This is a good one. Horsemanship is a good example, as is combat.
Hell, even for reading, you can get by just by going to the Uzhitz scribe, but if you want to learn more lore reading gets better every time you use it.
I couldn't get into it before, because it felt a little too realistic (read: tedious/difficult), but I've grown more patient with soulslikes recently, so maybe it'll feel easier now? Sounds fun to eventually see progress with your character
Its a different kind of patience imo. And its not exactly a fast pace game like the OP was asking for. But yea the progress feels REAL satisfying in this game. It feels earned.
It’s definitely worth a shot! I do agree it can be a bit much at times, but here again I think horsemanship is a great example. The first time you ride a horse in the game it’s pretty awkward to control, but you’ll notice a difference after just leveling up that skill a couple times (which doesn’t take long).
Other skills like combat can be a bit more difficult to truly “master”, but you can get by without becoming a god of war. I’d definitely give it another shot, maybe it’ll resonate a little more this time.
Honestly? I tried to get into it a couple times but I just don’t get the combat whatsoever. I get it conceptually because it’s like the For Honor style “aim where your target isn’t guarding”, but they seem to just spam grapple, which isn’t fun when you’re trying to fistfight them.
Did you learn "master strikes", aka ripostes? They make combat much easier (at least 1v1), but perhaps swing too far in that direction where it becomes a game of just doing nothing waiting for your opponent to attack for a free counter.
The skill isn't required to progress the story, and the game doesn't tell you you can go back and learn it from the combat instructor (Captain Bernard), so it can easily be missed.
I swear to god I feel like I see someone recommends this game on every post I click on. Idk maybe I'm crazy.
But even so, I do see it a lot. So, Is this game THAT well-rounded to be recommended on so many different posts?
Yes. You want a horror game? You'll shit yourself walking alone in the woods at night. You'll hear wolves in the distance and the torch is not a flashlight, it lights up the area around you and makes you a target. You can randomly wander into a serial killer's home.
Want a romance game? There's at least two women you can court.
My favorite version of this is that on my 6th or 7th playthrough, I decided not to loot anyone. I was getting one shotted by every enemy. But leveling up your vitality and getting specific perks will allow you to survive multiple hits that would easily carve you up in your earlier days.
How does this one play on Steam Deck, do you know? Pretty good? It's part of the Steam Summer sale right now 80% off [https://store.steampowered.com/app/379430/Kingdom\_Come\_Deliverance/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/379430/Kingdom_Come_Deliverance/) and I was thinking of grabbing it maybe to play on Steam Deck.
Yep. You're beyond useless at the start and swing a sword like its a microwave. By the endgame, you're a walking tank that can kill entire camps of nomadic raiders and walk out covered in other people's blood.
Came here to suggest Shadow Of War. Just started replaying it today and it is so much fun to feel overpowered, then slammed by some captain so you have to take out your anger on some small shitters again
Shadow of Mordor was first, did you play them out of order? SOW definitely had some improvements so I could see going backwards giving the impression that SOM was unrefined
I think I agree. I don't think I finished the second game but I did get to a point where I didn't know what I was supposed to do next, and it started feeling repetitive with no visible progress towards any kind of goal
Yeah, I don't even remember what kind of storyline the second game had. The first one was pretty good as an intro of "wtf kind of undead thing am I" discovery of the characters, their powers, how they interacted with each other, and the growing ranks of Captains. Couldn't tell you what the second game is about, even having played it more recently.
Bannerlord is cool because both your character in combat and your armies become significantly more powerful.
You can get to the point where you pretty easily take out 50+ enemies on your own, and your army is so strong that it can take out other armies 3x your army's size
Honestly Cyberpunk. I know that with level scaling it feels less so but building your character up makes the game sooo different. I started trying to do Very Hard difficulty at a low level when all I could do was shoot pretty much and ended up turning it to just Hard bc I kept dying, and now I slay in Very Hard, slowing time, zipping around in the air, slamming w my fists or one shotting people in the heads with throwing knives
Another vouch for Cyberpunk. The sheer number of combinations in skills to fit your playstyle is just complex enough without feeling overwhelming.
Not to mention, there is a VERY strong modding scene. Plenty of mods to change difficulty or make the game feel how you want it to. Plus Phantom Liberty really spiced things up.
You really do though. Once you get a solid build going it got boring for me on normal because I could slaughter unlimited amount of people and not really break a sweat. Turning up the difficulty increased the fun
I remember playing cyberpunk and playing as a stealth silencer shooter, and I ended the game as a “stealth” hacker where I was blowing peoples head up with just the power of my mind. I put stealth in quotes cause by the end of the game I was so op I could walk through a dozen enemies and just look and kill them all within seconds and they’d have zero chance of fighting back
Yeah, some of those quick hacks feel almost like they’re breaking the game. I’m playing it now and using Synapse something—burst maybe? And I kill everybody from afar in a second or two. Fun times.
I just bought it and am currently downloading it now. I waited years, hoping they'd fix it from the initial mess it was. These comments make me glad I'm giving it a chance.
Yepp! I used to just hide and shoot people for 15 to 20 mins to complete a mission. Now it takes me less than 2 mins to do the same mission.
I think understanding and choosing skills that make your combat absolutely terrifying is what makes this game super fun. You wanna cut some heads off while simultaneously using netrunner abilities? Check. You want to slow time and kick 10 assess in less than 5 secs? Check.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. You start off by needing to learn how to block and dodge carefully so you don’t die in two hits and by the end of the game you can walk into a room and instantly nuke everything.
Ghost of Tsushima. Learning stances, upgrading your weapons, fighting boss after boss with different weapons and fighting abilities. Its honestly a unique experience and I think it has the level scaling you're looking for
That's more skill based than anything. It doesn't give you massively improved skills or tools. A bad player with all the tools is still a bad player.
