One thing about the Area Zero story, the professor wasn't absent because they were dead, because they only died shortly before the game took place. That's what the paradox dragon is implied to be fleeing from over the intro. While you're filling out your academy paperwork, the professor is getting mauled. All those years they had no excuse for not going to see Arven. If you read their journals as you descend into the crater, you see that they had basically believed that if they finally achieved "Paradise", they could go home to him at last. But because of their zeal, they never could, even when they were alive. There was always more work to be done, always something else to study, and that thought outlived them.
Final levels are pretty much like final exams or tests. Throwing everything they got at you and see what you've learned and experienced in your journey. And the best final levels are the ones you'll never forget and always want to come back to.
8:28 I just wanna give a quick correction here. The AI professor was going rogue when it reached out to the player to stop the Time Machine. It had warned you that their programming will direct them to protect the machine at all costs once a threat to it is presented The battle we have is the Paradise Protection Protocol taking effect, and eventually locking all pokeballs not registered to the professor’s ID. To which your legendary beast’s ball is
I really hope Arven gets therapy or something, because DAMN! imagine your neglected by your ultra famous parent, only to find out they're dead, and you and the new kid have been talking to a damn robot this whole time... I don't think I could handle that.
@@Tyler-q3k At least his dog is alive, though it was touch and go for a while. Also let's remember that Arven also found out his parent was a supervillain
The Suicide Mission from Mass Effect 2 is definitely still one of Biowares greatest achievements to me. You have to make sure that you get all of the ship upgrades, do all of the loyalty missions and make the correct choices on which team member does what task in order to get everyone out of the Collectors hideout alive and it is so satisfying when you get it right.
@@shadowlinkbds I remember being so disappointed when I lost Jack because I didn't do her loyalty mission correctly. So when I saved everyone the second time it made up for the final boss being a bit of a letdown.
For me the best final level is The World That Never Was from Kingdom Hearts 2. The dark and melancholic atmosphere and music , The challenging enemies and the lore behind it. Just everything about it just screams final level and is the perfect setting for the games finale. Honestly the Kingdom Hearts series in general has incredible final levels.
You want to know the scariest part about the Dead Lands? The deadlanders alpha, beta, and gamma do not willingly serve the giant creature that summons them. In reality, they fear it just as much as you, and the fact that the monstrous deadlander omega is still out there, makes it all the more terrifying.
If you go back to the beehive and use the telescope, you can even see a giant shadow looming around where the dead lands are. It gives an even more terrifying sense of scale as to what the deadlander omega even is, or rather what it once *was.*
I personally think that Dojima HQ from Yakuza 0 is a really good final level. Not only is it cool how Kiryu's first level becomes Majima's last, but the music rocks harder than before and the story motivations behind the level are fascinating. It's not a matter of stopping the Dojima family for Majima. It's about revenge.
Celeste's final level will always stand out for me. Not counting the extra levels, it's the longest level there is, basically having you go through miniature versions of all the previous levels before finally getting to the base of the summit. As you get closer, the game shows you how far away you are from the end, and during the final segment, it starts counting down in single digits as you finally make it to the end. Words can't do it justice, it's something that needs to be experienced first hand. I'm glad Josh and his team agrees
So the "No means yes" kinda options where it's the illusion of choice? Makes me wonder which games would be considered worse in that respect? I hated how Ocarina of Time did it with your first encounter with Kaepora Gaebora and have made it no secret I find that meeting completely pointless; his tip is how to view the map by opening the pause screen...you meet him for the first time after having cleared the first dungeon...why no, Mr. Owl, I DON'T know how to view the map, therefore I did not understand what you just said and want you to explain it to me again... *internal screaming at the swapsies of the default "Yes" / "No" options making me accidentally listen to his pointless drivel again* >.
@@karenbonds264 I WANTED to lie to him. I thought he was a time bomb who was dangerously obsessed with the ogre and he would be a risk to her if he found out the truth.
Absolutely thrilled to see Area Zero on here. I get the SV have their flaws, but Area Zero might just be the coolest place in any Pokemon game including the Distortion World. And that track is absolute peak.
Persona 5 Royal's 3rd semester palace might be a pick for one of the best final levels. It has one of the most fascinating antagonists in gaming, a final boss who can be a legitimate challenge and may require set-up and planning to neutralize easily even at level 99 for your party, decent challenges, and of course a moral dilemma that, like with the central conflict of Three Houses, people are still split on who to support. And arguably a better ending for Persona 5 than the original one.
One of my all time Favourites would be 'Twilight of the Gods' from Warcraft III Firstly putting all 4 factions in one map, 3 against 1 but that one is heavily stocked. The two factions you are defending you mastered in previous chapters of the game and are lead by last notable survivors of the their factions (Sans Cairne) while the Undead Antagonists are fighting on behalf of the Demigod bad guy that's been built up as near unstoppable for 2/3rds of the game. The several secret Goldmines, Troll & Furbold Camps and Goblin Shop that can reward the player provided they were taking the time to explore the map despite the ever-attacking threat of the Scourge. The Cutscenes that play should you fail to protect Jaina and Thralls encampment, both letting previous player-heroes get an interaction chance against Archimonde before escaping, knowing they can't help from now on, and the understanding to the player that the enemy is just increasingly coming closer and closer to your own base. Archimonde losing patience in the last minute and running in to bulldoze what's left of the resistance. All capped off with that absolutely beautiful final cutscene with the explosive at Mount Hyjal's Tree
I also liked A Symphony of Frost and Flame in the expansion. Very tough map where Arthas has to regain his lost power (leveling from 1 to 10 on one map) battling against 3 armies and heroes united to take him down for good, culminating in the creation perhaps of the most iconic villain in the franchise.
I'm so happy to see Hideout Helm make it on the list! There's lots of great final levels, but I was really hoping to see this one get some love! Very well put on what makes it so good!
Here’s a Top Ten from Me: Top Ten Black Sheeps in Gaming Franchises, as in games that are not as liked as others games in a franchise or they are just bad games in good franchises. 1. Metroid: Other M 2. Paper Mario: Sticker Star 3. DMC: Devil May Cry 4. Super Mario Bros. Lost Levels 5. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric 6. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts 7. Dark Souls 2 8. Pokémon X and Y 9. Star Fox Adventures 10. Zelda II: The Adventures of Link
31:34-The countdown has begun Now, which song is going to get parodied this year? We've already done We didn't start the fire, Welcome to the Internet, a Little List, and Ultimate Showdown.
For RTS games, Command and Conquer usually had great final levels for different sides. For Nod, it could be stealing the codes for the Ion Cannon so you can destroy an important structure such as the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben (IIRC), another British building, or the freaking White House in the first game. Then you had being able to launch the missiles at the GDI station Philadelphia and changing the entire world, or working with GDI to take down CABAL. GDI had you trying to stop Kane by storming Sarajevo (sp) and destroying everything Nod related, including potentially using the Ion Cannon on the Temple of Nod. The Soviets had several as well, ranging from destroying the Allies in Britain, destroying the Chronosphere and the last resistance in Point Hope, Alaska, storming Transylvania to stop Yuri, storming New York in RA3, or stopping FutureTech. The Allies had several, such as storming Moscow to take down the Soviets and finish off Stalin, going to Alaska to stop Yuri, or preventing Cherdenko from escaping to SPACE! But my personal choice for best C&C final level is Operation Chrono Storm. After General Carville's funeral, you lead the Allied Forces to Moscow by destroying the north Soviet base's power, while the rest of the Allies are chronoshifted to you. There, your job is to take down the Soviets and capture the Kremlin to arrest Romanov. You have to deal with three Soviet bases as well as nuclear weapons and the Black Guard, and yet it still is the best final C&C mission for me.
No argument there. Especially with the final mission of 7: Skies Unknown ending with a battle against a powerful drone-type superweapon then having to fly into a superweapon that is basically a giant rail cannon destroy it then fly out before the explosion as it's being destroyed takes you down,
@derrickhaggard I don't want to go "ackshually", but you mixed up some details of the Xbox 360 exclusive AC6: Fires of Liberation and the multi-platform AC7: Skies Unknown. 6 is where you fly down the barrel of the superweapon and blow it up from the inside. 7 is, after you wipe out the dual bosses, whoops, one of them is still alive and flies into the tunnel where the tunnel flying/trench running staple of the series happens, for the second time. You deal with the boss, and then, you fly out in a metaphorically awesome way.
