2025 was a fantastic year for gaming, from horror juggernauts like Silent Hill f to beloved indie titles like Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong. But while many of 2025’s best games have gotten their accolades via The Game Awards, we want to take a closer look at one of the best parts of this year’s games: the boss fights.

Boss fights are a pivotal aspect of most genres in gaming, from RPGs to survival horror games to roguelikes and platformers. Some of the boss encounters we loved the most this year were extremely difficult, some featured foes with wild ability arsenals, some were downright terrifying, but all of them had one thing in common: They were a hell of a lot of fun to play.

Here are our favorite boss fights of 2025.

Painted Clea (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

Image: Sandfall Interactive via Polygon

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is full of fantastic boss fights (and several of them returned for an amped-up round two in the free DLC). While Simon is known to kick everyone’s behind, I found Painted Clea to be the most engaging boss fight on The Continent. She doesn’t attack you directly, instead summoning Nevrons to do her bidding, striking you with unrelenting combos you’ll have to hope and pray you can parry in time. When you can manage to damage her, you’ll find just knocking down her health isn’t enough; Painted Clea heals if your parries falter, meaning you’ll need a nuclear Maelle or Sciel build to take her down in one go.

But Painted Clea isn’t a great boss merely because of the challenge she provides. Her heartbreaking story (stop me if you’re heard this before: Expedition 33 is sad) explores how she’s also suffered from the Dessendre family’s vortex of grief, and especially of the machinations of her real-world counterpart. Defeating her isn’t a triumph, but a mercy. Also, her theme music slaps — “Clea” might be my favorite boss fight track from a game full of bangers. —Austin Manchester

Huggin’ Molly (South of Midnight)

Image: Compulsion Games

It’s rare to see the essence of an entire game captured in a single battle, but that’s exactly what South of Midnight‘s Huggin’ Molly does. Previous bosses stand out for doing something a bit different from their predecessor, like Two-Toed Tom putting you on the defensive or Laurent making you think about movement more carefully. Huggin’ Molly pushes you to use everything you’ve learned and gained up to this point. It’s practically a showcase for Compulsion’s take on 3D action-platformers. That’s good, memorable design on its own, but the twist at the end is what keeps me thinking about Huggin’ Molly months after finishing South of Midnight. This is a fight based on misconceptions that should never have been allowed to grow unchecked for so long. Fear, anger, and selfishness built the idea of Huggin’ Molly that Hazel’s so determined to destroy — the only way to "win" is to confront those inner demons and admit the problem is inside, even if it’s too late to undo the damage you’ve already caused. And that’s what South of Midnight is all about. —Josh Broadwell

Tony (Nubby’s Number Factory)

Image: MogDogBlog Productions via Polygon

In Nubby’s Number Factory, you work at the titular pachinko-esque factory making increasingly large numbers to appease your supervisor; if you fail, the sun explodes. I still remember the first time I got to level 80, the last in a run, so naively confident in the build I’ve created and the sun I hadn’t exploded, only to encounter my final boss fight: My literal boss, Tony.

In the fight, he goes by the much more dramatic moniker “Tony!?!?” and can shoot laser beams out of his eyes that reduce the value of the board’s pegs — my livelihood at the factory — to one. I was used to final big-number battles like the boss blinds of Balatro, but this was a completely different ball game (literally) that fully reinforced my newfound love of this absolutely absurd title. —Deven McClure

Scylla and the Sirens (Hades 2)

Image: Supergiant Games via Polygon

Hades 2’s Scylla and the Sirens boss fight is the most irritating boss fight of 2025, full stop — but that’s also what makes it unforgettable. That’s not a commentary on the battle itself, which pits you against three enemies at once and is, no doubt, quite annoying. (Frankly, on the merits of action, all Hades 2 boss fights are equally worthy tests of mettle.) It’s a commentary on Scylla herself.

