Neko

This exactly! She wasn't envisioned as "female Link", she was envisioned as a "little sister to Link" type.

And we need a game to learn about who her grandmother may have been, to pass down the Compass to her, and why the compass is so important.

With the exception of Dwarves (which are playable, see FFXIV Shadowbringers) and Were-anything (which can be a race or simply a modifier onto an existing race), the reason these haven't been "playable" is because they're generally not considered "races" but MONSTERS.

Also, please see games such as WoFF, FFX-2, and FFXIII-2, because many have *still* been playable.