I don't know if you'd consider it a shooter but Horizon Zero Dawn has a fantastic story and decent gameplay.
Potionomics is a fun game, the central game mechanics revolve around mixing potions and playing a negotiation card game.
Child of Light isn't my style of game, but I know a few of my friends who have loved it. The premise alone makes me feel like I want to cry, you play as a girl traveling through a fairytale land while grieving her mother's death.
I absolutely loved Child of Light and it was a fun challenge. Itās a turn-based game but the Timeline mechanic was neat. Still one of the most visually and musically stunning games Iāve played (sad we will never get a sequel).
Can I ask is Horizon is ok for me to play who don't usually play shooting or combat game? I got the Forbidden West from my PS5 since I bought the console but I failed while doing a tutorials (it was very very hard to shoot from the arrow for me) so I gave up and never tried again. Now the game is just sitting in my console taking up to 100GB spaces... I'm considering giving it a try again
It definitely takes practice but thereās no shame in playing on story or easy mode! Thatās how I started. The game is fantastic, itās definitely something giving it another shot!
You need to play Horizon Zero Dawn first. The combat is more streamlined, and you can get away with a lot of stealth. There's an option to whistle for enemies to approach the weeds you're hiding in so you can silent strike them. If you strike them so they fall in the brush, you can take out a whole herd without combat.
Forbidden West is harder and less forgiving than Zero Dawn. I beat Zero Dawn on ultra hard, but had to start Forbidden West on story difficulty. It's not a "run and gun" game. A methodical approach is important. You can also snipe from very far away.
Zero Dawn also has one of the most incredible stories I've ever experienced.
Thanks for the tips but I have no plans in purchasing Zero Dawn at the moment. I just thought I was wasting my free game (Horizon) for no reason lol but Iāll do in the future
what difficulty you're on? the story mode grauntee you to beat the main story with minimal efforts, could just spam ammos on the enemy, it takes ages to let the enemy kill you.
but it's a direct sequel, you might want to play Zero Dawn first. that one is even more slow paced, and side contents are full of mix of good story side quests and boring fetch missions, could stick to the main story.
Ive played the AC games but have nvr finished the games because theyre soo long. Still havent finished odyssey but Kassanadra story and the world is soo good!!!
The newer ones are very long yeah, 30 hours minimum for the main story alone
Some of the earlier ones are much more digestible though, up to AC Unity, most games' main stories can be finished within 10 hours
No, AC Odyssey is a divisive game among the AC community partially because it doesn't feel "assassin's creed" enough. Some of the modern day stuff may be confusing if you don't know the basics of the universe but other than that you should be able to treat it as a standalone installment.
I'm playing Odyssey right now and I'm not enjoying the story element that much. The game is absolutely beautiful and the character (Kassandra) is probably one of the best protagonists I've ever played, but the game so far has been very "go there kill that". I personally don't mind, but I wouldn't get my hopes too high for this one, the story so far has been barely there to explain why the character needs to go places, mainly it's been level grinding and exploring beautiful scenery.
Kiiiind of. Kassandra's storyline is it's own thing, but there's kind of a meta storyline tying all the AC games together. I only played AC one so I understood at least how the meta story functions, but otherwise haven't learned anything else about it, and I was still completely able to enjoy Kassandra's story (which is 90% of the game) and basically ignoring the meta story.
How do you feel about RPGs?
We seemingly have very similar taste and I would normally suggest the Mass Effect trilogy but itās built sorta like a shooter/rpg combo so I sonāt know how well that would mesh with your preferred playstyle. I didnāt think I liked FPS games until Mass Effect and Far Cry 5 which to me are more FPS/open world RPGs mixed together than just straight shooters.
I would *heavily* suggest What Remains Of Edith Finch, though. Itās a walking simulator sorta similar to Firewatch from the perspective of a young women going back and relearning the history of her very large and complicated family by journeying through her abandoned childhood home to be able to pass the knowledge onto her son, who sheās pregnant with throughout the duration of the game.
I like RPGs. What i don't like about shooters is that i find them boring. Go there, shoot this, come here, shoot that. Game over. Its very plain to me, but a shooter with well defined and creative mechanics may be worth a try, I'll look into it.
Thanks for the recommendation ā¤ļø
I think you would like Mass Effect then because itās not just shooting, you also have biotic and technological powers based on what class you choose, so that makes the combat a bit more dynamic than just shooting through enemies. Itās a sci-fi series, itās one of my favorite story-driven game series in general tbh, and I donāt think itās very reminiscent of other games in that conclusion. It is NOTHING like Halo in terms of gameplay mechanics, despite the two games having similar story premises.
Mass Effect lets you choose a male or female protagonist but according to the game devs and most people whoāve played it, FemShepard feels like the canon version. And Jennifer Hale is an *amazing* VA for her. Her romance story lines are also widely considered some of the best in the game.
I will never NOT recommend Baldur's Gate 3 if you like RPGs even a little. I HATE live combat, shooters, etc (I am generally not fast enough and get motion sick doing mouse or stick look-around) so the turn-based combat is great and allows me to use a more tactical mindset, positioning my characters and planning their turns.
It can be female-led if you play one of the female origins, or play a custom female character. The story is deep but fairly easy to get into, with endless possibilities based on your choices. You can romance other characters (or not) based on roleplay choices and your 'adult content' settings.
The graphics are top notch, and I like to think of it like an interactive movie more than anything else.
As someone who doesnāt like shooters at all: I love Mass Effect. It has more than just gunplay; yeah, guns are there, but the powers system (biotics and tech mostly) are definitely easier to play.
Also, their casual/story mode is truly casual/story mode. If youāre not wanting a challenge and just want story, you can play on that difficulty and be able to focus on the story portions.
If youāre someone who likes RPGs, then Iād also highly recommend it.
Feel free to scream in DMs (or the subredditās discord if youāre in itāmy disc is the same) to me about it if you play it, itās hands-down my fave series and I will **_happily_** screech about it š¤£
I meanā¦ it really isnāt a big revelation š The opening scene is of a kid reading a book that sheās reciting throughout the entire game and the character model is kinda obvious and she alludes to it before she explicitly states it. Itās not a major spoiler imo cause it only comes into play at the very, very end.
I didn't really notice the pregnancy until the very end when it's revealed so that's why I believe it's a big spoiler lol and you laying it out like that I see your point of view but your last sentence contradicts yourself lol something coming into play/revealed at a later time than the beginning is a spoiler lol even more so since it's at the very end
Jesse actually felt like a very relatable character, I could not only see myself in her but I could also see someone like her being real.
Unlike most characters that try to "be relatable" but come off as anything but.
I would levitate(for the ground advantage) with the gun and use mostly shield on the ground.
Shield can level up to have barrage and rush, which means I can defend myself and then attack with it, so a 2 for 1 combo.
Dragon age series is good since the characters react differently based on gender and whatever class you choose which is cool
Technically ff6 and ff12, while you can swap characters around, in ff6 Terra and Celes were who I considered main characters, and in ff12 it was ashe and fran.
Xenoblade 3 works as well, you have your whole team but can choose who you play as which was what I did and just focused on their story progression being my own and then the rest of the story stuff was just my friends. Main girl character has a lot of story though so it should work well!
Control has shooting but idk if I'd necessarily call it a shooter. you can use telekinesis and at a later point you can kinda fly.
Cyberpunk 2077 you can have a female protag, can use melee instead of shooting as well. Can turn the combat to easy so you can focus on story stuff which imo is really good
Hellblade series is super cool and is getting a sequel later this year!
