Something that I think isn’t talked about enough in games is making the player feel more powerful as they progress. The worst offenders are Bethesda games where enemies mostly stay the same but get new titles, e.g. “ancient dragon” vs “elder dragon”. Most of the time, you always feel like you’re at the same power level. Obviously this is done to maintain difficulty, but it feels like the lazy way to do it.
There are two examples of scaling done well that come to mind for me:
Prey. You start out with minimal weapons and abilities, and the main phantom enemies are way stronger than you at the start. Your only option is stealth, you can’t even really kill them in a direct fight and have to rely on auto turrets or a very focused attack. By the end of the game, you’re wiping the floor with these guys and enemies far stronger than them, and even summoning them to help you. I also love how you can see the station evolve with your progress. …