Summary
- Gaming offers players the chance to create unique lives and stories far removed from reality.
- Western RPGs now present exciting narratives with female protagonists, providing diverse gameplay experiences.
- Games like Expeditions: Rome offer opportunities to customize characters and make impactful story decisions.
One of the outstanding beauties of gaming is that, depending on the player’s mood and chosen platform, it is possible to become whoever they want to be and create a life as far removed from their own as they would like. Gaming has come a long way in recent years and as such, choosing a new world to jump into can sometimes be daunting.
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Just a few years ago, there was a startling lack of Western role-playing games that featured a female protagonist. Thankfully, this has now changed and there is an array of exciting and, in the case of the horror genre, sometimes alarming narratives with a female leading the way. Naturally, the literal definition of a WRPG varies depending on who is answering the question, but there are certainly some excellent games within this category with women at the helm, based on the depth of the story and intricacies of the gameplay.
For more variety, this list also includes RPGs where players can pick between a male or female protagonist.
5
Expeditions: Rome
An Orphaned Legatus On The Run
Expeditions: Rome
- Released
-
January 20, 2022
- Developer(s)
-
Logic Artists
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Strong
- Initially Launched: January 2022
- Main Character: Legatus
- Genre: Tactical RPG
The third game in the Expeditions series, Expeditions: Rome is structured into different key campaigns, called acts. There are two primary battle mechanics, turn-based combats and close legionary battles, with the former being centered on complex story missions.
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The player assumes the role of a legatus living and fighting for survival during the last few years of the Democratic Roman Republic. Her father has been murdered and she is forced to get out of Rome by any means possible. The choices the player makes when creating her character are important and alter the unraveling of the story dramatically. Take rhetorical style, for example: By choosing Pathos, the character will be highly emotionally manipulative. In choosing Ethos, the character’s strong morals and authority will always prevail and by choosing Logos, the character will always use logical arguments.
4
Fallout 4
She’s The Sole Survivor Seeking Vengeance
- Released
-
November 10, 2015
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
One of the supreme giants of RPG, Fallout 4 is a mighty action game and players can choose a male or female character. Set in 2287, Fallout 4 is set a decade after the events in Fallout 3, and the protagonist is simply called The Sole Survivor.
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Creating a female Sole Survivor character as a female certainly adds another dimension to gameplay, especially as seven of the player’s companions become options for romance later on in the game. The Sole Survivor is a Vault Dweller during the nuclear holocaust and she spends the entire time in Fallout 4 seeking for her stolen son Shaun. For more exciting and challenging gameplay, players can choose to have her become a true villain who betrays, murders, and steals without a second thought.
3
Mass Effect 2
Bad Ass Female Anti-Hero
Action RPG
Third-Person Shooter
- Released
-
January 26, 2010
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence
Mass Effect 2 follows the incredibly successful Mass Effect and certainly does not disappoint, with heightened third-person weapon capabilities and a more complex story. Taking place in the 22nd century, Mass Effect 2 is centered in the Milky Way, with the majority of planets controlled by the Citadel Council.
Commander Shephard is once again the lead protagonist, but what makes her so fascinating (or him if you should so choose) is that she is most definitely not a trope of a hero. Shephard is brutal, manipulative, and a totally badass commander, and when controlling such a character, players can embody her ‘evil’ side with zero guilt.
2
Immortals: Fenyx Rising
A Reluctant Mythical Goddess
- Released
-
December 3, 2020
- ESRB
-
T for Teen: Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Strong
- Initially Launched: December 2020
- Main Character: Fenyx
- Genre: Action-Adventure
Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a spectacular sensory experience and for seasoned and newbie players alike, the graphics and visuals alone are enough to pique their interest. The most wonderful thing about this game is the deep and complicated lore surrounding the myriad mythical monsters in the world.
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There is nothing better than playing an underdog and Fenyx is exactly that. At the beginning of the game, Fenyx finds herself in the midst of a hideous storm, only to be shipwrecked on the Golden Isles. As the only survivor of the incident, little does Fenyx know that she is not just another ordinary citizen and that her destiny is to overthrow Zeus himself.
1
Horizon Zero Dawn
A Heroine At Heart
Horizon Zero Dawn
- Released
-
February 28, 2017
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
- Initially Launched: February 2017
- Main Character: Aloy
- Genre: Adventure
Horizon Zero Dawn is wholly and unequivocally centered around Aloy, a female warrior with a tragic and at least at the beginning of the game, mysterious past. This game is an absolute must for any player looking for a completely immersive gameplay experience and what is more, players are able to choose the level of intensity in terms of complex controls and quests, depending on their own preferences.
Aloy is the only protagonist in this game and its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, and even though she was raised outside the tribes and treated with disdain, she rises to become the savior of the world. Aloy is actually a machine creation, GIA, and has the exact same appearance as a 21st-century roboticist named Dr. Elisabet Sobeck.
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