Throwing Axe: Castlevania (Entire Series)
The Castlevania series is well known for its subweapons. In almost every Castlevania title, there are secondary weapons that players can use for support: daggers, holy water, time-stopping clocks, etc. However, of all the items available, the Axe clearly stands as the most powerful, and most versatile. One of the biggest gripes players have with the Castlevania series are the floating Medusa heads that love to prowl in Cosine formations, sending players tumbling to the depths below. Using the Axe during these platforming bits could make quick work of the these flying foes, if times right. The arc of the Axe made it extremely useful to pick off enemies standing on low-hanging platforms, as well as platforms above, before venturing on.
Havel’s Ring/ Armor Set: Dark Souls
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably heard that the Dark Souls series is slightly difficult. This series’ difficulty is so iconic, in fact, that it has spawned an entire genre; A genre tailor-made to award players with swift death over, and over, and over, and over, and… what can I say? Thanks to Dark Souls, people have become gluttons for punishment. Unfortunately, this means the games are completely inaccessible to those who just want to experience the game without all of the controller-throwing. This is why ‘Havel’s Armor + Ring Combo’ is such a godsend. With the combination of Havel’s Armor, Ring, and enough Endurance, players become absolutely unstoppable. Havel’s Armor Set is capable of soaking up enormous amounts of damage, while the Ring greatly increases maximum equipment load. This allows players to equip this powerful armor with very little change to Endurance, or Dexterity. This deadly combination is the closest thing Dark Souls has to an easy mode.
Grapple Gun: Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham Asylum was a great game, and all, but Arkham: City truly made players feel like Batman. Being able to zip from rooftop to rooftop with your grapple gun is easily one of the most satisfying experiences in gaming history. It really felt like you could grapple onto just about anything, and it really sold the feeling that you were in complete control of ‘The Dark Knight’. Like the best sandbox games, sometimes it was fun to just traverse the city, and ignore your objective entirely.
Shotgun: DOOM
Self explanatory. Flashy guns have come, and gone over the years in first-person shooters, but no modern weapon will ever dethrone the king. Simple. Satisfying. Destructive. The DOOM Shotgun (and its bigger brothers) had it all, and one heck of a blast to boot!
These are some of the most satisfying items in video games. In my opinion, at least. Obviously, these aren’t all of them. What are some of your favorite video game items? Let us know in the comments below!
… You can find Jordan on Twitter (@JordJJones), and Facebook.
Originally published April 4, 2017. Updated November 21, 2019.
