The Most Overpowered Characters Of 2019

The tale of the overpowered video game character is likely as old as the industry itself. As far back as the days of coin-op classics, developers have created characters (antagonists and protagonists alike) who were decidedly skewed towards the far end of the difficulty spectrum. Whether or not this was a shrewd business tactic to gobble up a few extra quarters in the arcade or a clever way to arm underdog players is a debate for the ages — but the debate rages on.

With the release of FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice in March of 2019, there's been a renewed and accelerated fervor for those age-old discussions about balance, difficulty, and what it means to face overpowered odds. No longer the stuff of mere heady philosophy, these notions of difficulty and balance are beginning to drive changes in the marketplace — for better or worse. Whatever truths surface from our post-modern search for fairness and perfection, one thing's for sure: that OP struggle is real. So, with a few new games under our belt and a newfound appreciation of easy street, we decided to take you on a guided tour of the most overpowered video game characters of 2019.

Since its February 2019 release, Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends has been a major player in the ongoing battle royale renaissance. Naturally, a competitive environment like the squad-based free-for-all of Apex Legends is a breeding ground for imbalance and the denouncement of OP characters. And while a few of the Legends on the game's relatively short roster are distinctly more powerful than others, the smoke-slinging soldier known as Bangalore is arguably the most powerful of all. The reason for Bangalore's popularity is no riddle: she's the only character in the game with the Smoke Launcher tactical ability. As PC Gamer points out, "The ability can be combined to great effect with any Digital Threat optics, which highlight enemies in smoke." And if the Smoke Launcher isn't enough for you, her Rolling Thunder ultimate ability makes mincemeat of concentrated enemies (like the kind that made Respawn Entertainment famous in Modern Warfare). And a passive buff to her speed while under fire? Best in class.

The experts at GameWith offer a succinct recap of the benefits that earn Bangalore her "S" rating: "Bangalore's smoke launcher ability is versatile in every situation, may it be reviving allies, evading enemy fire, flanking enemies, and even retreating. Plus, its fast cooldown time allows you to use the ability frequently, and turn around disadvantageous situations."

Variety's Steven T. Wright calls FromSoftware's Sekrio: Shadows Die Twice "an exquisite action game worthy of your time and money." He also refers to it as "a deeply unfair and punitive experience ... that seems tailored to those whose eyes begin to turn a crimson hue when anyone suggests the concept of an 'easy mode.'" But, despite the grueling difficulty of their games, FromSoftware's distinct blend of esoteric lore and razor-sharp mechanics keeps bringing fans back for more. Having already spawned a legendary meme, Sekiro will likely go down as one of the most difficult games in the history of the medium — and boss fights like the duel with Isshin, The Sword Saint are part of its uncanny recipe.

Not entirely dissimilar to Bloodborne's Gehrman, Isshin is a non-player character you'll counter several times throughout the game who reveals his true and final form during a harrowing (and somewhat optional) endgame fight, one that "will truly test your samurai abilities." Boss fights in Sekiro depart from the classic FromSoftware formula, with mechanics like Deathblow and Posture in play. Isshin, The Sword Saint takes advantage of these nuances with a slew of overpowered attacks utilizing the second Mortal Blade, an oversized spear, and the elements themselves. It's the hardest fight in the hardest game of the year. Polygon's Jeffrey Parkin maintains that with The Sword Saint, "finding ways to not get hit — even if you're blocking or Deflecting — is more important than ever with Isshin and his devastating attacks."

The long-awaited third chapter in the Kingdom Hearts saga from Square Enix tells the story of Sora, a young boy and unknowing heir to a spectacular power, and his perilous adventure to save the universe along with a dear group of Disney and Pixar friends. As you might imagine, on their way to stop the Heartless from invading and overtaking the universe, our heroes find themselves in some hairy situations against some of the Kingdom Hearts series' most impressive antagonists. Enter the Dark Inferno, Kingdom Hearts 3's Secret Boss and ruler of Battlegate 14.

Dark Inferno is an extremely agile enemy, capable of crossing the entire battlefield in an instant, but the biggest hurdle in this fight are the enemy buffs. In addition to his three main attacks, Dark Inferno will power up twice during the fight. The simple but effective rub is that Dark Inferno becomes faster and more agile each phase (and more capable of evading your own attacks). The cooldown time between his attacks also diminishes rather significantly, making for one truly OP secret boss if ever there was one. The gameplay experts at IGN recommend going into this fight "with a ton of healing items, a Kupo Coin, and your best Keyblades, preferably upgraded to the fullest."

Etrian Odyssey: Nexus from ATLUS offers players more classes and characters to choose from as they explore more gameplay systems and labyrinths than any other title in the series to date. Difficulty is another element of Etrian Odyssey that's been inflated for Nexus, and it shows. Kotaku's Natalie Degraffinried even waxed poetic about the tweaked difficulty settings of this latest journey to Lemuria in a candid game diary, confessing that the Heroic-level gameplay left her "feeling a little trapped." It stands to reason that the boss battles of Etrian Odyssey Nexus would prove to be the most difficult challenges to overcome, and no other boss proves that theory better than the Abyssal Princess, the scourge of Labyrinth 14.

