his greatness as a man. As the player fights the corrupted Artorius, he has acrobatics in his moveset and comes with a full ferocity. The feeling of heartbreak loomed as you fight a man who fell so low.

This was my top ten dark souls bosses, I love this game and its bosses. A game with such amazing design shows some of the best bosses. If you disagree let me know below but that is all for the week.

Bosses and Lore

Many times when a player encounters a boss they have only one goal, to defeat and destroy them. Not to hear their life story, but sometimes the boss has lore that deepens and improves the story. Today is a discussion on bosses with deep lore that either make them even more cool cause us to even feel bad about killing them

Bloodborne: Gascoigne

Bloodborne is a game where brutality rules the game and the deep, hidden story adds layer of lore into the game. The second boss in the game; Father Gascoigne is an old hunter, a hunter rids the city of Yharnam of infected citizens who turn into monstrous beasts. But when the player finds him, he is feral, insane from the very infection he meant to destroy. Once Gascoigne is around half health, he transforms into a more beast-like being. After you kill him, you can move on and let that be the end of it, but this game allows you to delve into the world and doing that shows the real depth of this character.

Before meeting Gascoigne, there is a window to a home where a little girl can be spoken to. She asks us if we have seen her parents, and if we find them to give them a little music box which has the names "Viola and Gascoigne" written inside. Using this item while in the battle will cause the old hunter to flinch in agony as he is reminded of who he was. After you defeat him you can find Viola's body not far with her signature red broach. If the player returns to the window, they can either offer to give the broach to her telling her of her parents' fate. Or you can not and tell her to come to a chapel where she can be safe and not alone.

But who has the heart to tell a young girl of her parents' deaths, if you tell the child to meet you at the chapel she says she will go there and thanks you. But when you get to the chapel she isn't there, if you follow the path the small girl would have taken she would have had to go through moving corpses and large crows only to reach the end where a colossal pig would be. The pig ate the girl and you find her ribbon there, bloodied. Go back to the window and the girl's older sister answers asking where her sister is, the player gives the ribbon to her and she weeps asking why did she leave. Not long after this, the player can find the body of the older sister who threw herself from their roof.

This single example shows that bosses can have a deeper meaning, if you wanted to you could have killed Gascoigne and been done with it. But the game allowed you to search the environment and uncover a tragic story behind the already grim game. What bosses have you looked into, I'd love to hear what you think about the topic. Below is a link to a YouTube video that goes over Gascoigne in more detail. Thank you for reading.

Bloodborne: Father Gascoigne

Bosses in MMORPG's

In most video games, a lone player makes it over all challenges in the level to then face the boss. The boss is the strongest opponent in the level and brings a extra load of difficulty, but if done well the lone player will win. But now imagine how different the experience would be if this battle took place on a game where multiple players must take down the boss. This week is about how boss battles work in a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game or MMORPG. I will use two examples of boss battles from the very popular game World of Warcraft.

C'thun

Considered as the first "unbeatable" bosses before a patch, C'thun is an old god that only a strong raid could beat. Attacks to evade include eye beams, dark spots that damage those within them, and crushing tentacles. Before being fixed, even with a perfect forty man team this boss was impossible to destroy.




Lich King

A truly powerful conqueror, the Lich King has a big presence in the lore and is one of the most iconic enemies from the game. With his ice and affecting magics, he truly earned his title. Players needed fast think and good coordination skills to beat this eternal boss.






Games like World of Warcraft added a new method and level of difficulty, teamwork. Different classes, and skills were need for these layered bosses. But that is the fun in MMORPG's, to fight alongside friends and overcome difficult challenges. But that marks the end of this post, I hope those reading liked the read and if you any questions, I'll do my best to answer them in the comments below.