Poll: Gaming Romances.

[YesConsiderably]

With Dragon Age II due out in a couple of months, i decided to start a new playthrough of Origins in order to brush up on the lore and leave a nice import save.

I've played through the game about 5 times already, and each time i find myself siding with the same factions. The only decision that causes me any amount of stress is this one: Morrigan or Leliana.

Given Morrigan's (potentially) more central role in the latter stages of the game, she seems like the cannon choice, but on the other hand, romancing Leliana renders the whole Dark Ritual ordeal that little bit more complicated and interesting.

It's a shame that the pair aren't as open as Jade Empire's Dawn Star and Silk Fox to the idea of a manage au tois, but whichever one you choose i think that Bioware handled the love-interest aspect of the game incredibly well; in a way which made it feel like more than just fan service, unlike Mass Effect and KotOR. Not that Liara and Bastilla aren't enjoyable.

I also thought that the dynamic between Ryo and Nozomi in Shen Mue was nicely written, even if many others just thought it made him look gay. Were i Ryo, i'd have redeemed myself with Joy in the sequel, but i guess he just really, really wants to get his hands on Lan Di.

Anyway, what are your favourite in-game trists and romantical relationships.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

In terms of Bioware esque RPG's, I have no interest in any of them. Honestly, I sleep with one of them just for the achievement.

Agreed, the characters themselves are great, but interactions...not so much.

There needs to be a game where characters other than your own can have relationships.
That would be especially interesting in character driven RPG's.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I get the feeling that if I start listing some of my visual novels (many of which are based on the romance and succeed well), I'll be accused of cheating. So, sadly, no <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.135672-Neutral-Drow-reviews-A-Drug-That-Makes-You-Dream>Aeka/Kouhei, <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.223721-TYPE-MOON-Review-anniversary-Fate-Stay-Night>Saber/Shirou, or <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.163769-Neutral-Drow-reviews-Kanon>Nayuki/Yuuichi.

Therefore, outside of those...Emil and Marta from Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. I could list why, but <url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/942210-tales-of-symphonia-dawn-of-the-new-world/53078125>someone already did, quite extensively, free of spoilers, and better than I could.

Spoiler: Long.

Actual flow chart of relationship:-
Marta: OMG I LUV YOU YER PERFECT. Also, I'm counting on you, I know you can do it, other supportive statements.
Emil: Well, she's clearly idealized me and is in love with the fantasy, but it's nice to be counted on, and she's a good friend, crush aside.

Marta: OMG I LUV YOU
Emil: STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME YOUR PERFECT MAN, GOD!
Marta: ...(Oh balls he's right.)
Emil: (Damn, now she thinks I'm a wuss like everyone else)

Marta: (Hey wait a minute, even though Emil's a wuss, he's really trying his hardest to protect me, and he is really nice...oh crap I think I'm falling for him again...though he probably hates me.)
Emil: (Wow, now Marta's stopped hanging off me, I can really start to see her for who she really is. Despite everything she still supports me, and I really want to protect her...oh balls I think I'm falling for her.)

Ice Cave

Emil: (Dammit if I was my Ratatosk self more this wouldn't happen)
Ratatosk: (You got that right *bodysnatch*)
Marta: (Wait, he doesn't hate me? Chance!)

Ratatosk Emil: (Why does everybody seem to hate me and not my wussy normal self? I get the job done, I'm strong and all that other awesome stuff. I can actually protect Marta.)
Marta: (Ratatosk Emil is kinda brutal...and kind of a douche, but he is trying his hardest too. It's nice,)

Ratatosk Emil: *does REALLY douchey thing* (God I'm awesome)
Marta: You're a giant DOUCHE. Where's normal Emil? He wouldn't do that. (Lists actual normal Emil qualities, not idealized ones)
Ratatosk Emil: (DAMMIT)

Ratatosk Emil: (Maybe I could try being less of a douche) *tries acting like normal Emil.*
Marta: Thanks for trying, you aren't entirely a douche, are you?

Ratatosk Emil: Y'know what? Balls this, women make my head hurt. You're up normal me.
Emil: Cool.

