Power is a funny thing to convey in a game. It is easy enough to empower the player, but if you don't balance said power then the game will be too easy and, too often, will become boring fast. However, some titles have managed to thread the needle and deliver games that have been able to make you feel extraordinarily powerful, while still being engaging.

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Some of the best games to make you feel incredibly strong do so by giving you an extremely flexible set of tools. Others deliver that sensation through the game's animations and visual effects, while other titles build your character gradually over time. There isn't just one approach to making an empowering game. When done right, these titles feel like they deliver an experience that is nearly exclusive to video games.

Updated April 23, 2022, by James Kennedy: With games being so heavily focused on delivering that power fantasy experience, this is a topic that never feels like it is irrelevant. And, of course, since publishing this list, we have had a few titles that give you that adrenaline-pumping rush of a game that makes you feel divinely powerful.

However, while we absolutely wanted to highlight a brand-spanking-new game that doubles down on absurd power fantasies, we also want to keep promoting games that have delivered that exhilarating experience in past eras. So, we managed to wedge in a golden oldie as well. For players looking for a title that can make them feel god-like, this list will have plenty of games that will scratch that itch!

13 Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night

Bloodstained Promo Art

Bloodstained is what you get when the creator of Symphony of the Night deliberately sets out to make a spiritual successor to his most beloved game. And you know what? He absolutely nailed it! While in some ways Bloodstained may feel a hair more restrained than its predecessor, there are still some monstrous builds that absolutely shatter the game. While there are some great weapons in Bloodstained, including the Rhava Velar which mimics SOTN's Crissaegrim, the real star of the show here are the shards.

Once you start mixing and matching your shards, leveling them up, and finding what works best against which enemies, you will find that you can absolutely destroy bosses. There is nothing like summoning an 8-Bit monster who just fills the screen with flame pillars and devastates bosses effortlessly. Half of the fun of this title is how, just like in Symphony of the Night, you can find a million hilarious ways to break it.

12 Mega Man 2

Mega Man uses his Metal Blade to destroy a robotic gorilla.

The Mega Man games are, for the most part, pretty hard. When thinking of a series that makes you feel empowered, Mega Man is probably far from most people's minds. This is why the Metal Blade in Mega Man 2 creates an incredibly unique scenario. Suddenly, when equipped with the metal blade, you are able to shoot in eight directions, as opposed to two. The enemies in Mega Man 2 aren't designed around having to deal with the angles that the metal blade is able to hit them with.

And it isn't just the ability to fire in multiple directions, the metal blade hits hard. So, it must be slow to compensate for all these weaknesses, right? Not a chance; it is blindingly fast. Does it take tons of energy to use? Nope! It takes a shockingly small amount of energy. And get this, multiple robot masters are weak to it! It is just an incredibly potent weapon. Mega Man 2, when played using the metal blade, feels like a power fantasy set in the Mega Man world.

11 Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

A screenshot showing a battle in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins

Look, Stranger of Paradise may be a meme at this point, but there is one thing about this chaotic entry into the Final Fantasy series that definitely isn't bullshit: how powerful it makes you feel. From the vicious combos you can string together, to the ludicrously powerful spells you can cast, to the vicious soul burst finishing attacks, this is a game that delivers that feeling of raw power.

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And that is just the basic stuff, the more you take advantage of weaknesses and attack that break gauge, the more powerful you will feel. The extraordinarily silly cutscenes may make you chuckle, but they also deliver that feeling of power. When Jack isn't punching down giant chunks of buildings, he is socking horrifying monsters. And he never, ever flinches. Stranger of Paradise is a game that makes a lot of odd decisions, but it is also a game that makes you feel extraordinarily powerful.

10 Marvel's Avengers

Hulk in Marvel's Avengers

Look, we all know that Marvel's Avengers didn't exactly win universal praise. However, if there is one thing they did extraordinarily well, it is nailing Hulk perfectly. This isn't Hulk's first great video game appearance; The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is an absolutely stellar game. Still, the way the ground shakes when you move, and the pure seismic explosions that Hulk's basic attacks cause, make this version of the Hulk feel pretty special.

The ability to grab an enemy and slam them into the ground over, and over, and over again deserves special recognition. Controlling the Hulk in Marvel's Avengers will make you feel every bit as powerful as controlling the Hulk should.

9 Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night

castlevania symphony of the night alucard main art

Symphony of the Night does a fantastic job of building Alucard up. It starts by stripping him (literally) of all his power. However, by the time you are about halfway through the game, and you have acquired some familiars, learned some spells, grabbed some equipment, and leveled up, you will be blasting through your opponents.

Once you are part-way through the inverted castle, you will have found half a dozen different ways to break the game. Sure, Symphony of the Night's difficulty falls off a cliff during the last quarter of the game, but boy is it an incredible power fantasy by the end.

