Welcome to Tues Your Own Adventure! Join Jules and James as they take look at games where you are the final boss!! It was in you all along.
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00:00 Hello all of you little demons, Jules here for WhatCulture.com, back again with another
00:04 episode of the awesomely named and awfully hosted Choose Your Own Adventure, the weekly
00:09 medieval themed format where I, the crown jewels of WhatCulture.com, take a list chosen
00:13 by you, yes you, the person who knows their bike is not on the wall and is throwing out
00:18 this shot.
00:19 It's really bothering me, I can see the recording over here.
00:21 It's bothering me, this negative space.
00:23 So we're going to turn this into positive space.
00:25 James, if you would please, that's just going to be there so that I don't freak
00:32 out too much.
00:33 Enjoy!
00:34 Yes, you get to decide what list I don't mount to you each and every week.
00:37 And this week we have none other to thank than Lemming of Doom for their suggestion
00:43 of boss battles where you are the final boss.
00:47 Because this is the thing, as you may well know from watching WhatCulture over the many,
00:51 many years that we've been around, we do love ourselves a good boss battle.
00:55 However, even though most of them are tests of our skills learned up until that point
01:00 or brand new experiences, there is sometimes a rogue element that developers love to throw
01:04 in there and that rogue element is you.
01:07 Because today we're going to be talking about times where you, yes you my friend,
01:10 were the final boss.
01:12 And you know the drill by now, say hi to me here in the live chat and put your suggestions
01:15 for next week's episode down in the comments section below.
01:18 But with that in mind, let's get on with this list, shall we?
01:21 Ow, my ear.
01:22 Number 8.
01:23 Evolve.
01:24 Now in all honesty, you could really have put any asymmetrical multiplayer title into
01:29 the mix here because yes, it's, well, you are the final boss that every other player
01:33 is trying to kill, but I thought that we'd give a special shout out to the rather dubious
01:38 Evolve title today because that was really the first game to put that idea of one versus
01:44 everyone onto the map, or into the mainstream at least.
01:47 Here we find a team of players taking up the role of hunters, tasked with just one mission
01:52 and that is to bring down a gargantuan monster that is controlled by another player, and
01:56 also to stay as a group which for some reason is constantly ignored by at least one member
02:01 of the team, usually leading to a party wipe later on.
02:04 I'm not bitter, I swear, I'm not.
02:07 Seriously though, f***ing Charles, thanks for that every single time we played.
02:11 Thanks mate.
02:12 Now while all of this infighting is going on, the other player who is draped in their
02:16 best Scooby Doo robes is off hunting the wildlife in order to evolve into an even more powerful
02:22 being.
02:23 Oh I just got that, that's like the title.
02:25 Ah, clever.
02:26 Likely doing all of this while chuckling "THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM"
02:31 And as such, it's a game where you create your own villain arc, moving from a relative
02:35 weakling with a grudge to an all powerful world ending entity.
02:39 And trust me, there is no purer pleasure than dropping onto the hunters with a fully beefed
02:43 up super squid, nailing them with special attacks, separating each member and then devouring
02:48 them whole.
02:49 In their eyes, you are most definitely the final boss to their multiplayer experience,
02:54 and to be honest, that is a role that many players were more than happy to step into.
02:58 7.
02:59 Double Dragon Arcade
03:00 Now you know the expression "you can't choose your family, but you can choose your
03:04 friends"?
03:05 Well thanks to the Double Dragon Arcade experience, that is somewhat altered too.
03:09 You can't choose your family, but you can definitely choose your frenemies, because
03:14 that, hoo boy, when it came to the end of that game, talk about a rug pull.
03:18 While protagonist brothers Jimmy and Billy Lee, also known as Bimmy thanks to a hilariously
03:23 brilliant mistranslation, have been as thick as thieves throughout the base game, and have
03:28 kicked evil in the face so many times that it's developed a foot fetish.
03:32 But when it comes to the closing moments of the title, it turns out that the only defeat
03:36 that Bimmy is interested in licking in is defeat of his brother's girlfriend Marion,
03:41 as in a shocking turn of events, he challenges his brother to a fight to the death for her
03:46 affections.