Marta: BAWW DADDY BAWW
Emil: Look, I'm here for you. You can count on me, after all I-
ToS cast: ****BLOCK'D
Emil: Dammit

Marta: *sniff* Daddy *sniff*
Ratatosk Emil: What nice me said in a more jerky style of speech.
Vanguard: ****BLOCK'D
Ratatosk Emil: DAMMIT

*Marta captured*

Emil: MARTA!
Marta: EMIL!
Tenebrae: ****BLOCKING!
Emil and Marta: DAMMIT!

*ZA BIG REVEAL*

Emil: *existential crisis*
Marta: Look, no matter what, the time we spent together was real, and Emil, I really do...
Presea: ...*****blocked
Marta: Oh come on!

*MORE REVEAL*

Emil: I love you, after all you've always been supportive of me while at the same time I could always count on you.
Marta: I love you too Emil, you're so nice and always try your hardest despite your own fears and doubts.
Emil and Marta: *check for ****blockers* *kiss*
Lucis: YAY!

Rest of game.

True Ending

Lucis: YAY!

 

[mindlesspuppet]

I've never really understood the whole relationship things in games. Most of the time, especially in Bioware games, it comes off as pretty pathetic. It doesn't improve gameplay at all, you don't preform any better if your partner is in the party or perform worse if she's under duress, these relationships don't add anything to the story either.

The only game where in game romances seemed to have a real purpose was The Witcher, this is one of the rare instances where romance did add to the story, albeit not terribly much.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I find most in-game romances have little to no bearing on the plot of the game and are pretty much just token. Even the romances in Dragon Age were ultimately meaningless since regardless of who you romanced Morrigan still offers you the Ritual anyway. It would be nice to play a game that included an in-game romance that actually dramatically altered how the game turned out depending on your choice.

 

[The Madman]

In terms of Bioware esque RPG's, I have no interest in any of them. Honestly, I sleep with one of them just for the achievement.

Agreed, the characters themselves are great, but interactions...not so much.

There needs to be a game where characters other than your own can have relationships.
That would be especially interesting in character driven RPG's.

Baldur's Gate 2 had that, I don't know why Bioware seem to have since shied away from inter-party banter and relationships. In BG2 who you choose for your group and how well they got along was integral to the plot, with different companions having their own opinions on each other sometimes funny, sometimes sweet, and even occasionally violent if they didn't get along.

That said I think RPG need to get over this immature fixation of sex. Relationships in games should be dependent on whether you genuinely enjoy interacting with that character, not because you want the achievement for sexing someone up. That's just both silly and immature. Besides, sometimes it's the more subtle relationship in games which stand out as all the more touching. The simple act of holding hands or a smile for example can be a hundred times more emotionally compelling than anything else.

In terms of gaming overall, The Longest Journey though bereft of any real 'romances' was just a generally touching game with some inter-character relationships which were portrayed and acted in such a way they felt real, which is annoyingly rare in gaming.

As for RPG and choose-your-own-romance options, Mask of the Betrayer recently was extremely good in that regard. A very subdued 'romance' compared to Bioware's more over-the-top offerings, but perhaps that's why I enjoyed it. It wasn't in-your-face-lets-make-babies but rather a slow buildup of trust throughout the course of the adventure.

 

[Gruchul]

I honestly don't know where I stand on the whole thing. I'd say I don't care about them, but I've completed one of the sub-plots in pretty much every game I've played that had one, so the evidence goes a bit against my own opinion. Odd.

 

[RatRace123]

Romances are OK, they add more emotional ties to the story... and in Dragon Age, even as a guy I thought Alistair's romance was well written and handled.
It's not necessary sure, but it doesn't detract from anything.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

In terms of Bioware esque RPG's, I have no interest in any of them. Honestly, I sleep with one of them just for the achievement.

Agreed, the characters themselves are great, but interactions...not so much.