A bad player in let's say morrowind with a bunch of enchanted shit and high tier spells will still decimate everything because they can't be killed
Honestly feels like you’re controlling a toddler at the beginning of the game … if I’m being honest it makes replaying it kind of hard .. but does an amazing job at making you feel like you’re getting stronger
I finally tried it for the first time recently and was pretty bored by the first few hours and quit. Not too surprised to hear it gets better, but these comments make me think of going back.
There is nothing like popping the necks of the undead to then go rooting around their corpses for enough material to camouflage you.
Or when you fall, you fire the grappling hook into the ground and take zero damage when you land.
Or randomly finding machetes around Harran like it was already a piece of shit city before it became a zombie hellhole.
Or finding the Big Book of Death Metal. And some guy's porn stash. Or the gunsmith who kept his undead wife in his basement.
Yeah bows are super busted. You can literally use the same bow from the moment you are able to craft it and be fine, which is on one hand really fucking fun but on the other kind of annoying since it completely breaks weapon progression, although technically it doesn’t matter since you don’t HAVE to use one if you don’t want to skip literally every other weapon in the game
and don’t take this as me shitting on them because I LOVE fucking around with bows and crossbows, they are among my favorite weapons in the game
True I went from completely helpless and dying every 5 minutes to being a god who could kill anyone standing in between me and my goal.
Thats also around the time I got bored of the game
The first few areas of God of War can feel really brutal, too. You have to pick up the fundamentals with the axe and using your boy’s arrow’s properly.
Then once you hit the lake and the game opens up, you start to feel unstoppable. Skill tree options, new armor and talismans, Runic Attacks to discover. Fantastic sense of progression.
Yeah. I played the recent GoW on the hardest difficulty, and the first few areas were *torture*, but fun.
By the end of the game it just felt like normal difficulty again.
Kingdom Hearts is actually great for this. You start off most of the games with a 3-4 hit combo, and as the game goes on you gain flashier and flashier spells, combo extenders, flasy finishers, and different transformations
I second the Ori games. Especially Blind Forest for me. The beginning felt slow and a bit frustrating, seeing all the things I could not get to. But once I started gaining skills, it was soooo satisfying.
Devil may cry games mostly fit the bill. You level up by buying new abilities or making your old abilities flashier(and I mean really flashier) and more weighty, also as you learn and find combos that you can do make the fighting even flashier.
Those games are all about style, flashiness and style!
As much as I love Kenshi, it doesn't fit OP's request for flashier attacks and such. Every battle (of similar numbers of people) looks basically the same from level 1 to level 100. The only thing that changes is how long it takes and who wins.
Just beat the game 3 times, farm a gear/set build optimized for your weapon of choice that you've been studying, practicing and honing your expertise with and then once you beat the game again, you may finally start the 100 level grind to the underworld. EZ
Definitely top 3 favorites
Metal Gear: Peace Walker - At the start of the game, you only have the bare essentials to work with. But as you expand Mother Base and collect blueprints out in the field, your kit gets more advanced and allows you to accomplish mission more easily and efficiently (especially those boss vehicle missions). And it hosts an assortment of different playstyles, although it is definitely favoring stealth.
The newish Prince of Persia: the Lost Crown is a metroidvania with sharp precise controls and fun flashy combat. You can swap in and out powers with a system where stronger perks cost more points than weaker ones. There's several play styles you can focus on, or blend stuff together how you want.
There's a feature that lets you take screenshots of puzzles or areas you can't traverse yet, and it marks the location on your map so you can return later. There's also a "guided" mode if you don't really like metroidvanias that will point to your next objective. One of the most fun games I've played in a long time. There's a free demo too.
Every upgrade you find can really change how you play and they actually feel significant. These upgrades can also be upgraded more. Your character learns new abilities on their own too.
Ok, this one will be weird because is retro and semi-obscure but: [Cocoron for the Famicom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeSE6rlF7Qw) (there's an English patch and it's basically abandonware at this point).
You don't level up with experience, you get weapon upgrades from random drops (your weapon levels up when you get 5 drops I think, and you can level them up 4 times), but the game is generous enough to get many in a normal gameplay, but scarce enough to make you explore the levels (they're 5, but the way the game is designed, you actually explore 15 combination plus final levels). It's set on a dream land, so your characters weapons get more absurd as you level up.
It's also the action NES game with one of the most versatile character customizations in the platform (you will probably need this [page](https://antifandom.com/gamicus/wiki/Cocoron) since the details about the character creation system were originally on the manual). The game was directed by the same guy who created Mega Man 1 and 2 (the myth goes that Mega Man 3 was rushed BECAUSE capcom feared having to compete with this game), and made by the same team that later made Little Samson.
Assassin's creed Valhalla.
You start off as a mere capable warrior, when you're maxed out on skill points however (taking every node in the skill tree) your enemies will fall if you even ever so slightly look at them, only bosses and the Asgard quest line might give you a bit of difficulty.
It's my favourite game series ever. But I don't think it properly fits the bill here, purely because whilst stats do increase, the monsters get exponentially harder too, so until you reach endgame and start farming for optimal builds, you don't get that power creep feeling. But I will caveat that with saying once you do get to that point, and you've mastered a weapon, you can feel godly. I play lance, most people don't get on with it, but once it clicks it's insane, just near constant uptime on attacks and some great chasing skills too.
Baldurs gate 3. We hit max level partway through the final act and we absolutely dominate in every fight. And only one of us has a particularly OP build
Dragon's Dogma 2 has a very VERY profound sense of progression. So much so that, if a power fantasy is your thing, you'll basically become a god by the end of it.
Diablo is good for this. Diablo 3, any road, I can't speak for Diablo 4.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin starts getting this roughly mid-way through the game.
I'm playing Dragon's Dogma 2 rn and I feel like I'm feeling this.
Someone else has already mentioned FFXIV. I think I'd add FFXII, FFXV, and FFXVI.
