Gaming

Recently played Control. Had a blast!

Portal, Portal 2. Bonus points for also having a female antagonist and passing the bechdel test

Control is great.

Control.

One of the best games I've ever played, and I don't play many games. I've even replayed it twice. Criminally underrated female protagonist with a super cool story :))

edit: sorry didnt see its been suggested a trillion times :c

All of the Metroid games. Those are a blast.

The Mass Effect and Dragon Age games. I love me some Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard.

Try Life is Strange: an emotional coming of age game about a photography student with the ability to rewind time. One of my favorites.

How has nobody mentioned the Metroid games yet?

Portal and Portal 2

There are several pages in this thread so these might've been mentioned already, but

Mirror's Edge, the original.

Tomb Raider (2013) and up

If you enjoy the Ubisoft formula, Far Cry 6

Saints Row 2 and up

Mass Effect franchise before Andromeda

-Control

-A Hat in Time

-Celeste

-Shantae (Pirates Curse and Risky's Revenge are my favs)

-Touhou Luna Nights

-Returnal

-Portal 1/2 if that counts

• metroid
• returnal
• beyond good and evil
• the FFXIII trilogy (yes they're good and I'll fight anyone that says otherwise)
• Bayonetta
• A lot of the Resident Evils
• Celeste, bonus points for being very gay as well
• Half-Life: Alyx
• Tales of Berseria (if you like anime stuff. the protag's outfit is trash but she's probably the best Tales MC IMO)
• Telltale's Walking Dead
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The female protag is canon as far as I'm concerned
• Night in the Woods
• Control
• Nier Automata
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• Signalis

I just finished Control and it's really good! Jesse is a strong female lead and there's no male option like some games.

Life is Strange games! More story then anything, and the dialog is a bit cringy these days but there's really no other games like it and I highly recommend them.

I know it's already been said, but Control is one of my favorite games ever and it has a well-written female protagonist. It's a must-play.

Also Returnal.

Subnautica (obviously?) - Female protagonist trying to survive long enough to figure out what happened to her sister on a frozen planet.

Gris - A very lovely and emotional story about grief.

Mass Effect! FemShep is amazing!

• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits
• A Plague Tale (franchise)
• Tomb Raider (franchise)
• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Bayonetta
• Control
• Fatal Frame (franchise)
• Nier (franchise)

Portal?

I definitely have to add another vote for Celeste. The mental health theme was incredibly well done and it's one of the most memorable games I've ever played.

Dishonored 2. Haven't played through much of it because my laptop is a bit weak, but loved the first one.

I'm very much looking forward to Hades 2, and hope it won't be too much longer before we see some more news on it! I would like to try Transistor sometime too, as I've heard good things about it.

Returnal, a rogue like 3rd person shooter (sort of bullet hell) with a scifi alien setting and a mindfuck story. It's one of my favorite games I've played in years, both for the story and gameplay. I can't recommend it enough.

If you're familiar with the story of the first Last of Us game, Last of Us 2 is great and is centered around Ellie.

Assassins Creed: Odyssey. Kassandra is my muscle mommy.

There's a lot of great recs in here! A few that I don't see posted yet:

• Gone Home is a highly atmospheric exploration game where you play as Katie, a girl investigating her family's house after she arrives home and finds it empty. FYI in case you're with me in the "easily frightened" camp: this one can be just a little tense/scary in that "alone in the house at night" kind of way, but it's decidedly not a horror game.
• A Short Hike is a(n unsurprisingly) short and sweet little game where you play as Claire, a bird who goes on a little hike/adventure through, essentially, an island nature preserve. One of my go-to "relax and feel good feelings" replays.
• Bayonetta was already mentioned, but I'd specifically like to call out Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. It's a quite different game from other Bayonetta installments, with creepy-cute fairy tale vibes and somewhat unique controls.

Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm are some of my favorites.

I'm having a great time finally getting into What Remains of Edith Finch.

Control is excellent

Not female, but the protagonist of Outer Wilds is nonbinary, as is their entire species.

edit; Kena Bridge of Spirits doesn't get talked about a lot but it was a good game.

Portal

Mirrors Edge/Catalyst? Sorry I missed it’s already mentioned.

Phantasy Star On-Line New Genesis (male and female characters).

Alien Isolation

Celeste

Satisfactory

The Longest Journey, 1999.

Does Crosscode count? I bought it on sale after hearing how good it is and so far sunk 40 hours in easily. Characters interact very well with one another and the combat system is high paced but accessable. Lots of great puzzles and the over arcing story is engaging.

Celeste is a classic. It's a platformer. Really amazing game.

Chorus is a space dogfighting game. It has a great core gameloop but imo it is missing out on side content and story.

Scrolled through the comments, how has no one not mentioned A Plague Tail? Amazing story from a woman's perspective

Many good choices here. I didn't see Half Life Alyx here yet. It is an amazing game which alone is almost worth the cost of VR.

Definitely Celeste

Jade from Beyond Good and Evil.

I enjoyed Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. It's a bit shorter than U4, but still worth playing. I liked Chloe and Nadine together.

The Last of Us: Part II !

All the Metroid games, especially the 2D ones. If you like a good metroidvania, well, you can't go wrong with the game that created the genre.

I did not see Celeste mentioned, but if you're at least one bit into platforming, this gem is an absolute must-play. And must listen, I have the OST on repeat since it came out.

If beat them all are your jam, you need to play some P* games, and the ones with a female protagonist are the Bayonetta. Heavily sexualized, but to a point where it becomes some kind of parody of itself, you have to embrace the aesthetic. The rhythm is frantic, the scenario barely understandable, the action way over-the-top, and the combat gameplay tight as hell.

In more standard AAA waters, the two Tomb Raider reboots are pretty good, although a bit heavy on male-gaze.

Back to the indy side, What Remains of Edith Finch is a first person narrative game, in which you'll play as different characters. But the main ones are girls, and it matters in the plot.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark (think Final Fantasy Tactics) https://store.steampowered.com/app/699170/Fell_Seal_Arbiters_Mark/

Final Fantasy VI https://store.steampowered.com/app/1173820/FINAL_FANTASY_VI/

Some not yet mentioned.

• Heaven's Vault
• Mirror's Edge
• Portal 1 and 2 (technically, though she's mute and it's first person so not that it matters much)
• Slime Rancher
• Spiritfarer