Since no one's mentioned it: Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2
Patient Gamers
A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.
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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.
Metroid of course!
Also Ion Fury isn't old, but its made to look and feel old, and the protag is kick-ass
i played a couple of levels already, the quips had me and my gf in stitches, id LOVE more like ion fury, gib me more plz world
At risk of posting twice but, I had to add this one as well:
Kyrandia 2: The Hand of Fate
A point-and-click adventure game. It was funny, colorful, and Zanthia is still awesome :) Made by Westwood of all people. It makes some references to the first, but you could play it on its own.
cool, but what about the first one? do i need it?
Hmmm.. The plot of the first one has nothing to do with the second. But you do get a lot of world building and some characters are properly introduced in the first.
I guess you should play the first as well if you want the best experience. It’s also a good game, though the puzzles are a little more.. frustrating. But it’s nothing a good walkthrough can’t solve :)
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.
Donkey Kong Country 3 if you count anthro characters. Dixie is also in DKC2 but there she is the sidekick and not the main character, not that there's much difference from a gameplay perspective.
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.
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.
Siberia!!! And Dreamfall!!! Best games ever!!!
edit: also I saw Life is strange in the comments, this is a really good game. And also I remembered bayonetta!!!
No One Lives Forever (and 2)
It's also rare to have a female protagonist in an FPS.
If you accept games where you fully create the character, you've got a ton of RPGs. Baldur's gate, elder scrolls, arcanum, fallout.
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. :)
Eien no Filena on the SNES/SFC (it was Japan-only but it's been fan-translated).
Not only is the protagonist a woman - that fact is repeatedly plot-relevant.
Cult: Heretic Kingdoms
Fantastic RPG game, with a badass female protagonist.