For as long as I can remember I have liked to game, be it on the old consoles or the newer ones. Through the years I have become more and more invested in games especially since there are now morefemale protagonists. Through the years there have been females in games but not very often playable ones.
Finally having more options to play as females has peaked my interest in playing video games. I wanted to talk about a few games with Female leads that i really enjoy. These are:
Tomb Raider – has always had a female lead to play and there have been many different adaptations and versions of the games. My favourites are the 2013 Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015), and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018). These 3 games are the ones which spurred on the 2018 movie. The story follows her investigating her father’s death, and investigating things from his journals. She fights when she needs to and is a survivor and its nice to be the female protagonist for the whole game.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Odyssey – Syndicate (2015) was the first Assassin’s Creed game with a playable female character. Evie is one of the two playable characters along with her twin Jacob. Odyssey has the playable character of Kassandra and was the first game to give you the choice to play as her all game. Both these female characters are kick-ass strong independent women. I look forward to seeing what female characters based in history they think of next.
Life is Strange – Life is Strange is a choice-based game which came out in 2015. You follow the journey of Max, a girl who ends up with time travelling abilities. The game is about her friendship with Chloe, a girl she saves from getting shot. It is a touching game about friendships and consequences of actions.
Gaming makes me feel relaxed, it is a way for me to escape into the world the game portrays. With the addition of these female protagonists the games become even more than escapism. It feels like I have women to admire, to want to look up to. They are not overly sexualised and portray varied emotions and help me through issues in my own life.
I think any of these characters would be great inspirations for young women/girls.
-Naomi Sheppard
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.