03:47 Because that's what all women want, isn't it?
03:49 For some absolute scrub to just step up and beat the piss out of his brother, and win
03:53 you like a trophy.
03:54 It was a very different time.
03:56 In these moments, blood being thicker than water is thrown out of the window, as now
03:59 the only blood on show here is splattering against the floor as the two players square
04:04 off against each other.
04:05 That's right, it's you versus the person who you've been working with all this time
04:09 on the couch next to you.
04:10 Suddenly the tension is ratcheted up to the extreme, with all camaraderie being replaced
04:14 with ganradgery (it's a northern thing, don't worry about it) and you'll need
04:18 to bait your supposed friend into whiffing attacks in order to land that killing blow
04:22 and reign as either a brother forced to knock some sense into his sibling, or a dirtbag
04:27 who literally tried to steal his brother's partner just because he felt like having a
04:31 long live the king moment.
04:33 6.
04:34 Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy
04:35 Now when you load up the utterly barmy Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy, you might well
04:40 assume that the "final boss" involved in this game is either going to be the massive
04:44 mountain in front of you, or the absolutely heinous control scheme as both are going to
04:48 take a lot of effort to overcome.
04:50 Side note, I hear that swearing loudly at both definitely helps.
04:53 However upon beginning your uphill climb, you'll soon start to realise something,
04:58 likely aided by the voice of Mr. Foddy himself, that it's not actually the mountain that's
05:02 the final hurdle, but your perceptions about perseverance and never giving up.
05:07 In a tangible sense, yes, the mountain is the object to climb, but you are the climber,
05:12 and as such will experience setbacks, moments of frustration, and the ability to learn and
05:16 recognise patterns in order to overcome them, making it a perfect visual metaphor for life
05:22 itself.
05:23 Sometimes we will be faced with situations so utterly overwhelming it will feel like
05:27 we will never "get over" them, and sometimes, as with the controls, you're not often best
05:32 equipped with the right tools to make the job any easier.
05:35 However, it's through learning to work with your body, your mind, and your outlook that
05:39 you will come to see that you have the ability to achieve any goal and cross any milestone
05:44 if you just keep working at it and learning from your mistakes.
05:47 You see, in this situation, you are the final boss here, but I want to clarify something,
05:52 you are not a final boss to be defeated.
05:55 There's nothing wrong with you that needs to be outwardly changed in the sense that
05:58 you need to conquer yourself.
06:00 But here, you actually get the most out of this game when you learn to work with what
06:04 the game presents to you as mechanics, and also free yourself from anger and resentment
06:08 to try and enjoy the experience.
06:10 And then you'll realise that there really is no mountain that you can't overcome.
06:14 5.
06:15 Metal Gear Solid
06:16 Right, okay, so every single time that I have to talk about a Metal Gear game I start to
06:20 perspire, I start to sweat more than Fat Man being told that no sir, you can't have a
06:26 stick of lard in your soda because A) it's not on the menu and B) we are a solicitor's
06:31 firm.
06:32 And that's because with plots as complex and interweaving as those presented in this
06:35 franchise, it's easy to get lost and make mistakes that diehards will call you out on.
06:40 For example, even talking about Metal Gear Solid's final boss Liquid Snake is tough,
06:45 because while he is most definitely Solid Snake's evil twin and most definitely qualifies
06:49 for this list, technically you're both evil twins as you were both made through the cloning
06:54 of Big Boss.
06:55 Plus, there's the insinuation that of the two, Solid Snake is the more evil of the pair,
07:00 with Psycho Mantis even calling you 'true evil' during your encounter.
07:04 Plus, several of your allies also comment on how Solid Snake seems to enjoy war and
07:09 killing.
07:10 And to add even more insane petrol onto our burning brains, as you're a clone who has
07:15 most definitely got a fair share of skeletons in the closet, that means that during the
07:19 original NEYES game, Metal Gear, when you take on Outer Heaven and reveal Big Boss to
07:24 be its leader, it means that to him, you're the evil invader coming in and messing up
07:29 his plans as you're the evil clone.
07:31 Oh, yeah, that's right, my brain is just leaking out of my ear.
