Weekends are a great time for relaxing, reading, or spending time with loved ones. Or, if you’re me, you can spend an entire weekend trying to beat the Valkyrie Queen in God of War.

Over the last few years, I’ve started playing more difficult video games. Unfortunately, tough video games tend to include tough boss fights, and I don’t really like tough boss fights.

Dedicated players of games like Monster Hunter: World might feel burned out after spending so much time in the game, while players curious about the genre might be intimidated by World’s complicated gameplay. Dauntless is an upcoming free-to-play monster hunting game that looks to help both types of players scratch…

Teaming up with another bruised and bloodied player to take on For Honor’s General Tozen last night was one of the most satisfying things I’ve done in the game in a long time. It’s part of a new mode that publisher Ubisoft says is temporary but that players are already hoping will stick around for good.

Dead Space brims with apprehension and panic—its tight spaceship corridors provide little place to run as monsters challenge the player to adapt quickly or get torn to shreds. The game’s final boss, a giant zombie slug, throws all of that out. Dead Space’s final boss fight is a loud, bombastic battle that clashes with…

Furi, a neon boss-battling bonanza, came out for the Nintendo Switch last week, which finally gave me good cause to sample its hack-and-slash action.

Nioh pits the player agains a variety of foes. Deadly yokai and horrifying beasts rage about the countryside eager for blood. The boss fights are often grand battles against monumental foes but the best are surprisingly subdued.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, boss fights are a time-honored video game tradition. Nefarious is a game that turns The Old Ways on their head. You’re the boss taking on a band of annoyingly plucky heroes. You might even recognize some of the boss fights.

There’s lots of things the new Doom game does well, but one that took me completely by surprise was its excellent boss fights.