METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE

my solution will cover the the 'final boss battle' - The Senator - and the following is the strategy I used to beat him on hard.

this boss can be a pain if your not well practiced in 'sword mode', Also as a starting point - Id recommend you have health boosted upto at least 150% through upgrades and full energy.

this boss has a few attacks, here I'll deal with the main attacks of the first phase
- slams the ground and causes cracks, which explode a short time after (stay off the cracks)
^ when he is charging this attack you can get in a few cheap blows while hes charging but make sure your clear of the cracks when they explode (you can tell when he's charging this attack as he has a crater surrounding him when using this).

- charged burst : he charges up and the area around him explodes.
^ make sure you get well clear of this one, move as soon as you see him charge.

- charged shockwave: charges up and slams the ground causing upto 3 'shockwaves' to erupt from him
^ ninja run to avoid these (you will figure out how to avoid these easily)

- generic blows: throws a series of kicks / punches
^ these are easily parried, or better yet - dodged with a+x

- charged 'grab': charges up, and hurtles toward you - if he catches you, he dishes out a decent amount of damage
^ get some room between you and him, and at the last second dodge or ninja run and jump to avoid this

- Blow for Blow QTE: there is the possibility you will get into a 'blow for blow' QTE depending on your fighting approach
^ the button prompts are random, just be alert for these, you also get a similar QTE towards the end of the fight - there is also a likely chance your sword will be knocked away as part of the QTE, dont worry you will have plenty of time to collect it again after the QTE is finished.

Once you have pummeled the boss, to 165% or less - he will retreat and start to hurl large objects at you, its at this point you need to prepare for sword mode - and some fancy cutting

- its worth noting, its not a big deal to get to this point without having been hit (even on hard difficulty) and on average have the boss down to 150% health - if you manage to get to this point with full health, you have the added bonus of knowing you can survive 1 failed attempt at the up-coming object throw QTE

- object throw QTE: there are 2 different rockthrow attacks that I have seen, and the only one worth mentioning is detailed below (its the one that occurs the most often).
^ After the boss hurls the first object at you, when prompted, enter sword mode - proceed to line up your attack with the 4 targets at each point. which should be as follows.
1) from top right to bottom left,
2) from top left to bottom right,
3) then horizontally from left to right.
4) After you've cut the 3 objects you will be prompted to cut the boss across the face (this is all in the same sword mode instance)

Its at this point I cant stress enough, how much being fluent in sword mode will help you here, my only tips are use a light touch and practice practice practice - I would have easily completed my first run through on hard, in under 8 hours had I not gotten stuck on this bit for a few hours.

After the rock throw, you will have the ability to collect some health items from around the area - its highly suggested you grab these as they will keep you alive, should you lose your rhythm in battle or have a lapse in concentration.

Now, the rest of the fight should progress much the same as phase 1, however there will be points where the boss begins to heal himself (indicated by a glowing green aura).

This is your green light to strike - get up behind the boss, activate sword mode, and you should find a section of his back highlighted for you to target - this is where you should focus inflicting as much damage as possible.

At the final point in the fight, you will enter a QTE (occurs at approx 15% of boss health remaining) - follow the onscreen prompts and enjoy the ending.