Most every night, Scylla and her bandmates perform their one-hit wonder, “I Am Gonna Claw (Out Your Eyes then Drown You to Death”), in a desperate bid for validation. Don’t get me wrong, the tune is an earworm. Scylla and the Sirens don’t need to smash the repeat button every night to prove that. Occasionally, yes, Scylla and the Sirens try out a new song, depending on your progress in the game. But for the most part, the band falls back on the hit they made their name on, without realizing it’s the one thing trapping them in a Sisyphean loop. Like the worst musicians, Scylla and the Sirens refuse to listen. —Ari Notis

Jackenstein (Deltarune Chapter 4)

Image: Toby Fox via Polygon

Toby Fox, the creator of 2015’s indie darling Undertale, knows a thing or two about clever boss fights that stick in your craw. The game’s successor, Deltarune, takes things up a notch. Jackenstein is a burly miniboss with a jack o’ lantern head you’ll encounter in Chapter 4 of the work-in-progress RPG. Every round of turn-based combat, you’ll need to very quickly navigate a maze and find a key to escape Jackenstein’s haunted house, all as he tries to chomp you while shouting “YOUR [sic] TAKING TOO LONG!”

It’s impossible to experience this fight without imitating the voice of Jackenstein: it’s a fabulously creepy creation that starts out as “chipper older sister” and does a hard right turn into “garbage disposal that came to life.” Once you’ve escaped his clutches (for the moment), you can deal damage by zapping him with a flashlight as he howls, then rinse and repeat.

Like any good Toby Fox boss fight, the action is unexpectedly grueling, the music absolutely slaps, and the dialogue is absurd. I won’t blow the joke, but let’s just say you aren’t prepared for what you’ll eventually discover in Jackenstein’s house after all that trouble. —Jen Glennon

Jason Voorhees (Fortnite)

Image: Epic Games

Fortnite is lousy with bosses. Seriously, every season sees an abundance of baddies shuffling their way in and out of the game. The unfortunate thing is, by and large, they’re all the same. They move quickly, attack often, and take a good amount of damage to kill.

Then there’s Jason Voorhees. Instead of a regular Fortnite boss, he’s the slasher movie villain we all love. Typically found stalking the grounds of Creepy Camps in chapter 6 season 4, Jason Voorhees didn’t start attacking on-sight. Instead, he did what he does best: He slowly trudged his way in your direction. It looked like he was moving slowly, but it was faster than you thought. And that’s where the strategy came into play.

If he got within reach, Jason hacked at you with his machete, doing some serious damage. If you kept your distance, though, you could topple him. It would take a while, though. In true unkillable slasher-movie villain fashion, Jason had a massive health bar you’d have to deplete — four times the health the season’s other bosses had.

The Jason boss battle didn’t introduce new mechanics, radically change the game, or even introduce a new, permanent character to fear. Instead, it just gave us an excellent take on a boss we’ve seen teens battling on the big screen for decades. Jason might not be a traditional video game boss, but he’s an excellent foe wherever he winds up.* —Chris Hayner*

Sakuko-like Entity (Silent Hill f)

Image: Konami via Polygon

The first real boss players face in Silent Hill f is also one of the most challenging. The Sakuko-like Entity is a horrific blend of Hinako’s sweet childhood friend, Sakuko, and a shrine maiden. Like much of Silent Hill f itself, this version of Sakuko is both utterly horrifying and undeniably beautiful. Her white traditional garb and floating golden hair ornament stand out from the boss arena’s dark setting, making her appear to glow — a possible reference to the real Sakuko’s bright personality. This unsettling entity sports Sakuko’s signature pigtail hairstyle, but the resemblance ends there, as her face is the stuff of nightmares. Her skin is pale, mottled, and corpse-like. Her eyes are closed, and remain that way throughout the entire encounter. There’s a skeletal nasal cavity where her nose should be, and her mouth has been stretched wide, with the lower part of her jaw hanging open and revealing a gaping maw that’s simultaneously difficult to look at and difficult to look away from. Get too close, and Sakuko will pull Hinako into a hug, chomping down on her face and causing serious damage.

She’s horrific, and she’s got a move set that proves to be very challenging, especially given how early this fight takes place. Players who haven’t mastered the perfect dodge/counter-attack mechanic will certainly get some practice with it in this fight, as Sakuko can teleport and unleash an absolutely devastating attack that will drain Hinako’s sanity if not interrupted. The entire encounter is unforgettable, and as unique as Silent Hill f’s bosses are, the Sakuko-like Entity still stands out from the crowd, due to both her striking appearance and the difficulty of the fight itself. —Claire Lewis