Feel Empowered With These 5 Open-World Games

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Do you often feel like you have control over your life? I find that gaming helps me feel free and accomplished, something that can be difficult to achieve in the real world. Especially in open-world games, you can feel powerful and important, whether you’re overcoming huge challenges or truly impacting the world around you. It’s a feeling of making a real difference.

Games like Crackdown, Prototype, Saints Row 4, Just Cause, and Marvel’s Spider-Man are fun because they let you feel incredibly powerful, but feeling empowered isn’t just about having superpowers or strong abilities. Surprisingly, even a game like Stardew Valley can be incredibly empowering, and you’re not particularly powerful in that game! So, let’s explore some open-world games that can genuinely make you feel good about what you’re doing.

Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim are all good options, but it is mostly up to you how powerful you get.

Ghost of Yotei (Or Tsushima)

Get Sweet, Sweet Revenge While Being A Badass Ronin

Both Ghost of Tsushima and its sequel, Yotei, feature characters with allies, but Sucker Punch Productions’ games create a strong sense of facing overwhelming odds with limited resources and sheer determination. The sequel stands out as a particularly compelling revenge story: Atsu’s quest begins when she’s abandoned as a child by the Yotei Six, who also murder her family. The game follows her entire journey as she trains to become the formidable Ghost, capable of striking fear into and defeating the most powerful figures in her area of Japan.

In this game, you play as Atsu, learning to fight with various weapons and gaining skills to defeat those who wronged you. Combat focuses on skillfully handling groups of enemies, using stealth and ranged attacks when needed. It’s incredibly satisfying to defeat large numbers of skilled, armed opponents while wearing a striking mask and remaining unharmed. The one-on-one duels are particularly rewarding and feel incredibly powerful.

Elden Ring

The Demigods Will Fall To The Tarnished

Elden Ring is a truly difficult game, and you’ll often find yourself struggling against tough opponents. The world is packed with powerful creatures – from legendary demigods to challenging bosses and even common enemies – that can quickly defeat you. They hit hard, while it takes a lot of effort to damage them. But you do get better. You gain experience, learn new strategies, and discover enemy weaknesses. You’ll need to retreat and come back prepared, but ultimately, you will overcome any obstacle the game throws at you.

What truly makes Elden Ring feel rewarding, and what many great Soulslike games share, is that becoming incredibly powerful requires real effort, patience, and commitment. You start as a nameless, forgotten character with nothing to your name, but through struggle and perseverance, you can overcome the challenges of a world that has cast you aside and ultimately thrive.

Cyberpunk 2077

From A Tool To A God

While some games let you become ridiculously powerful just for fun, Cyberpunk 2077 approaches empowerment differently. As a role-playing game where you create and customize your character, you actually have to make choices to become truly strong. If you don’t, your character, V, will be skilled at shooting and hacking, capable of completing the game, but won’t feel overwhelmingly powerful.

The game starts with the main character, V, in a very low position – especially if you choose a nomadic lifestyle. They’re a loner, without a home or family, taking risky jobs for those with more power and influence. In Night City, people like V are usually expendable, meant to die unnoticed. However, you have the potential to become incredibly powerful, gaining skills and cybernetic enhancements that could make you almost godlike.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance (And Its Sequel)

The Story Of A Peasant

Lots of open-world games begin with a weak character who gradually becomes powerful, but Kingdom Come: Deliverance makes this journey feel especially realistic. Set in the Middle Ages, the game focuses on authenticity – you won’t find magic or superhuman speed here. You play as Henry, a simple peasant who’s completely unprepared when his village is attacked. This event kicks off a revenge quest, but Henry lacks the skills needed to succeed, making the challenge feel truly daunting.

Both Henry and the player will need to learn essential skills. This includes weapon proficiency – swords, axes, and bows – as well as self-defense, hunting, lockpicking, and potion-making. Kingdom Come: Deliverance makes learning these skills feel realistic and takes time, so every achievement feels deserved. Even after learning, mastering combat is crucial for survival, particularly when facing multiple opponents. Ultimately, your actions will establish Henry as a significant figure in history.

KCD2 is the better game, but it continues Henry’s story.

My Time At Sandrock

A Life Worth Embracing

For something a little different, My Time at Sandrock is a life simulation game where you rebuild a desert town and turn it into a bustling community. While you handle a lot of the work, the game excels at making Sandrock feel alive and its characters engaging.

Games that make you feel capable don’t always have to be fast-paced or full of action; many relaxing games are excellent choices. My Time at Sandrock is a well-rounded game that offers a little bit of everything – romance, farming, fighting, lovely scenery, and a feeling of community.

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2025-10-28 07:35