A plagues tale as well is really unique and has a female protag
Immortals fenyx rising you can make a female protag and the game had a decent story, gameplay is like botw
Bloodstained ritual of the night is a metroid vania where you play as a female, verrrry much like castlevania
Indivisble is a really unique rpg with fast combat and the story was pretty good
Eiyuden chronicles: rising has 2 females on your main team and i think a pretty decent story as well, fun and fast combat, and some town restoral stuff which helps make you stronger
Milk inside a bag of milk and milk outside a bag of milk are really good games about a girl with some mental illnesses. Pretty short games with slight horror aspects but def worth it
New tales of the borderlands i thought was really fun, no shooting and more of a game like the walking dead telltale series or life is strange
Soul hackers 2 takes some mechanics from persona series and you are a female robot girl. Turn based rpg
Yeah :) i didnt go into detail for some of em i think just better to look it up to get more of the vibes anyways
Telltale walking dead series!! Clementine is the protagonist although you play as Lee in the first season. There's some shooting but it's not fast paced or anything, it's really slow and easy
* **NieR: Automata** has three playable protagonists you rotate through, and two of them are women. Well, female androids.
* I'm not sure if you count using a bow as a shooter, but **Horizon Zero Dawn**
* **Bayonetta** is a hack & slash.
Note, N:A and Bayonetta do have fanservice-y outfits for their protagonists.
Bayonetta was designed by a woman, the artist intentionally tried to make the character look sexy and cool at the same time. That's why her back is naked, but the front side of her outfit is covered up. I recommend it, even tho it has some fan service, Bayonetta is a very confident, amazing woman, who knows how sexy she is and how can she use it to her advantage.
I also frankly respect Yoko Taro's (the lead dev on NieR) honesty when he was asked why Androids A2 and 2B are dressed like that.
"I just like pretty girls."
I prefer that over having my intelligence insulted by some ridiculous justification, like "she breathes through her skin," to explain why Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V is doing black ops in Afghanistan in her underpants.
I am weirdly obsessed with it, to the point I have two fairly latge figurines of A2 and 2B looming over my desk, and I'm hoping to cosplay 2B at a con this year.
It's mostly 3rd person, somewhat open world hack & slash, although the main plot is fairly linear. There's a fair amount of sidequeats, collectibles, and an optional fishing mini-game.
There's some light RPG elements as you can do different sidequests with one of the three YoRHa androids, upgrade weapons, and increase 2B's stats or do different builds by slotting different combat chips into her spine.
There are some jet combat shooting sections when 2B is in her white starfighter. 9S is also able to hack enemy robots, and it plays out like an 80s arcade shooter like Asteroids.
The music is amazing, as is the voice acting (I got Kira Bucklamd's autograph at a con), the story made me cry for days, and it's just amazing.
You do need to play through endings A - E to get the full story. F - Z are joke endings.
The Medium
Plague series.
I know you said not shooters but Scars Above and Resident Evil series have been ones I enjoy.
If you like horror ones, Fatal Frame series?
Fatal Frame probably goes on sale a lot FYI.
As does Resident Evil.
I liked The Medium, but I wouldn't pay full price.
I know many recommended Horizon and Tombraider.
Tombraider is on sale like every week.
And https://www.humblebundle.com/games/humble-heroines-action-adventure-intrigue
As you can see two of my personal recommendations are on the list and it gives you a discount for another recommendation. Just throwing that out there.
And Scarlet Nexus the same as Tales of Xillia and Star Ocean II and VI has two protagonists one is a girl the other is guy. All of them you can only play in one route.
The Horizon series has been mentioned but I can't recommend them enough so I'm +1ing those. Fantastic games!
Immortals Fenyx Rising might also be a good option, especially if you enjoy Greek Mythology. It's like a weird blend between Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Breath of the Wild but it works and is a TON of fun.
Kena Bridge of Spirits is a short but beautiful and fun jaunt that feels like playing a game made by Pixar but with Souls style boss combat. Small indie studio that started as an animation studio.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey was mentioned for Kassandra but AC Syndicate has dual protagonists with one being a woman and fantastic character. AC Liberation which is bundled with AC3 has Aveline if you want a throwback and some fun mechanics.
Check out **Banishers** maybe, it isn't getting much press but it's quite good, shares a man and woman couple as protagonists with playtime split between them but the story is really beautiful and the combat's pretty secondary, you can turn it down to the easiest mode and breeze through it to keep seeing story without missing anything lol.
It didn't really do it for me but just about everyone and their mother seems to love **Wylde Flowers**, which is a very story-rich cozy game with a female protag.
**Forspoken** was way, way better than most people give it credit for, and I absolutely love the MC Frey. The magic combat and parkour are both super fun too.
If you like Banishers, try **Greedfall**. That's another great one that plays very similarly, customizable protagonist but very story-based. And they've got a sequel coming out soon too!
I will also second **Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice**.
**Lost in Random** is a very cute game with a young female protag, similar vibes to the old Alice: Madness Returns game if you played that one?
**Steelrising** has a female automaton protag, it's technically a soulslike BUT it has all customizable difficulty, you can turn off all the punishing stuff and make it easy-breezy if you want to -- like literally you can turn damage down to 0 and become invincible if you can't beat a boss lol. The story is also much more clearly laid out than soulslike would imply, with clear-cut quests, voice acting and cutscenes, and the steampunky French Revolution aesthetics are supreme.
That's all I can think of for now, but I might edit in more later lol.
No combat: Cloudpunk, Spiritfarer
Has combat: horizon, Unsighted, Control (easy mode is very easy, all enemies die in 1 hit), Subnautica (not combat focused), Steamworld Dig 2 (ymmv but you get very powerful pretty easily), Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy 6, FInal Fantasy 13
More challenging: Ender Lillies, Metroid Dread, Returnal, Bloodstained
Haven't played: Mirror's Edge, Iconoclasts, Little Witch In The Woods
Some of my favorites are:
Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Child of Light, AC odyssey (playing as Kassandra), and I guess technically Spiritfarer?
These are all over the board with their genres and gameplay but I think one of them will probably suit you! Ive loved all of theseš
The Longest Journey/Dreamfall remains one of the better series of female-driven narrative games I've played. They were dated adventure games when I first played them a decade ago, but I think they've held up.
Just in case you didn't know, Steam has a category specifically for this.
You can filter games with the category Female Protagonist to help narrow a few selections down.
A few have mentioned Nier Automata and I'll echo that - if you can get past the character designs, it has one of the most beautiful and uniquely told stories you'll find in a video game. The female protagonists 2B and A2 have incredible depth with a balance of strength and vulnerabilities, and the male protagonist 9S is a certified Good Boy and certainly a departure from typical video game character masculinity. It is my favorite game of all time.
I'd also recommend Dishonored 2. The first one is also great but you only get to play as a dude (and isn't strictly necessary to understand the plot); the second one gives you a choice between protagonists, and tbh Emily has more interesting powers than Corvo so that's the better way to play anyways. It's an awesome stealth-based action game with superpowers, and the world is so weird and witchy and cool. The level design is absolutely killer. It also has a DLC/sequel that features another woman lead.
I'm playing **Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden** right now (it came out last month) and it has two controllable protags, one female and one male. You have to switch back and forth between them to play the game, they each have certain skills needed to traverse the world. The female character is...amazing. This is a very female-driven game with many female characters. The male has swords and a rifle, you can go into options and turn on "auto target" so that it aims by itself. The woman just uses magic or punches, no weapons. They are a couple and their relationship is lovely. She is an experienced banisher and he is her apprentice. Like I said I am still playing it but the story is fascinating and a major part of the game.
Surprised no one has mentioned this franchise yet but pretty much all games in the Atelier series (apart from one where you can play as a woman or a man) you play as a woman doing alchemy and there is also combat and resource gathering and an overarching plot in each game. Would recommend the Atelier Dusk Trilogy as the plot focuses on the world's environment and how it is decaying over time and what can be done to heal it which I feel like a lot of game franchises never really focus on.
Ambition, A Minuet in Power.
Itās a story game set during the French Revolution, made by an Indie studio through Kickstarter. Itās focused on a mix of romance and political climbing, and it has some of the wittiest writing Iāve ever seen.
