Power/escapist fantasy titles

[tensai_oni]

What are some good power fantasy or escapist fantasy video games that y'all know and enjoyed? I'm talking games where the protagonist is portrayed as being capable and having very strong agency - they can face significant hardship and challenges (obviously, it's hard to have a video game otherwise) but tends to come out on top, as opposed to titles where you get constantly outplayed, manipulated, or otherwise Bad Things happen and you can't do anything about it.

Do note I'm talking good games, so garbage like Duke Nukem Forever is not an example here even if it's technically a power fantasy for some. Similarly, self-aware romps like later Saints Row titles are too ironic to count as really empowering.

[GloatingSwine]

Doom (2016)
Bayonetta
Most Warriors games.

[RyumaruMG]

Seconding Bayonetta, adding the sequel, and basically all of the original Devil May Cry series as well.

Asura's Wrath is great for when you just want to make things explode from fury alone. Or, y'know, punch a god in the face. Repeatedly. With six arms.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine has the distinction of being the only game in which I've seen a pack of enemies and gone "ooooh free health" from the very first level. By which I mean your basic health recovery mechanic is executing the enemies of the Imperium of Man in brutal fashion. It's also packed with fury, boltguns, and chainsword awesomeness.

[GloatingSwine]

By which I mean your basic health recovery mechanic is executing the enemies of the Imperium of Man in brutal fashion.

That's why I reccommended Doom.

It's that, but faster and better.

[tensai_oni]

I knew I should've included some examples in the first post because the interested person in question already played all of DMC, and I believe Bayonetta as well. Other semi-recent examples are Vanquish and the Gravity Rush series.

Anyway thanks for your input so far.

[Cespenar]

Mass Effect? Or, as in the words of the bard:

"You can fight like a krogan, run like a leopard, but you'll never be better than Commander Shepard."

[Zombimode]

What are some good power fantasy or escapist fantasy video games that y'all know and enjoyed? I'm talking games where the protagonist is portrayed as being capable and having very strong agency - they can face significant hardship and challenges (obviously, it's hard to have a video game otherwise) but tends to come out on top, as opposed to titles where you get constantly outplayed, manipulated, or otherwise Bad Things happen and you can't do anything about it.

Do note I'm talking good games, so garbage like Duke Nukem Forever is not an example here even if it's technically a power fantasy for some. Similarly, self-aware romps like later Saints Row titles are too ironic to count as really empowering.

I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly. The description you have given is applicable to the majority of Video game protagonists. Consider Age of Decadence. It is set in a harsh world and the game is rather difficult. But if you do Play your Cards right you do come out on top and it is you who is manipulating and outplaying everybody else. And it is possible to become a God in the end.

But still I got the Feeling that Age of Decadence would not be a title you are actually searching for.


So, what is the missing qualifier for the games you are after? Are you searching for games that Portrait the Protagonist as awesome by Default*?

[Cozzer]

Dragon Age: Inquisition is definitely one, though it's more of a "fixer" fantasy than a "fighter" one. Something like, "after the first two games the whole society is crumbling, but you can lead a force formed from reasonable people from all factions".

You also fight dragons and demonic archmages so powerful that most people consider them gods though, so there's a lot of power fantasy in there.

[Brother Oni]

I knew I should've included some examples in the first post because the interested person in question already played all of DMC, and I believe Bayonetta as well. Other semi-recent examples are Vanquish and the Gravity Rush series.

How much plot are you looking for in your games? Many of the horde shooter/slasher games (the Warriors franchise has already been suggested) will fit the bill.

Warframe is a free to play 3rd person horde shooter/slasher and has a meme video showcasing the journey of a new player from day 1 to day 100: 100 Days of Warframe.

[tensai_oni]

I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly. The description you have given is applicable to the majority of Video game protagonists.

That's true. A majority of video games are power fantasies, or at least have power fantasy elements.

What I am looking for are titles that best exemplify it. Games whose focus is on empowering the player, making the player feel powerful and good about the feats they achieve in-game. That's the strictest definition you're going to get, I'm afraid. In the end, it's all relative. But then, so is asking whether a game is good or not.

