# Strong female leads



## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

Does anyone know any games in which you play a non sexualized female character? I just saw that they turned samus into a bayonetta wannabe in smash 4 and now I need to wash my palette before i start sobbing at the inevitable destruction of my childhood hero.


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## joked35 (Oct 13, 2013)

There is a tab in the Steam store that lets you search for games that feature a female protagonist. But as of right now the store seems to be buggy.


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## CrimsonTrigger (Jun 28, 2011)

Estillum said:


> Does anyone know any games in which you play a non sexualized female character? I just saw that they turned samus into a bayonetta wannabe in smash 4 and now I need to wash my palette before i start sobbing at the inevitable destruction of my childhood hero.






























Never played this series before, did ya?


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## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

@ joked

I forgot about that, I feel like I searched it before without much luck, but as you said it seems to be down at the moment

@Crimsontrigger I never really did good enough to get anything better than no helmet, but that's beside the point. One little bit at the end of the game only if you do good enough is way different then just having her like that for the entirety of the game, or putting her in ****ing heels. It is zero suit Samus only but I feel this is just the beginning of the end, especially after Other M.


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## Glue (Oct 26, 2010)

Valkyrie Profile (Lenneth)
Ys Origin (Yunica)
Xenosaga (Shion)
Baten Kaitos (Xelha)
Beyond Good & Evil (Jade)
Shin Megami Tensei If... (Female MC)

You can choose your gender in Call of Duty: Ghosts, but that games is a piece of ****. Get Black Ops 2 instead. You can't play as a female, but it's still a great game. Really, it's effing awesome.


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## lunarc (Feb 25, 2014)

Skyrim. My female character looks like a badass.


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## CrimsonTrigger (Jun 28, 2011)

Estillum said:


> @Crimsontrigger I never really did good enough to get anything better than no helmet, but that's beside the point. One little bit at the end of the game only if you do good enough is way different then just having her like that for the entirety of the game, or putting her in ****ing heels. It is zero suit Samus only but I feel this is just the beginning of the end, especially after Other M.


You and I must be playing two completely different franchises because I don't see whatever it is you're talking about. I did see her Smash Bros 4 form and I don't get what's wrong with it. They gave her some boots, so what? And what I posted before isn't defeated just because it's some end game reward. The internet wasn't as big back then, so young gamers couldn't get easy access to this type of stuff.

My point is that back then, playing well and getting good at the game rewarded you with a half-naked chick, which was a big deal at the time. Even if there is some perceived trend of increasing sexualization in Samus's character and image, it's nothing new and people who are whining about it are blinded by nostalgia. Them giving her some boots in Smash Bros is not the beginning of the end like you say it is and I think you're way overreacting.

Also, you can play as suitless Samus in the first Metroid. Again, I'm not understanding your point.


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## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

CrimsonTrigger said:


> You and I must be playing two completely different franchises because I don't see whatever it is you're talking about. I did see her Smash Bros 4 form and I don't get what's wrong with it. They gave her some boots, so what? And what I posted before isn't defeated just because it's some end game reward. The internet wasn't as big back then, so young gamers couldn't get easy access to this type of stuff.
> 
> My point is that back then, playing well and getting good at the game rewarded you with a half-naked chick, which was a big deal at the time. Even if there is some perceived trend of increasing sexualization in Samus's character and image, it's nothing new and people who are whining about it are blinded by nostalgia. Them giving her some boots in Smash Bros is not the beginning of the end like you say it is and I think you're way overreacting.
> 
> Also, you can play as suitless Samus in the first Metroid. Again, I'm not understanding your point.


The suitless Samus in zero mission was just a skin tight suit, it didn't feel the need to add heels or enlarge her rack like in other m. It has nothing to do with nostalgia, it's about one of the biggest and best "strong female characters" being reduced to what almost every other popular female character in games is: just some mindless sex object for fanboys to fawn over.

In every other game she's an *** kicking action hero, even if she is less clothed at the end it never affected her as a whole.
And The only reason people add heels to anything is to increase their sex appeal, which should be irrelevant to a character like samus. We should be able to have a female character without feeling the need to sexualize her to appeal to a larger audience to begin with

I feel like I am being a bit melodramatic, but Samus is quite literally my child hood hero, and also how I inadvertently got introduced to feminism. She got me through some though **** and the last thing I want is for her to become homogenized fap material.


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## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

Glue said:


> Valkyrie Profile (Lenneth)
> Ys Origin (Yunica)
> Xenosaga (Shion)
> Baten Kaitos (Xelha)
> ...