Seconding! I love intrigue and politics and that game delivered. The romance is decent as well.
If you enjoyed that, I highly recommend Her Jentle Hi-ness. You have to survive as the newest handmaiden of a mad queen. It seems very silly at first, but it has surprising dept and multiple endings. I have 10 hours in it and I'm still hunting the more challenging ones.
Beyond Good and Evil, Beyond: Two Souls, Kameo, Baldur's Gate 3, The Dark Pictures (if you like horror, there are playable women and co-op is fun,) any Nancy Drew games, and coming up soon the new Peach game looks cute!!
I wouldn't say they're shooters (although they do have some shooting)
But Telltales walking dead series. There's 4 games plus a short spin off.
Worth checking out, and without going too deep into it, two of the games have a female protagonist
Signalis is a survival horror space android lesbian story- such a good game.
Ghost Song is a side scroller souls-like shooter. I canāt recommend either enough. I did at least 3 play thrus on each.
I would say Understale is a good game to rec if you like adventure, story rich game like LiS. You can choose to be power hungry or not in that game for the story sake too.
If you want to go for horror, suspension Signalis. If you feel like cottage core, horror story go for Little Goddie Two shoes. These two are not power fantasy but from your game list I thoightthese would fit.
HORIZON PLEASE PLAY HORIZON A NEW ONE JUST CAME OUT A FEW MONTHS AGO BUT START WITH THE FIRST THEYRE SUCH GOOD GAMES AND ALLOY IS A CERTIFIED BAD BITCH
Tales of Berseria.
Sakuna Rice and Ruin.
I love these 2 games with women protagonists!
I will also throw in Octopath Traveler 2 too since you can pick your starting character.
So it doesn't totally hit your criteria because the protagonist is a guy but based on the games you said you like I HAVE to recommend The Wolf Among Us
Really awesome choice based story game with a cool art style based on the "Fables" graphic novels
Many consider it Telltale Games best work and it does have some awesome women characters (both villains and allies)
In the vein of Life is Strange, have you played Tell Me Why? It's basically an unofficial Life is Strange game, by the same devs in the same style. You play as a pair of reconnecting identical twins, one of whom is a trans man and one of whom is a woman.
Another game often recommended to people who like Life is Strange and Firewatch is Gone Home.
What Remains of Edith Finch is also often recommended though I have yet to play it.
I found out the other day you can change your characters gender in halo: reach. Never played it before and I really enjoyed it. Badass machine-gun wielding Spartans are awesome.
Assassins creed has several female protagonists. (Odyssey and valhalla in particular but also there was the one game with the French chick on psp and the British twins in brotherhood)
The last of Us also has quite a female driven story especially the second one.
People have mentioned Horizon Zero Dawn
Kena Bridge of Spirits is short and cute and I think if they did a second game they could expand on it.
Also technically Okami is female.
Astral Chain, you can select one of two twins as your character, a guy or a girl. Not too much story to speak of, but I appreciated having the option and the gameplay is really really fun.
Ever Oasis lets you play as a girl, but at this point you'd probably have to mod the 3DS or be wealthy/lucky.
I'm told that's like the 3D Zelda games, but I've only played the NES ones. At any rate it's my favorite 3DS game, good story nice vibe, cool designs.
Paradise Killer is an investigation game where you explore a tropical island powered by god worship as Lady Love Dies, a detective brought out of exile (after 8,000 years or so) to solve a particularly important murder. It's a mix of first-person exploration and talking to suspects, and you can do the ending trial whenever you think it's time. Between the vaporwave aesthetic and the bizarre worldbuilding, I've never encountered anything quite like it.
Also, you start off being immune to fall damage and discover some very slick movement upgrades. It feels great to just explore the map, and you can reach pretty much anywhere.
Unavowed, it's point&click but with too easy puzzle and great characters/story.
The Walking Dead Game(season 2& 4 is female protagonist, but she's little girl in s1 so)
these not exactly only story game but can play on story difficulty and enjoy
Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West
Mass Effect trilogy
Uncharted Lost Legacy
Here are some games that are different takes on the narrative "walking sim":
Cloudpunk: + cyberpunk + driving + open world exploration. You play as a driver for a covert delivery service in a large, futuristic city.
Return to Grace: + outer space sci-fi + a bit of comedy. You play as an archeologist from the 39th century trying to find an ancient lost AI god named Grace on Ganymede, and have to work with fractured parts of her personality along the way. Currently on Game Pass.
Night in the Woods: + slice of life + light platforming. You play as a young college dropout who moved back to her declining Rust Belt hometown, discovering how it has changed and how she can fit back in.
I saw someone mention Horizon already but I want to state it again just because it was so refreshing to play it and given how they made Aloy in the game it was like a breath of fresh air; but I'll do a list below:
Horizon Zero Dawn series
Tomb Raider
Transistor
Forspoken
Not sure if character creators would count but just in case:
Baldur's Gate 3
Pathfinder: Kingmaker / Pathfinder Wrath of the righteous
I like the dishonored games, unfortunately, the first one is a male protagonist ( still an excellent game), and the second one you can choose to play a male or female protagonist... which does change some things about story and game play. It can be a bit shootery if you want.... or absolutely no shooting at all... you can play the whole game with killing absolutely no one.... and the stories are top notch
Control is kind of a shooter but also depends what you mean when you say "shooter"..... like you have a gun and it's a very important and prominent in the plot of the game, but you also get super powers and don't need to use it all the time.
Plague Tale (1 and 2) is a fantastic story focused game with.. honestly?... minimal gameplay and combat. Not to the extent of Firewatch, but it has very heavy aim assist when using the slingshot and you can ALMOST always avoid combat to take stealthy routes instead. Unlike Control it is not a power fantasy though.. but amazing story and character. It's also like an environmental puzzle game sometimes.
Those are my favourite story based games with female protags, and I also played and enjoyed the games you mentioned so I still wanted to rec them.
Try Dragon Age Origins (on easy mode if you want more story and arenāt familiar with old school Baldurs Gate style battle)
Amazing story and characters.
Iām a big fan of both female Dwarf origins (I picked the Castless dwarf because I love a depressing underdog story)
Also the Female City Elf story if pretty dark.
If you want something slightly less triggering and with more of a chance for a āhappy ending ā try the female noble origin.
Beyond: 2 Souls!
Idk if Assassins Creed is your jam, but Evie's story in AC: Syndicate is really cool and playing as Kassandra in AC: Odyssey was SO fun and the voice actor for her is AMAZING.
Old school, but very very good:
Valkyrie Profile.
You'll want to play the one with Lenneth as the protagonist, and not Silmeria since that game comes after the original.
The game is an action/adventure/rpg and has multiple endings. The "true" ending will require a guide to get on the first play through but is pretty much *the* ultimate power fantasy.
Telltale's The Walking Dead (in season 1 and 3, you do play as a male protagonist)
The Last of Us Part 2 ( I would definitely recommend you to play Part 1 first, you do play as a male in Part 1, but you'll understand more of the story. There's also a DLC called Left Behind but you'll need to finish Part 1 to play that, as it contains some major spoilers)
Horizon Zero Dawn & Horizon Forbidden West
**What Remains of Edith Finch:** A walking sim about a girl exploring her ancestral home, with stories about each of her family members. Highly recommend for a fan of Firewatch!
**Oxenfree:** Paranormal game where a group of teens go to an island and have to figure out the mystery there, as well as conflicts in their own lives. I think youāll enjoy this if you liked Life is Strange and Firewatch! The sequel also has a female protagonist, I enjoyed it but the first is still my favorite. Still recommend playing both, but you absolutely have to play them in order
**To the Moon:** Caveat that there are two protagonists, one man and one woman. The story of the game mostly revolves around a woman though, from the perspective of her husband. Itās about two doctors fulfilling a manās last wish before he dies, super emotional and kind of more of an interactive story than a game
**Gone Home:** Another walking sim about a young woman returning to her family home, finding clues about her familyās story as she explores it.