EDIT @Brother Oni: plot is not strictly necessary but extra points for plot-heavy games. This is because it's hard to create a game that is both a power fantasy, has good writing, and is a good game. On the other hand if you succeed the effect can be spectacular. Mass Effect series is a good example that was given, except I know the person in question won't like it due to specific plot points (cough cough ME3 ending cough).

[Winthur]

Hitman: Blood Money, Contracts or Hitman 2016: You're the world's greatest assassin and everyone would deem you to be one, except you're barely known by anyone because you are so good that people think you're a myth. The few people you meet face to face to kill basically piss themselves seeing you, or they try to call you out and get immediately wasted by you. Pretty much every time in the series, someone tries to run a ploy where they try to sabotage your efforts in favor of their own dirty agenda, so the overarching plot is that you find the guy who thinks he can outsmart you and you, while, in the meantime, putting a ton of crooked people to sleep in high-profile places. Also, you get an iconic suit and a set of badass guns. Definitely not Absolution because it's a bad game and it's terrible at making you feel like the world's greatest assassin because 1) you barely assassinate anyone 2) you sneak around sewers of Chicago and Hillbillyville instead of globetrotting great cities of the world 3) the game often takes away control over your character in Cutscene Power and very often your character commits idiotic, uncharacteristic mistakes that get him caught and left for dead.

Spoiler: Spoilers for the newest Hitman title

Show

One of the ways you can assassinate a target who is your former boss and who never liked you and tried to get you killed at some point is that you can walk to his hospital bed in just your suit and he will have a heart attack just from seeing you.

Dishonored: You're basically the world's greatest thief/assassin in a gritty steampunk world, but you also have overpowered magical powers. You can play the game as a stealth god and never get spotted, but you can also use your powers to creatively murder people in your path.

The Elder Scrolls series / Bethesda Fallouts: mostly because they generally aren't difficult, they are very immersive due to the vast land and 1st person perspective, and you generally end up becoming the most badass being in the land who kills mythical creatures on the daily and knows every single skill there is to think of. You can mod them to suit your fancy.

[Fri]

RUUULES OF NAAATUUURE (It's revengeance. What else?)

You got the touch! (Shadow warrior remake. It's literally what duke nukem forever hoped to be)

Marlow Briggs and the can't think of amusing way to keep the theme with the previous link. Basically a surprisingly good over the top 3d action game in the line of god of war series combined with all the 80s action series about a single hero defeating a whole army of bad guys.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger a purposefully tongue-in-cheek western fps with unreliable narrator where you play as a supposedly legendary gunslinger telling stories about his adventures in the past

Choice of the Deathless Do you want to be a lawyer-magician who outmaneuver demons in legal battles? because you can.

[oxybe]

Saint's Row. Just... Saint's freaking Row.

The first is a rather generic GTA clone. I never played it since it's Xbox exclusive.

The second has your protagonist recover from the events of the first game and engage in an all-out streetwar that that culminates with a powergrab of a megacorp. It's a bit more tongue in cheek and violent then the normal GTA fare of the time. Also: purple bulldozers fitted with nitro boosters are fun.

The third has our now uber-celebrity protagonist rendered destitude in a different town where you must reclaim your ludicrous wealth from a cadre of bargain-bin illuminati rejects. Through violence. One is a luchador. Also you can recruit Mayor Burt Reynolds to ride shotgun to your antics, as well as a zombie. It's that kind of game.

The fourth has your character (still the same one from the first game) as the President of the USA who's the last line of defense (alongside his cabinet, who are your gang members) against an alien invasion, who've plugged the populace into the matrix to pacify them as they conquor, so after escaping, you form a rag-tag bunch of heroes and dive into the virtual world once more. Also you have superpowers in here. And a Dubstep gun.

Oh, and Keith David, as Keith David, is your vice president.

[Red Fel]

Oh, and Keith David, as Keith David, is your vice president.

Literally the best part.

I mean, having Keith David in a game automatically makes it a good game. Having Keith David reporting to you is the ultimate power fantasy.

... Keith David is awesome.

[chainer1216]

Metal Gear Raising: Revengance

Asura's Wrath

Bayonetta

Any Devil May Cry game, but especially DMC3.

Saint's Row 2, despite you mentioning the series in the OP, SR2 is still worth the time.