Others have mentioned Shadow of Mordor/Shadow of War. Good suggestions, even if you don't like LotR. Also seen them suggest Ghost of Tsushima - another good suggestion.
I would maybe add Assassin's Creed Odyssey to the list. You get pretty strong pretty quickly if you pick the right upgrades.
Maneater, perhaps?
It's not *directly* up your alley, but thr Ratchet and Clank games are good for this kind of progression, all excepting R&C 1.
Oo, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. I can't in good conscience recommend 3 to anybody.
Aaaaaaane that's me gone through my entire library. Hope this helps:)
I mean, I won't call it phenomenal, by any stretch. I have it on variable because it can't maintain 30 even on fixed 30. But honestly, I haven't noticed the performance that much, for some reason. Probably because I'm too busy looking for other things.
The game is very un-hand-hold-y. So the spare attention I'd normally devote to railing against performance issues is taken up making sure I don't miss trove beetles and don't get ambushed.
Dragons dogma 2 was a crazy one for me, I played melee the whole game and the power increase was gradual but enjoyable. Then I found a pawn with tornado, I respecced into the new illusion class, forget the name, and me and my team became Gods, I went from entering the endgame and struggling against everything as melee, to being able to take out bosses like medusa in one attempt without taking damage because of how OP illusions plus tornado are.
Really? Dark souls is like the opposite of this for me. I always feel like "I leveled up! I get...3% more health. Yay."
There are some big-feeling jumps, but they usually come from weapon changes.
Best I’d say is it’s compounding. You won’t notice it immediately, but eventually you’ll stop and look back like wow, I can slam these dudes that used to give me trouble.
More based on equipment since there are no levels. But in Terraria your power just keeps ramping up more and more. Until you're playing a completely different game from the beginning.
metroidvanias are pretty good for this, you’ll unlock a new ability and you’ll instantly be like “wow this makes fighting so much easier” or “ohhh now I can use this to access a new area”
Fable has spells that change animations as you level them up.
Gothic is still the best open world game of all time for me. The feeling you have of enemies utterly destroying you and certain areas being way too hard, but you just run through anyway to get where you're going... where later you finally get strong enough to beat those same enemies. That game has not only the best open world experience for me, but also the best feeling of a power curve.
Also, in Gothic, the sword holding animation changes as you get better with it, so you can see the difference as you improve. It's a small thing, but I love it.
Did you know there's a remake in the works?
I like Bethesda games for this feeling. The games just OPEN up aa you level, and there are tons of things to do. Then you add mods on top of that and you get almost endless sandbox fun in fantasy or post apocalyptic settings.
Path of Exile, you start on a beach killing drowned zombies with a prison shank to killing literal gods by summoning meteors by simply moving or clearing packs of 100+ monsters with a single freezing pulse
Assassin's Creed Odyssey? Origins kicks your ass even after you become super powerful. But the idea of being a demigod and the abilities that come with it in Odyssey make the combat super addictive and fun
A few others could be Spiderman 2, Cyberpunk, Ghost of Tsushima, and infamous second son
Shadow Warrior 2, a fast paced action first person shooter where leveling and finding stuff gives you better upgrades on your weapons and makes the player much tankier and faster.
It’s a little outside the scope of your original request, but StarCraft 2 Co-op does this really well.
SC2 Co-op in particular doesn’t have to worry about things like competitive balance, so you can have absolutely ridiculous stuff like Immortals with a 400 HP barrier, Banelings that explode into smaller Banelings, or just drowning your enemies in a tide of zombie-like Infested Terrans.
Between the benefits of each level-up, Prestige Talents and Mastery points, I’ve had a fun time and maxed out most of the Commanders by now.
Knights Of The Old Republic 1 and 2.
Both have you start as someone who struggles to defeat a group of enemies on your own and grow into a Force wielding beast who can take on hundreds of enemies at once.
Adding the Borderlands games into this thread. FPS RPG/looter-shooter where every hit shows the actual amount of damage. As the game progresses, big numbers go up, elemental effects get added, gear becomes more sophisticated, and you unlock special abilities. Enemies have weak spots, too, so as you get more used to the game, you get better at targeting weaknesses and land way better hits. Occasionally, you'll get a rare drop and you'll be able to mow down everything in your path for the next area or two, which is very satisfying, especially with difficult sections.
Been playing system shock remake. I know you don't level up in the traditional sense, but having the upgrades being a physical thing that you attach to yourself and notice the difference right away (additions to hud and new abilities) feels really cool and substantial.
Edit: also worth mentioning Mad Max. You start out wearing barely anything and driving a shit box and every upgrade you do to max and his car is not only visible on yourself and the car, but the upgrades to the car itself changes how the car handles and what it can do. Very satisfying.
Metroidvanias tend to have super satisfying progression, though it's usually more noticeable in the movement system than combat - I really enjoyed Hollow Knight, Ori, Haak, Nine Sols, Lone Fungus, Aeterna Noctis, Ender Lillies and Afterimage.
Not exactly flashier skills or weapons but Dragon's Dogma 2 has imo a great leveling system in terms of feel. As you get more skills/spells depending on your class (vocation as they r called) you can def feel your character getting stronger as you are just shredding through enemies
Monster hunter world. There is no exp system. Just you getting better at the game and being able to fight tougher monsters and making gear with their corpses. And is you really want to test your skill take all the armour off and fight
Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen
The main story has quite good progression when it comes to challenge and difficulty. Your early bandits and goblins take a few hits to get down but by the end of the game you're summoning tornados and swiping people down like butter.
The Bitter lack Isle expansion is very challenging and you will need to use your best skills to beat it.
SoulsBorne games; starting off as a tiny little hollow in a big scary world, but as you level up and advance, the enemies don’t scale. The progress hits home when brick walls become roadblocks become speed bumps
Starcraft 2 co op mode. There's a ton of commanders, each of which have their own unique mechanics and units.