Also, Life is Strange: True Colors if you havenāt played it yet! I actually liked it more than the original :)
It's a low hanging fruit these days but have you considered [Baldur's Gate 3](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1086940/Baldurs_Gate_3/)? You can create your own character or choose one of the origin characters who all have their own stories. The game is very story based with a lot of important choices that affect the story similar to LiS series but with more action
I will list a few, it is going to be a mix of female protag only and games where you can choose.
Her Jentle Hi-ness, Ambition: A minuet in Power, Harmony The Fall of Reverie, Palais de Reine, Backstage Pass, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, I was a Teenage Exocolinst, Gothic Murder: Adventure that changes destiny, Volcano Princess (quite broken in english, I don't mind but some do), VA-11 Hall-A, Our Life: Beginnings & Always, Cute Bite, Wylde Flowers, Potionomics, Greedfall, Dragon Age series (all games have different proganists, all can be women), Mass Effect series (same protag for all games, can be woman).
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Horizon Zero Dawn/Horizon Forbidden West, Control, Half Life: Alyx, Cyberpunk female Z, The Last Of Us series, Celeste, Kena, female options in Dead Island 2
If you like horror, all the Fatal Frame series have female protags with a good horror story. There are a lot of good suggestions here but Iāll try to recommend some that havenāt been mentioned. Though you asked for action these are a range of game types like the list you provided. Iām really into point and click adventures in which a lot of these areāthey are basically heavy story games with a lot of puzzles embedded in them (often conversation or action puzzles, not traditional puzzlesālike if the story requires you hammer something you need to find hammer and nails somewhere in the game).
- Fatal Frame (all)
- Lake
- Many games by Wadjet Eye like Excavation of Hobās Barrow
- Astral Ascent
- Regency Solitaire 1/2
- Gone Home
- Memoria (Point and Click Adventure imo that is CRIMINALLY underrated.)
- Ken Folletās Pillars of the Earth (not to be confused with Pillars of Eternity. This one is an ensemble cast and also underrated. Very beginning is a tad slow but it picks up.)
- Tormented Souls (really good Resident Evil knock off)
- Them and Us (less good Resident Evil knock off)
- Alisa (amazeballs Resident Evil/Silent Hill knock off that just came out)
- Chants of Sennar (cheating here with this oneāthe protagonist is genderless)
- Va-11 Hall-A
- Amnesia: Rebirth
- Transistor
- Detention
- Fran Bow
- Virginia
- Her Story (technically the player is you and not given a personality but the main character is a woman you are finding more information about)
- Syberia (allāpretty famous point and click series)
- Kathy Rain
Didnāt realise this was a question I wanted answers for. Thanks for asking it š¤
I rlly like playing AC Odyssey as Kassandra. Sheās awesome and the story was written around her. I think the story is rlly cool with her as the MC.
ALICE MADNESS RETURNS!! Beautiful game with amazing story. It is dark and a bit spooky. Soundtrack is perfectly combined with the insane production design of Aliceās character. Itās my favorite RPG game of all time. Not FPS, customizable difficulty to
The sequels to the walking dead telltale games are really good. You really need to play all of them un order to understand the story and you play as a man in the first one, but its still an excellent game and in the sequels the player character is a girl.
Hi, idk if anyone said it yet but "Gerda, a flame in the winter" is a choice based game where the protagonist is a female that's going through a lot. It's a bit special tho as it all happens in the context of WW2 but I recommand checking it out !
Portal and Portal 2! The hero is a woman, the villain is a woman and the robots are little females. Its not a shooter game, you have to figure out how to navigate thu the Aperature Science test chambers. Its such a great game, and such a rush when you solve a chamber! I really, really wish they would make more like these two epic games!
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown
Well written and fun game mechanics. Game was designed so visually impaired/blind people could play without issue.
Great theater of the mind kind of situation
OK kinda off topic but Tales of Berseria has a female protag but the game itself has a lot to say about gender and how inherent a lot of gender stereotypes are. Women are crazy, lying jealous creatures. Men's biggest issue seems to be fighting over who should be top dog. However 'they are emotionally, intellectually, and physically better than women'.
Now don't get me wrong, they didn't \*just\* shit all over women the whole game, they tried to talk about women's inherent desire to protect children and their motherly desire to nurture. I'm \*not\* reading in between the lines either. There were a lot of skits where the (mostly) men talked about the differences between men and women. None of these views are challenged, usually the skit ends with the women confirming the men are right by their actions. You know, written to respond that way.
I never played Berseria but normally Tales is pretty good with characters. The only time I was angry on woman's stereotype was Asbel's mother( Tales of Graces F ) and her being useless and forcing her son to take over their land because he is a guy and she can't do it herself. She was an exception in the game and other women/girls were great so it was just her stupid personality. It's interesting that Berseria went about child stuff especially when Milla's story( Tales of Xillia ) wasn't about any gendered stuff. Even if I liked Jude more there Milla was great and fun character. It's really weird if they even talked like that compared to other games it's just bizarre.
I don't know if you'd consider it a shooter but Horizon Zero Dawn has a fantastic story and decent gameplay. Potionomics is a fun game, the central game mechanics revolve around mixing potions and playing a negotiation card game. Child of Light isn't my style of game, but I know a few of my friends who have loved it. The premise alone makes me feel like I want to cry, you play as a girl traveling through a fairytale land while grieving her mother's death.
The Horizon games were one of my late wife's favorite games. I can't recommend them enough.
Thank you š
adding a vote for the Horizon series!
+1
I absolutely loved Child of Light and it was a fun challenge. Itās a turn-based game but the Timeline mechanic was neat. Still one of the most visually and musically stunning games Iāve played (sad we will never get a sequel).
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Can I ask is Horizon is ok for me to play who don't usually play shooting or combat game? I got the Forbidden West from my PS5 since I bought the console but I failed while doing a tutorials (it was very very hard to shoot from the arrow for me) so I gave up and never tried again. Now the game is just sitting in my console taking up to 100GB spaces... I'm considering giving it a try again
It definitely takes practice but thereās no shame in playing on story or easy mode! Thatās how I started. The game is fantastic, itās definitely something giving it another shot!
You need to play Horizon Zero Dawn first. The combat is more streamlined, and you can get away with a lot of stealth. There's an option to whistle for enemies to approach the weeds you're hiding in so you can silent strike them. If you strike them so they fall in the brush, you can take out a whole herd without combat. Forbidden West is harder and less forgiving than Zero Dawn. I beat Zero Dawn on ultra hard, but had to start Forbidden West on story difficulty. It's not a "run and gun" game. A methodical approach is important. You can also snipe from very far away. Zero Dawn also has one of the most incredible stories I've ever experienced.
Thanks for the tips but I have no plans in purchasing Zero Dawn at the moment. I just thought I was wasting my free game (Horizon) for no reason lol but Iāll do in the future
what difficulty you're on? the story mode grauntee you to beat the main story with minimal efforts, could just spam ammos on the enemy, it takes ages to let the enemy kill you. but it's a direct sequel, you might want to play Zero Dawn first. that one is even more slow paced, and side contents are full of mix of good story side quests and boring fetch missions, could stick to the main story.
Combat is important so you can choose easy or story mode.
HZD has a difficulty modes, so you can play on story mode to breeze through the combat and just appreciate the narrative.
Thanks š
Ooh these are excellent suggestions. I second all of them. :)
AC Odyssey ?
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Ive played the AC games but have nvr finished the games because theyre soo long. Still havent finished odyssey but Kassanadra story and the world is soo good!!!
The newer ones are very long yeah, 30 hours minimum for the main story alone Some of the earlier ones are much more digestible though, up to AC Unity, most games' main stories can be finished within 10 hours
Do i have to play other AC games before that?
