Gaming

Forspoken isn't bad.... As long as it's played completely dubbed in Japanese with subs on. Obviously last of us 2 was really great, horizon is also very well acted, and very well done. I think it also is inclusive in a way that matters where some games just replace the protag with a woman, these games build it into narrative as well. In the same vein, I really liked life is strange (even colors to be honest)

Alien: Isolation!

Some not yet mentioned.

• Heaven's Vault
• Mirror's Edge
• Portal (technically, though she's mute so not that it matters much)
• Slime Rancher
• Spiritfarer

Castlevania: order of ecclesia

Cross code

Oceans heart

Alice games

Stardew valley

Stardew valley is fun

Any of the Atelier games

Returnal is a great game if you like roguelite mechanics. Great gameplay, art design, and sound. The haptics on the PS5 are excellent too.

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.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. You play as many characters, but the primary main character is Alexis Roivas.

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

If you're into the anime aesthetic: Nier Automata, Atelier series, and Recettear. I think FFXIII is fun but people would argue otherwise.

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.

I really liked the Edna & Harvey games

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.

A few more that may not be mentioned:

Dandara - fun platformer

Ion Fury - throwback to 90s shooters, good if you can handle some juvenile humor.

Knights and Bikes - played through with my daughter and we loved it.

Spiritfarer - low pressure gameplay, story and exploration focused (edit: sorry, runekn already mentioned this one)

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.

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.

There's this weird game from a while back that didn't get much hype.

You'll find it either as "The Experiment" or "Experience112". Got some interesting mechanics, which later influenced another niche game I just realized has a female protagonist: Republique.

Technically, you don't play as a female protagonist. But you're essentially not the main character and you have no discernible physical features anyway, so you could just apply whatever gender you want to whoever you think "your character" is.

It's kind of like... "Female protagonist by proxy". I feel like that's a decent description. The point is that the main character is a (generally) well-written lady protag.

Extremely retro, but currently available on the Mac App Store: Mess O' Trouble. It was a WorldBuilder game--think Infocom, but with static pictures you could interact with. I believe your choice of Daredevil Dawn or Fearless Frank had some impact on the gameplay if you got far enough, but child me never did.

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.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Lara Croft is still a thing...

Final Fantasy X-2 comes to mind. I didn't finish it, but it's well-reviewed so...

Just an FYI on the NOLF bit...

http://nolfrevival.tk/