Games where individual enemies pose a legitimate threat.

[Winslow]

I like the sense after a fight that I just defeated a worthy adversary. Most games have you slaughter 10-20 weak enemies at a time over and over again, room after room, and even those repeated hordes don't present much danger to you. When I take down an enemy in Overgrowth I feel a real sense of accomplishment, and when I take down multiple enemies at a time I think, "Whoa, I am awesome." That's one of my favorite parts about the game, and it is a feature that isn't quite as specific as the combat system or the surreal atmosphere, so I thought there was a good chance that there are more games like it in that respect. Games which put you in an environment with multiple enemies, spread them out enough that you can take them out one at a time, and has each enemy, for the most part, be just as much a threat to the player as the player is to them (in terms of durability and lethality).

I can't quite remember since I played it only briefly and quite a long time ago, but wasn't Tenchu a bit like that? Demon's Souls was very nearly like that - it missed the mark by a little since you were fighting multiple enemies just as often as you were fighting individual ones, and I seem to remember the majority of the enemies being at least a little weaker than the player was. I suppose any stealth game would probably apply, but I don't think anything that involves guns would evoke the same feeling. I never felt a sense of accomplishment after taking someone when I was playing as Sam Fisher or that-guy-from-Hitman. I imagine it's because they were painted as badasses from the get-go, so I only felt like I was affirming a previously established standard of excellence rather than forging one of my own. The rabbit from Overgrowth doesn't appear to be some master of kung-fu; it is just some raggedy looking thing with torn bandages around its torso (by the way, I love the design of the player model), and, more importantly, it draws from the exact same move- and skill-set as its enemies do. That puts the player and their adversary on the same level, which goes a long way towards the feeling of accomplishment I'm looking for. I'm beginning to ramble now so I'll just end it. Do any other games come to mind while reading over all this?

[Skofo]

Abe's Oddysee is a great one. To start, you have to escape from slavery in a fiendish corporation with nothing but rags covering your nether regions, and the guards all have automatic rifles. Later, you also have to deal with predatory creatures that would love to eat you. I strongly recommend this game.

[Constance]

Yeah, in that game I felt everyone was trying to kill me, and I was basically hopeless.

[Winslow]

I suppose Abe's Oddyssey would loosely fit what I'm talking about, as would any puzzle-based platformer that contained enemies, but only inasmuch as any proper survival horror game would - Silent Hill, Amnesia, and such. The enemies in these games certainly meet or exceed your character's combat prowess, but the games are not based around combat so this handicap is not as relevant to the overall feeling (obviously your character's vulnerability is extremely important, but in a very different, mostly indirect way). The focus of the games is spent on personal survival rather than personal triumph, and you are pitted against creatures which are so different from your character that you don't get that primal feeling of victory over a competing entity. In Overgrowth, your character is essentially identical to the enemies - you're just on opposite sides for some reason. This idea seems to be getting more and more specific by the moment, though, so maybe there aren't any other games which have this dynamic.

[cthuljew]

Jet Li's Rise to Honor might fit what you're looking for. It's a very linear game, but it never feels like you're way more of a badass than most of your opponents. You can do some things they can't, like run up a wall and do a spin-kick, but you're just as likely to miss and get punched in the face for your trouble. It's not nearly as punishing as Overgrowth, but it still gives you that feeling of accomplishment when you beat up a guy twice your size.

[Winslow]

Right, I remember that game. Only vaguely, though. But I think you're right - there was definitely a similar, if milder, sensation after defeating an enemy.

[unlockk]

Check out Receiver. Since you're an Overgrowth preorderer, you can download it for free from this forum.

[Winslow]

Yeah, I played Receiver. Very cool game, though I'm not sure it fits the idea I'm talking about. Any sense of accomplishment was evoked by the game simply being difficult, not by you triumphing over an equally equipped, equally dangerous opponent. That's unless you at some point face people with guns. I only destroyed those floating robots.

[johnno07]

I was just thinking about a similar thing myself the other day. These sort of games are few and far between. This sort of scenario sometimes pops up as one segment of a game, but I can't think of any that base the whole game around it.

For example, at one point in MGS 3: Snake Eater you face off against "The End". The End is equipped with a ghillie suit, sniper rifle, an extremely keen sense of vision and health restoration abilities. On the other hand, you have much poorer vision/camouflage but are equipped with tech (thermal goggles etc) that allows you to track him. This balances out the playing field with both you and your opponent having contrasting strengths/weaknesses. The showdown takes place in a huge forested area and can take over an hour or longer (not including deaths/restarts).

I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment after beating this guy so I think this is close to what you're looking for. In saying this, 'The End' is boss character and most decent games should have satisfying boss battles - I just felt this one was definitely a stand out encounter and it has stuck with me nearly eight years after playing it.

[human_dictionary]

Amnesia: the Dark Descent

;_; get it away from meeeeee