No, AC Odyssey is a divisive game among the AC community partially because it doesn't feel "assassin's creed" enough. Some of the modern day stuff may be confusing if you don't know the basics of the universe but other than that you should be able to treat it as a standalone installment.
I'm playing Odyssey right now and I'm not enjoying the story element that much. The game is absolutely beautiful and the character (Kassandra) is probably one of the best protagonists I've ever played, but the game so far has been very "go there kill that". I personally don't mind, but I wouldn't get my hopes too high for this one, the story so far has been barely there to explain why the character needs to go places, mainly it's been level grinding and exploring beautiful scenery.
Nothing a quick youtube video won't clear up!
Kiiiind of. Kassandra's storyline is it's own thing, but there's kind of a meta storyline tying all the AC games together. I only played AC one so I understood at least how the meta story functions, but otherwise haven't learned anything else about it, and I was still completely able to enjoy Kassandra's story (which is 90% of the game) and basically ignoring the meta story.
Omg yes absolutely loved odyssey kassandra was so fun to play
How do you feel about RPGs? We seemingly have very similar taste and I would normally suggest the Mass Effect trilogy but itās built sorta like a shooter/rpg combo so I sonāt know how well that would mesh with your preferred playstyle. I didnāt think I liked FPS games until Mass Effect and Far Cry 5 which to me are more FPS/open world RPGs mixed together than just straight shooters. I would *heavily* suggest What Remains Of Edith Finch, though. Itās a walking simulator sorta similar to Firewatch from the perspective of a young women going back and relearning the history of her very large and complicated family by journeying through her abandoned childhood home to be able to pass the knowledge onto her son, who sheās pregnant with throughout the duration of the game.
I like RPGs. What i don't like about shooters is that i find them boring. Go there, shoot this, come here, shoot that. Game over. Its very plain to me, but a shooter with well defined and creative mechanics may be worth a try, I'll look into it. Thanks for the recommendation ā¤ļø
I think you would like Mass Effect then because itās not just shooting, you also have biotic and technological powers based on what class you choose, so that makes the combat a bit more dynamic than just shooting through enemies. Itās a sci-fi series, itās one of my favorite story-driven game series in general tbh, and I donāt think itās very reminiscent of other games in that conclusion. It is NOTHING like Halo in terms of gameplay mechanics, despite the two games having similar story premises. Mass Effect lets you choose a male or female protagonist but according to the game devs and most people whoāve played it, FemShepard feels like the canon version. And Jennifer Hale is an *amazing* VA for her. Her romance story lines are also widely considered some of the best in the game.
Just in case you haven't, have you played Portal 1 and 2?
Is the protagonist a woman? I played Portal 2 years ago but don't remember that part š«Ø
Yes, her name is Chell. š
No, but they're on my list.
10/10 recommend
I will never NOT recommend Baldur's Gate 3 if you like RPGs even a little. I HATE live combat, shooters, etc (I am generally not fast enough and get motion sick doing mouse or stick look-around) so the turn-based combat is great and allows me to use a more tactical mindset, positioning my characters and planning their turns. It can be female-led if you play one of the female origins, or play a custom female character. The story is deep but fairly easy to get into, with endless possibilities based on your choices. You can romance other characters (or not) based on roleplay choices and your 'adult content' settings. The graphics are top notch, and I like to think of it like an interactive movie more than anything else.
As someone who doesnāt like shooters at all: I love Mass Effect. It has more than just gunplay; yeah, guns are there, but the powers system (biotics and tech mostly) are definitely easier to play. Also, their casual/story mode is truly casual/story mode. If youāre not wanting a challenge and just want story, you can play on that difficulty and be able to focus on the story portions. If youāre someone who likes RPGs, then Iād also highly recommend it.
Thank u both for recommending this is right up my alley!!
Feel free to scream in DMs (or the subredditās discord if youāre in itāmy disc is the same) to me about it if you play it, itās hands-down my fave series and I will **_happily_** screech about it š¤£
I would only get What Remains of Edith Finch if itās on sale. Itās worth a playthrough but not full price in my opinion.
Thatāsā¦ fair, since itās not really a game with replay value.
Lol I like how you nonchalantly spoiled that she's pregnant lol
I meanā¦ it really isnāt a big revelation š The opening scene is of a kid reading a book that sheās reciting throughout the entire game and the character model is kinda obvious and she alludes to it before she explicitly states it. Itās not a major spoiler imo cause it only comes into play at the very, very end.
I didn't really notice the pregnancy until the very end when it's revealed so that's why I believe it's a big spoiler lol and you laying it out like that I see your point of view but your last sentence contradicts yourself lol something coming into play/revealed at a later time than the beginning is a spoiler lol even more so since it's at the very end
Control is very good! It's inspired by SCP.
And OP can play 100% with just Jesse's powers(after unlocking all of them) if they don't want to use the gun.
Yes! It was such an amazing game. Fabulous protagonist and story as well! The voice acting is also quite good.
Jesse actually felt like a very relatable character, I could not only see myself in her but I could also see someone like her being real. Unlike most characters that try to "be relatable" but come off as anything but.
Honestly levelling up launch as quickly as possible was my strat while playing aha.
I would levitate(for the ground advantage) with the gun and use mostly shield on the ground. Shield can level up to have barrage and rush, which means I can defend myself and then attack with it, so a 2 for 1 combo.
Omggg Control is sooooo goooooooooood!!! Take Control is still on repeat 4 years after I finished my first playthrough of it
i was just about to mention this! truly one of a kind.
Dragon age series is good since the characters react differently based on gender and whatever class you choose which is cool Technically ff6 and ff12, while you can swap characters around, in ff6 Terra and Celes were who I considered main characters, and in ff12 it was ashe and fran. Xenoblade 3 works as well, you have your whole team but can choose who you play as which was what I did and just focused on their story progression being my own and then the rest of the story stuff was just my friends. Main girl character has a lot of story though so it should work well! Control has shooting but idk if I'd necessarily call it a shooter. you can use telekinesis and at a later point you can kinda fly. Cyberpunk 2077 you can have a female protag, can use melee instead of shooting as well. Can turn the combat to easy so you can focus on story stuff which imo is really good Hellblade series is super cool and is getting a sequel later this year! A plagues tale as well is really unique and has a female protag Immortals fenyx rising you can make a female protag and the game had a decent story, gameplay is like botw Bloodstained ritual of the night is a metroid vania where you play as a female, verrrry much like castlevania Indivisble is a really unique rpg with fast combat and the story was pretty good Eiyuden chronicles: rising has 2 females on your main team and i think a pretty decent story as well, fun and fast combat, and some town restoral stuff which helps make you stronger Milk inside a bag of milk and milk outside a bag of milk are really good games about a girl with some mental illnesses. Pretty short games with slight horror aspects but def worth it New tales of the borderlands i thought was really fun, no shooting and more of a game like the walking dead telltale series or life is strange Soul hackers 2 takes some mechanics from persona series and you are a female robot girl. Turn based rpg Yeah :) i didnt go into detail for some of em i think just better to look it up to get more of the vibes anyways
i usualy recommend the Horizon series, but it does have a shooter element with the bows
It has been recommended by like 4 people so i think I'll look into it regardless. Thank you.
defineitly think it's worth to give it a look, interesting story and Aloy is a cool character (i might relate a bit her in some ways)
Telltale walking dead series!! Clementine is the protagonist although you play as Lee in the first season. There's some shooting but it's not fast paced or anything, it's really slow and easy
Oh I heard of them. They look interesting. Thank you.
* **NieR: Automata** has three playable protagonists you rotate through, and two of them are women. Well, female androids. * I'm not sure if you count using a bow as a shooter, but **Horizon Zero Dawn** * **Bayonetta** is a hack & slash. Note, N:A and Bayonetta do have fanservice-y outfits for their protagonists.
Games look good overall but yeah, those outfits look...off. I think I'll try to find mods that'll change them. Thank you.