I have my own bias that I want to add as an honorable mention. It's from a game called Athenian Rhapsody. Now some might look at this game and assume it's too similar to Undertale. Since there is a mercy system. But along the way, some things may not feel right. And not just that, but doing a pacifist run is simply not enough. In order to get the True ending, not only do you need to go completely pacifist, but you also need to get all 16 allies. Only then can the real truth come out You learn not only the truth about the EXP system, but how a certain choice makes it go out if whack for a bit! Eventually, in your attempt to go against the Goddess Athena, where your kindness does not get through and everything goes wrong in her eyes, she turns her anger on the player. And after learning a new legend, that fits what we did, we try to go back into our file and discover an old pal is back to his former self. Everything about the land is wrong and he knows exactly what's going on. Getting the three guardians in his side, he tries to find us but James indicates we are not well. For me, after this bit, it's just so satisfying as we fight the darkness within to regain control, and not only that, when we do come back, we can take Athena out easily! The game doesn't even get on your case if you do defeat enemies on the way, only if you take the path of True but get locked out. Now the reason I have no problem thinking of this as an honorable mention? Because while I enjoy it immensely, I can see it maybe as not everyone's cup of tea. Plus, what we hear in the end can probably diminish the impact for some, breaking the fourth wall long enough to admit that things will just go back the way they were because it loops back to the beginning each time. Although hearing that line does make me feel better because I did a Lullaby run after this and felt so guilty. It's okay, Peachy... James and everyone else is okay.
We’re playing together.. Will it be fair? Well.. If I’m being honestly, it’s quite hard to tell.. But we gotta finish our quest Won’t be bedeviled! (be bedeviled) As JoshScorcher counts down the best.. FINAL LEVELS!!
My picks Bowser's Galaxy Generator Super Mario Galaxy 2 Hollow Bastion Kindom Hearts Space Xenoblade Chronicles Wily Fortress Mega Man Halo: Combat Evolved Mother Brain's Lair: Metroid/Zero Mission and Super Metroid Asura the Destructor: Asura's Wrath Victory Road: Pokemon
My personal choices 10. The Three Trials (Kid Icarus Uprising 9. Ouranos Island (Sonic Frontiers) 8. The end of the Dream (Fire Emblem Three Houses) 7. Empire Porky Building (Mother 3) 6. Hyuponia, Kingdom of Sorrow (Klonoa 2, Lunatea's Veil) 5. Everdawn Basin (Dust: An Elysian Tail) 4. Final Dreadnought 4 (Freedom Planet) 3. Area Zero (Pokémon Scarlet and Violet) 2. Eye of Eden (Sky; Children of the Light) 1. Giant's Lair (Bug Fables)
That better not be foreshadowing of hate on Stellar Blade. It's objectively good no matter what you say in the future video. It has no fails. Saying so will be pure idiocy and ya'll can miss out.
@@hariman7727I kinda hope it's about a certain subset of anti-woke goobers that latched onto the game for dear life... Then cried "OMG SONY CENSORED IT" after some outfits got changed for release on the lead dev's own initiative, and started A FULL-ON PETITION TO BRING THE OUTFITS BACK. Which, I mean, they got them, but what the fresh hell was that? These guys were the reason I didn't want to touch the game with a ten foot pole...
@@hariman7727All I remember is a certain crowd going "THIS IS THE HOLY SAVIOUR OF GAMING! UP YOURS, WOKIES!", then getting into a hissy fit over some outfit changes that were done by Shift Up themselves on their own volition... And the old outfits got re-added anyway. It's a good game, but not the holy grail that crowd hyped it up to be.
I'm surprised with how Josh tried to argue that Ace Attorney killers count as bosses, he didn't try to argue that the cases count as levels. I have soft spot for the first Trilogy's Final cases, but knowing him, he probably would've gone with Turnabout for Tomorrow, which is a solid choice as well. *Spoilers for Ace Attorney Dual Destinies* Turnabout for Tomorrow is one of the final cases in the series that has the advantage of having a setup case beforehand. Because of that, they don't need to linger too long establishing the new settings and new characters. Edgeworth's return serves as great payoff for his arc, seeing him come so far as the chief prosecutor. The ruined courtroom is pure spectacle, but dang is it cool, and The opening scene of the trial is epic as hell. Then of course, the reveals and eventual confrontation with the Phantom were great. Athena finally overcoming her trauma, and the whole Wright anything Agency, with Blackquill's help taking down the Phantom was satisfying Again, not my personal choice for best AA final case, but a very solid one.
All stories end, someday. Some of these merely show the end of a chapter while others pretty much close the book. We all have our final levels to beat in life; let's see what these bring. Also, today's my birthday, I've been with Josh and his videos for a long time; best way to cap this birthday off. TWO LISTS LEFT FOR 2024, FOLKS! LET'S ROCK AND ROLL!
@@w1ndgeneral226 Chairman Rose, Pokémon SwSh. How does a two minute "day with" event in a gacha spinoff manage to establish his character better than the entire base game does?
One of the best final levels that I've experienced is the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance game which is Castle Doom where you charge in to confront Dr. Doom who possesses the powers of Odin, you do battle against his army of corrupted heroes and dark clones including Captain America, Thor, Colossus, Cyclops, and Spider-Man (there's also his army which includes Iron Man duplicates) all with the threat of total universal destruction if you don't beat Dr. Doom. The only complaints I have about the final level is that I wish the soundtrack was better and that the game would remove the corrupted heroes from the playable character roster because it's weird that you can fight Colossus while also playing as him.
TWTNW is one of my all-time favorites. A few other honorable mentions: If The Moon is too overused, how about The Sun? Digital Devil Saga's finale sends you to meet with God... which in this case is the Sun, which has 6 oddly organic tissue-looking layers of deadly demons and rematches with every plot-related boss from 2 games. It's almost too long, but the checkpoints stop it from being overwhelming. Not too many of the final levels of the Mega Man series stand out after so many Skull Fortresses, but Sigma's flying fortress in the first X game has better plot-relevance than usual, spaces out the boss rematches better, and perhaps most impressively, manages to be fairly difficult without overusing pits and spikes like some levels.
My guesses about Top 10 Worst Gaming Monents of 2024 (in no particular order) 1: Skull and Bones being an absolute disaster for Ubisoft. 2: Ubisoft's stupid NFT game. 3: The stupid contraversy with Assassin Creed Shadows and the massive freak-out the anti woke channels had over it, causing the game to be delayed. 4: Ubisoft nearly going backrupt to the extent that if AC Shadows does not sell 10m+ copies they're going to run out of money and probably be bought out by Tencent. (Almost half the list is Ubisoft!) 5: IGN's terrible Mario and Luigi Brothership review. 6: The Borderlands movie. 7: The GMOD fake Nintendo copyright claim situation. 8: Nintendo VS Palworld and that whole debackle. 9: GamerGate 2, Sweet Baby Inc, the revival of the anti-woke, all the games thet got unjustly attacked by their mob, (Stellar Blade, Dragon Age The Veilguard, Dustborn, etc) and all that other conspericy nonsense. 10: Black Myth Wukong's bizzare TOS requiring users to verify that theyre straight and cis and to sign a pledge to never critizize the CCP or "promote western feminist agendas" in order to play their silly monkey game.
I have to throw out there that the most memorable final level for me is, without a doubt, the Blood-Stained Sanctuary of Cave Story's best ending. The sign you're greeted with just inside says everything you need to know about this place: "Welcome to Hell" And Hell it is. It will absolutely test EVERYTHING you know about this game, from platforming to combat. It throws everything AND the kitchen sink at you. Thankfully, you're not alone in this fight; at the end of the first room, you find your partner, unconscious, and at the start of the third room, she joins you in battle, firing shots directly behind you as you advance. All of this culminates in a harrowing final boss fight against the entity responsible for all of the madness you just endured through the entire game. (Also fun fact: if you made it all the way here with no Missile Launcher at all, it will give you one with a capacity of 100 missiles if you pick up the upgrade here.) Additionally, Running Hell, the BGM for the area, is in the running for one of my favorite songs in all of gaming A few definite other favorites would be Malhalla from Dragon Quest Builders 2, the whole endgame dungeon of Octopath Traveler 2, and the true final area of Blaster Master Zero
As a fellow Kingdom Hearts fan, I have to go against that. I strongly prefer End of the World more. I just love the air of mystery when you first arrive and the various areas you traverse to essentially get right back where everything started.
