In defense of the Arkham Horror Final Battle.

I just started playing AH earlier this year, and it became an instant favorite. I've never read any Lovecraft and still have no desire to read any, but I find the game to be incredibly immersive and challenging and with layers of interesting possibilities throughout. From the start, the balance between the race to seal gates and the threat of knowing that if you don't, you're going to have to fight a really big bad monster, has always created a great amount of tension. And then it was cool after a few games to realize that in some cases, you might want to just plan to fight the GOO and win that way. It was cool to have that choice, that alternative path to victory, and the different type of game you might play with that in mind. But usually, the best games of AH I've played have involved both aspects; a very near win with closing gates, followed by a tight final battle (usually where you die, but sometimes its very close or you win). Regardless, it's a compelling experience and a fun time.

But of course, to read enough of people's comments about the game, it becomes clear that even among many of the game's most ardent supporters, a lot of people don't like that there is even the possibility of a final battle in the game. I keep reading over and over where people say it is ridiculous for an Investigator to fight a giant 60 foot tall Cthulu using a knife. And yeah, that is ridiculous, but you know what? The whole game is like that! Throughout the game Investigators are fighting all sorts of monsters, some of which are pretty massive and powerful, and sometimes you can defeat them even without any weapons. I'm sorry, but Amanda Sharpe killing a Fire Vampire or Formless Spawn with her bare hands is pretty absurd. But so what... The final battle is just another fight against another monster... like you've been doing all game long... it just happens to be a lot harder with a much more powerful monster, and you are able to all gather together to fight against it (one critique of the game I have is that you can't fight together against monsters throughout the game, which seems like it should be possible and would add more cooperative interaction).

I like how the final battles function, with increasing difficulty for surviving each round, and the different types of things that you need to survive depending which GOO you're up against (clues, monster trophies, etc.). You can always play for the six seals, but I think it's great that the game offers the other approach, and a nice climactic battle to end with if you aren't able to win with the seals. And a lot of times, if the GOO awakes it's a lost cause, anyway, and you don't have to bother doing it because you don't have a prayer. But at least it's there, and if you had prepared or played a little differently you might have had a chance to win that way as a backup plan to the gate sealing.

From an AT perspective, yes, there's been a good amount of dice chucking and some cheering and groaning moments throughout the game, but the final battle steps it up a notch and makes for a bombastic, dice-crashing ending.  Well, unless it's moot and you would die in the first round or two, anyway, which certainly happens sometimes.  But when you've got the GOO down to one or two doom tokens left, and you're hoping to squeak out just enough hits from your surviving Investigators to snuff it out... that is an exciting way to put a cap on the experience of the whole game, whether you succeed or not.

Anyway, I really like the final battles, and I think AH is a better game for having them. So there...