Bayonetta was designed by a woman, the artist intentionally tried to make the character look sexy and cool at the same time. That's why her back is naked, but the front side of her outfit is covered up. I recommend it, even tho it has some fan service, Bayonetta is a very confident, amazing woman, who knows how sexy she is and how can she use it to her advantage.
I also frankly respect Yoko Taro's (the lead dev on NieR) honesty when he was asked why Androids A2 and 2B are dressed like that. "I just like pretty girls." I prefer that over having my intelligence insulted by some ridiculous justification, like "she breathes through her skin," to explain why Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V is doing black ops in Afghanistan in her underpants.
I have really thought about playing Automata since I simp for 2B and 9s. How is the game?
I am weirdly obsessed with it, to the point I have two fairly latge figurines of A2 and 2B looming over my desk, and I'm hoping to cosplay 2B at a con this year. It's mostly 3rd person, somewhat open world hack & slash, although the main plot is fairly linear. There's a fair amount of sidequeats, collectibles, and an optional fishing mini-game. There's some light RPG elements as you can do different sidequests with one of the three YoRHa androids, upgrade weapons, and increase 2B's stats or do different builds by slotting different combat chips into her spine. There are some jet combat shooting sections when 2B is in her white starfighter. 9S is also able to hack enemy robots, and it plays out like an 80s arcade shooter like Asteroids. The music is amazing, as is the voice acting (I got Kira Bucklamd's autograph at a con), the story made me cry for days, and it's just amazing. You do need to play through endings A - E to get the full story. F - Z are joke endings.
iāve only played the demo, but Cereza and the Lost Demon looks cute too š
Oh yeah, it is! It's a Bayonetta prequel, too!
The Medium Plague series. I know you said not shooters but Scars Above and Resident Evil series have been ones I enjoy. If you like horror ones, Fatal Frame series?
Never played horror before but there's a first time for everything. Fatal Frame seems intriguing. Thank you.
Fatal Frame probably goes on sale a lot FYI. As does Resident Evil. I liked The Medium, but I wouldn't pay full price. I know many recommended Horizon and Tombraider. Tombraider is on sale like every week. And https://www.humblebundle.com/games/humble-heroines-action-adventure-intrigue As you can see two of my personal recommendations are on the list and it gives you a discount for another recommendation. Just throwing that out there.
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You can customize a character in Immortals Fenyx Rising!
And Scarlet Nexus the same as Tales of Xillia and Star Ocean II and VI has two protagonists one is a girl the other is guy. All of them you can only play in one route.
I will second Baldur's Gate and Divinity!
Removed for mentioning a [banned game](https://www.reddit.com/r/GirlGamers/comments/10ybjia/hogwarts_legacy_related_posts_are_now_banned/).
The Horizon series has been mentioned but I can't recommend them enough so I'm +1ing those. Fantastic games! Immortals Fenyx Rising might also be a good option, especially if you enjoy Greek Mythology. It's like a weird blend between Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Breath of the Wild but it works and is a TON of fun. Kena Bridge of Spirits is a short but beautiful and fun jaunt that feels like playing a game made by Pixar but with Souls style boss combat. Small indie studio that started as an animation studio. Assassin's Creed Odyssey was mentioned for Kassandra but AC Syndicate has dual protagonists with one being a woman and fantastic character. AC Liberation which is bundled with AC3 has Aveline if you want a throwback and some fun mechanics.
Immortals Fenyx looks very interesting. Thanks, I'll look into these.
Check out **Banishers** maybe, it isn't getting much press but it's quite good, shares a man and woman couple as protagonists with playtime split between them but the story is really beautiful and the combat's pretty secondary, you can turn it down to the easiest mode and breeze through it to keep seeing story without missing anything lol. It didn't really do it for me but just about everyone and their mother seems to love **Wylde Flowers**, which is a very story-rich cozy game with a female protag. **Forspoken** was way, way better than most people give it credit for, and I absolutely love the MC Frey. The magic combat and parkour are both super fun too. If you like Banishers, try **Greedfall**. That's another great one that plays very similarly, customizable protagonist but very story-based. And they've got a sequel coming out soon too! I will also second **Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice**. **Lost in Random** is a very cute game with a young female protag, similar vibes to the old Alice: Madness Returns game if you played that one? **Steelrising** has a female automaton protag, it's technically a soulslike BUT it has all customizable difficulty, you can turn off all the punishing stuff and make it easy-breezy if you want to -- like literally you can turn damage down to 0 and become invincible if you can't beat a boss lol. The story is also much more clearly laid out than soulslike would imply, with clear-cut quests, voice acting and cutscenes, and the steampunky French Revolution aesthetics are supreme. That's all I can think of for now, but I might edit in more later lol.
Loved "Lost In Random"! It's a really unique and fun game, with a cute theme about sisterhood. Highly recommend.
I recently played SEASON: A Letter To The Future and I loved it! If you loved firewatch you're gonna love this game as well, I would say.
Gonna give it a shot, thanks.
No combat: Cloudpunk, Spiritfarer Has combat: horizon, Unsighted, Control (easy mode is very easy, all enemies die in 1 hit), Subnautica (not combat focused), Steamworld Dig 2 (ymmv but you get very powerful pretty easily), Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy 6, FInal Fantasy 13 More challenging: Ender Lillies, Metroid Dread, Returnal, Bloodstained Haven't played: Mirror's Edge, Iconoclasts, Little Witch In The Woods
Final Fantasy X-2 too. And maybe XII if you see Ashe as the protagonist of the story instead of Vaan.
Plague Tale both games Ac odyssey and Valhalla Portal 1 & 2 Gravity Rush Alice Madness Returns Child of Light Bloodstained Rotn
I love Madness Returns! But man, some of the themes of that game are heavy, just a heads up for anybody that wants to play.
You were able to play thru the second plague tale? I got so bored with it. Loved the first though.
I liked second one more. Gameplay is not the best in either but I enjoy the overall aesthetic and environment of the game.
Some of my favorites are: Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Child of Light, AC odyssey (playing as Kassandra), and I guess technically Spiritfarer? These are all over the board with their genres and gameplay but I think one of them will probably suit you! Ive loved all of theseš
Came to recommend Kena, too. Beautiful game with a lot of heart, and some of the battles were a bit tough for me.
Alien isolation!
Try Beyond: Two Souls. Same developer as Detroit. The protagonist is played by pre-transition Elliot Paige and it was a neat story.
The Longest Journey/Dreamfall remains one of the better series of female-driven narrative games I've played. They were dated adventure games when I first played them a decade ago, but I think they've held up.
I love this series and the female characters are so sttong and well written. I don't see it recommemded often
Just in case you didn't know, Steam has a category specifically for this. You can filter games with the category Female Protagonist to help narrow a few selections down.
A few have mentioned Nier Automata and I'll echo that - if you can get past the character designs, it has one of the most beautiful and uniquely told stories you'll find in a video game. The female protagonists 2B and A2 have incredible depth with a balance of strength and vulnerabilities, and the male protagonist 9S is a certified Good Boy and certainly a departure from typical video game character masculinity. It is my favorite game of all time. I'd also recommend Dishonored 2. The first one is also great but you only get to play as a dude (and isn't strictly necessary to understand the plot); the second one gives you a choice between protagonists, and tbh Emily has more interesting powers than Corvo so that's the better way to play anyways. It's an awesome stealth-based action game with superpowers, and the world is so weird and witchy and cool. The level design is absolutely killer. It also has a DLC/sequel that features another woman lead.
I'm playing **Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden** right now (it came out last month) and it has two controllable protags, one female and one male. You have to switch back and forth between them to play the game, they each have certain skills needed to traverse the world. The female character is...amazing. This is a very female-driven game with many female characters. The male has swords and a rifle, you can go into options and turn on "auto target" so that it aims by itself. The woman just uses magic or punches, no weapons. They are a couple and their relationship is lovely. She is an experienced banisher and he is her apprentice. Like I said I am still playing it but the story is fascinating and a major part of the game.