Abyssal Princess is the Super Boss of Nexus, which means defeating her in combat is necessary to achieve the game's final ending. And what makes Abyssal Princess so OP is her staggering array of combat skills. GameFAQs user Illuminoius sums it up nicely, asserting that "if you don't abuse its AI, [Abyssal Princess] is extremely obnoxious and has a lot of nasty tricks up [her] sleeve that can randomly screw you over." Abyssal Princess is easy to bind, but she's able to remove those binds and other buffs and debuffs every time her turn is up. Meanwhile, skills like Unholy Light and Undead Regen — along with her randomization during nighttime battles — add up to make Abyssal Princess the most overpowered boss in the entire Etrian Odyssey series.

Not all loadouts are created equal in Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends, and combat medic Lifeline was the first to prove that axiom to incredible effect. Lifeline "isn't someone you would expect to find in the Apex Games," according to her official bio — but once you've see her in action, this statement is read as a cheeky expression of Lifeline's versatility, and a testament to her dominance as a healer in a game full of tanks and bruisers. And it all comes down to a delicate balance of passive and active abilities.

As InvenGlobal puts it, "The second part of Lifeline's passive, 'Healing items are 25% faster to use,' is one of the core reasons why Lifeline's fragging capability is so great despite the fact that she's a support character. During a gunfight, she can patch herself up quickly in tight situations — especially if you use your drone in combination with your healing items, allowing for an aggressive type of gameplay." As a result, Lifeline has been occupying a top slot on the Tier Lists for several outlets since the launch of Apex in early February.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses from Intelligent Systems is a turn-based tactical RPG that follows in the footsteps of the dozen or so Fire Emblem games that came before. This time, players take on the role of a professor in the Church of Seiros' prestigious Officer's Academy, where they'll lead their students on a variety of academic and military adventures.

Critics have derided Three Houses for its lack of difficulty when compared to previous entries in the series. For instance, USgamer's editor-in-chief maintains that "a huge portion of the early game is spent on building up weapons specializations; choosing the right classes, and grinding for XP. When the actual battles come, you can pretty easily travel in one big ball of death and grind your way to the boss."

That being said (and almost by default), the best character in the game becomes absurdly overpowered without warning. On top of having the most aggressive stat upgrade path in the game, Byleth is a bearer of the Flames Crest, which occasionally restores HP equal to 30% of damage dealt. As a result, Byleth is consistently rated as the best character Fire Emblem: Three Houses has to offer.

Madden NFL 20 from Electronic Arts takes some bold steps forward to distinguish itself from previous titles in the series, including a game mechanic called Superstar X-Factor, "an abilities progression system that reveals special abilities for today's most exciting NFL stars." Unsurprisingly, when it comes to Madden 20's most competitive team — the Kansas City Chiefs — their star player plays a major role.

Bleacher Report's Chris Roling calls it like it is: "Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes might be one of the most overpowered NFL players in a video game since Michael Vick in the mid-2000s." During initial reports, the Chiefs boasted an overall team rating of 84 (five points under the top spot championed by the Philadelphia Eagles). But the team's rating isn't everything — success in Madden NFL 20, after all, relies on star power.

QB Patrick Mahomes is rated at 97 and sports a variety of NFL Superstar features including "perfect accuracy when throwing across his body and extra yardage on deep throws." Add other star players like Tyreek Hill to the mix and the Kansas City Chiefs quickly become a force to be reckoned with during Madden 20's year-long life cycle.

Borderlands 3 from Gearbox Software introduces four new Vault Hunters to the franchise's menagerie of post-apocalyptic, gun-toting maniacs — and, based on early reports of character performance and skill tree synergy, not all Vault Hunters are created equal. Moze the Gunner, "a battle-hardened former Vladof army soldier who specializes in mechanized combat," has seemingly taken her place as one of the most OP Vault Hunters in Borderlands history.

While there are a multitude of ways to play Moze in combat, some elite strategies from players like YouTuber Adam D have surfaced, revealing one ultimately overpowered way to take Moze into the battlefield and emerge victorious every time. Namely: constantly regenerating shields and continually outputting damage with grenades utilizing a "Shield of Retribution Demolition" variation of the skill tree.

Even an attempt from Gearbox to recalibrate the OP character build in early October couldn't slow down Moze's awesome unstoppability. As Adam D proclaims in his comments section, "Gearbox attempted to nerf this build on 10/3. Gearbox didn't realize Moze is an UN-NERFABLE GOD and that the Moze gang CAN'T BE STOPPED. Grenade regen nerfs did absolutely nothing. Keep fragging people!"