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.
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
Ghost of Yotei
- Released
- October 2, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Sucker Punch
- Genre(s)
- Action, Adventure, Open-World
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5
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
The Demigods Will Fall To The Tarnished
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
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. You acquire experience. You learn tricks. You figure out weaknesses. You retreat and return more prepared than ever. You overcome; no matter the challenge, you overcome.
That is what makes Elden Ring empowering, and the same goes for most (good) Soulslike games. While the player can become ridiculously OP, reaching that point is almost always built on hard work, patience, and dedication. The Tarnished have no identity or background, and they start from nothing. Yet, they fight, survive, and prosper in a world that discarded their kind long ago.
Cyberpunk 2077
From A Tool To A God
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
This is the only highlighted game where becoming nonsensically overpowered is central to accommodating a sense of empowerment, but Cyberpunk 2077 is quite different from something like Saints Row 4. Firstly, as an RPG with a highly customizable protagonist, you need to make the right choices if you actually want to become powerful. Otherwise, V will remain a competent shooter with some useful hacking skills who can handle the campaign's enemies without really being a force of nature.
Secondly, the story puts the main character at the bottom of the social ladder, especially if you go the nomad route. V has no home and no clan; they exist alone and accept dangerous jobs for smarter and more powerful people who know better than to go in directly. V, and by extension you, are meant to die and be forgotten in Night City. That is just what happens to people like V. Yet, you become a game-changer, while also (potentially) acquiring so many physical skills and broken cyberware that you might as well be a deity.
Best Open-World Games For Feeling Invincible
These open-world games let players cut through foes like an untouchable force of nature.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (And Its Sequel)
The Story Of A Peasant
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance
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Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start- Released
- February 13, 2018
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Warhorse Studios
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
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10 /10Display card main info widget-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
Display card main info widget end Display card media widget start Display card media widget end- Released
- February 4, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
- Warhorse Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Deep Silver
WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITAL- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action-Adventure, Open-World
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
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Many open-world games start you as a nobody who steadily becomes a somebody, but Kingdom Come: Deliverance elevates this transition through a few different measures. The game is set during medieval times and aims for realism, so you will not be wielding any magic swords or sprinting across battlefields at a million miles an hour. Henry, the protagonist, is just a peasant who is absolutely helpless when his village is raided and massacred, setting him on a quest for vengeance that he does not have the skills to complete.
So, Henry (and you) must learn them. He must learn to use a sword, axe, or bow. He needs to learn how to defend himself. He needs to learn how to hunt, lockpick, and create potions. KCD makes the process of acquiring these skills authentic and time-consuming, so they all feel earned. Even then, you will need to master combat to survive, especially in encounters against multiple enemies. By the end of the story, you are a key name in history.
KCD2 is the better game, but it continues Henry's story.
My Time At Sandrock
A Life Worth Embracing
My Time At Sandrock
- Released
- November 2, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Pathea Games
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Simulation, Farming
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
Ending with something a touch different, My Time at Sandrock is a life sim where you work to build up the eponymous location, helping it grow from a barren desert town to a thriving community. Although it can feel like you are doing everything, the game does a great job of immersing you within Sandrock and injecting life into the NPCs.
Empowering games do not need to be particularly action-driven, and plenty of cozy titles are great options. My Time at Sandrock is a great all-around package that delivers romance, farming, combat, beautiful locations, and a sense of belonging.
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Need a break from everyday life? These RPGs offer rich stories, emotional journeys, and the freedom to disappear for hours.