How old are we talking? Final Fantasy VI, Super Metroid, Resident Evil 2, and the OG Tomb Raider series are all pretty old but great.
Portal, Portal 2, Mirror’s Edge, Alien Isolation, Child of Light, Celeste, Tales of Berseria, Final Fantasy XIII, Slime Rancher, the newer Tomb Raifer games, and A Plague Tale are a few games from previous gens that hold up really well.
A more recent game that flew under a lot of people’s radars is Kena: Bridge of Spirits, and it was a lot of fun. Also, Atelier Ryza and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure are very worth mentioning, too. :)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits really is an excellent game, I’ve done a couple of playthroughs at different difficulty levels, and there is so much more depth to the gameplay than I realized on my first playthrough. It’s fun, challenging, has a decent story, beautiful environments, and some really cool bosses. The fact that it’s an indie studio’s first game still blows my mind.
Just wanted to add my own recommendation of Kena to anyone who might be interested, even though it’s a more recent game.
I haven’t seen it mentioned so i’ll go with Ion Fury. It’s not really that old, but it’s made on Build engine. The same was used in Duke Nukem 3D or Blood. Same roots means main protagonist have badass comments on lot of game occasions.
Napple Tale: Arisa in Daydream
A game for the Dreamcast that had a primarily female dev team. It was exclusive to Japan, but a translation patch was released a couple years ago.
Atelier series
There are a bunch of these. They’re RPGs based heavily around crafting. Actually, they basically pioneered crafting in RPGs.
Um Jammer Lammy
A spin-off of Parappa the Rapper. Lammy has only 15 minutes to make it to her band’s performance, but getting there won’t be easy.
Note that Stage 6 is censored in the North American release. Also as a bonus, completing the game unlocks Parappa mode, with new versions of every song after Stage 1.
Athena
Stick with the original arcade version. The NES port is infamously bad.
Psycho Soldier
A spin-off of Athena (sort of) starring Athena’s descendant/reincarnation (it depends on the writer), Athena Asamiya (and Sie Kensou as player 2’s character). Athena (and Kensou) would later become staples of the King of Fighters series. The game is notable for being the first game with a vocal soundtrack.
Baraduke
An arcade title from Namco. Being on this list is actually a pretty big spoiler because the fact that the protagonist is a woman isn’t revealed until the end of the game. Now that probably sounds like a ripoff of Metroid, but here’s the thing: Baraduke did it first.
Koudelka
An obscure horror RPG for the PlayStation.
The game is an unhappy compromise between the creator and the dev team. One side wanting to make a survival horror game and the other going for something like Final Fantasy VII. I’ve never actually gotten very far in this one because I hate the battle system. Also, this game has connections to the later Shadow Hearts series.
Literally every game in the Otome genre
Probably not what you’re looking for, but technically fits your criteria of having a female protagonist.
I might add more to this post if I can think of something else.
The older Resident Evil games (1, 2, Code Veronica, RE:Zero) have playable female protagonists. Actually most of the RE games have at least one segment where you play as a female character.
The swapping of two protagonists is actually something I wish they would bring back to the modern games in the franchise.
Yeah replaying all the RE now and it’s crazy how this very early choice of two playable characters in the original series allowed the remasters to feel much more modern in their writing. Jill feels like the modern badass main woman a lot of game which they could write properly.
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How old are we talking? Final Fantasy VI, Super Metroid, Resident Evil 2, and the OG Tomb Raider series are all pretty old but great.
Portal, Portal 2, Mirror’s Edge, Alien Isolation, Child of Light, Celeste, Tales of Berseria, Final Fantasy XIII, Slime Rancher, the newer Tomb Raifer games, and A Plague Tale are a few games from previous gens that hold up really well.
A more recent game that flew under a lot of people’s radars is Kena: Bridge of Spirits, and it was a lot of fun. Also, Atelier Ryza and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure are very worth mentioning, too. :)
I have to call out Mirror’s Edge, it is a great experience if you have the right mindset.
Trying to play it with an FPS philosophy is not the way.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits really is an excellent game, I’ve done a couple of playthroughs at different difficulty levels, and there is so much more depth to the gameplay than I realized on my first playthrough. It’s fun, challenging, has a decent story, beautiful environments, and some really cool bosses. The fact that it’s an indie studio’s first game still blows my mind.
