Agreeing on the proposal:
At the end of the day, superpowers are no different from ‘plain’ weapons.
It sorta boils down to how good the author is at accounting for what what you can do could and would be applied in a situation. Example:
In HR it didn’t make much sense that you could NOT pick your powers (seeing that the author went on and on about how many different powers and abilities are there) and the massive amount of railroading even ridiculed the fact that you had powers at all. Because it didn’t ever matter what you do.
Compare Hero Unmasked, in which you, as such, don’t have ‘superpowers’ in the classical sense. You (and your twin) are athletic proteges and you have increased healing. But that you can do that is the reason you, or better your twin, became a hero. The actual heroing in HeUn in done by applying what you can do to the situations you are in. Battles offer you the choice between approaching things with most of your stats, and depending on how good/bad they are the outcome changes, and how the story progresses from there is always comprehensible.
Again, at the end of the day, superpowers are like regular weapons.
Imagine you have a game were you can pick your preferred weapon and you pick a crossbow (and maybe a rapier for close combat)
This gives a pretty good idea of what your fighting style is like and the game should account for that.
Like, if you have a crossbow, the task to kill the corrupt magistrate would be easier done by shooting them from the shadows of the rooftops than confronting them in the streets or breaking into their house at night.
It should be handled similar with superpowers.
A hydrokinetic (water wielding) or someone with sound based powers are more likely to fight from the distance, while a hero capable of turning into/being made of stone/steel/etc or one with superstrength will go into melee fighting. Mindcontrol and illusion powers might make a character be more defensive, sneaky, while a pyrokinetic (fire) would be more on the offensive side.
And then there’s tech-based heroes that don’t (as above) have no ‘real’ superpowers, but make up for them with ingenious gadgets.
In a game a writer could approach this by asking the player for their preferred style first and then offering a list of ‘fitting’ powers (including the option to pick a more ‘unfitting’ one, thought this’d be even more writingwork)
EDIT: If I may elaborate, allow me to give an example of how this could look (imagining you start as a rookie hero)
You always knew you’d one day become either a superhero or a supervillain, given your powers. The same powers that gave you a very good idea of what kind of superpowered personality you will be, seeing they are:
Raw offensive powers, great for a direct, head on approach to crime fighting... or crime committing.
Oh, so you…
- I have superstrength, nothing stops my punches and I can bench trains
- I’m a pyrokinetic, I can burn through everything
- I can shoot pure energy about. PewPewPew
Sneaky defensive powers, great for working from the shadows
Interesting. More precisely you…
- I’m an umbrakinetic. I can control shadows. Boo!
- I’m a masterful illusionist. See this statue? Now you don’t.
- My voice is a weapon. You should see how often I have to replace my showerhead. One day I’ll learn…
Actually *cough* I don't have *superpowers* as such...
Now that is a surprise. I take it you…
- Building gadgets has always been my passion. With what I have I should be able to keep up with the superpowered folks of Cornucopia City.
- It might not be on a ‘super’ level, but I’ve always been a very good athlete and fighter. And hey, most superpowered folks can get knocked out with a well-placed punch
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As example. Then maybe allow the player to say that even though they have these powers, they’d prefer an approach unexpected with these powers. And maybe allow them to pick a secondary power.