Number 4: If you mean Storywise, then yes. But gameplay wise, it adds 2 new bosses. Wait, what was wrong with Stellar Blade? I admittedly didn’t hear much about it outside of fanservice
I've heard like one or two people compare it to Nier, but I haven't heard anything bad about it. Quite frankly, I've been wanting to try the game myself, but am waiting until it gets a Switch 2 port. I refuse to shell out $500 for a PS5
Stellar Blade is a decent game even though it's a blatant NieR Automata ripoff. At least Yoko Taro gave his blessing to it. The main stuff about Stellar Blade was terminally online Twitter/Reddit/TH-cam drama where far right "anti woke" channels were praising Stellar Blade to high heaven as "the woke destroyer" but then when the game released the devs changed a few outfits to cover SLIGHTLY less skin, they removed an unintentionally offensive graffiti from the game, (there was graffiti on one wall saying "word" next to a graphic of the latter n, fully spelling out "n word." The devs didn't realize because they were Korean and it got fixed pre launch) and there was a statue in the game of the Greek god hermadaphroditus (intersex God of trans people and say gex, yes he was a legit deity in ancient Greece) which is a very famous real world statue. The cringe anti-woke accounts then turned on Stellar Blade, the game they've been hyping up as the "savior of gaming" for months, calling it "woke trash" and blaming the VERY MINOR changes on Sony with no proof when it was likely the devs decision to change the outfits, remove the graffiti, and have that famous statue in the game. Since Stellar Blade released the anti-woke people have shifted to shilling Black Myth Wukong as the "saviour of gaming" because it has some bizzare statement in its TOS where you can't be LGBT+ or criticize the CCP and play the game or you'll be banned from playing and because the devs have said some openly bigoted things online. Which, duh. They're Chinese and CCP shills (you have to be in China or you get disappeared) and China is arguably the most racist and generally bigoted country in the world maybe other than Taliban-led Afghanistan. (China is 3rd worst in the world for human rights after Afghanistan at #1 and North Korea at #2. Russia is #4.) So yeah, just terminally online woke vs anti woke drama. Nothing really major enough to make the list.
@@KrimsonKattYTWhile we're at it, I do kinda hope that the list gets a dishonorable mention of the "woke content detector" megalist, because that one... Is just hilariously embarrassing. Especially because it's 100% in earnest :/ Also FYI, the graffiti placement that got changed was originally saying "Hard R", which... Well, means the same thing as the N-word. The anti-woke crowd also latched onto one random OTHERWISE FAVORABLE IGN review, particularly one line about Eve's character design, the "it's like the devs have never seen a woman" one, which... Was kinda in poor taste, but it was one line out of an entire article full of mostly good things said about the game.
Yeeeaaaaah, I thought that was going to be #1…. 😅 That aside, glad you gave #2 to LiveALive. That final stage was long, but the finale was perfect! Especially the FINAL BOSS!! It’s almost up there with FF6 and FF7.
Three of my favorites Dojima HQ from Yakuza 0. The music rocks, the fight is climactic it's just AWESOME . Peach's Castle from Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Imside Story. Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and yes, Starlow too vs. Dark Bowser, Fawful, and the Dark Star in a fight for the WORLD . And Destroyer's Rift from Borderlands 3. Say what you will ablut the game there weresone KICKASS names like Desolation's Edge . And the fight against Tyreen the Destroyer was satisfying because you finally get to shut up the other annoying half of the self-proclaimed "God twins"
Derris Kharlan from Tales of Symphonia It's a looooooooooooooong dungeon full of challenging battles, simple puzzles, the map isn't a huge labyrinth like some final dungeons, the final boss fight was incredible the story beats and character moments leading up to it are incredible and there's a lovely moment with Raine if you didn't meet with her on the final evening (I got Collette) My only problem. literal only problem is, this is it, the end. Some of the more modern Tales games have like, a post-game dungeon or optional challenges after the credits. In Symphonia you have to do everything you want to including the super boss before the finale. Because once you finish that fight, you go into NG+
Honorable Mentions: True Lab (Undertale): Not only is it the location where you finally learn the full truth, but it leads to a cathartic finale. Crossroads (Omori): Beatiful finale for a beautiful game. Celestia (Disagaea 1): Who said that Devil's don't cry? Time-destroying bombs (Project X Zone 2): The best way to end the best crossover RPG in history. Helps that it has two epic tracks. Final Mystery Labirynth (Master Detectives Archives: Raincode): Fun way to demonstate that (spoilers) was actually (spoilers). Also, who knew that Danganronpa was spoiling this game all along.
It's interesting that you have Arkham Asylum in Batman: Origins. After all, all of your skills are put to the test and you face Bane at the end. You have a chance to finally kill Bane and have Joker taunt you, but then you actually save Bane, only to have him turn into Super Bane. Not only that, but you have to deal with a time limit as well. If you don't defeat Bane when the time limit ends, he will kill by breaking you in two. Yet, we use all of our tricks and gadgets to stop Bane once and for all. For all the traveling and side quests, this feels like the boss of all boss battles!
Bowser's Castle, from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Easily the toughest part of the game, Bowser's Castle throws everything at you. You've got Goomba's and Koopa's and pretty much every classic Mario enemy coming for your head, as well as the Seven Koopaling's as individual boss fights with their own unique mechanics, plus Fawful and Cackletta at the very end.
I definitely agree with the primordial thicket that area had several challenges to go through even the night mission were tough since they put not 1 but 2 smoky proggs and a baldy long legs in one on the missions.
Some of my top Final Levels include: The Gurren Lagaan-esque climax of Blaster Master Zero 2. Ragnarok's Core from Mega Man Zero 4 The World That Never Was from KH2 Temporal Tower from Explorers of Sky Area Zero from Pokemon Violet The final zone of Route C of Nier Automata The final Abyss of Romancing Saga 3 The Cathedral in Saga Frontier (Emelia's story) The Final sync in AI Somnium Files The Forest in No More Heroes 1 The Temple of Eternity from SMTV Hyrule Castle from Twilight Princess N's Castle from Pokemon White Giygas's Lair in the Past from Earthbound
Wow solid list you got some of the my picks like Dominion of Hate,Azure Tree,Primordial Thicket, Palace of Shadows, Temporal Tower,& BOTW Hyrule Castle. My Personal picks Warcraft 3’s Twilight of the gods like Malfurion said “To arms my brethren! To arms Brave Orcs & Humans! Twilight falls & The Enemy awaits” The final defense mission against Archimonde & His Burning Legion. Starcraft Brood War’s Omega 3V1 match that pits your Zerg Brood against the Dominion,UED,& Protoss armies & Victory places Kerrigan as The Queen of Blades & Blizzard’s greatest villain!(Well before the 2010s but that is a story for another time…)
I knew No. 1 was going to be that level. Who can blame Josh? It’s truly one of the best final levels in gaming and it deserves the spot. 😊 Some choices of mine for my favorite final levels: -The Fate of the Universe (Super Mario Galaxy) -Ghost Bayou (Pac-Man World 2) -The Divine Terminus (Kirby: Star Allies) -Final Mission (Metal Slug 3) -The Tower (NieR: Automata) -Final Rush (Sonic Adventure 2: Battle) Those are the ones I can’t remember but they’re possible more out there. I can’t wait for the Top 10 Fails of 2024. 😊
You know, I had to think, and I think I'd say Veldin from Ratchet and Clank. It's a gauntlet which tests your arsenal, and pushes your ammo count. You have to make your shots and bolts count. It has it's platforming sections too; or fighting on platforms. And there are very few checkpoints. And then there's the Drek fight. A legitimate challenge, impressive for the 2000 era it came out in, and again, you have to make your shots count, using all the weapons you can, or pay through the nose for the PDA to come out on top. Things can be easier if you explored and did side content, such as having more bolts; weapons, up to 8 health instead of 4, and the PDA that was mentioned before; but unless you grinded out the RYNO, Drek and Veldin isn't gonna be a pushover. Oh; and of course, your adventure ends where it began. It's the combination of all these factors that make Veldin a great climatic level. Hell; the final boss arena even has grind rails youcan hop on to outpace one of Drek's attacks where he chases you while you fire back at him with the Blaster or another mid-range weapon. It uses Clank's jetpack abilities to stop a countdown. It has Swingshot and platforming in early phases... it tests everything except swimming and the hacking gadgets.