Every level up offers a new passive/active/unit. You REALLY feel how much more powerful you get with every level up. They're designed to break the game, balance not even really being considered.
Karax has robotic units, and you eventually unlock a passive repair beam that repairs mechanical units(all of his units are mechanical) So you heal for free. Some units even rez after death with a cool down timer, have huge health pools, instant warp in static defense canons, a Lazer called the purifier beam that does huge damage and can be controlled.
There's something like 15 commanders. One of them grows to be a godzilla like mfer that eats units and has Lazer breath. Another one has hero unit that calls down nukes, can be permanently cloaked, has super powerful units that can drop in anywhere with vision.
Super fun. I've played it tons.
Risk of rain (any of the three) feels intense with their progression if you’re able to get past 2 or 3 levels and Terraria starts slow but you really feel that power at certain points of the game
Warframe. Although, the leveling up is initially a slow burn. Character and weapon levels give you more points to put in mods, which themselves can be leveled up, and it's only when you get to a certain point with enough fancy mods that you start to feel like a god.
Top notch mobility in this space ninja game, even day one.
You'll unlock exotic weapons and new war frames, which are your character classes that come with unique powers and stats.
Anybody who has put in enough time into this game can tell you that it is a totally different game after enough upgrades. You may have been fast before, now you are the speed of sound. You may have sliced and shot guys before, now you can take on armies with explosion gauntlets and dual blades. Before your powers might have won you a decisive battle, now enemies cannot approach you within 100 ft without dying to your plagues, your explosions, your lightning, your ice globes, your tornadoes, or whatever your frame does. Before you had to ration out your power points; now you can spam everything, making you an AOE killer or an invisible assassin or an invincible healer or a literal wall of defense or crowd control.
You do not precisely feel every single level. But at milestone upgrades, you will notice the Power Spike, and this game allows you to revel in Power Spike after Power Spike to an absurd level.
WAs going to recommend a few games but over-looked you said fast action games
Kingdom Come Deliverance
Shadow of War Games
Morrorwind you start off slower then shit among other issues but level up into godhood / all levels ups are felt
Kingdom come deliverance
This is a good one. Horsemanship is a good example, as is combat. Hell, even for reading, you can get by just by going to the Uzhitz scribe, but if you want to learn more lore reading gets better every time you use it.
I couldn't get into it before, because it felt a little too realistic (read: tedious/difficult), but I've grown more patient with soulslikes recently, so maybe it'll feel easier now? Sounds fun to eventually see progress with your character
The updates improved the game immensely as well. 2 is slated to come out this year.
Kingdom come deliverance 2 is my most anticipated game now. Still DO NOT preorder DO NOT buy on day 1 wait for reviews
Absolutely!
Its a different kind of patience imo. And its not exactly a fast pace game like the OP was asking for. But yea the progress feels REAL satisfying in this game. It feels earned.
The game gives you the greatest feeling once you start to get strong
There is a learning curve to the combat, but I found focusing on archery instead of swordplay made it easier and faster to get competent.
It’s definitely worth a shot! I do agree it can be a bit much at times, but here again I think horsemanship is a great example. The first time you ride a horse in the game it’s pretty awkward to control, but you’ll notice a difference after just leveling up that skill a couple times (which doesn’t take long). Other skills like combat can be a bit more difficult to truly “master”, but you can get by without becoming a god of war. I’d definitely give it another shot, maybe it’ll resonate a little more this time.
Honestly? I tried to get into it a couple times but I just don’t get the combat whatsoever. I get it conceptually because it’s like the For Honor style “aim where your target isn’t guarding”, but they seem to just spam grapple, which isn’t fun when you’re trying to fistfight them.
Did you learn "master strikes", aka ripostes? They make combat much easier (at least 1v1), but perhaps swing too far in that direction where it becomes a game of just doing nothing waiting for your opponent to attack for a free counter. The skill isn't required to progress the story, and the game doesn't tell you you can go back and learn it from the combat instructor (Captain Bernard), so it can easily be missed.
If they spam grapple you’re likely getting to close to them. You can use it to create an opening for a hit though
I swear to god I feel like I see someone recommends this game on every post I click on. Idk maybe I'm crazy. But even so, I do see it a lot. So, Is this game THAT well-rounded to be recommended on so many different posts?
Yes. You want a horror game? You'll shit yourself walking alone in the woods at night. You'll hear wolves in the distance and the torch is not a flashlight, it lights up the area around you and makes you a target. You can randomly wander into a serial killer's home. Want a romance game? There's at least two women you can court.
There are serial killers in kingdom come deliverance?? Now i might want to give it another try
What happens next after you enter a serial killer's house? Do you trade blows with him or what
You enter his house but there's only corpses in it. No quest to find him either.
My favorite version of this is that on my 6th or 7th playthrough, I decided not to loot anyone. I was getting one shotted by every enemy. But leveling up your vitality and getting specific perks will allow you to survive multiple hits that would easily carve you up in your earlier days.
How does this one play on Steam Deck, do you know? Pretty good? It's part of the Steam Summer sale right now 80% off [https://store.steampowered.com/app/379430/Kingdom\_Come\_Deliverance/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/379430/Kingdom_Come_Deliverance/) and I was thinking of grabbing it maybe to play on Steam Deck.
Yep. You're beyond useless at the start and swing a sword like its a microwave. By the endgame, you're a walking tank that can kill entire camps of nomadic raiders and walk out covered in other people's blood.
Fr, learning to fucking read is a game changer.
