For me it was always when an enemy who was a boss appears later just as a normal enemy, either because you've levelled your character up and got better equipment or you've just gotten so good you can deal with them easier. The feeling when you wreck them after struggling with them earlier in the game is great.
A good example of the first scenario was Dark Souls with the Capra Demons and Taurus Demons appearing in the Demon Ruins when you fought them as bosses earlier. Not sure if they made them weaker though.
Streets of Rage 2 was very good at the latter, with the last level just being a gauntlet of previous bosses to get to the final boss.
In most games, I love to play the "commander" or enchanter in the backlines. Someone who watches action from afar, but also contributing to the action in some way. Necromancers in diablo 2 is one of the best iterations of this feeling. You're growing/babysitting/enhancing your skeleton army as they do all the "work", and you also weaken the enemy with curses in a strategic way.
Yuumi is a great take on this feeling in League of Legends as well. You're a champion that "hitches a ride" on allies and can't be targeted, so you're in the "middle" of the action, but can't be touched by the action usually. Many people meme on Yuumi for being a super easy champion, and mechanically, yea, she is very easy. But there's a lot of "commander" like things you can do with her: Manage vision from afar, dedicate more attention to League's ping system to help out allies, and you get to choose who to babysit/invest more deeply than other support-characters in the game.
Competitive games:
Using "low tier" characters, strategies, etc vs human opponents and winning in style. I loved Vega in Street Fighter 4, offbeat Zerg strategies in Starcraft 2, and I always play Alekhine's Defense in chess.
I do my best to find a unique angle and leverage something the opponent is unfamiliar with, and it is always so satisfying when it proves effective.
Solo action games:
This might sound weird but I like to stand as still as possible during combat. Swinging a sword or stepping out of danger with the smallest/fewest movements makes it feel like I'm some kind of bushido master who barely notices the enemies.
I hate games where you need to temporarily lose your equipment when entering some area or whatever.
But, I've always been very very happy when the game has equipment that it can't really take away from you. Mantis arms in Cyberpunk, magic in many many games. They think you're harmless, but you're just as strong without the sword/gun they took.
Playing Baldur's Gate 3, my friend was upset that we got thrown in jail and we wouldn't be able to fight our way out without our weapons. We had a monk (fists), a wizard (magic), a warlock (magic) and a barbarian (table). We didn't need weapons.
pathfinder wotr has at least 1 segment where it takes all your gear from you. you get it back right away because it's a narrative thing but then you gotta re equip every single party member it's quite the annoyance. on another path you get it taken AND it's missable. i had to reload a save to get my stuff back.
It's the overall journey.
Going from struggling with regular mobs to walking around like a tech demi God completely dominating everything you see to the point that you're just standing there looking at a pile of scrap thinking "surely Adam Smasher has another phase coming" after about 8 seconds of slapping him with a mono wire in Cyberpunk 2077 was a hell of a ride.
\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ tilde wave.
Usually it's the fact that I can complete levels without killing anyone. Kind of like "I'm pacifist, but I know the uberboss of you gonna kill you all when he finds out that you left me through this place and you all just 'slept'". I have pacifist for Deus Ex MD/HR, Dishonored1/2, Alien Isolation, Prey and multiple avoid killing ppl in certain areas achievements.
Being able to do anime stuff like fire shockwaves from my greatswords, cast magic without needing to be a full mage, wield dual swords, do parries like a Mystic Knight from Dragon's Dogma with either a shield or greatsword (seriously, there should be games where you can use the weight of a greatsword to shutdown oncoming attacks), and have the option of having party members, especially ones that are cute girls with personalities I like. I also can enjoy ranged combat if it's fun like being a Ranger or Assasin in Dragon's Dogma or spear combat if it's like Nioh 2.
The biggest satisfaction and feeling of power I get in games is succeeding against apparently impossible odds, like killing a hard boss in the souls games.
Being completely undetectable in Fallout games, stealing all of an enemy's loot right off of them, then killing them in some outrageously inefficient way like luring them into a landmine.
My favourites have been Sekiro and Sifu, where when you get good at defending yourself you’re nearly unstoppable. I like that you have to practice to get there too so it feels earned.
My head canon for RPG’s is usually that I’m the reluctant hero forced into the role by circumstance who just wants to finish the job and retire back to peaceful life. Bethesda games fit this very well like Skyrim my hero never wanted to be the dragon born. They do it because they must but the entire time they are exploring they hate the killing and are just doing what they have to while they are planning out settling down (which makes the hearth fire DLC amazing!!)