Thanks for another great List, Josh and *please* go hug your furbabies all 💙🐱💙 (Love and miss you always my Twinkle, who went to Rainbow Bridge on 3rd November)
Another great video. And like you said at the end, you have so, SOOO many choices for the 2024 Fails video...I do NOT envy you in having to choose just 10 options from the year the entire games industry just went completely insane ^^;;
Really, like everyone must’ve been on every version of crack. Also, so much happened this year that I THOUGHT SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUE RELEASED LAST YEAR! Everything went to worse shit this year than the second half of FF6.
If you want to look examples of cartoon final "episodes" (that is another word for levels), look at Come Undone from Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated, Together Again from Adventure Time, Change Your Mind from Steven Universe, The Hardest Thing from Amphibia, A Regular Epic Final Battle from Regular Show, CI from Samurai Jack, Sozin’s Comet from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Weirdmageddon from Gravity Falls and The Last Problem from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic!
Nice to see Live a Live again in this countdown... Curse you Streibough,curse you. Can't wait to see you in Top 10 Traitors... and Top 10 Sorcerer Bosses.
The World That Never Was singlehandedly solidified KH2 as a 10/10 game for me. I don’t think I’ve played a better game with a more fulfilling final area.
Called 3 of these this list, including number 1. I'm so happy that Celeste is on this list. One of my favorite levels in one of my favorite games. Makes me wanna play it again.
Metroid being my favorite series I was hoping something would be at least an honorable mention. Not entirely surprised to see Metroid absent since most Metroid final areas aren't that amazing overall. There are some great moments like the ending of Super Metroid and Metroid Dread, but the rest of the area isn't that amazing. Sometimes it's literally just, "Two Rooms and a Boss" like with Itorash from the aforementioned Metroid Dread and the Sky Temple from Metroid Prime 2. One final area stands out from the rest for me as one of my favorites in any game: The sentient planet Phaaze from Metroid Prime 3. A living planet far beyond the reaches of conventional space travel, Phaaze is the origin and heart of Phazon, a sentient, extremely chaotic radioactive substance that seeks to corrupt everything in the known universe to guarantee the survival of its species. Samus reaches Phaaze after being corrupted with Phazon throughout the game, slowly but surely spreading until she's 75% corrupted. Only for Samus to land on Phaaze and instantly have her corruption level to surge to its maximum. Samus has to vent her Energy Tanks to prevent Terminal Corruption, but that will only delay the inevitable. Now it's a race against time to explore this alien world and destroy Dark Samus once and for all before Samus' corruption becomes fatal. This is what the entire Metroid Prime Trilogy has been building toward, finding the source of all Phazon to destroy it, once and for all.
29:05 Some worlds technically don't seem to impact the main story at all, but that's just from my game experience really. 30:19 A artificial Kingdom Hearts not the real actually. 30:32 Tell that to Xehanorth epic final battle on Scala Ad Caelum from KH3. 30:52 Not really. It really only ended in KH3. 31:13 And i respect that Josh. While me personally KH3 Final Levels, story development, battles, bosses, and the final clash against Xehanort and his Organization 13, are way even better, like a World That Never Was 2.0. I know i said that a lot of times but like Josh is with KH2 Final Levels, i feel the same way but its with KH3 that at least to me and the majority out there it has surpassed the second game, not only technically but in story material as well. I feel like people underate or underestimate KH3 way too much, it deserves more respect, it is a worthy sequel and a great conclusion of a epic saga. And who knows, maybe the future new fourth game may even surpass KH 1/2/3 combined as well. Only time will tell. Just saying. Its only my opinion. Ok?
Honorable Mentions: Fear The Reaper (Cyberpunk 2077) Going in gun's blazing alone with upscaled enemies, hell yeah! American Venom (Red Dead 2) A great set up for the tragedy to come in John Marston's life. Dark Beauty Castle (Epic Mickey) Returning where you started to settle things with the monster that dragged you into this world. The chase scene is intense as it starts ripping the castle grounds from underneath your feet, and proceeds to tear into the walls with nothing but hate in its heart. Eggmanland (Sonic Unleashed) Challenging platform sections , smooth transitions into the werehog, before sending you back to the main platforming areas. Eto (Gravity Rush 2) Not really a final level, only a final chapter that allows you to learn more about Kat's past before setting up interesting puzzle sections, high stakes, and two final bosses back to back.
1: Very predictable from Josh, but its a great final level 7: The best Hyrule castle level. 8: Again, atmosphere and the music. If only this had voice acting. 9: I really like the atmosphere of this level 10: One really good and intense level when I was a child. Nice list, some other great final levels I can think of are Maruki´s castle from Persona 5 Royal, Eldrant from Tales of the Abyss, The moon Super Mario Odyssey and Wawku Shrine Okami
![Becoming a Hero... Eventually - Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story [30]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UJgsxcxpza0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Becoming a Hero... Eventually – Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story [30]](/img/tr.png)
One thing about the Area Zero story, the professor wasn't absent because they were dead, because they only died shortly before the game took place. That's what the paradox dragon is implied to be fleeing from over the intro. While you're filling out your academy paperwork, the professor is getting mauled. All those years they had no excuse for not going to see Arven. If you read their journals as you descend into the crater, you see that they had basically believed that if they finally achieved "Paradise", they could go home to him at last. But because of their zeal, they never could, even when they were alive. There was always more work to be done, always something else to study, and that thought outlived them.
@@BJGvideos I'm just glad Scarlet/violet is getting getting some love, it's actually a good game that was soured by a bad release. (=
@Tyler-q3k I love this game so much and the ending has a lot to do with it. It's also a genuinely fun game.
Final levels are pretty much like final exams or tests. Throwing everything they got at you and see what you've learned and experienced in your journey. And the best final levels are the ones you'll never forget and always want to come back to.
Does this list counts as a Top 10 Josh favorite games too? Curiosity really.
Does anyone know the song at 28:48?
Of course, sometimes the final levels can go too hard. Take Eggmanland from the Xbox/PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed
@@micahheyward5342 Sonic Unleashed is not for beginners.
8:28
I just wanna give a quick correction here. The AI professor was going rogue when it reached out to the player to stop the Time Machine. It had warned you that their programming will direct them to protect the machine at all costs once a threat to it is presented
The battle we have is the Paradise Protection Protocol taking effect, and eventually locking all pokeballs not registered to the professor’s ID. To which your legendary beast’s ball is
Basically. The security system and the Protocol are what the professor wanted.
I really hope Arven gets therapy or something, because DAMN! imagine your neglected by your ultra famous parent, only to find out they're dead, and you and the new kid have been talking to a damn robot this whole time... I don't think I could handle that.
@@Tyler-q3k At least his dog is alive, though it was touch and go for a while.
Also let's remember that Arven also found out his parent was a supervillain
Very fitting for this kind of countdown considering this is uploaded on the last month of the year.
But technically not the last countdown of the year
@@shadowlinkbdsthat’s the idea, it’s only the prelude to the finale.
@@alvaroperez2349 And I cant wait to see what he's got in store for that list
@@goldosprey the fails of 2024…
@@alvaroperez2349 They're gonna be glorious
The Suicide Mission from Mass Effect 2 is definitely still one of Biowares greatest achievements to me. You have to make sure that you get all of the ship upgrades, do all of the loyalty missions and make the correct choices on which team member does what task in order to get everyone out of the Collectors hideout alive and it is so satisfying when you get it right.
That's one of my personal favorite final levels because of the high stakes. You gotta earn your happy ending.
@@shadowlinkbds I remember being so disappointed when I lost Jack because I didn't do her loyalty mission correctly. So when I saved everyone the second time it made up for the final boss being a bit of a letdown.
@claytonrios1 Well mass effect isn't well known for its good bosses to be fair with a few exceptions.
@@shadowlinkbds Outside of the Shadow Broker.
@@claytonrios1What did you do wrong for her mission and why did you not just load a previous save?
That "Victory Road" on repeat is hilarious.
Oddly enough, the castle that never was is my ideal home. I would love to explore it beyond the three games it appeared in.
For me the best final level is The World That Never Was from Kingdom Hearts 2. The dark and melancholic atmosphere and music , The challenging enemies and the lore behind it. Just everything about it just screams final level and is the perfect setting for the games finale. Honestly the Kingdom Hearts series in general has incredible final levels.