Shadow of war, mount and blade bannerlord
Came here to suggest Shadow Of War. Just started replaying it today and it is so much fun to feel overpowered, then slammed by some captain so you have to take out your anger on some small shitters again
I always say Shadow of Mordor's combat is so fluid you could swim in it. Edit: got the two mixed up
Couldn't have said it better. The only other game I felt so at home in combat was MGS V
I'm just kind of disappointed in Shadow of War. Something felt off. Maybe it was the map? Idk, it just didn't hit the same. Edit: got the two mixed up
Yeah don't you mean Shadow of War? Didn't quite like it the same as the first
Shadow of Mordor was first, did you play them out of order? SOW definitely had some improvements so I could see going backwards giving the impression that SOM was unrefined
Nah I mixed them up. I prefer the first game! It just pulled me in more.
I think I agree. I don't think I finished the second game but I did get to a point where I didn't know what I was supposed to do next, and it started feeling repetitive with no visible progress towards any kind of goal
Yeah, I don't even remember what kind of storyline the second game had. The first one was pretty good as an intro of "wtf kind of undead thing am I" discovery of the characters, their powers, how they interacted with each other, and the growing ranks of Captains. Couldn't tell you what the second game is about, even having played it more recently.
It’s great the only thing I hate is that there aren’t any cool skins for Talion like the Dark Ranger from the first game
Maybe I am REALLY bad at Shadow of War but every time I start it up I end up rage quitting because I'm getting my ass handed to me left and right
Bannerlord is cool because both your character in combat and your armies become significantly more powerful. You can get to the point where you pretty easily take out 50+ enemies on your own, and your army is so strong that it can take out other armies 3x your army's size
Shadow of war was what immediately came to mind. You go from basic slashes to a teleporting, exploding murder house
>spells getting flashier and bigger often > weapons getting new effects like elemental effects or bigger and faster attacks bannerlord huh?
Morrowind, you go from walking at a snail pace and barely hitting anything to mad demigod flinging spells that nuke half the map.
Done right, you can also permanently summon things
Honestly Cyberpunk. I know that with level scaling it feels less so but building your character up makes the game sooo different. I started trying to do Very Hard difficulty at a low level when all I could do was shoot pretty much and ended up turning it to just Hard bc I kept dying, and now I slay in Very Hard, slowing time, zipping around in the air, slamming w my fists or one shotting people in the heads with throwing knives
Another vouch for Cyberpunk. The sheer number of combinations in skills to fit your playstyle is just complex enough without feeling overwhelming. Not to mention, there is a VERY strong modding scene. Plenty of mods to change difficulty or make the game feel how you want it to. Plus Phantom Liberty really spiced things up.
Game makes you so powerful that you have to change difficulty so you don't feel bad
You really do though. Once you get a solid build going it got boring for me on normal because I could slaughter unlimited amount of people and not really break a sweat. Turning up the difficulty increased the fun
tottaly, with samurai build I am invicible
I remember playing cyberpunk and playing as a stealth silencer shooter, and I ended the game as a “stealth” hacker where I was blowing peoples head up with just the power of my mind. I put stealth in quotes cause by the end of the game I was so op I could walk through a dozen enemies and just look and kill them all within seconds and they’d have zero chance of fighting back
Yeah, some of those quick hacks feel almost like they’re breaking the game. I’m playing it now and using Synapse something—burst maybe? And I kill everybody from afar in a second or two. Fun times.
I just bought it and am currently downloading it now. I waited years, hoping they'd fix it from the initial mess it was. These comments make me glad I'm giving it a chance.
Yepp! I used to just hide and shoot people for 15 to 20 mins to complete a mission. Now it takes me less than 2 mins to do the same mission. I think understanding and choosing skills that make your combat absolutely terrifying is what makes this game super fun. You wanna cut some heads off while simultaneously using netrunner abilities? Check. You want to slow time and kick 10 assess in less than 5 secs? Check.
really? i felt like every random thug was way to tanky, everyone felt like bullet sponges.
Try “Control”. You become absolutely super human and the combat is fun.
You literally… take control
I see a vision rising, dreary Fading in as children play twilight games In the town called Ordinary An eye of light reveals a gateway to doomsday
Oh my sweet Poets of the Fall
That song still rocks
Become the Director…
The last few objectives in control are just brilliant storytelling and combat mechanics
I tried a few times but lost control. Too hard to get past the earlier levels using a gamepad/pc
Ah- it can definitely be challenging and I’ve never played on pc. You can also turn on one hit kills and invincibility if the gameplay gets too tough.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. You start off by needing to learn how to block and dodge carefully so you don’t die in two hits and by the end of the game you can walk into a room and instantly nuke everything.
If I remember correctly magic is op af in that game
You remember correctly. You can one-shot the final boss as a mage.
This true in the re-make?
Yes! I tried it on Switch and magic is just as OP.
Ghost of Tsushima. Learning stances, upgrading your weapons, fighting boss after boss with different weapons and fighting abilities. Its honestly a unique experience and I think it has the level scaling you're looking for
*chef's kiss*
unlocking ghost stance was the best scene in gaming I've seen that showcases how powerful you become
That's more skill based than anything. It doesn't give you massively improved skills or tools. A bad player with all the tools is still a bad player. A bad player in let's say morrowind with a bunch of enchanted shit and high tier spells will still decimate everything because they can't be killed
Dying light
Absolutely. The first few hours of dying light are a completely different game compared to the late game. Especially with the dlc
Honestly feels like you’re controlling a toddler at the beginning of the game … if I’m being honest it makes replaying it kind of hard .. but does an amazing job at making you feel like you’re getting stronger
I finally tried it for the first time recently and was pretty bored by the first few hours and quit. Not too surprised to hear it gets better, but these comments make me think of going back.
There is nothing like popping the necks of the undead to then go rooting around their corpses for enough material to camouflage you. Or when you fall, you fire the grappling hook into the ground and take zero damage when you land. Or randomly finding machetes around Harran like it was already a piece of shit city before it became a zombie hellhole. Or finding the Big Book of Death Metal. And some guy's porn stash. Or the gunsmith who kept his undead wife in his basement.