Just wanted to add my own recommendation of Kena to anyone who might be interested, even though it’s a more recent game.
It’s been on my wishlist for a while cuz I thought it looked pretty good but wasn’t quite sure if I should try it.
Now I know to buy it next time there’s a good steam sale. You’ve sold me!
Don’t forget the rest of Atelier series!
That’s true! There’s a lot of good games in that series, I’ve heard. I have yet to play most of them myself.
I haven’t played a lot, but I did played Atelier Iris 3 as well as Atelier Rorona. Mana Khemia is fun as well
Don’t forget Parasite Eve!
How dare you have such great taste on the internet? I can’t even fight you over this list.
I haven’t seen it mentioned so i’ll go with Ion Fury. It’s not really that old, but it’s made on Build engine. The same was used in Duke Nukem 3D or Blood. Same roots means main protagonist have badass comments on lot of game occasions.
Napple Tale: Arisa in Daydream
A game for the Dreamcast that had a primarily female dev team. It was exclusive to Japan, but a translation patch was released a couple years ago.
Atelier series
There are a bunch of these. They’re RPGs based heavily around crafting. Actually, they basically pioneered crafting in RPGs.
Um Jammer Lammy
A spin-off of Parappa the Rapper. Lammy has only 15 minutes to make it to her band’s performance, but getting there won’t be easy.
Note that Stage 6 is censored in the North American release. Also as a bonus, completing the game unlocks Parappa mode, with new versions of every song after Stage 1.
Athena
Stick with the original arcade version. The NES port is infamously bad.
Psycho Soldier
A spin-off of Athena (sort of) starring Athena’s descendant/reincarnation (it depends on the writer), Athena Asamiya (and Sie Kensou as player 2’s character). Athena (and Kensou) would later become staples of the King of Fighters series. The game is notable for being the first game with a vocal soundtrack.
Baraduke
An arcade title from Namco. Being on this list is actually a pretty big spoiler because the fact that the protagonist is a woman isn’t revealed until the end of the game. Now that probably sounds like a ripoff of Metroid, but here’s the thing: Baraduke did it first.
Koudelka
An obscure horror RPG for the PlayStation.
The game is an unhappy compromise between the creator and the dev team. One side wanting to make a survival horror game and the other going for something like Final Fantasy VII. I’ve never actually gotten very far in this one because I hate the battle system. Also, this game has connections to the later Shadow Hearts series.
Literally every game in the Otome genre
Probably not what you’re looking for, but technically fits your criteria of having a female protagonist.
I might add more to this post if I can think of something else.
thats a lot of stuff i havent heard before, thank you kindly
How in the world did y’all miss Silent Hill 3? It’s October, and there are even other horror games mentioned. No excuse! Tsk tsk.
Bayonetta.
Blood rayne, for “older sexy action woman game”
Pocky & Rocky
The Great Giana Sisters
Ms. Pac-Man
holy shit someone else remembers pocky and rocky???
I saw someone play it on a stream last Friday. He said me might play it again sometime if he can get his brother or someone to do co-op with.
The older Resident Evil games (1, 2, Code Veronica, RE:Zero) have playable female protagonists. Actually most of the RE games have at least one segment where you play as a female character.
The swapping of two protagonists is actually something I wish they would bring back to the modern games in the franchise.
Yeah replaying all the RE now and it’s crazy how this very early choice of two playable characters in the original series allowed the remasters to feel much more modern in their writing. Jill feels like the modern badass main woman a lot of game which they could write properly.
Saboteur 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saboteur_II:_Avenging_Angel
Wet is a fun game if you can handle the loading screens.
“Jill of the Jungle” is an ancient DOS game, and honestly a bit sexploitative. But it does feature a female protag. And is old.
Phoenix level is the best level.
Shoot fire rings all day.
Plus it got bundled with Jungle Pinball.
Trails in the Sky FC and SC.
Also, FemShep was a popular option in Mass Effect for good reason.
Here to second the Trails series and Sky in particular. Estelle is the best.
Since no one’s mentioned it: Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2
coverart got that adepta sororitas energy, im sold
Final Fantasy VI is a great one!
A lot of point-and-click adventure games do feature female protaganists. One that comes to mind that’s not bee mentioned so far is Kathy Rain.
after having to pinpoint my search to Kathy Rain the GAME, i really dig her biker chick look
No One Lives Forever.