There are plenty of staples in the Kingdom Hearts franchise and a boss battle with Darkside has become one of them throughout many of the entries of the series. Darkside is the classic first enemy that Sora ever faced in the original Kingdom Hearts, and it has made its return here as well in Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8’s 0.2: Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage.
After escaping the World Within, you’ll make your way into the Forest of Thorns, where you will eventually come across the boss fight with Darkside. Unlike the sporadic moving Demon Tower, Darkside is a giant creature-based Heartless that actually has a body form.
Overall, this is probably one of the easier boss fights in 0.2: Birth By Sleep, as long as you are careful in one phase of his attacks. Darkside comes with four full health bars, so as soon as the battle starts, target one of his hands and start attacking constantly.
There are a few different attacks that Darkside can pull off with, including forming a giant ball into his hand and shooting it into the sky, leading to a bunch of smaller spell balls falling towards the ground. Keep attacking Darkside as much as you can, while also dodging these balls as much as possible. Getting Spellweaver can help you immensely here as well, as you can stay in the air better when the hands are higher up.
Its other attack that is the most dangerous has it crossing its arms and then pulling its arms in a backward motion and shooting attacks directly from its chest into the air. These will target you directly, so either try to avoid them by letting Darkside’s arms get in the way or outright block. Blocking will actually send them back at Darkside, so that is probably your best choice. Timing your Spellweaver finisher for this part correctly can be very helpful as well.
Also keep an eye out for Darkside’s attack where it slams the ground, with you needing to be in the air to avoid it. Otherwise, just keep attacking as much as you can, while watching out for the different projectiles that can hit you throughout the fight. Use your Curaga wisely and bring along some items if you have them. Eventually you will have to attack Darkside’s head instead of the hand, but just keep attacking and you’ll have it defeated before too long.