Sacred moon to this day is still my favorite overworld theme in the series
If the World That Never Was is not on here, I'll be shocked lol. Josh loves that world, if I recall.
Boy, have I got good news for you!
@@kecleonfan7495 LOL! I've been watching Josh's content since 2011, so yeah lol. As a fellow KH fan, I do think this is still the best final KH world.
You want to know the scariest part about the Dead Lands? The deadlanders alpha, beta, and gamma do not willingly serve the giant creature that summons them. In reality, they fear it just as much as you, and the fact that the monstrous deadlander omega is still out there, makes it all the more terrifying.
If you go back to the beehive and use the telescope, you can even see a giant shadow looming around where the dead lands are. It gives an even more terrifying sense of scale as to what the deadlander omega even is, or rather what it once *was.*
I'm just glad Bug fables got some attention, it's still pretty obscure by indie game standards.
I personally think that Dojima HQ from Yakuza 0 is a really good final level. Not only is it cool how Kiryu's first level becomes Majima's last, but the music rocks harder than before and the story motivations behind the level are fascinating. It's not a matter of stopping the Dojima family for Majima. It's about revenge.
Celeste's final level will always stand out for me. Not counting the extra levels, it's the longest level there is, basically having you go through miniature versions of all the previous levels before finally getting to the base of the summit. As you get closer, the game shows you how far away you are from the end, and during the final segment, it starts counting down in single digits as you finally make it to the end.
Words can't do it justice, it's something that needs to be experienced first hand. I'm glad Josh and his team agrees
24:29 *Flashbacks to the numerous Pokemon dialogue “options”. Like being forced to lie to Kieran*
Yes, definitely video material.
So the "No means yes" kinda options where it's the illusion of choice? Makes me wonder which games would be considered worse in that respect? I hated how Ocarina of Time did it with your first encounter with Kaepora Gaebora and have made it no secret I find that meeting completely pointless; his tip is how to view the map by opening the pause screen...you meet him for the first time after having cleared the first dungeon...why no, Mr. Owl, I DON'T know how to view the map, therefore I did not understand what you just said and want you to explain it to me again... *internal screaming at the swapsies of the default "Yes" / "No" options making me accidentally listen to his pointless drivel again* >.
@@karenbonds264 I WANTED to lie to him. I thought he was a time bomb who was dangerously obsessed with the ogre and he would be a risk to her if he found out the truth.
Absolutely thrilled to see Area Zero on here. I get the SV have their flaws, but Area Zero might just be the coolest place in any Pokemon game including the Distortion World.
And that track is absolute peak.
Persona 5 Royal's 3rd semester palace might be a pick for one of the best final levels. It has one of the most fascinating antagonists in gaming, a final boss who can be a legitimate challenge and may require set-up and planning to neutralize easily even at level 99 for your party, decent challenges, and of course a moral dilemma that, like with the central conflict of Three Houses, people are still split on who to support. And arguably a better ending for Persona 5 than the original one.
Legends say he's still singing Victory road to this very day
One of my all time Favourites would be 'Twilight of the Gods' from Warcraft III
Firstly putting all 4 factions in one map, 3 against 1 but that one is heavily stocked.
The two factions you are defending you mastered in previous chapters of the game and are lead by last notable survivors of the their factions (Sans Cairne) while the Undead Antagonists are fighting on behalf of the Demigod bad guy that's been built up as near unstoppable for 2/3rds of the game.
The several secret Goldmines, Troll & Furbold Camps and Goblin Shop that can reward the player provided they were taking the time to explore the map despite the ever-attacking threat of the Scourge.
The Cutscenes that play should you fail to protect Jaina and Thralls encampment, both letting previous player-heroes get an interaction chance against Archimonde before escaping, knowing they can't help from now on, and the understanding to the player that the enemy is just increasingly coming closer and closer to your own base.
Archimonde losing patience in the last minute and running in to bulldoze what's left of the resistance.
All capped off with that absolutely beautiful final cutscene with the explosive at Mount Hyjal's Tree
I also liked A Symphony of Frost and Flame in the expansion. Very tough map where Arthas has to regain his lost power (leveling from 1 to 10 on one map) battling against 3 armies and heroes united to take him down for good, culminating in the creation perhaps of the most iconic villain in the franchise.
I'm so happy to see Hideout Helm make it on the list! There's lots of great final levels, but I was really hoping to see this one get some love! Very well put on what makes it so good!
Because we know that Josh is a Kingdom Hearts Fan, we all know that either End Of The World or World That Never Was will be on this list.
Here’s a Top Ten from Me:
Top Ten Black Sheeps in Gaming Franchises, as in games that are not as liked as others games in a franchise or they are just bad games in good franchises.
1. Metroid: Other M
2. Paper Mario: Sticker Star
3. DMC: Devil May Cry
4. Super Mario Bros. Lost Levels
5. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
6. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
7. Dark Souls 2
8. Pokémon X and Y
9. Star Fox Adventures
10. Zelda II: The Adventures of Link
So are these ranked in terms of quality in spite of being black sheeps, or just the notability of the game as a black sheep, or a bit of both?
I’m not entirely sure. I was kinda just jotting them down.
Gears of War: Judgement. Not a bad game by any means, but when compared to the rest, it just seems very lackluster.
5 could also be Somic 06
24:02 Love the Lance Archer reference there, his theme is great 😂 “EVERYBODY DIES!” 🩸🦅☠️
31:34-The countdown has begun
Now, which song is going to get parodied this year?
We've already done We didn't start the fire, Welcome to the Internet, a Little List, and Ultimate Showdown.
If we're looking for a patter song that's reckoned "Stock Shout-Out"-able, then maybe turn our gaze upon the Modern Major General?
@@JonathanBeckett-eg3yoHe did that one in the SEGA Fails way back when, though :(
I’m really happy to see Bug Fables get on the list, and just as I finished the main game last week!
Area zero is so damn beautiful especially when we go to the very core
The true make or break of any story is the ending.
For RTS games, Command and Conquer usually had great final levels for different sides.
For Nod, it could be stealing the codes for the Ion Cannon so you can destroy an important structure such as the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben (IIRC), another British building, or the freaking White House in the first game. Then you had being able to launch the missiles at the GDI station Philadelphia and changing the entire world, or working with GDI to take down CABAL.
GDI had you trying to stop Kane by storming Sarajevo (sp) and destroying everything Nod related, including potentially using the Ion Cannon on the Temple of Nod.
The Soviets had several as well, ranging from destroying the Allies in Britain, destroying the Chronosphere and the last resistance in Point Hope, Alaska, storming Transylvania to stop Yuri, storming New York in RA3, or stopping FutureTech.
The Allies had several, such as storming Moscow to take down the Soviets and finish off Stalin, going to Alaska to stop Yuri, or preventing Cherdenko from escaping to SPACE!
But my personal choice for best C&C final level is Operation Chrono Storm. After General Carville's funeral, you lead the Allied Forces to Moscow by destroying the north Soviet base's power, while the rest of the Allies are chronoshifted to you. There, your job is to take down the Soviets and capture the Kremlin to arrest Romanov. You have to deal with three Soviet bases as well as nuclear weapons and the Black Guard, and yet it still is the best final C&C mission for me.
The final missions of the PS2 Ace Combat trilogy, I'd say, would be strong contenders, too, in story and gameplay.
No argument there. Especially with the final mission of 7: Skies Unknown ending with a battle against a powerful drone-type superweapon then having to fly into a superweapon that is basically a giant rail cannon destroy it then fly out before the explosion as it's being destroyed takes you down,
@derrickhaggard I don't want to go "ackshually", but you mixed up some details of the Xbox 360 exclusive AC6: Fires of Liberation and the multi-platform AC7: Skies Unknown.
6 is where you fly down the barrel of the superweapon and blow it up from the inside.
7 is, after you wipe out the dual bosses, whoops, one of them is still alive and flies into the tunnel where the tunnel flying/trench running staple of the series happens, for the second time. You deal with the boss, and then, you fly out in a metaphorically awesome way.
@@anionleader I do love that final sequence of AC7 though I did get a good laugh last time I played through it since I crashed right away.
I have my own bias that I want to add as an honorable mention. It's from a game called Athenian Rhapsody.
Now some might look at this game and assume it's too similar to Undertale. Since there is a mercy system. But along the way, some things may not feel right. And not just that, but doing a pacifist run is simply not enough.