I never heard of any of those games other than beyond good and evil, thanks ^^. I'm not really into shooters though, So I'd probably give black ops 2 a miss. I never knew you could change genders in that though, I always figured "Realistic" military shooters to shy away from that sort of thing.


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## joked35 (Oct 13, 2013)

Is there a specific platform that you are looking for?

Also Perfect Dark (Nintendo 64) is a really great game. It's a FPS but, but it's more like a sci-fi/spy shooter instead of a military shooter. I know you don't like shooters but this game is 100% nonsexual and she is definitely tough. She's like a female James Bond with some extra sci-fi.

Perfect Dark is actually one of the best video games I've ever played.

Alice: Madness Returns is on sale for 5$ on steam right now. It looks pretty good.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/19680/


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## Salvador Dali (Oct 26, 2013)

Mirror's Edge (Lead: Faith Genre: Platformer/action-adventure)
American McGee's Alice (Lead: Alice Liddell Genre: Action-adventure)
Portal (Lead: Chell Genre: Puzzle)
Silent Hill 3 (Lead: Heather Genre: Survival horror)
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (Lead: Eirika Genre: RPG/Turn-based strategy)
Dragon Age Origins (If you play as female) (Lead: Character created Genre: RPG)
Demon's/Dark Souls (Same as above)
Fallout and Elder Scrolls series (Same as above)
Mass Effect (Again, same as above)

Only ones I can think of, Glue mentioned some good ones too.


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## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

joked35 said:


> Is there a specific platform that you are looking for?
> 
> Also Perfect Dark (Nintendo 64) is a really great game. It's a FPS but, but it's more like a sci-fi/spy shooter instead of a military shooter. I know you don't like shooters but this game is 100% nonsexual and she is definitely tough. She's like a female James Bond with some extra sci-fi.
> 
> ...


No specific platform, just in genaral really.
I don't dislike all shooters, just the "multilayer only" sort of shooters like cod and battlefront. I acually have perfect dark as a rom on my pc, but never played it. I'll have to try it out. Already played Madness returns and loved it, worth a try I'd think if your into that sort of thing, especially while it's on sale.


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## joked35 (Oct 13, 2013)

Estillum said:


> No specific platform, just in genaral really.
> I don't dislike all shooters, just the "multilayer only" sort of shooters like cod and battlefront. I acually have perfect dark as a rom on my pc, but never played it. I'll have to try it out. Already played Madness returns and loved it, worth a try I'd think if your into that sort of thing, especially while it's on sale.


It might be a bit hard to play without a controller, but I never tried it as a rom. I can't imagine how you would accurately aim the gun without an analogue stick.


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## AlexSky (Jun 1, 2011)

I love Claire Redfield.










Jodie from Beyond (and even Madison from Heavy Rain and Carla from Indigo Prophecy)










Ashley from the Trace Memory/Another Code series.










Aqua (Kingdom Hearts)









Aya Brea (okay, she's kinda sexualized, but the first game is pretty tame)


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## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

Salvador Dali said:


> Mirror's Edge (Lead: Faith Genre: Platformer/action-adventure)
> American McGee's Alice (Lead: Alice Liddell Genre: Action-adventure)
> Portal (Lead: Chell Genre: Puzzle)
> Silent Hill 3 (Lead: Heather Genre: Survival horror)
> ...


All Great games, but unfortunately I've played all of them excluding fire emblem. I guess I should post the games that fit the criteria that I've played already

Mass effect
Fallout 123
oblivion/skyrim/morrowind
darksouls
silent hill 3
Alice madness returns/mcgees Alice
portal
mirrors edge
all metroids
the longest journey
they bleed pixels
Resident evil 1 2 and 3
baulders gate 1 2/ dark alliance 
nwn 1 2
eternal darkness
castlevania order of ecclesia
dragons dogma
fable 2
rule of rose
Vampire the masquerade blood lines
Saints row
divine divinity
dungeon siege
kotor 1 2

You can probably see why I'm a bit desperate here


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## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

joked35 said:


> It might be a bit hard to play without a controller, but I never tried it as a rom. I can't imagine how you would accurately aim the gun without an analogue stick.


I have a controller that that I play n64 games with, it's how I replayed OOT. It's a pc controller but it has enough buttons to emulate a 64 controller fairly well.


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## minimized (Nov 17, 2007)

I hate what they're doing to Samus. Samus doesn't need that.


