Woe Is You:

shadow skill:
I would rather FPS' focus on adding things like traps and shit that kill instantly or near instantly.

We got rid of that sort of game design in the 90s. Good riddance.

Agreed; any game that forces you to rely on trial and error to make your way through a level is, to me, nothing more than poor level design.
The original Half life suffered badly from it in the minefield section (which was mercifully short...)

On the subject of final bosses, I'm also quite glad the 'boss with one weakness that appears at certain times' is gone. I'd much rather have a climactic, atmospheric battle like the one at the end of HL2 Episode 2, to the regimented (and irritating) final battle against the Nihilanth in HL

clarinetJWD:
In games where the story is important, I hate boss fights. I nearly quit Bioshock on the final boss, because it was so out of place, and really didn't fit with anything else in a game.

In games about the action, that make no pretense of being 'more' than just an action game, they are a good thing, though I don't miss them when they're gone.

That being said, one of the best story driven games has boss fights, but they don't feel like a standard: Save point, health dump, door to arena, big boss, end. This is the the Half-Life 2 episodes, where you just happen to run into a really tough enemy that fits the setting and story.

Agreed with Half-Life boss encounters. Though i always felt that the Xen boss was a little, how should i say, over the top?
That being said- Blast-Pit and Power-up were amazing, really mixed things up.
Especially the 2nd encounter with the Gargantua where you got to call in an air-strike on top of his big fat ugly head, BWUHAHAHAHA!

Oh and Shadow of the Colossus, most awe-inspiring and challenging bosses i've seen to date. I was in awe the first time i saw a boss battle in that game, couldn't believe it!

The Mega Man bosses are the definition of hard, unless you know what powerup is the most damaging. But they are still hard as nails.

yes I know, but that sort of left after 2d gamming was dead

Lost Planet did boss fights fairly well. There's a mech/Giant Bug thingy. Either A) shoot it while dodging bullets/missiles or B) Shoot the red spots while dodging projectiles/melee attacks. Kill boss, finish level, go back to having fun with grappling hook. Except for the final boss. He was just a pain.

RAAM from Gears 1 was boring, pretty much. The berserkers were more challenging than RAAM. RAAM was pretty much Torque Bow, sniper headshot, torque bow, sniper headshot, repeat until he's in grenade range, then spam the 'nades, watch ending cutscene.

I'm not a huge fan of boss fights. A more challenging and complex fire fight is one thing, but a magical enemy who can take ten times as many bullets to head as any of his henchmen? Come-fucking-on.

If a boss makes sense in the story or progression of the game, then yes, put them in. If it doesn't leave them out. If it's optional then so be it too.

Boss that makes sense in the story/progression of a game

Boss that doesn't make as much sense, or no sense at all.

Optional "Bosses"