Top 10 hardest bosses in the game for me

[gungadin22000]

Having managed to beat the game at twilight difficulty entirely solo (unless forced to babysit a companion), I felt that I would rank the hardest bosses in the game for me, which is something I like to do after completing a soulslike. I went through the entire game using katana/odachi and without using any consumables apart from medicine pills. I also tried to avoid using the ki blaze mechanic as I didn't like how long it takes to recharge.

1. The Expelled Student.
One of the few secret bosses I managed to encounter and by a very wide margin the hardest boss in the game. Bayonet users in general are extremely dangerous as they love extending their combos with juuuust one final rifle shot and the Student is highly tanky, does very high damage and has an unreal rate of fire for somebody shooting at you with a 19th century firearm. How do you get a musket to burst-fire!? I only encountered 2 other secret bosses using sword and oxtail blade, both were pushovers compared to the Expelled Student, whom I assume was expelled for the crime of kicking too much ass.

2. Takamori Saigo + Kogoro Katsura gank fight.
The second boss in the game for me was this double-team. Individually, neither one is that much of an issue, but as a couple they're both highly aggressive, mobile and tanky enough to make isolating one for long enough to kill him was impossible for me. In the end, I managed to defeat Saigo first, as his charging attacks open him up for more retaliation than his buddy, then managed to corner Katsura for a hard-fought win. Main difficulty of Katsura is the way he will kill you if Saigo manages to grab you and throw you into a corner, as a standalone fight he is quite manageable.

I shudder to think that the alternative version of this boss for the anti-shogunate faction is made up of Kondo and Jules Brunet, both of whom are WAY harder individually than either Saigo or Katsura.

3. Genzui Kusaka.
The emoest man in the game and the hardest main storyline single boss for me. A hard early game duel in the dojo and an extremely tough fight in the burning ruins of Kyoto. One of the few bosses in the game who strings together martial arts requiring successive countersparks, which is problematic to deal with but manageable with practice. His difficulty is mainly related to him being a dual-sword user, which in enemy hands tends to mean an insane rate of attacks at very little ki cost, making a constant stream of countersparks a neccessity if you want to get any breathing room. Then, to make matters worse, he has a unique fire-based phase 2 leaving burning patches all over the place. It took me nearly an hour to beat this dude and I deliberately avoided facing him in the dojo until the very endgame after that.

4. Kaishu Katsu.
Quite a gimmick-fest of a boss, but he's such a dirty cheating bastard that they're hard to deal with. The blinding bomb comes out fast and is hard to dodge, which can easily result in him killing you while you're stunned, his chain-swinging attack has long range, comes out fast and is hard to counterspark. Couple this with his dual-wielding aggression and you have a real challenge on your hands. He does win the prize for being the most stylish boss in the game: fights off 2 samurai assassins on the deck of his pleasure ship while drunk on sake, never taking off his pimp hat and only bothering to actually unsheathe his sword halfway through the fight, having previously preferred to beat your ass with just the sheath.

5. Hajime Saito.
Very much a no-BS bossfight. Super dangerous at every range, mixes up his attacks with pistol shots and has a highly damaging grab move with extremely awkward counterspark timing. Not much to say about him - very few gimmicks, but still gruesomely hard, being one of the bosses who tend to always do a grab move when you're out of ki, which usually ends the fight. I only managed to beat him after cornering him and spamming the high-ki damage samurai suplex odachi move, resulting in a very satisfying puroresu-themed win.

6. Izo Okada.
The most anime man in Japan and yet another one dual-sword user, which are probably the hardest enemy type for me to deal with. Not many gimmicks here either, just a tough fight against an extremely aggressive emo with two swords, a very spammable revolver and stupid hair.

7. Ryoma Sakamoto.
Does not really seem like he should belong on this list. He is a katana fighter with a pretty basic ♥♥♥♥♥ fighting style as well as a pistol that he mainly fires in an extremely telegraphed manner that can be easily blocked. However, he is the only boss I encountered that can string together 3 martial arts attacks in a row, and messing up any part of the sequence has a high chance of depleting your ki, causing in an instant do-over. The rest of his moveset is forgettable, but if you cannot deal with the 3-martial-art combo, you will likely lose. A one-trick pony and a pretty annoying boss all in all.

8. Blue Demon.
A pretty fun and varied opoonent that is mainly noticable for his martial arts. He has a large variety, throws shurikens, shoots at you point-blank with a pistol and clones himself for a very Naruto-style swooping attack. His large toolbox makes him hard to deal with defensively, thankfully he is not especially durable and can be ki depleted quite easily due to his large offensive output. One of the more fantastical fights in the game and a good challenge.

9. Jules Brunet.
Hadn't expected to fight a Frenchman in 19th century Japan, but I appreciate the history lesson. I appreciate his sword beatdowns a bit less, and I appreciate his shield use a WHOLE lot less. Probably the tankiest boss in my playthrough due to his shield allowing him to no-sell all my combos, making the fight take a lot longer than it ought to. Not really that inherently dangerous, lacking the 1 combo kill potential of, say, Saito, but his sheer toughness makes him way more dangerous than he ought to be.

10. Tatsugoro Shinmon.
Weirdly difficult for what he is - a slow, lumbering opponent with a giant hammer which should be easy to parry. However, he hits hard, takes a beating and has more than one grab move that I just cannot for the life of me work out the counter timing for. Major overachiever of the game for me.

One the flipside, I would rank Jigoro Kano as being the easiest boss in the game. Not a large variety of attacks, and uniquely for an unarmed character, his grab moves are very easy to counterspark. A poor showing for the perhaps most internationally famous character in the game, being the founder of judo and all.

Overall, an extremely satisfying game to beat. It was hard to make a top 10 as there are just SO many bosses, with literally every single one of them being fun to fight and learn. Not often you find a soulslike with no trash bosses.

What are your hardest bosses in the game?

[ONISAIBOT]

Literally none, this game is a single curb stomp compared to Nioh's bosses.

[0wnz0r]

man ur lucky, these secret bosses rly r secret as hell haha

[Lahoo Eckbert]

Kaishu.
It's not diffiuclt but it is just trash design. Actually any oneshot move = lazy game design.

[𝒟𝒶𝓇𝓀𝑜𝓃𝑒259]

Ryoma for me is way higher, more so on midnight he is a nightmare, Hajime Saito too is pretty strong sometimes, sometimes i have no trouble with him though idk it depends