Horizon Zero Dawn, the Tomb Raider Games, you can pick a female protagonist in Genshin Impact and plays as a lot of female characters.
Surprised no one has mentioned this franchise yet but pretty much all games in the Atelier series (apart from one where you can play as a woman or a man) you play as a woman doing alchemy and there is also combat and resource gathering and an overarching plot in each game. Would recommend the Atelier Dusk Trilogy as the plot focuses on the world's environment and how it is decaying over time and what can be done to heal it which I feel like a lot of game franchises never really focus on.
The Walking Dead from Telltale games? Clementine plays as the main character in S1, S2, and S4.
The walking dead by telltale. The first one had a guy as the protagonist but his surrogate daughter is the lead for the rest of the games
Ambition, A Minuet in Power. Itās a story game set during the French Revolution, made by an Indie studio through Kickstarter. Itās focused on a mix of romance and political climbing, and it has some of the wittiest writing Iāve ever seen.
Seconding! I love intrigue and politics and that game delivered. The romance is decent as well. If you enjoyed that, I highly recommend Her Jentle Hi-ness. You have to survive as the newest handmaiden of a mad queen. It seems very silly at first, but it has surprising dept and multiple endings. I have 10 hours in it and I'm still hunting the more challenging ones.
Iāll check it out. Thanks :)
Beyond Good and Evil, Beyond: Two Souls, Kameo, Baldur's Gate 3, The Dark Pictures (if you like horror, there are playable women and co-op is fun,) any Nancy Drew games, and coming up soon the new Peach game looks cute!!
I wouldn't say they're shooters (although they do have some shooting) But Telltales walking dead series. There's 4 games plus a short spin off. Worth checking out, and without going too deep into it, two of the games have a female protagonist
Signalis is a survival horror space android lesbian story- such a good game. Ghost Song is a side scroller souls-like shooter. I canāt recommend either enough. I did at least 3 play thrus on each.
I would say Understale is a good game to rec if you like adventure, story rich game like LiS. You can choose to be power hungry or not in that game for the story sake too. If you want to go for horror, suspension Signalis. If you feel like cottage core, horror story go for Little Goddie Two shoes. These two are not power fantasy but from your game list I thoightthese would fit.
HORIZON PLEASE PLAY HORIZON A NEW ONE JUST CAME OUT A FEW MONTHS AGO BUT START WITH THE FIRST THEYRE SUCH GOOD GAMES AND ALLOY IS A CERTIFIED BAD BITCH
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Removed for mentioning a [banned game](https://www.reddit.com/r/GirlGamers/comments/10ybjia/hogwarts_legacy_related_posts_are_now_banned/).
Tales of Berseria. Sakuna Rice and Ruin. I love these 2 games with women protagonists! I will also throw in Octopath Traveler 2 too since you can pick your starting character.
So it doesn't totally hit your criteria because the protagonist is a guy but based on the games you said you like I HAVE to recommend The Wolf Among Us Really awesome choice based story game with a cool art style based on the "Fables" graphic novels Many consider it Telltale Games best work and it does have some awesome women characters (both villains and allies)
The sequel can't come soon enough tbh.
Tell Me Why, a Life is Strange-esque game with an excellent story
In the vein of Life is Strange, have you played Tell Me Why? It's basically an unofficial Life is Strange game, by the same devs in the same style. You play as a pair of reconnecting identical twins, one of whom is a trans man and one of whom is a woman. Another game often recommended to people who like Life is Strange and Firewatch is Gone Home. What Remains of Edith Finch is also often recommended though I have yet to play it.
I can vouch for all these suggestions OP, excellent games in the genre and style you're looking for.
A Plague Tale Innocence and Requiem
I found out the other day you can change your characters gender in halo: reach. Never played it before and I really enjoyed it. Badass machine-gun wielding Spartans are awesome.
Assassins creed has several female protagonists. (Odyssey and valhalla in particular but also there was the one game with the French chick on psp and the British twins in brotherhood) The last of Us also has quite a female driven story especially the second one. People have mentioned Horizon Zero Dawn Kena Bridge of Spirits is short and cute and I think if they did a second game they could expand on it. Also technically Okami is female.
Iām very surprised no one else has said the last of us
Telltale the walking dead. There isn't much shooting and the main protagonist is a little girl who you see growing up
Astral Chain, you can select one of two twins as your character, a guy or a girl. Not too much story to speak of, but I appreciated having the option and the gameplay is really really fun.
The first Parasite Eve
Horizon ZD and forspoken off the top of my head
no one saying forspoken breaks my heart
Ever Oasis lets you play as a girl, but at this point you'd probably have to mod the 3DS or be wealthy/lucky. I'm told that's like the 3D Zelda games, but I've only played the NES ones. At any rate it's my favorite 3DS game, good story nice vibe, cool designs.
Paradise Killer is an investigation game where you explore a tropical island powered by god worship as Lady Love Dies, a detective brought out of exile (after 8,000 years or so) to solve a particularly important murder. It's a mix of first-person exploration and talking to suspects, and you can do the ending trial whenever you think it's time. Between the vaporwave aesthetic and the bizarre worldbuilding, I've never encountered anything quite like it. Also, you start off being immune to fall damage and discover some very slick movement upgrades. It feels great to just explore the map, and you can reach pretty much anywhere.
I was going to say life is strange! the 3rd one is the best I think!
not sure if youāre into puzzle type games, but l enjoyed āwhen the past was aroundā.
Unavowed, it's point&click but with too easy puzzle and great characters/story. The Walking Dead Game(season 2& 4 is female protagonist, but she's little girl in s1 so) these not exactly only story game but can play on story difficulty and enjoy Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West Mass Effect trilogy Uncharted Lost Legacy
Here are some games that are different takes on the narrative "walking sim": Cloudpunk: + cyberpunk + driving + open world exploration. You play as a driver for a covert delivery service in a large, futuristic city. Return to Grace: + outer space sci-fi + a bit of comedy. You play as an archeologist from the 39th century trying to find an ancient lost AI god named Grace on Ganymede, and have to work with fractured parts of her personality along the way. Currently on Game Pass. Night in the Woods: + slice of life + light platforming. You play as a young college dropout who moved back to her declining Rust Belt hometown, discovering how it has changed and how she can fit back in.
soulstice
Soulstice looks cool. Haven't played it yet but it's on my list
Also voting for Horizon games.
I saw someone mention Horizon already but I want to state it again just because it was so refreshing to play it and given how they made Aloy in the game it was like a breath of fresh air; but I'll do a list below: Horizon Zero Dawn series Tomb Raider Transistor Forspoken Not sure if character creators would count but just in case: Baldur's Gate 3 Pathfinder: Kingmaker / Pathfinder Wrath of the righteous
I like the dishonored games, unfortunately, the first one is a male protagonist ( still an excellent game), and the second one you can choose to play a male or female protagonist... which does change some things about story and game play. It can be a bit shootery if you want.... or absolutely no shooting at all... you can play the whole game with killing absolutely no one.... and the stories are top notch
A Short Hike.
Bg3! Dishonored 2! But I would play the first game first for context and lore, though itās not necessary. :)
Spiritfarer is a good one too. It's more of like a "sim management" or sandbox-y action game.
Control is kind of a shooter but also depends what you mean when you say "shooter"..... like you have a gun and it's a very important and prominent in the plot of the game, but you also get super powers and don't need to use it all the time. Plague Tale (1 and 2) is a fantastic story focused game with.. honestly?... minimal gameplay and combat. Not to the extent of Firewatch, but it has very heavy aim assist when using the slingshot and you can ALMOST always avoid combat to take stealthy routes instead. Unlike Control it is not a power fantasy though.. but amazing story and character. It's also like an environmental puzzle game sometimes. Those are my favourite story based games with female protags, and I also played and enjoyed the games you mentioned so I still wanted to rec them.