In order to get the True ending, not only do you need to go completely pacifist, but you also need to get all 16 allies. Only then can the real truth come out You learn not only the truth about the EXP system, but how a certain choice makes it go out if whack for a bit! Eventually, in your attempt to go against the Goddess Athena, where your kindness does not get through and everything goes wrong in her eyes, she turns her anger on the player. And after learning a new legend, that fits what we did, we try to go back into our file and discover an old pal is back to his former self. Everything about the land is wrong and he knows exactly what's going on. Getting the three guardians in his side, he tries to find us but James indicates we are not well.
For me, after this bit, it's just so satisfying as we fight the darkness within to regain control, and not only that, when we do come back, we can take Athena out easily!
The game doesn't even get on your case if you do defeat enemies on the way, only if you take the path of True but get locked out.
Now the reason I have no problem thinking of this as an honorable mention? Because while I enjoy it immensely, I can see it maybe as not everyone's cup of tea. Plus, what we hear in the end can probably diminish the impact for some, breaking the fourth wall long enough to admit that things will just go back the way they were because it loops back to the beginning each time. Although hearing that line does make me feel better because I did a Lullaby run after this and felt so guilty. It's okay, Peachy... James and everyone else is okay.
My honorable mention:
Bowser's Moon Wedding (Super Mario Odyssey)
Clear the launchway, Cappy! We’re taking this baby to the moon!
On now we need worst final levels
Fingers crossed for the World That Never Was from Kingdom Hearts 2.
CALLED IT!!!
We’re playing together..
Will it be fair? Well..
If I’m being honestly, it’s quite hard to tell..
But we gotta finish our quest
Won’t be bedeviled! (be bedeviled)
As JoshScorcher counts down the best..
FINAL LEVELS!!
we need the impossible lair on this
oh my lord im so glad to see bug fables on this list, such an underrated gem!
I'd watch a Hyrulle castle ranking list
I remember when I was a kid and I beat Hideout Helm for the first time. I stood up and cheered, I think.
My picks
Bowser's Galaxy Generator Super Mario Galaxy 2
Hollow Bastion Kindom Hearts
Space Xenoblade Chronicles
Wily Fortress Mega Man
Halo: Combat Evolved
Mother Brain's Lair: Metroid/Zero Mission and Super Metroid
Asura the Destructor: Asura's Wrath
Victory Road: Pokemon
Hollow Bastion is the Penultimate World in KH1.
The final world in that is The End of the World.
My personal choices
10. The Three Trials (Kid Icarus Uprising
9. Ouranos Island (Sonic Frontiers)
8. The end of the Dream (Fire Emblem Three Houses)
7. Empire Porky Building (Mother 3)
6. Hyuponia, Kingdom of Sorrow (Klonoa 2, Lunatea's Veil)
5. Everdawn Basin (Dust: An Elysian Tail)
4. Final Dreadnought 4 (Freedom Planet)
3. Area Zero (Pokémon Scarlet and Violet)
2. Eye of Eden (Sky; Children of the Light)
1. Giant's Lair (Bug Fables)
I like how when you mention that Bowser’s castle is always the final level of a Mario game, one of the examples you show isn’t the final level
The World That Never Was being number one doesn’t even begin to shock me. And I don't blame him, it’s great.
That better not be foreshadowing of hate on Stellar Blade. It's objectively good no matter what you say in the future video. It has no fails. Saying so will be pure idiocy and ya'll can miss out.
It's more likely it will be the reaction to Stellar Blade than anything else.
@@hariman7727I kinda hope it's about a certain subset of anti-woke goobers that latched onto the game for dear life... Then cried "OMG SONY CENSORED IT" after some outfits got changed for release on the lead dev's own initiative, and started A FULL-ON PETITION TO BRING THE OUTFITS BACK. Which, I mean, they got them, but what the fresh hell was that? These guys were the reason I didn't want to touch the game with a ten foot pole...
@@hariman7727All I remember is a certain crowd going "THIS IS THE HOLY SAVIOUR OF GAMING! UP YOURS, WOKIES!", then getting into a hissy fit over some outfit changes that were done by Shift Up themselves on their own volition... And the old outfits got re-added anyway.
It's a good game, but not the holy grail that crowd hyped it up to be.
@@DarkyLonewolf voluntary... Because of massive pressure.
Very fitting #1. I can't say more without spoiling it but yes. Absolutely, genuinely, yes.
I'm surprised with how Josh tried to argue that Ace Attorney killers count as bosses, he didn't try to argue that the cases count as levels. I have soft spot for the first Trilogy's Final cases, but knowing him, he probably would've gone with Turnabout for Tomorrow, which is a solid choice as well.
*Spoilers for Ace Attorney Dual Destinies*
Turnabout for Tomorrow is one of the final cases in the series that has the advantage of having a setup case beforehand. Because of that, they don't need to linger too long establishing the new settings and new characters.
Edgeworth's return serves as great payoff for his arc, seeing him come so far as the chief prosecutor. The ruined courtroom is pure spectacle, but dang is it cool, and The opening scene of the trial is epic as hell.
Then of course, the reveals and eventual confrontation with the Phantom were great. Athena finally overcoming her trauma, and the whole Wright anything Agency, with Blackquill's help taking down the Phantom was satisfying
Again, not my personal choice for best AA final case, but a very solid one.
All stories end, someday. Some of these merely show the end of a chapter while others pretty much close the book. We all have our final levels to beat in life; let's see what these bring.
Also, today's my birthday, I've been with Josh and his videos for a long time; best way to cap this birthday off. TWO LISTS LEFT FOR 2024, FOLKS! LET'S ROCK AND ROLL!
Here's an idea for a future video if you're interested: *Top ten game villains that deserved better.*
@@w1ndgeneral226 Chairman Rose, Pokémon SwSh. How does a two minute "day with" event in a gacha spinoff manage to establish his character better than the entire base game does?
OH MY GOD I WASN'T EXPECTING BUG FABLES TO BE ON HERE!!!
One of the best final levels that I've experienced is the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance game which is Castle Doom where you charge in to confront Dr. Doom who possesses the powers of Odin, you do battle against his army of corrupted heroes and dark clones including Captain America, Thor, Colossus, Cyclops, and Spider-Man (there's also his army which includes Iron Man duplicates) all with the threat of total universal destruction if you don't beat Dr. Doom. The only complaints I have about the final level is that I wish the soundtrack was better and that the game would remove the corrupted heroes from the playable character roster because it's weird that you can fight Colossus while also playing as him.
TWTNW is one of my all-time favorites. A few other honorable mentions:
If The Moon is too overused, how about The Sun? Digital Devil Saga's finale sends you to meet with God... which in this case is the Sun, which has 6 oddly organic tissue-looking layers of deadly demons and rematches with every plot-related boss from 2 games. It's almost too long, but the checkpoints stop it from being overwhelming.
Not too many of the final levels of the Mega Man series stand out after so many Skull Fortresses, but Sigma's flying fortress in the first X game has better plot-relevance than usual, spaces out the boss rematches better, and perhaps most impressively, manages to be fairly difficult without overusing pits and spikes like some levels.
Can’t believe palace of shadows was on there, but not peach’s castle from bowser’s inside story, that thing is one of the best final levels ever.
My guesses about Top 10 Worst Gaming Monents of 2024 (in no particular order)
1: Skull and Bones being an absolute disaster for Ubisoft.
2: Ubisoft's stupid NFT game.
3: The stupid contraversy with Assassin Creed Shadows and the massive freak-out the anti woke channels had over it, causing the game to be delayed.
4: Ubisoft nearly going backrupt to the extent that if AC Shadows does not sell 10m+ copies they're going to run out of money and probably be bought out by Tencent. (Almost half the list is Ubisoft!)
5: IGN's terrible Mario and Luigi Brothership review.
6: The Borderlands movie.
7: The GMOD fake Nintendo copyright claim situation.
8: Nintendo VS Palworld and that whole debackle.
9: GamerGate 2, Sweet Baby Inc, the revival of the anti-woke, all the games thet got unjustly attacked by their mob, (Stellar Blade, Dragon Age The Veilguard, Dustborn, etc) and all that other conspericy nonsense.
10: Black Myth Wukong's bizzare TOS requiring users to verify that theyre straight and cis and to sign a pledge to never critizize the CCP or "promote western feminist agendas" in order to play their silly monkey game.
