In any media of entertainment, it's great when fans can see themselves in the main character of a story. Despite many women around the world enjoying video games, there are still a lot more titles where the playable character, or characters, are men, rather than women.
Luckily, this has started to change in recent years and developers have worked on games that show how powerful women can be. Here are ten games that prove that women are just as strong as men, if not more so.
10 Lara Croft Is The Main Character Of The Tomb Raider Franchise
Tomb Raider is a very popular action-adventure series that began in 1996, and Lara Croft, the protagonist of the games, is one of the strongest women ever written. As there are many installments in the franchise, with both a reboot and spin-off titles, fans have a lot to enjoy as they follow Lara Croft on her adventures.
9 Darksiders III Allows Players To Control Fury
Darksiders is a much newer action-adventure series that follows the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. The third installment allowes players to control Fury, the sister of War and Death, who were the main characters of the first two titles. Darksiders III released in 2018 and is available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
8 Aqua From Kingdom Hearts Had Her Own Game
Though Sora is the main character of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, other characters have had their own spin-off titles. Aqua, one of the newest Keyblade Masters, was introduced in Birth by Sleep as one of the three playable characters and is arguably the main protagonist of the title as her story is the longest.
However, she also had a shorter game included in Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue called A Fragmentary Passage that focused solely on her journey in the Realm of Darkness.
7 Metroid's Samus Is One Of Nintendo's Best Heroes
Nintendo is one of the most popular gaming companies of all time due to franchises like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon. However, one series that doesn't get as much credit as it deserves is Metroid, which has one of Nintendo's coolest heroes, Samus Aran. It was recently revealed that Metroid: Dread is finally releasing later this year on the Switch, a game that fans have been wanting for years. Another game in the franchise, Metroid Prime 4 is currently in development.
6 Princess Peach Also Had Her Own Video Game
Those that thought that the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom was simply a damsel in distress for Mario to save in the majority of his games were wrong as Princess Peach has gone on her own adventure. Super Princess Peach was a DS game that came out in 2006 in which Peach had to save Mario. She has also been playable in many other games in the franchise, proving that she's just as much of a hero as Mario.
5 Shantae Is One Of The Best Indie Games Ever
Indie games are awesome, and one of the best is Shantae. There are five games in the platformer series developed by WayForward, beginning in 2002 on the Game Boy Color. All of them are now on the Switch, with most of them also being on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Shantae is a half-human, half-genie that can transform into different animals, use her hair as a weapon, and dances as she fights, making her one of the most interesting characters ever in terms of gameplay.
4 2B From NieR Automata Helped Make The Drakengard Franchise Popular
The Drakengard franchise didn't receive the success it deserved until its second spin-off, NieR Automata, came out in 2017. The game takes place thousands of years in the future and follows a group of androids in their battle against the machines.
Though 2B is not the only playable character in the game, gamers will spend hours controlling her until they unlock two other androids. This game became so successful that fans have gone back to play the first NieR game as well as the other Drakengard titles. Luckily, because of this game's success, many newcomers got to experience the recently released upgraded version of NieR Replicant.
3 Horizon Zero Dawn Is Where Aloy's Journey Began
NieR Automata is not the only game that takes place after an apocalypse that released in 2017. Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the most successful games on the PlayStation 4. Its main character, Aloy, goes on an epic journey to find out who she is after being an outcast of the Nora tribe her entire life. A sequel, Forbidden West, will release later this year for both the PlayStation 4 and 5.
2 Max Is The Protagonist Of The First Life Is Strange Game
Life is Strange has become one of the most popular franchises in the past few years, with the first game releasing in 2015. In it, Max, the main character, discovers that she has a power that lets her go back in time and change what happens. She uses her newfound abilities to save her friend, Chloe. There are currently four games in the series which focus on other characters with a fifth installment releasing later this year.
1 Players Control Both Ellie And Abby In The Last Of Us Part II
The Last of Us was one of the best games ever. In The Last of Us Part II, players controlled Ellie, one of the main characters from the first game as she goes on a journey to kill Abby, the other playable character of this installment. Playing as two characters that wanted to kill each other was incredibly interesting and though not all of the fans enjoyed the story, the sequel beats the original game in other ways, such as the graphics and gameplay, making The Last of Us Part II another gaming masterpiece.