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## zookeeper (Jun 3, 2009)

Saints Row 3 and 4 (and 2, I guess). I tried playing through as a dude once, but everything felt more badass when I was a female.


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## Kascheritt (Mar 7, 2012)

Contrast? Recent puzzle-platformer.


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## gof22 (Dec 25, 2012)

Susan Ashworth and Mitzi Hunt from The Cat Lady. Both are great female characters.


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## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

Well I liked the new Tomb Raider, but I still need to finish it. But maybe I could just relate to her more than previous Lara's since she was young and less confident in it.

Portal 1 + 2 technically (Chell)

I see you listed Mirrors Edge so that's not good...

Nilin from Remember Me too, though she received mixed reviews for reinforcing negative stereotypes as well as not so, dunno.


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

Konoko from Oni.

It's an old game though. Still, a great beat em up.


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## mezzoforte (May 16, 2010)

Female Shepard



AlexSky said:


> Jodie from Beyond


Love her!


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## TotallyJW (Mar 7, 2014)

Good ol Lydia


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## Arbre (Mar 9, 2014)

Chell - Portal
Shanoa - Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Elizabeth - BioShock Infinite
Kat - Gravity Rush
Samus in the Prime games


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## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

@minimized We can only hope that it stays in the new smash bros and whoever makes the next game doesn't start getting ideas.

@gof22 I actually have that on my pc and haven't played it yet. The main character does seem really ****ing cool though, and she's a bit older, which is super rare for a female protagonist.


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## Estillum (Oct 24, 2012)

@Scrub-Zero I've actually heard of that, I looked it up a while back after I heard it was made by Bungie, but passed on it after I head some bad reviews. Thanks, I'll have to pick it up ^^


@Persephone The Dread, enjoyed portal quite a bit, kept away from tomb raider and remember me though, they just seemed bit ****, and the female leads seem a bit too "Hollywood" if that makes any sense. Rather than being organic characters they seem like just a loose bundle of "female" tropes inhabiting a body made exclusively for sex appeal. I've never played either of them though, so maybe they're great, I'll have to check them out at some point.


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## xRoh (Mar 21, 2014)

April Ryan from The Longest Journey.
Zoe Castillo from Dreamfall.
Kate Walker from Syberia.
Claire Redfield from Resident Evil 2.
Carla Valenti from Indigo Prophecy.
Alice from Alice Madness Returns.
Heather Mason from Silent Hill 3.
Clementine from The Walking Dead season 2.


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## xRoh (Mar 21, 2014)

Clarity's polar bear said:


> She's definitely my favourite :heart :mushy :blush [Insert an infinite amount of love based emoticons here]


Agreed! Love that game and looking forward to the new one!


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

Estillum said:


> @Scrub-Zero I've actually heard of that, I looked it up a while back after I heard it was made by Bungie, but passed on it after I head some bad reviews. Thanks, I'll have to pick it up ^^


well, hopefully the graphics don't cut off your playing mood. It is an old ps2/pc game after all, so don't expect Godrays and directx 11 lol. But i think the gameplay more than makes up for it.

Also the game is rather challenging, if that's your thing.


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## To22 (Apr 6, 2012)

RPGs are the way to go. I sympathize with your distaste, it sucks that women are so sexualized. It's also unfortunate that there are so few options available to you.


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## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

Estillum said:


> @Persephone The Dread, enjoyed portal quite a bit, kept away from tomb raider and remember me though, they just seemed bit ****, and the female leads seem a bit too "Hollywood" if that makes any sense. Rather than being organic characters they seem like just a loose bundle of "female" tropes inhabiting a body made exclusively for sex appeal. I've never played either of them though, so maybe they're great, I'll have to check them out at some point.


I feel like the new Tomb Raider has a different feel to the others because she's younger and less confident and not as... 2D I guess on the whole. There's a new writer too that worked on it - Rhianna Pratchett. She worked on Mirrors Edge as well. I haven't played all of them though for full comparison.. Just 1, 2, Legends and Underworld. I still need to finish this one but I thought it was pretty good, I just have trouble finishing games these days.


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## xRoh (Mar 21, 2014)

Another one to add to the list - Victoria McPherson from Still Life.

I've noticed most of the characters I've listed tend to be from point and click games, a genre that is typically focused more on story and less on action. Probably not a coincidence.


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## Diacetylmorphine (Mar 9, 2011)

Yuna was alright in FFX-2. (along with Paine/Rikku)










Clementine 









Ellie









Lightning in FFXIII
Nice to see someone mention Ashley from Another Code: I really enjoyed that game.
Chell in portal.


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