Going Under. It's a goofy rougelike game which parodizes corporate companies and startups. You play as an unpaid marketing intern who needs to kill monsters from failed startups, but she applied for marketing,
Any of the Atelier games
Final Fantasy X-2 comes to mind. I didn't finish it, but it's well-reviewed so...
It Takes Two has a great protagonist
Surprised no one has mentioned Tomb Raider yet. Others not yet mentioned:
There's Alien: Isolation if you're looking for a horror game. Every so often I'll go and give it another playthrough. That game was phenomenal, especially if you're a fan of the Alien movies
The code realize games are pretty good. Also gonna shout out Pretty Princess Party and it's sequel Pretty Princess Magical Garden Island. They're both on the girlier side of things but don't get as much attention as they should.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. You play as many characters, but the primary main character is Alexis Roivas.
I recommend CrossCode. It's a puzzle-heavy top-down action-RPG. Think 2D Zelda games, but faster paced and sci-fi themed. You play as Lea, an amnesiac who's trying to recover her memories by playing a fictional MMO called CrossWorlds. I love basically everything about it: the art, the music, the characters, the story, the puzzles, the level design; it's just great.
It's older, but The Longest Journey is good. Unfortunately, the final game in the series kinda sucks.
While it's an ensemble, most people would agree that the main character of Final Fantasy VI is a woman—they just might disagree about which woman is the lead.
I also liked the first Xenosaga game, but again, it's a series that goes pretty badly downhill.
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. After playing it for a while I couldn't stop until I reached the end. It looks aged now but controls are generally nice and the story is amazing.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Lara Croft is still a thing...
The entire Tomb Raider series, but Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, just make her feel so believable and relatable.
How about Final Fantasy XIII? The first game has a full sized party, but Lightning is clearly the main character and the focus. Second game costars Lightning's younger sister and a new male character. Third game is just Lighting.
A lot of good suggestions here. Remember Me and Mirror's Edge are also good, perhaps not as great some of the truly outstanding ones already posted though. But if you're looking for something with a cyberpunk edge, both will fit the bill nicely.
This is a very obscure one, but there is a mod for Freespace 2 called Blue Planet: War in Heaven which has an amazingly well written story and female lead.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is good. I still gotta finish it, but I've enjoyed it so far.
The modern tomb raiders are pretty decent.
Seconded. And I'd say they're more than pretty decent. They have amazing level design, particularly with respect to interactions with the level. Eg, you jump on a ledge and the ledge might start to break. Think stuff like that, repeated dozens of times in various ways.
Lara is pretty cool. She has that kinda inquisitive yet "I wanna help everyone" power fantasy that I relate to. They did also try to make it like she doesn't want to kill bad guys (which is realistic -- it's weird more video game characters have no qualms with the first time they kill someone), but it is a video game where combat plays a prominent part, so it doesn't really work when Lara is kill people by the dozens.
Returnal is a great game if you like roguelite mechanics. Great gameplay, art design, and sound. The haptics on the PS5 are excellent too.
Metroid: Fusion is pretty fun!
If you're into the anime aesthetic: Nier Automata, Atelier series, and Recettear. I think FFXIII is fun but people would argue otherwise.
Castlevania: order of ecclesia
Cross code
Oceans heart
Alice games
Stardew valley
Here's one a ton of people slept on, Disciples Liberation. The protagonist is a chick, you can be pious, kind, hateful, evil and/or fuck your way through the entire world if you want. You can be bi, straight, not get involved in romance at all, doesn't matter. But no matter how you play, you are an absolute badass that can barely beat two soldiers at the start and can nuke literal gods by the end.
The Mass Effect series is still my favorite, you can choose your protagonist to be female and the game will adapt accordingly. Or Dragon Age if you are more into fantasy.
I just started playing Asscreed Odyssey last week, having fun so far. A bit of a departure for the series, more of a Witcher-style open world action-adventure game in ancient Greece. You can select between player characters Alexios (male) and Kassandra (female), I picked Kassandra, I like her, she seems decently written and the voice acting is great.
Elden Ring is incredible, although it's silent protagonist (aside from grunts etc), and might be too difficult. I know many women who love it though.
CrossCode is an excellent neo-retro overhead 2D action RPG. Great combat system, puzzles, and story.
Valheim isn't very story heavy but it's an incredible exploration/survival/crafting game, one of my all time favourites.
Steve Jackson's Sorcery! Parts 1 & 2 (and sequels Part 3 and Part 4): Masterfully crafted interactive "choose your own adventure" videogame, pretty much a video-book with an immersive story and wonderful illustrations. Highly recommended, I've been enjoying Jerma985's streams of it. You're constantly making choices that will completely change the outcome of the game, there is a rewind button if you need it.
Control has already been mentioned by others, I also recommend it. Great writing, graphics, lots of humour in the environment. Especially if you're a fan of SCP. Honestly the combat got a little monotonous towards the end but it didn't overstay its welcome. The documents you find around the world are hilarious and well worth a read.
From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it's gaming you can probably discuss it here!
Please Note: Gaming memes are permitted to be posted on Meme Mondays, but will otherwise be removed in an effort to allow other discussions to take place.
See also Gaming's sister community Tabletop Gaming.
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.