8 Doom (2016)

Glory Kill in DOOM 2016

Doom is not an easy game, but it is a game that has ample opportunity to be mastered. More importantly, when you do master it, you can feel nearly invincible. It helps that the enemy animations during your glory kills paint a vivid picture of fear.

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These visceral instant-kill sequences often feature them trying to scurry away, and the looks on their face are pure terror. This is the only game that features a bestiary filled with nothing but demonic entities and yet makes you almost pity them. At the end of the day, they never had a chance in hell.

7 Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Raiden art slashing through metal

Solid Snake has always been sturdy, and absolutely had the tools to stealthily dispatch an entire army, but he never felt powerful. The same cannot be said for Raiden in Revengeance. You might think that dicing enemies up into a million pieces in slow motion would eventually get old, but you would be dead wrong. It always feels super cool. But more to the point, it makes you feel extremely powerful.

The boss fights only ramp things up further. You will fight a cavalcade of certified badasses and you will consistently emerge the victor. In the process, you will feel like the ultimate cyber ninja. You could say Raiden rises above the competition.

6 Devil May Cry 5

Dante drives a bike in Devil May Cry 5

Devil May Cry is a series that has always prioritized player expression. No matter which character you are controlling, the game will allow you to utilize their unique abilities and special attacks to absolutely devastate the hordes of enemies on the screen. The best part about this feeling of power is that it is earned.

Devil May Cry 5 feels like a culmination of all the best parts of the previous games. The game gives you a diverse set of moves (spread across multiple characters), but until you master their applications, and figure out how to best chain them to other moves, you won't be able to utilize them efficiently. Devil May Cry 5 gives you everything you could possibly need to be an absolute badass. It is simply up to you to fulfill that potential.

5 Deathloop

deathloop colt kicking enemy over railing

Arkane Studio's games often give you a whole suite of tools to use, but never before have they encouraged you to such a degree to use them to such effect. You will be teleporting from rooftop to rooftop, using your powers to link the fates of your enemies together, and terminating them all at once with a well-placed headshot.

That is, when you aren't launching them a million miles away or using any number of the potent weapons in your arsenal to dispatch them. Or, you know, hacking their own security systems to mow them down with their own automated turret guns. Basically, in Deathloop the world is your playground. Except, it is a playground used exclusively for murder.

4 Bayonetta

bayonetta 3 blinking at camera

The Bayonetta games have several similarities to the king of Character Actions games, Devil May Cry. However, here the powers can get even more outlandish. For starters, that lovable Platinum slowdown mechanic is prominently featured (titled "Witch Time", a delightful play on the classic "Bullet Time" mechanic).

Beyond that, the scenarios presented in the game are dynamic, exaggerated, and completely over-the-top. As you blow through this content you will feel incredibly powerful, hyper-capable, and absolutely unstoppable.

3 Control

control courtney hope as jesse faden in promo art

If there has ever been a game to perfectly scale your power progression, it is Control. While your standard pistol never feels particularly underpowered, and you get the ability to telekinetically fling objects early on, that is just the tip of the iceberg.

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By the time you are in the end game, you will be flying around each arena, gathering debris as a giant shield, throwing said debris back at your enemies, and stealing the minds of their friends. It is a rush. Control never gets easy, but it still makes you feel like the high-powered telekinetic warrior that you are.

2 Lost Judgment

Lost Judgment Yagami ready to fight

When you play Lost Judgment you will probably feel like it is very similar to the previous game in the series, which was the successor to the action line of the Yakuza games. However, once the parry mechanic in Lost Judgment really sinks in, you will realize that a single new mechanic can change everything.

It is absolutely possible for you to fight entire boss battles where they don't tag you a single time - where, instead, you deflect all their attacks and deliver your own devastating combos. Add to that the classic Yakuza heat actions (called "EX Actions") and you have a recipe for feeling absolutely unbeatable.

1 Breath Of Fire: Dragon Quarter

A cropped version of the Japanese cover for Breath Of Fire: Dragon Quarter

How many RPGs have the main character acquire a unique ability that, storywise, makes them extremely powerful? Probably most of them. How often does the game actually make your character feel as powerful as the story would imply they are? Rarely, if ever. There is one very notable exception to that rule, though: Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter.

The trick is that you only have a set amount of dragon power (measured by the D-Counter). Once you run out, Ryu (the game's protagonist) dies. There is no replenishing the power, either. However, when you do use your dragon power (and you will need to against some of the intense boss battles) oh, do you feel powerful. Suddenly, enemies who had previously been too much for your entire party to handle are demolished in an attack or two. Moreover, your attacks clean up groups of enemies effortlessly. It makes you feel invincible (and against most enemies, you are). Choosing when to use your power is a constant struggle, but when you do, your enemies will quake with fear. As they should.

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