Mint_Raccoon

Jet Set Radio

It’s through Proton, but the game runs flawlessly. Do note that you’re really going to want a controller for this one. Playing this with a keyboard is a miserable experience. Another thing is that there’s an unofficial tool for importing images over your custom graffiti, but it’s for Windows and I’ve never tried it with Wine.

Someone made a flowchart on what to play after finishing the series.

If you’re willing to check out non-RPGs, then I highly recommend Star Tropics (which is on the flowchart). The best way to describe it as a cross between MOTHER (setting) and The Legend of Zelda (gameplay). An interesting thing to note is that Star Tropics is a first-party Nintendo game that’s never been released in Japan despite being developed there.
Another thing is that there’s a point where you’ll need to get a password off of the Internet. The game originally came with a letter from the protagonist’s uncle that contained the password, which would only be revealed by dipping the letter in water.

Dreamcast ads got real weird. I vividly remember this one ad for Seaman: It showed a pair of feet and a fish tail sticking out from under a blanket. The accompanying text was "I will not mate outside my own species " repeated several times.

The Japanese version can be played in English if you have a MIL-CD compatible system. You’ll just need to burn a boot disc to a CD-R.

Adding some recommendations of my own (all games are otome, intended for a female audience, unless otherwise stated):

• Code: Realize and its fandisks (also available on Vita and PS4)
• Hakuoki (Switch version coming soon, already available on multiple other systems)
• Collar x Malice (the main game is also on Vita, but the fandisk is only in English on Switch)
• Steam Prison (also on PC)
• Nightshade
• Fate/ stay night Remastered (not otome, coming soon, literally announced today as it’s the game’s 20th anniversary)
• Tsukihime Remake (releases in English this Summer, not otome)

Additionally I’ll leave Amnesia: Memories as a title I do not recommend at all. The only route I kind of liked was Shin’s. As for Toma’s route, the less said, the better.

Almost anything first person. It makes me incredibly nauseous, which is really unfortunate because there are some really neat games that use the mechanic. I recently sold my copy of Echo Night since I couldn’t play for more than around ten minutes at a time. I also couldn’t complete the tutorial in Half-Life because it made me so nauseous that I had to spend almost the entire day in bed. Weirdly I’m perfectly fine with Metroid Prime.

In 1990 British Airways 5390 suffered an explosive decompression when a cockpit window blew out due to improper maintenance. The force of the decompression partially pulled the captain out the window pinning him to the fuselage while his feet were caught on the control column. Thanks to the efforts of the first officer and flight attendants the plane was able to land safely around twenty minutes later. There were no fatalities.

It’s about how each series’ episodes are named. Like how some are really straight to the point, while others are more poetic.

I’m happy with the 8bitdo controllers I’ve picked up. They’re great if you like the official controllers, but want something wireless.

I’m still salty about not getting an English release of Million Monkeys. On another note, Ape Escape Move was such a missed opportunity. Ape Escape’s gameplay was just asking for (preferably optional) motion controls, but instead they made a rail shooter.

This might not be as old as you’re looking for, but there was a really good homebrew painting program for DS called Colors. It even had pressure sensitivity on DS and DS Lite (but not DSi or 3DS consoles because their touch screens just didn’t have that feature).

Napple Tale: Arisa in Daydream
A game for the Dreamcast that had a primarily female dev team. It was exclusive to Japan, but a translation patch was released a couple years ago.

Atelier series
There are a bunch of these. They’re RPGs based heavily around crafting. Actually, they basically pioneered crafting in RPGs.

Um Jammer Lammy
A spin-off of Parappa the Rapper. Lammy has only 15 minutes to make it to her band’s performance, but getting there won’t be easy.
Note that Stage 6 is censored in the North American release. Also as a bonus, completing the game unlocks Parappa mode, with new versions of every song after Stage 1.

Athena
Stick with the original arcade version. The NES port is infamously bad.

Psycho Soldier
A spin-off of Athena (sort of) starring Athena’s descendant/reincarnation (it depends on the writer), Athena Asamiya (and Sie Kensou as player 2’s character). Athena (and Kensou) would later become staples of the King of Fighters series. The game is notable for being the first game with a vocal soundtrack.

Baraduke
An arcade title from Namco. Being on this list is actually a pretty big spoiler because the fact that the protagonist is a woman isn’t revealed until the end of the game. Now that probably sounds like a ripoff of Metroid, but here’s the thing: Baraduke did it first.

Koudelka
An obscure horror RPG for the PlayStation.
The game is an unhappy compromise between the creator and the dev team. One side wanting to make a survival horror game and the other going for something like Final Fantasy VII. I’ve never actually gotten very far in this one because I hate the battle system. Also, this game has connections to the later Shadow Hearts series.

Literally every game in the Otome genre
Probably not what you’re looking for, but technically fits your criteria of having a female protagonist.

I might add more to this post if I can think of something else.

Don’t forget that DarkMateria also did The Worf Song and Frame of Mind.

Since they haven’t been mentioned yet, I’d like to recommend all three Klonoa games on the GBA. There’s Empire of Dreams and Dream Champ Tournament which are both platformers with some puzzle elements. The third game is Klonoa Heroes, which is an ARPG (making it totally different from anything else in the series). Do note that Heroes wasn’t released outside Japan, but there is a translation patch available.

Some screens have this as an optional feature. A lot of times they call it something like “retro pixel.”