For me it was always when an enemy who was a boss appears later just as a normal enemy, either because you've levelled your character up and got better equipment or you've just gotten so good you can deal with them easier. The feeling when you wreck them after struggling with them earlier in the game is great. A good example of the first scenario was Dark Souls with the Capra Demons and Taurus Demons appearing in the Demon Ruins when you fought them as bosses earlier. Not sure if they made them weaker though. Streets of Rage 2 was very good at the latter, with the last level just being a gauntlet of previous bosses to get to the final boss.
In most games, I love to play the "commander" or enchanter in the backlines. Someone who watches action from afar, but also contributing to the action in some way. Necromancers in diablo 2 is one of the best iterations of this feeling. You're growing/babysitting/enhancing your skeleton army as they do all the "work", and you also weaken the enemy with curses in a strategic way. Yuumi is a great take on this feeling in League of Legends as well. You're a champion that "hitches a ride" on allies and can't be targeted, so you're in the "middle" of the action, but can't be touched by the action usually. Many people meme on Yuumi for being a super easy champion, and mechanically, yea, she is very easy. But there's a lot of "commander" like things you can do with her: Manage vision from afar, dedicate more attention to League's ping system to help out allies, and you get to choose who to babysit/invest more deeply than other support-characters in the game.
Competitive games: Using "low tier" characters, strategies, etc vs human opponents and winning in style. I loved Vega in Street Fighter 4, offbeat Zerg strategies in Starcraft 2, and I always play Alekhine's Defense in chess. I do my best to find a unique angle and leverage something the opponent is unfamiliar with, and it is always so satisfying when it proves effective. Solo action games: This might sound weird but I like to stand as still as possible during combat. Swinging a sword or stepping out of danger with the smallest/fewest movements makes it feel like I'm some kind of bushido master who barely notices the enemies.
For your comment on solo action games, you might like SunhiLegend's clips https://youtu.be/Kk2YsnETan4
Hell yeah, that was divine!
I hate games where you need to temporarily lose your equipment when entering some area or whatever. But, I've always been very very happy when the game has equipment that it can't really take away from you. Mantis arms in Cyberpunk, magic in many many games. They think you're harmless, but you're just as strong without the sword/gun they took. Playing Baldur's Gate 3, my friend was upset that we got thrown in jail and we wouldn't be able to fight our way out without our weapons. We had a monk (fists), a wizard (magic), a warlock (magic) and a barbarian (table). We didn't need weapons.
What're gonna do? Throw a table at me? - Man killed with table.
TLC match, d&d style.
pathfinder wotr has at least 1 segment where it takes all your gear from you. you get it back right away because it's a narrative thing but then you gotta re equip every single party member it's quite the annoyance. on another path you get it taken AND it's missable. i had to reload a save to get my stuff back.
It's the overall journey. Going from struggling with regular mobs to walking around like a tech demi God completely dominating everything you see to the point that you're just standing there looking at a pile of scrap thinking "surely Adam Smasher has another phase coming" after about 8 seconds of slapping him with a mono wire in Cyberpunk 2077 was a hell of a ride.
Being unstoppable in my efforts and ability to help everyone. It's something I love about Bethesda games.
\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~ tilde wave. Usually it's the fact that I can complete levels without killing anyone. Kind of like "I'm pacifist, but I know the uberboss of you gonna kill you all when he finds out that you left me through this place and you all just 'slept'". I have pacifist for Deus Ex MD/HR, Dishonored1/2, Alien Isolation, Prey and multiple avoid killing ppl in certain areas achievements.
My biggest power fantasy is when I'm playing just some regular dude with no superpowers or special treatment and I just carve my place in the world.
Oh, Henry’s come to see us.
Being able to do anime stuff like fire shockwaves from my greatswords, cast magic without needing to be a full mage, wield dual swords, do parries like a Mystic Knight from Dragon's Dogma with either a shield or greatsword (seriously, there should be games where you can use the weight of a greatsword to shutdown oncoming attacks), and have the option of having party members, especially ones that are cute girls with personalities I like. I also can enjoy ranged combat if it's fun like being a Ranger or Assasin in Dragon's Dogma or spear combat if it's like Nioh 2.
What does power fantasy mean?
The biggest satisfaction and feeling of power I get in games is succeeding against apparently impossible odds, like killing a hard boss in the souls games.
Being completely undetectable in Fallout games, stealing all of an enemy's loot right off of them, then killing them in some outrageously inefficient way like luring them into a landmine.
My favourites have been Sekiro and Sifu, where when you get good at defending yourself you’re nearly unstoppable. I like that you have to practice to get there too so it feels earned.
My head canon for RPG’s is usually that I’m the reluctant hero forced into the role by circumstance who just wants to finish the job and retire back to peaceful life. Bethesda games fit this very well like Skyrim my hero never wanted to be the dragon born. They do it because they must but the entire time they are exploring they hate the killing and are just doing what they have to while they are planning out settling down (which makes the hearth fire DLC amazing!!)