07:35 Fantastic, thanks for that.
07:36 So yeah, the next time you play as Solid Snake, just remember that you're playing as a pretty
07:40 horrific and evil clone, and no amount of sick skateboarding tricks should ever make
07:45 you forget that.
07:46 4.
07:47 Mass Effect 3 - The Citadel
07:49 So Mass Effect 3's The Citadel DLC may well be one of my most favourite video game expansions
07:54 ever.
07:55 Now, while some may see it as little more than paid fan service, to many it was a love
08:00 letter to the series that actually felt better connected to the source than much of the vanilla
08:04 experience.
08:05 Here was a tightly crafted and personal story that doled out emotional beats and some delicious
08:10 action that always felt complementary to the situation, rather than being just placed in
08:14 to pad out the runtime.
08:16 Plus, it contained some deliriously cheesy moments that are just too good to hate.
08:21 And by that I mean that it introduced you to the final boss of this experience, and
08:25 that was... you.
08:27 And by that I mean, a clone of you.
08:29 Yes, that's right, this evil Commander Shepard was created by Cerberus as a backup, but who
08:34 has now broken loose and is looking to steal your identity.
08:37 As you might expect, this twists and turns through moments of betrayal and people questioning
08:42 your intentions, and culminates in a boss battle with the clone who actually uses your
08:46 chosen build to inform its attacks.
08:49 Which itself is just an absolute chef kiss of a touch to this experience.
08:54 In fact, that's how I'd sum up the entire expansion as a whole, with a mighty... put
08:59 that in the box.
09:00 3.
09:01 Waxworks 1992
09:02 Now, while most entries on this list focus on the idea of you either battling your clone,
09:07 or the person sitting next to you as making you become the final boss, when it comes to
09:12 1992's horror survival game Waxworks, well they took that concept and ran with it, some
09:18 would say into the very ground.
09:20 Because Waxworks presents the player with a family under a rather nasty curse, and not
09:25 the type of curse that makes you devilishly handsome and speak with dulcet tones in exchange
09:29 for your hair follicles, but a curse that always affects your entire bloodline.
09:33 Because here, every single time that one of the family would give birth to twins, one
09:37 of them would always turn evil in order to serve Beelzeblob.
09:40 Dammit, I meant to say Beelzebub and now he's...
09:44 Oh, here he is.
09:45 Just, alright mate, haven't seen you in a while.
09:47 To be honest, I'm pretty sick of this guy, but I do have a way of getting rid of him.
09:50 Beef Gates!
09:51 Right, that's it, he's done.
09:54 He's been poochied.
09:55 Thanks, mate, by the way, I really appreciate that note.
10:00 Beelzeblob's gone.
10:02 Now, as you can imagine, this makes family reunions pretty bloody awkward indeed, yet
10:07 this is exactly the task that is given to the player, to travel through time and eliminate
10:12 these evil twins, thus breaking the curse.
10:14 So far, so very weird, but it all culminates with you travelling back in time to the moment
10:20 of your family's cursing and killing the witch before she can ruin so many generations
10:24 and birthday parties.
10:25 However, of course, there's a twist, because this is a horror game after all, and upon
10:30 killing the witch, you then travel back to the present time, only to find out that in
10:34 her dying moments, she actually cursed you, not the entire family, just you to become
10:40 a demon, and then you and your brother just leave the museum that you were in, and that's
10:45 it.
10:46 But you have become the evil twin now, and therefore you are most definitely the final
10:50 boss.
10:51 2.
10:52 F-Zero GX
10:53 Now here we come to the curious case of F-Zero GX, which if you're to listen to the hushed
10:58 circles of gamers that crowd around, I dunno, like bin fires, under bridges sometimes, you'll
11:04 hear them whisper of this game, of how absolutely amazing it is, how utterly ridiculous the
11:10 speed is, how tight the controls are, and how lamentable it is that Nintendo seems to
11:14 quash any idea of it ever coming back.
11:17 That's probably why they hang around there, because they're worried that big ninty's
11:20 just gonna arrive there and just stamp them out of existence.
11:22 But still, it is a fantastic game.
