I know what you mean, I felt the same way when I first saw it, and even when I started playing. But the concept intrigued me, so I kept going, and after a while I got used to the art style. If the concept of the game appeals to you, I’d still recommend you give it a try.
Don’t know if PS1 counts as old but Valkyrie profile is one of my favorite games and you play as a Valkyrie recruiting fallen warriors and training them up for Valhalla.
Star Ocean 2 (also on PS1) is another one of my favorites and you can choose between a guy or girl at the beginning, which changes the story a bit.
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.
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.
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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If you accept games where you fully create the character, you’ve got a ton of RPGs. Baldur’s gate, elder scrolls, arcanum, fallout.
Final Fantasy 6. There are technically several protagonists, but the one with the better claim to “main protagonist” is a woman.
Also, Heaven’s Vault isn’t an old game, but it’s not very well known or talked about, so I’ll throw it in anyway.
idk what it is about Heaven’s Vault artstyle but something irks me about it, i wish i could say what ti is
I know what you mean, I felt the same way when I first saw it, and even when I started playing. But the concept intrigued me, so I kept going, and after a while I got used to the art style. If the concept of the game appeals to you, I’d still recommend you give it a try.
Here are a couple I played back in the day:
that girl form oni looks like she cna kick my ass, i like her already
It always seems like very few people played Remember Me.
i played like one hour, or two before, it neither looked nor played nice to me when i tried it.
I remember creating a female Twi’lek Jedi in some of the old LucasArts Jedi games.
Aside from the classics already mentioned in the thread, Lara, Chell, Samus, Valentine, Redfield, etc. here’s a few that come to mind:
I’m sure I’m forgetting a few others.
once again my list keeps getting longer lol, thanks
I believe the default choice in the jedi academy character creator was a female twilek…
Quite possible, I must admit it’s been long enough that I don’t remember much detail and mix the multiple games in the series.
Don’t know if PS1 counts as old but Valkyrie profile is one of my favorite games and you play as a Valkyrie recruiting fallen warriors and training them up for Valhalla.
Star Ocean 2 (also on PS1) is another one of my favorites and you can choose between a guy or girl at the beginning, which changes the story a bit.
my man, its been 30 years, you have to accept the fact ps1 is old now
but ill check that one out
Don’t say these things! It is scary. D=
im crumbling to dust as we speak, you just gotta accept the times gotta time
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
The ovious one: Tomb Raider
Ah yes, Tomb Raid. With famous action hero Lar Crof as the protagonist
I love samsung’s autocorrector
Bayonetta.
Blood rayne, for “older sexy action woman 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.
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.
Wet is a fun game if you can handle the loading screens.
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.
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.
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.
Saboteur 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saboteur_II:_Avenging_Angel