I have to throw out there that the most memorable final level for me is, without a doubt, the Blood-Stained Sanctuary of Cave Story's best ending. The sign you're greeted with just inside says everything you need to know about this place:
"Welcome to Hell"
And Hell it is. It will absolutely test EVERYTHING you know about this game, from platforming to combat. It throws everything AND the kitchen sink at you. Thankfully, you're not alone in this fight; at the end of the first room, you find your partner, unconscious, and at the start of the third room, she joins you in battle, firing shots directly behind you as you advance. All of this culminates in a harrowing final boss fight against the entity responsible for all of the madness you just endured through the entire game. (Also fun fact: if you made it all the way here with no Missile Launcher at all, it will give you one with a capacity of 100 missiles if you pick up the upgrade here.) Additionally, Running Hell, the BGM for the area, is in the running for one of my favorite songs in all of gaming
A few definite other favorites would be Malhalla from Dragon Quest Builders 2, the whole endgame dungeon of Octopath Traveler 2, and the true final area of Blaster Master Zero
31 days left for another masterpiece by The Josh Scorcher. The Fiery Joker himself!!!
My honorable mention:
Mount Sumeru from Indivisible (an underrated gem imo). The challenge and feels go hard with this one.
To this day sacred moon is one of my favorite track in the franchise
As a fellow Kingdom Hearts fan, I have to go against that. I strongly prefer End of the World more. I just love the air of mystery when you first arrive and the various areas you traverse to essentially get right back where everything started.
Number 4: If you mean Storywise, then yes. But gameplay wise, it adds 2 new bosses.
Wait, what was wrong with Stellar Blade? I admittedly didn’t hear much about it outside of fanservice
I've heard like one or two people compare it to Nier, but I haven't heard anything bad about it. Quite frankly, I've been wanting to try the game myself, but am waiting until it gets a Switch 2 port.
I refuse to shell out $500 for a PS5
Stellar Blade is a decent game even though it's a blatant NieR Automata ripoff. At least Yoko Taro gave his blessing to it.
The main stuff about Stellar Blade was terminally online Twitter/Reddit/TH-cam drama where far right "anti woke" channels were praising Stellar Blade to high heaven as "the woke destroyer" but then when the game released the devs changed a few outfits to cover SLIGHTLY less skin, they removed an unintentionally offensive graffiti from the game, (there was graffiti on one wall saying "word" next to a graphic of the latter n, fully spelling out "n word." The devs didn't realize because they were Korean and it got fixed pre launch) and there was a statue in the game of the Greek god hermadaphroditus (intersex God of trans people and say gex, yes he was a legit deity in ancient Greece) which is a very famous real world statue.
The cringe anti-woke accounts then turned on Stellar Blade, the game they've been hyping up as the "savior of gaming" for months, calling it "woke trash" and blaming the VERY MINOR changes on Sony with no proof when it was likely the devs decision to change the outfits, remove the graffiti, and have that famous statue in the game.
Since Stellar Blade released the anti-woke people have shifted to shilling Black Myth Wukong as the "saviour of gaming" because it has some bizzare statement in its TOS where you can't be LGBT+ or criticize the CCP and play the game or you'll be banned from playing and because the devs have said some openly bigoted things online. Which, duh. They're Chinese and CCP shills (you have to be in China or you get disappeared) and China is arguably the most racist and generally bigoted country in the world maybe other than Taliban-led Afghanistan. (China is 3rd worst in the world for human rights after Afghanistan at #1 and North Korea at #2. Russia is #4.)
So yeah, just terminally online woke vs anti woke drama. Nothing really major enough to make the list.
@@KrimsonKattYTWhile we're at it, I do kinda hope that the list gets a dishonorable mention of the "woke content detector" megalist, because that one... Is just hilariously embarrassing. Especially because it's 100% in earnest :/
Also FYI, the graffiti placement that got changed was originally saying "Hard R", which... Well, means the same thing as the N-word. The anti-woke crowd also latched onto one random OTHERWISE FAVORABLE IGN review, particularly one line about Eve's character design, the "it's like the devs have never seen a woman" one, which... Was kinda in poor taste, but it was one line out of an entire article full of mostly good things said about the game.
@ So something outside the games fault, got it. To be honest, it was a good idea to get rid of that. That, and the adding more clothing as well
Yeeeaaaaah, I thought that was going to be #1…. 😅
That aside, glad you gave #2 to LiveALive. That final stage was long, but the finale was perfect! Especially the FINAL BOSS!! It’s almost up there with FF6 and FF7.
Three of my favorites
Dojima HQ from Yakuza 0. The music rocks, the fight is climactic it's just AWESOME
.
Peach's Castle from Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Imside Story. Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and yes, Starlow too vs. Dark Bowser, Fawful, and the Dark Star in a fight for the WORLD
.
And Destroyer's Rift from Borderlands 3. Say what you will ablut the game there weresone KICKASS names like Desolation's Edge .
And the fight against Tyreen the Destroyer was satisfying because you finally get to shut up the other annoying half of the self-proclaimed "God twins"
24:14 Just amused by the Doctor Dances and Lance Archer Theme choices
Derris Kharlan from Tales of Symphonia
It's a looooooooooooooong dungeon full of challenging battles, simple puzzles, the map isn't a huge labyrinth like some final dungeons, the final boss fight was incredible the story beats and character moments leading up to it are incredible and there's a lovely moment with Raine if you didn't meet with her on the final evening (I got Collette)
My only problem. literal only problem is, this is it, the end. Some of the more modern Tales games have like, a post-game dungeon or optional challenges after the credits. In Symphonia you have to do everything you want to including the super boss before the finale. Because once you finish that fight, you go into NG+
I'm glad to see Celeste here, second favorite Indie Game of all time. If you're into challenging platformers, highly recommend
Honorable Mentions:
True Lab (Undertale): Not only is it the location where you finally learn the full truth, but it leads to a cathartic finale.
Crossroads (Omori): Beatiful finale for a beautiful game.
Celestia (Disagaea 1): Who said that Devil's don't cry?
Time-destroying bombs (Project X Zone 2): The best way to end the best crossover RPG in history. Helps that it has two epic tracks.
Final Mystery Labirynth (Master Detectives Archives: Raincode): Fun way to demonstate that (spoilers) was actually (spoilers). Also, who knew that Danganronpa was spoiling this game all along.
12:39 YOU REMOVE THE ORIGAMI KING FROM THAT PILE THIS INSTANT
Nah it earned its spot
@@a1joryj Next to freaking Sticker Star? I don’t think so.
Origami King was at least decent and learns from the mistakes Sticker Star and Color Splash has created.
It's interesting that you have Arkham Asylum in Batman: Origins. After all, all of your skills are put to the test and you face Bane at the end. You have a chance to finally kill Bane and have Joker taunt you, but then you actually save Bane, only to have him turn into Super Bane. Not only that, but you have to deal with a time limit as well. If you don't defeat Bane when the time limit ends, he will kill by breaking you in two. Yet, we use all of our tricks and gadgets to stop Bane once and for all. For all the traveling and side quests, this feels like the boss of all boss battles!
Bowser's Castle, from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Easily the toughest part of the game, Bowser's Castle throws everything at you. You've got Goomba's and Koopa's and pretty much every classic Mario enemy coming for your head, as well as the Seven Koopaling's as individual boss fights with their own unique mechanics, plus Fawful and Cackletta at the very end.
19:05 Yo hyper! Way to go dude! You made it to the big leagues! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
I definitely agree with the primordial thicket that area had several challenges to go through even the night mission were tough since they put not 1 but 2 smoky proggs and a baldy long legs in one on the missions.
Some of my top Final Levels include:
The Gurren Lagaan-esque climax of Blaster Master Zero 2.
Ragnarok's Core from Mega Man Zero 4
The World That Never Was from KH2
Temporal Tower from Explorers of Sky
Area Zero from Pokemon Violet
The final zone of Route C of Nier Automata
The final Abyss of Romancing Saga 3
The Cathedral in Saga Frontier (Emelia's story)
The Final sync in AI Somnium Files
The Forest in No More Heroes 1
The Temple of Eternity from SMTV
Hyrule Castle from Twilight Princess
N's Castle from Pokemon White
Giygas's Lair in the Past from Earthbound
Wow solid list you got some of the my picks like Dominion of Hate,Azure Tree,Primordial Thicket, Palace of Shadows, Temporal Tower,& BOTW Hyrule Castle. My Personal picks
Warcraft 3’s Twilight of the gods like Malfurion said “To arms my brethren! To arms Brave Orcs & Humans! Twilight falls & The Enemy awaits” The final defense mission against Archimonde & His Burning Legion.