11:25 But the reason why this is a curious entry on this list is because while F-Zero X introduced
11:31 us to your typical clone-gone rogue in the form of Bloodhawk, and that said shadowy racer
11:35 was unlocked after beating every challenger that game had to offer on its highest difficulty,
11:40 in GX there is no way this pretender to the throne could ever be counted as the game's
11:45 final boss.
11:46 I say that because the true final test of this game's story mode is a one-on-one race
11:51 with one of the game's designers, as you must battle a staff ghost and race perfectly
11:55 on a track without any walls whatsoever, meaning that you'll be sipping on a delicious cocktail
12:00 of pain and humility for days to come.
12:02 So yes, we have this weird situation now where if you were the game developer on F-Zero GX
12:08 that put in that staff ghost race timer, then technically you are the final boss and play
12:12 against yourself.
12:13 So technically, I'm right and it does qualify for this list.
12:16 And if not, if you've got a problem with that, then just remember this.
12:20 Evil finger temple of doom.
12:21 I can do what I like, as long as I'm doing this.
12:24 At number one, Dark Seed 2.
12:26 Oh, Dark Seed 2, you are so incredibly weird, but I love you so much.
12:31 Seemingly acting like the lovechild of H.R. Giger and Mortal Kombat's live-action capture
12:36 technology, Dark Seed 1 and 2 are a trip into insanity that will make you question many,
12:41 many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many things.
12:44 For you see, while it first appears that luckless loser Mike Dawson is once again on a quest
12:49 to stop a parallel dimension from invading his own, things take a turn for the twin peaks
12:53 in the final moments of this sequel.
12:55 Here Mike has, somehow, defeated a giant monster using only his wits and his "why yes I do
13:01 have my porn collection" alphabetised stash, and is now chatting with his pal Jack, who
13:05 so desperately wants to be the Fonz that it's likely that he's got a tattoo of Henry Winkler's
13:09 face on his tongue.
13:14 Jack reveals, in a rather well-laid twist I have to admit, that you and he are actually
13:18 the same person, and that he's actually the Mike Dawson from the parallel universe,
13:22 only clearly cooler and with the ability to turn into a bloody demon.
13:26 As you might expect, turning into a bloody demon vs Mike's ability to wear sports coats
13:32 doesn't work out well for this Mike.
13:37 And so now lays dead on the floor.
13:39 Having stolen our identity, Jack now rides off into the, uh, gloom set of the other world?
13:45 You can't call that a sunset, I'll tell you that for much.
13:47 Clearly preferring to go home over living our reality.
13:50 Which is all well and good until you start to question, wait a minute, what?
13:53 What was the point of trying to merge the realities if you're just gonna go back and
13:56 live in yours?
13:57 What's the point?
13:58 I- I- What's the point of this game?
14:01 And there we have it my friends, those were 8 video games where you are the final boss.
14:05 I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in
14:08 the comment section below.
14:10 As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter @RetroJ but the O is a
14:14 zero, and the same handle for Instagram if you wanna go and check out the silly stuff
14:18 that I'm doing over there like painting my models.
14:20 Oh yes indeed, and don't forget to give James Downs some love as well, he's probably
14:24 put some weird meme up over here that he- that- I- I never understand what half of them
14:29 are, I'm too old, I'm too out of the loop.
14:31 But I enjoy that he enjoys them.
14:34 But before I go I just wanna say one thing, as I explained in the Bennett Foddy example,
14:38 sometimes we can see ourselves as a final boss, a hurdle to overcome, but I just want
14:43 to really encourage you to be kind to yourself.
14:46 Try not to stand in your own way by seeing yourself as an enemy, because trust me, you
14:50 are a great person, you deserve love, happiness and success, and trust me on that one, you
14:55 do, everybody does, alright?
14:57 So if you need some help, if you feel like you're standing in your own way, then try
15:01 and step back from situations that are causing you extreme stress, and remember, it is more
15:05 than okay to ask for help sometimes.
15:07 In fact I totally encourage that you do so, alright?
15:11 Because at the end of the day I just want you to live a healthy and happy life.
15:14 Big love to you my friend, now go out there and smash it.
15:17 As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that, and I'll speak
15:21 to you soon.