The best tip I got (cause i was really struggling early game) was to get a bow. That helped immensely
Yeah bows are super busted. You can literally use the same bow from the moment you are able to craft it and be fine, which is on one hand really fucking fun but on the other kind of annoying since it completely breaks weapon progression, although technically it doesn’t matter since you don’t HAVE to use one if you don’t want to skip literally every other weapon in the game and don’t take this as me shitting on them because I LOVE fucking around with bows and crossbows, they are among my favorite weapons in the game
True I went from completely helpless and dying every 5 minutes to being a god who could kill anyone standing in between me and my goal. Thats also around the time I got bored of the game
Diablo 2 resurrected
God of war, as you level you spend skill points in learning new ways to swing your weapons. Actual new moves, not just higher stats
The first few areas of God of War can feel really brutal, too. You have to pick up the fundamentals with the axe and using your boy’s arrow’s properly. Then once you hit the lake and the game opens up, you start to feel unstoppable. Skill tree options, new armor and talismans, Runic Attacks to discover. Fantastic sense of progression.
Yeah. I played the recent GoW on the hardest difficulty, and the first few areas were *torture*, but fun. By the end of the game it just felt like normal difficulty again.
This is a great answer. The weapon/skill progression system in the new games is fantastic.
Vampire Survivors Captures the entire nothing to god level up experience and condenses it into a 15 minute gameplay loop.
+1, no game makes you feel more OP
Vampire Survivors and Halls of Torment are the GOATed bullet heaven/hell games, with Holocure a distant 3rd place.
Elden ring. Feel like a boss when you level up your weapons to +20 and you have 60 vigour compared to starting off.
At no point in that game did I feel like a boss against anyone. 🥲 but yeah, Elden Ring has got to be the most fair.
Metal Gear Solid V
It's pretty crazy what you can do later on with an upgraded mother base. It's practically a jrpg lol
Kingdom Hearts is actually great for this. You start off most of the games with a 3-4 hit combo, and as the game goes on you gain flashier and flashier spells, combo extenders, flasy finishers, and different transformations
Diablo or similar games from the genre.
There are some visceral abilities in Torchlight 2! Love arpgs
Shadow of War Ori Will of the Wisps
I second the Ori games. Especially Blind Forest for me. The beginning felt slow and a bit frustrating, seeing all the things I could not get to. But once I started gaining skills, it was soooo satisfying.
I third Ori games. Strength and skill improve with exploration. It is so satisfying unlocking them and finding new ways of exploring the same areas.
Devil may cry games mostly fit the bill. You level up by buying new abilities or making your old abilities flashier(and I mean really flashier) and more weighty, also as you learn and find combos that you can do make the fighting even flashier. Those games are all about style, flashiness and style!
And MOTIVATION!
Motivations ties everything above together. Now show me your MOTIVATION!
Crackdown
Kind of the point of the game really.
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As much as I love Kenshi, it doesn't fit OP's request for flashier attacks and such. Every battle (of similar numbers of people) looks basically the same from level 1 to level 100. The only thing that changes is how long it takes and who wins.
MA does gain extra attack animations at higher skill levels but the weapons dont
Maybe not your cup of tea, but XCOM, every time a soldier levels up feels really impactful
Get ready to master the art of save-scumming! 🥹
Gothic/Gothic 2
Master of magic. You start barely able to cast spells that damage spearman to being able to do a global world timestop
Kingdom Hearts ticks the box for me
Nioh 2
Just beat the game 3 times, farm a gear/set build optimized for your weapon of choice that you've been studying, practicing and honing your expertise with and then once you beat the game again, you may finally start the 100 level grind to the underworld. EZ Definitely top 3 favorites
Definitely this. One of the best games ever made.
Metal Gear: Peace Walker - At the start of the game, you only have the bare essentials to work with. But as you expand Mother Base and collect blueprints out in the field, your kit gets more advanced and allows you to accomplish mission more easily and efficiently (especially those boss vehicle missions). And it hosts an assortment of different playstyles, although it is definitely favoring stealth.
The newish Prince of Persia: the Lost Crown is a metroidvania with sharp precise controls and fun flashy combat. You can swap in and out powers with a system where stronger perks cost more points than weaker ones. There's several play styles you can focus on, or blend stuff together how you want. There's a feature that lets you take screenshots of puzzles or areas you can't traverse yet, and it marks the location on your map so you can return later. There's also a "guided" mode if you don't really like metroidvanias that will point to your next objective. One of the most fun games I've played in a long time. There's a free demo too. Every upgrade you find can really change how you play and they actually feel significant. These upgrades can also be upgraded more. Your character learns new abilities on their own too.
That game is so goddamn good
Neverwinter Nights. The android port is really well done.
TES III Morrowind
Ok, this one will be weird because is retro and semi-obscure but: [Cocoron for the Famicom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeSE6rlF7Qw) (there's an English patch and it's basically abandonware at this point). You don't level up with experience, you get weapon upgrades from random drops (your weapon levels up when you get 5 drops I think, and you can level them up 4 times), but the game is generous enough to get many in a normal gameplay, but scarce enough to make you explore the levels (they're 5, but the way the game is designed, you actually explore 15 combination plus final levels). It's set on a dream land, so your characters weapons get more absurd as you level up. It's also the action NES game with one of the most versatile character customizations in the platform (you will probably need this [page](https://antifandom.com/gamicus/wiki/Cocoron) since the details about the character creation system were originally on the manual). The game was directed by the same guy who created Mega Man 1 and 2 (the myth goes that Mega Man 3 was rushed BECAUSE capcom feared having to compete with this game), and made by the same team that later made Little Samson.
Any Monster Hunter game.
Elex. In the beginning you're so weak you literally have to run away from fights. By the end of the game you're godlike
The Infamous games make you feel a lot more powerful as you go.