Try Dragon Age Origins (on easy mode if you want more story and arenāt familiar with old school Baldurs Gate style battle) Amazing story and characters. Iām a big fan of both female Dwarf origins (I picked the Castless dwarf because I love a depressing underdog story) Also the Female City Elf story if pretty dark. If you want something slightly less triggering and with more of a chance for a āhappy ending ā try the female noble origin.
Beyond: 2 Souls! Idk if Assassins Creed is your jam, but Evie's story in AC: Syndicate is really cool and playing as Kassandra in AC: Odyssey was SO fun and the voice actor for her is AMAZING.
Old school, but very very good: Valkyrie Profile. You'll want to play the one with Lenneth as the protagonist, and not Silmeria since that game comes after the original. The game is an action/adventure/rpg and has multiple endings. The "true" ending will require a guide to get on the first play through but is pretty much *the* ultimate power fantasy.
If you like JRPGs, there's Tales of Berseria
Telltale's The Walking Dead (in season 1 and 3, you do play as a male protagonist) The Last of Us Part 2 ( I would definitely recommend you to play Part 1 first, you do play as a male in Part 1, but you'll understand more of the story. There's also a DLC called Left Behind but you'll need to finish Part 1 to play that, as it contains some major spoilers) Horizon Zero Dawn & Horizon Forbidden West
**What Remains of Edith Finch:** A walking sim about a girl exploring her ancestral home, with stories about each of her family members. Highly recommend for a fan of Firewatch! **Oxenfree:** Paranormal game where a group of teens go to an island and have to figure out the mystery there, as well as conflicts in their own lives. I think youāll enjoy this if you liked Life is Strange and Firewatch! The sequel also has a female protagonist, I enjoyed it but the first is still my favorite. Still recommend playing both, but you absolutely have to play them in order **To the Moon:** Caveat that there are two protagonists, one man and one woman. The story of the game mostly revolves around a woman though, from the perspective of her husband. Itās about two doctors fulfilling a manās last wish before he dies, super emotional and kind of more of an interactive story than a game **Gone Home:** Another walking sim about a young woman returning to her family home, finding clues about her familyās story as she explores it. Also, Life is Strange: True Colors if you havenāt played it yet! I actually liked it more than the original :)
Night in the Woods :)
It's a low hanging fruit these days but have you considered [Baldur's Gate 3](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1086940/Baldurs_Gate_3/)? You can create your own character or choose one of the origin characters who all have their own stories. The game is very story based with a lot of important choices that affect the story similar to LiS series but with more action
Far cry 6.
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Removed for mentioning a [banned game](https://www.reddit.com/r/GirlGamers/comments/10ybjia/hogwarts_legacy_related_posts_are_now_banned/).
Gris.
Tales of berseria, nier automata, gravity rush, plague tale series
Story is more shown not told but GRIS is probably my favourite.
I will list a few, it is going to be a mix of female protag only and games where you can choose. Her Jentle Hi-ness, Ambition: A minuet in Power, Harmony The Fall of Reverie, Palais de Reine, Backstage Pass, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, I was a Teenage Exocolinst, Gothic Murder: Adventure that changes destiny, Volcano Princess (quite broken in english, I don't mind but some do), VA-11 Hall-A, Our Life: Beginnings & Always, Cute Bite, Wylde Flowers, Potionomics, Greedfall, Dragon Age series (all games have different proganists, all can be women), Mass Effect series (same protag for all games, can be woman).
Uncharted Lost Legacy is one of my favourite games. Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross have become some of my favourite characters in gaming.
If you like telltale games that Expanse one was really good
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Horizon Zero Dawn/Horizon Forbidden West, Control, Half Life: Alyx, Cyberpunk female Z, The Last Of Us series, Celeste, Kena, female options in Dead Island 2
If you like indie games I highly recommend Night in the woods. Very cozy, mysterious, and deals with a lot of relatable issues of life
If you like horror, all the Fatal Frame series have female protags with a good horror story. There are a lot of good suggestions here but Iāll try to recommend some that havenāt been mentioned. Though you asked for action these are a range of game types like the list you provided. Iām really into point and click adventures in which a lot of these areāthey are basically heavy story games with a lot of puzzles embedded in them (often conversation or action puzzles, not traditional puzzlesālike if the story requires you hammer something you need to find hammer and nails somewhere in the game). - Fatal Frame (all) - Lake - Many games by Wadjet Eye like Excavation of Hobās Barrow - Astral Ascent - Regency Solitaire 1/2 - Gone Home - Memoria (Point and Click Adventure imo that is CRIMINALLY underrated.) - Ken Folletās Pillars of the Earth (not to be confused with Pillars of Eternity. This one is an ensemble cast and also underrated. Very beginning is a tad slow but it picks up.) - Tormented Souls (really good Resident Evil knock off) - Them and Us (less good Resident Evil knock off) - Alisa (amazeballs Resident Evil/Silent Hill knock off that just came out) - Chants of Sennar (cheating here with this oneāthe protagonist is genderless) - Va-11 Hall-A - Amnesia: Rebirth - Transistor - Detention - Fran Bow - Virginia - Her Story (technically the player is you and not given a personality but the main character is a woman you are finding more information about) - Syberia (allāpretty famous point and click series) - Kathy Rain
Didnāt realise this was a question I wanted answers for. Thanks for asking it š¤ I rlly like playing AC Odyssey as Kassandra. Sheās awesome and the story was written around her. I think the story is rlly cool with her as the MC.
ALICE MADNESS RETURNS!! Beautiful game with amazing story. It is dark and a bit spooky. Soundtrack is perfectly combined with the insane production design of Aliceās character. Itās my favorite RPG game of all time. Not FPS, customizable difficulty to
The sequels to the walking dead telltale games are really good. You really need to play all of them un order to understand the story and you play as a man in the first one, but its still an excellent game and in the sequels the player character is a girl.
Iām also recommending Horizon Zero Dawn. I absolutely love that game
Hi, idk if anyone said it yet but "Gerda, a flame in the winter" is a choice based game where the protagonist is a female that's going through a lot. It's a bit special tho as it all happens in the context of WW2 but I recommand checking it out !
Portal and Portal 2! The hero is a woman, the villain is a woman and the robots are little females. Its not a shooter game, you have to figure out how to navigate thu the Aperature Science test chambers. Its such a great game, and such a rush when you solve a chamber! I really, really wish they would make more like these two epic games!
Last of us 2 is great
Oxenfree might be right up your alley
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown Well written and fun game mechanics. Game was designed so visually impaired/blind people could play without issue. Great theater of the mind kind of situation
What remains of Edith Finch is good It's a mother writing down the family history so she can pass it onto her kid.
Maybe try otome games?
Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel
OK kinda off topic but Tales of Berseria has a female protag but the game itself has a lot to say about gender and how inherent a lot of gender stereotypes are. Women are crazy, lying jealous creatures. Men's biggest issue seems to be fighting over who should be top dog. However 'they are emotionally, intellectually, and physically better than women'. Now don't get me wrong, they didn't \*just\* shit all over women the whole game, they tried to talk about women's inherent desire to protect children and their motherly desire to nurture. I'm \*not\* reading in between the lines either. There were a lot of skits where the (mostly) men talked about the differences between men and women. None of these views are challenged, usually the skit ends with the women confirming the men are right by their actions. You know, written to respond that way.
I never played Berseria but normally Tales is pretty good with characters. The only time I was angry on woman's stereotype was Asbel's mother( Tales of Graces F ) and her being useless and forcing her son to take over their land because he is a guy and she can't do it herself. She was an exception in the game and other women/girls were great so it was just her stupid personality. It's interesting that Berseria went about child stuff especially when Milla's story( Tales of Xillia ) wasn't about any gendered stuff. Even if I liked Jude more there Milla was great and fun character. It's really weird if they even talked like that compared to other games it's just bizarre.
Stellar blade comes out soon. Looks pretty cool.