I personally think that no boss fights are not antiquated, and are a very real mechanic to almost every game. Note I said almost. Bosses are your goal, a real, tangible (you know what I mean in video games) goal that you strive to get to- whether its for the highest score, emotional attachments or straight up the thrill of the hunt. You want that boss, you need that boss and most stories demand that boss.
If you know even the basics of writing a semi-coherent story you know that there must be five things: setting, character, plot, theme and conflict. The setting, character and plot are pretty self explanatory, the theme usually ties it all together, and the conflict can come from many different places, including from inside the main character. But that doesn't stop the conflict from needing to be resolved. Meaning some kind of struggle or work has to be done to get closure. Hence boss fights. Now I made that super simple. I mean, SUPER simple just to give you an idea of how and why boss fights are essential.
I believe that not all bosses are created equal, or even fairly. Some are just cheap and gimmicky which are not fun (boss fights that are mobs- quantity of enemies does not equate to difficulty) but others, the ones that take planning, finesse, the culmination of your skills and time you put into the game, those fights are the reason I game. Like the Dragons in Dragon Age Inquisition, all of the bosses in Bastion and Transistor, the bosses I've beat so far in Vindictus, Ruby Weapon, all the colossi in Shadow of the Colossus, the 'things' in Tower of Pandora and the list goes on. These fights, may not always have had direct correlations to the story, but damn did they make me feel great, accomplished and if they are tied to the story then they give me the satisfaction of knowing I kicked the crap outta some boss and saved lives, got the next piece of the puzzle or whatever other goal I needed to achieve.
I truly believe that games are going away. Good RPGS are hard to come by now, and we've gone and segregated countries into their own genres, confusing and driving people away from a good story (see XenoBlade X) just because it's a JRPG and not a straight RPG. *stupid labels* The new 'breed of gamer' who thinks Candy Crush and only playing online in COD is considered being a 'hardcore gamer' is what is making this topic semi relevant. I've played multi-player arena style shooters and no, there is no boss, no need for one because other humans are your 'bosses', so why would people who stay in that genre think that big boss fights were relevant? I see that, and it makes me weep.