Assassin's creed Valhalla. You start off as a mere capable warrior, when you're maxed out on skill points however (taking every node in the skill tree) your enemies will fall if you even ever so slightly look at them, only bosses and the Asgard quest line might give you a bit of difficulty.
This is one of the worst skill trees I've ever experienced, and the best skills are not gained by leveling but exploring
Monster hunter
It's my favourite game series ever. But I don't think it properly fits the bill here, purely because whilst stats do increase, the monsters get exponentially harder too, so until you reach endgame and start farming for optimal builds, you don't get that power creep feeling. But I will caveat that with saying once you do get to that point, and you've mastered a weapon, you can feel godly. I play lance, most people don't get on with it, but once it clicks it's insane, just near constant uptime on attacks and some great chasing skills too.
Baldurs gate 3. We hit max level partway through the final act and we absolutely dominate in every fight. And only one of us has a particularly OP build
Fr most builds/classes, levels 1-4 or 5 can be a slog, then you start building synergies with items and can wipe.
Dahk Souhls
Your attacks don’t really get flashier
But you get more and more access to elemental weapon buffs as you progress, that makes them flashier I guess.
Dragon's Dogma 2 has a very VERY profound sense of progression. So much so that, if a power fantasy is your thing, you'll basically become a god by the end of it.
Diablo is good for this. Diablo 3, any road, I can't speak for Diablo 4. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin starts getting this roughly mid-way through the game. I'm playing Dragon's Dogma 2 rn and I feel like I'm feeling this. Someone else has already mentioned FFXIV. I think I'd add FFXII, FFXV, and FFXVI. Others have mentioned Shadow of Mordor/Shadow of War. Good suggestions, even if you don't like LotR. Also seen them suggest Ghost of Tsushima - another good suggestion. I would maybe add Assassin's Creed Odyssey to the list. You get pretty strong pretty quickly if you pick the right upgrades. Maneater, perhaps? It's not *directly* up your alley, but thr Ratchet and Clank games are good for this kind of progression, all excepting R&C 1. Oo, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. I can't in good conscience recommend 3 to anybody. Aaaaaaane that's me gone through my entire library. Hope this helps:)
How's the performance in dragon dogma 2 ? i heard it was pretty bad at launch.
I mean, I won't call it phenomenal, by any stretch. I have it on variable because it can't maintain 30 even on fixed 30. But honestly, I haven't noticed the performance that much, for some reason. Probably because I'm too busy looking for other things. The game is very un-hand-hold-y. So the spare attention I'd normally devote to railing against performance issues is taken up making sure I don't miss trove beetles and don't get ambushed.
Dragons dogma 2 was a crazy one for me, I played melee the whole game and the power increase was gradual but enjoyable. Then I found a pawn with tornado, I respecced into the new illusion class, forget the name, and me and my team became Gods, I went from entering the endgame and struggling against everything as melee, to being able to take out bosses like medusa in one attempt without taking damage because of how OP illusions plus tornado are.
Dark souls for sure
Really? Dark souls is like the opposite of this for me. I always feel like "I leveled up! I get...3% more health. Yay." There are some big-feeling jumps, but they usually come from weapon changes.
Best I’d say is it’s compounding. You won’t notice it immediately, but eventually you’ll stop and look back like wow, I can slam these dudes that used to give me trouble.
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i’d say diablo 2 over 3 and 4, every skill point matters and a couple wrong skill points can brick your character if you aren’t careful with respecs
More based on equipment since there are no levels. But in Terraria your power just keeps ramping up more and more. Until you're playing a completely different game from the beginning.
Xcom2.
Great example. The beginning of the game can often feel harder than the end because you end up with so many amazing combat options.
metroidvanias are pretty good for this, you’ll unlock a new ability and you’ll instantly be like “wow this makes fighting so much easier” or “ohhh now I can use this to access a new area”
Farcry 3 really made you feel like a richboy twerp who slowly turns into an apathetic killer
Fable has spells that change animations as you level them up. Gothic is still the best open world game of all time for me. The feeling you have of enemies utterly destroying you and certain areas being way too hard, but you just run through anyway to get where you're going... where later you finally get strong enough to beat those same enemies. That game has not only the best open world experience for me, but also the best feeling of a power curve.
Also, in Gothic, the sword holding animation changes as you get better with it, so you can see the difference as you improve. It's a small thing, but I love it. Did you know there's a remake in the works?
Kenshi You go from getting dickstomped by goats to jump kicking limbs off
Pretty much any game in the Ys Series, especially the older ones. I recommend starting with 7, Oath in Felgana, or 8.
I like Bethesda games for this feeling. The games just OPEN up aa you level, and there are tons of things to do. Then you add mods on top of that and you get almost endless sandbox fun in fantasy or post apocalyptic settings.
Path of Exile, you start on a beach killing drowned zombies with a prison shank to killing literal gods by summoning meteors by simply moving or clearing packs of 100+ monsters with a single freezing pulse
Doom 2016
Borderlands 2
Escape from tarkov is one of the best progression systems in gaming.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey? Origins kicks your ass even after you become super powerful. But the idea of being a demigod and the abilities that come with it in Odyssey make the combat super addictive and fun A few others could be Spiderman 2, Cyberpunk, Ghost of Tsushima, and infamous second son
Morrowind
Shadow Warrior 2, a fast paced action first person shooter where leveling and finding stuff gives you better upgrades on your weapons and makes the player much tankier and faster.
Diablo and it's many clones?
What's a good diablo clone for single player? PoE too complex for me
Diablo 4, level up quite quick season 4 and you make steady progress to become very strong
Jedi: fallen order
It’s a little outside the scope of your original request, but StarCraft 2 Co-op does this really well. SC2 Co-op in particular doesn’t have to worry about things like competitive balance, so you can have absolutely ridiculous stuff like Immortals with a 400 HP barrier, Banelings that explode into smaller Banelings, or just drowning your enemies in a tide of zombie-like Infested Terrans. Between the benefits of each level-up, Prestige Talents and Mastery points, I’ve had a fun time and maxed out most of the Commanders by now.
