There are many ways to feel empowered, and these open-world games highlight a few different ones.
Do you feel empowered during your everyday life? Personally, I turn to gaming to experience a sense of freedom and satisfaction that is hard to come by in reality. Open-world games can be particularly great at making you feel strong and influential, allowing you to take on absurd odds or make a notable difference to a kingdom/town/city/whatever. You feel like you matter within your world.
Crackdown, Prototype, Saints Row 4, Just Cause, and Marvel’s Spider-Man are all great games that make you super-powerful and unstoppable, but being empowered is not just about obtaining physical (or magical) abilities. Heck, Stardew Valley is arguably one of the most empowering games of all time, and you are hardly OP. So, let’s take a look at a few open-world games that can make you feel pretty darn good.
Ghost of Yotei (Or Tsushima)
Although both protagonists have allies in Ghost of Tsushima and Yotei, Sucker Punch’s games make you feel like you are taking on the whole world with just a few weapons and an unbreakable will to decimate those who have wronged you. The sequel is particularly fantastic as a revenge story, as Atsu’s journey starts when she, as a child, is left to die by the Yotei Six, who also slaughter her family. She has a long road to walk to become the Ghost who can terrorize and take down the most powerful people in her region of Japan, and the player accompanies her on that journey all the way.
As Atsu, you master different weapons, acquire new skills, and gradually take down the people who discarded you like trash. The tight combat is largely based around managing groups of enemies, along with incorporating things like stealth and ranged weaponry. Few things are as awesome as taking down dozens of trained, armed swordsmen while wearing a cool-as-heck mask and not taking a single blow. Then, there are the duels, which might be the most empowering moments in the whole game.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is far from easy, and you spend a lot of time banging your head against seemingly insurmountable walls. The Lands Between is filled with legends, demigods, field bosses, and even regular enemies that can MESS YOUR DAY UP. They can crush you with a single swing of their mallet, while your weapons just chip away at their health. However, you get stronger.