Starcraft Brood War’s Omega 3V1 match that pits your Zerg Brood against the Dominion,UED,& Protoss armies & Victory places Kerrigan as The Queen of Blades & Blizzard’s greatest villain!(Well before the 2010s but that is a story for another time…)
For the Hyrulian Shield, it can take *27* Guardian shots before it breaks. That's how durable it is.
I knew No. 1 was going to be that level. Who can blame Josh? It’s truly one of the best final levels in gaming and it deserves the spot. 😊
Some choices of mine for my favorite final levels:
-The Fate of the Universe (Super Mario Galaxy)
-Ghost Bayou (Pac-Man World 2)
-The Divine Terminus (Kirby: Star Allies)
-Final Mission (Metal Slug 3)
-The Tower (NieR: Automata)
-Final Rush (Sonic Adventure 2: Battle)
Those are the ones I can’t remember but they’re possible more out there.
I can’t wait for the Top 10 Fails of 2024. 😊
You know, I had to think, and I think I'd say Veldin from Ratchet and Clank.
It's a gauntlet which tests your arsenal, and pushes your ammo count. You have to make your shots and bolts count. It has it's platforming sections too; or fighting on platforms. And there are very few checkpoints.
And then there's the Drek fight. A legitimate challenge, impressive for the 2000 era it came out in, and again, you have to make your shots count, using all the weapons you can, or pay through the nose for the PDA to come out on top.
Things can be easier if you explored and did side content, such as having more bolts; weapons, up to 8 health instead of 4, and the PDA that was mentioned before; but unless you grinded out the RYNO, Drek and Veldin isn't gonna be a pushover.
Oh; and of course, your adventure ends where it began.
It's the combination of all these factors that make Veldin a great climatic level. Hell; the final boss arena even has grind rails youcan hop on to outpace one of Drek's attacks where he chases you while you fire back at him with the Blaster or another mid-range weapon. It uses Clank's jetpack abilities to stop a countdown. It has Swingshot and platforming in early phases... it tests everything except swimming and the hacking gadgets.
Victory Road
Victory Road
Victory Road
Victory Road
Victory Road
Victory Road
....
...(It goes on, so you can stop now)
Thanks for another great List, Josh and *please* go hug your furbabies all 💙🐱💙
(Love and miss you always my Twinkle, who went to Rainbow Bridge on 3rd November)
19:05 MARIO KART GAMER DUDE!!? Is that my boi!!?
The world that never was, was great final level, just cause of how insane it got.
Another great video. And like you said at the end, you have so, SOOO many choices for the 2024 Fails video...I do NOT envy you in having to choose just 10 options from the year the entire games industry just went completely insane ^^;;
Really, like everyone must’ve been on every version of crack. Also, so much happened this year that I THOUGHT SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUE RELEASED LAST YEAR! Everything went to worse shit this year than the second half of FF6.
If you want to look examples of cartoon final "episodes" (that is another word for levels), look at Come Undone from Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated, Together Again from Adventure Time, Change Your Mind from Steven Universe, The Hardest Thing from Amphibia, A Regular Epic Final Battle from Regular Show, CI from Samurai Jack, Sozin’s Comet from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Weirdmageddon from Gravity Falls and The Last Problem from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic!
Now we wait and see what the next parody song is to round up this year’s fails list.
Wasn’t expecting Lance Archers theme on this list through me off
Nice to see Live a Live again in this countdown...
Curse you Streibough,curse you.
Can't wait to see you in Top 10 Traitors... and Top 10 Sorcerer Bosses.
The World That Never Was singlehandedly solidified KH2 as a 10/10 game for me. I don’t think I’ve played a better game with a more fulfilling final area.
Not gonna lie, when I saw Pikmin, I expected just Cavern for a king.
Called 3 of these this list, including number 1.
I'm so happy that Celeste is on this list. One of my favorite levels in one of my favorite games. Makes me wanna play it again.
Stage 8 of Streets of Rage 2. Never gets old.
Metroid being my favorite series I was hoping something would be at least an honorable mention. Not entirely surprised to see Metroid absent since most Metroid final areas aren't that amazing overall. There are some great moments like the ending of Super Metroid and Metroid Dread, but the rest of the area isn't that amazing. Sometimes it's literally just, "Two Rooms and a Boss" like with Itorash from the aforementioned Metroid Dread and the Sky Temple from Metroid Prime 2. One final area stands out from the rest for me as one of my favorites in any game: The sentient planet Phaaze from Metroid Prime 3. A living planet far beyond the reaches of conventional space travel, Phaaze is the origin and heart of Phazon, a sentient, extremely chaotic radioactive substance that seeks to corrupt everything in the known universe to guarantee the survival of its species. Samus reaches Phaaze after being corrupted with Phazon throughout the game, slowly but surely spreading until she's 75% corrupted. Only for Samus to land on Phaaze and instantly have her corruption level to surge to its maximum. Samus has to vent her Energy Tanks to prevent Terminal Corruption, but that will only delay the inevitable. Now it's a race against time to explore this alien world and destroy Dark Samus once and for all before Samus' corruption becomes fatal. This is what the entire Metroid Prime Trilogy has been building toward, finding the source of all Phazon to destroy it, once and for all.
Scarlet representation lets go. Love that final area.
29:05 Some worlds technically don't seem to impact the main story at all, but that's just from my game experience really. 30:19 A artificial Kingdom Hearts not the real actually. 30:32 Tell that to Xehanorth epic final battle on Scala Ad Caelum from KH3. 30:52 Not really. It really only ended in KH3. 31:13 And i respect that Josh. While me personally KH3 Final Levels, story development, battles, bosses, and the final clash against Xehanort and his Organization 13, are way even better, like a World That Never Was 2.0. I know i said that a lot of times but like Josh is with KH2 Final Levels, i feel the same way but its with KH3 that at least to me and the majority out there it has surpassed the second game, not only technically but in story material as well. I feel like people underate or underestimate KH3 way too much, it deserves more respect, it is a worthy sequel and a great conclusion of a epic saga. And who knows, maybe the future new fourth game may even surpass KH 1/2/3 combined as well. Only time will tell. Just saying. Its only my opinion. Ok?
I was hoping you'd talk about top ten best cooks for thanksgiving
Josh has got them on list, and he shall not desist
As much as I love TWTNW, The Keyblade graveyard and Scala ad Caelum stand as the culmination of the KH series at the point of it's release.
Aaaaahhhh, so that’s where all of the Kingdom Hearts bosses came from
I am happy MarioKartGamerDude is on this channel as a special guest.
This year's fails list will be glorious.
The List. We love The List.
TALES OF LOOOOOOOSS AND FIIIIIIIIIRE AND FAAAAAAAAAAAAAITH
28:47 Man, hearing that music made the pro wrestling fan in me so happy.
What's it called?
@ianmurphy9335 It's Kazuchika Okada's theme, specifically the Dillon Spears version, but the original version is just as good if not better.
@@LeramieCrump Thank you
Honorable Mentions:
Fear The Reaper (Cyberpunk 2077)
Going in gun's blazing alone with upscaled enemies, hell yeah!
American Venom (Red Dead 2)
A great set up for the tragedy to come in John Marston's life.
Dark Beauty Castle (Epic Mickey)
Returning where you started to settle things with the monster that dragged you into this world. The chase scene is intense as it starts ripping the castle grounds from underneath your feet, and proceeds to tear into the walls with nothing but hate in its heart.
Eggmanland (Sonic Unleashed)
Challenging platform sections , smooth transitions into the werehog, before sending you back to the main platforming areas.
Eto (Gravity Rush 2)
Not really a final level, only a final chapter that allows you to learn more about Kat's past before setting up interesting puzzle sections, high stakes, and two final bosses back to back.
Yeah I am not surprised The World That Never Was is on this list.
*sidemouth whisper* Guys I get the feeling Josh doesn't like Carmine
1: Very predictable from Josh, but its a great final level
7: The best Hyrule castle level.
8: Again, atmosphere and the music. If only this had voice acting.
9: I really like the atmosphere of this level
10: One really good and intense level when I was a child.
Nice list, some other great final levels I can think of are Maruki´s castle from Persona 5 Royal, Eldrant from Tales of the Abyss, The moon Super Mario Odyssey and Wawku Shrine Okami