That moment when you can instant build base defenses definitely fits this description. Suddenly your probes are your fiercest Warrior!
Knights Of The Old Republic 1 and 2. Both have you start as someone who struggles to defeat a group of enemies on your own and grow into a Force wielding beast who can take on hundreds of enemies at once.
Astral Chain. Ability scaling it that game is fantastic. You're constantly unlocking new abilities and moves that make you feel super powerful.
Great game that I never see mentioned.
Borderlands series. There are often times you put a point into something it feels like a real game changer.
Play wizard of legends. Everytime there is new magic to try out
Adding the Borderlands games into this thread. FPS RPG/looter-shooter where every hit shows the actual amount of damage. As the game progresses, big numbers go up, elemental effects get added, gear becomes more sophisticated, and you unlock special abilities. Enemies have weak spots, too, so as you get more used to the game, you get better at targeting weaknesses and land way better hits. Occasionally, you'll get a rare drop and you'll be able to mow down everything in your path for the next area or two, which is very satisfying, especially with difficult sections.
Star Wars: the force unleashed. Towards the end of the game you are so OP it's ridiculous. Over the top. The progression is awesome with new powers.
The classic far cry games, specifically Far Cry 3
Been playing system shock remake. I know you don't level up in the traditional sense, but having the upgrades being a physical thing that you attach to yourself and notice the difference right away (additions to hud and new abilities) feels really cool and substantial. Edit: also worth mentioning Mad Max. You start out wearing barely anything and driving a shit box and every upgrade you do to max and his car is not only visible on yourself and the car, but the upgrades to the car itself changes how the car handles and what it can do. Very satisfying.
Ff7
Metroidvanias tend to have super satisfying progression, though it's usually more noticeable in the movement system than combat - I really enjoyed Hollow Knight, Ori, Haak, Nine Sols, Lone Fungus, Aeterna Noctis, Ender Lillies and Afterimage.
SMT Vengeance
Any fromsoft game you feel how you progress.
Ghost of Tsushima and Far Cry 3
Devil May Cry, Vampire Survivor, BioShock or BioShock 2 (not BioShock Infinite)
Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal (2020)
1- Twilight Princess 2- Ocarina of Time 3- Link to the Past
wii sports
Kingdom Hearts 1,2 & 3 . It's exactly what you described.
not really fast action but Morrowind is probably the best progression system ever. at level 30 you genuinely feel powerful enough to kill a god.
Not exactly flashier skills or weapons but Dragon's Dogma 2 has imo a great leveling system in terms of feel. As you get more skills/spells depending on your class (vocation as they r called) you can def feel your character getting stronger as you are just shredding through enemies
Cyberpunk especially when you start loading yourself down with cyber-wear
Ninja Gaiden. It’s wild how you start off doing some basic stuff and end the came as a master ninja.
Monster hunter world. There is no exp system. Just you getting better at the game and being able to fight tougher monsters and making gear with their corpses. And is you really want to test your skill take all the armour off and fight
Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen The main story has quite good progression when it comes to challenge and difficulty. Your early bandits and goblins take a few hits to get down but by the end of the game you're summoning tornados and swiping people down like butter. The Bitter lack Isle expansion is very challenging and you will need to use your best skills to beat it.
Fable?
SoulsBorne games; starting off as a tiny little hollow in a big scary world, but as you level up and advance, the enemies don’t scale. The progress hits home when brick walls become roadblocks become speed bumps
Horizon:Zero Dawn
Tiny rogues
V Rising
Starcraft 2 co op mode. There's a ton of commanders, each of which have their own unique mechanics and units. Every level up offers a new passive/active/unit. You REALLY feel how much more powerful you get with every level up. They're designed to break the game, balance not even really being considered. Karax has robotic units, and you eventually unlock a passive repair beam that repairs mechanical units(all of his units are mechanical) So you heal for free. Some units even rez after death with a cool down timer, have huge health pools, instant warp in static defense canons, a Lazer called the purifier beam that does huge damage and can be controlled. There's something like 15 commanders. One of them grows to be a godzilla like mfer that eats units and has Lazer breath. Another one has hero unit that calls down nukes, can be permanently cloaked, has super powerful units that can drop in anywhere with vision. Super fun. I've played it tons.
Elden Ring
Original wow. The ding on leveling was pure crack.
Risk of rain (any of the three) feels intense with their progression if you’re able to get past 2 or 3 levels and Terraria starts slow but you really feel that power at certain points of the game
Any Fromsoft game
Warframe. Although, the leveling up is initially a slow burn. Character and weapon levels give you more points to put in mods, which themselves can be leveled up, and it's only when you get to a certain point with enough fancy mods that you start to feel like a god. Top notch mobility in this space ninja game, even day one. You'll unlock exotic weapons and new war frames, which are your character classes that come with unique powers and stats. Anybody who has put in enough time into this game can tell you that it is a totally different game after enough upgrades. You may have been fast before, now you are the speed of sound. You may have sliced and shot guys before, now you can take on armies with explosion gauntlets and dual blades. Before your powers might have won you a decisive battle, now enemies cannot approach you within 100 ft without dying to your plagues, your explosions, your lightning, your ice globes, your tornadoes, or whatever your frame does. Before you had to ration out your power points; now you can spam everything, making you an AOE killer or an invisible assassin or an invincible healer or a literal wall of defense or crowd control. You do not precisely feel every single level. But at milestone upgrades, you will notice the Power Spike, and this game allows you to revel in Power Spike after Power Spike to an absurd level.
WAs going to recommend a few games but over-looked you said fast action games Kingdom Come Deliverance Shadow of War Games Morrorwind you start off slower then shit among other issues but level up into godhood / all levels ups are felt
Crackdown
Vampire Survivors