There needs to be a game where characters other than your own can have relationships.
That would be especially interesting in character driven RPG's.

i never thought about it like that before, especially if the two characters were in your own party or the significant other was a potential party member. that would be awesome to see how many ways this could all play out.

ot: most games handle it well enough, its a nice add on but its not a necessity

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Eh, I don't usually care about romances in games much. I do like doing them though just so I can complete everything. One I probably only really cared about was Jack in ME2 because I liked her.

i think you are the one person i know/have seen who actually liked her. she was my least favorite character thus far in any bioware game. (party wise)

 

[Dr.Sean]

Dunno what y'all are talkin' 'bout, but I got a pretty cool thing with some chicks on a roleplay server on Neverwinter Nights.

 

[MisterShine]

I had my first fictional crush on Viconia DeVir from Baldur's Gate. So much so that, when playing as my Chaotic Good Ranger, I actually sided with her when the party's paladin attacked her for being Evil. I felt a bit guilty about that, since technically she WAS evil and Keldorn and I were pretty good buddies up to that point. Sadly the game didn't allow me to talk either of them out of it.

I felt that my characters interactions with Vicky and how she felt about the goings on in the plot added a lot to the experience, though she was far from the only character who made the story more engrossing. Also her epilogue at the end of the Trilogy was the first time a work of fiction made me cry. That was pretty intense for a 12 year old.

I approve of any meaningful character development in games, double word score if it affects the overarching narrative as well. It annoys me somewhat when it is shoehorned in or executed poorly, but overall I like it.

And as is customary of my posts, "Yeah, what the Madman said too"

i think you are the one person i know/have seen who actually liked her. she was my least favorite character thus far in any bioware game. (party wise)

I'd like to add, I thought Jack was one of the more interesting characters of ME2. I liked her romance. I might use that one as my first playthrough for ME3 as well.

 

[YesConsiderably]

I find most in-game romances have little to no bearing on the plot of the game and are pretty much just token. Even the romances in Dragon Age were ultimately meaningless since regardless of who you romanced Morrigan still offers you the Ritual anyway. It would be nice to play a game that included an in-game romance that actually dramatically altered how the game turned out depending on your choice.

Yeah, i completely disagree with this.

I think the way that Morrigan offered the Ritual regardless of your chosen LI was part of what made it so effective. If you were playing a female and romancing Allistair, she would proposition you and you'd then have to pursuade him to do it or one of you will die.

In Mass Effect it does just feel tacked on, though slightly less so if you choose Liara, but i think that Bioware did a great job with Dragon Age.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Eh, I don't usually care about romances in games much. I do like doing them though just so I can complete everything. One I probably only really cared about was Jack in ME2 because I liked her.

i think you are the one person i know/have seen who actually liked her. she was my least favorite character thus far in any bioware game. (party wise)

I brought her with me everywhere I went. Then again I like biotics in particular.

Well least favorite character from a BioWare game would instantly go to Carth for me.

oh i see, biotics i didn't care too much for beyond the occasional shield recharge or biotic rush thing for shotgun uses.

haha i disliked him to the point that i liked him for some of his cheesy stupid quotes. so i kept him around on the rare occasion that i wanted to dislike him so much that i liked him, otherwise i would agree.

 

[Hader]

Romances are OK, they add more emotional ties to the story... and in Dragon Age, even as a guy I thought Alistair's romance was well written and handled.
It's not necessary sure, but it doesn't detract from anything.

This pretty much.

I experiment with romances in games (specifically Bioware ones) after I get through the game at least once. Most of them are interesting and fairly well written, however I am not one for making some strange game romance a part of my characters story at-large so I rarely actually finish a game with them. AT least that's the case for Dragon Age and Mass Effect. I have some lesser characters I use to experiment with different options, romances being one of them, but for my main playthroughs I always focus on the actual plot points that are much more interesting.

 

[Vrex360]

I think the main problem with romance plots in games for the most part is that they seem to be telling us that 'you love this person'. I mean in some story heavy games we find out that the protagonist at least greatly loves his girlfriend but often it seems that they never bother to make US love his girlfriend, so any romance falls flat (example Dom's Wife in Gears 2, could have been great if they had actually bothered to give her any characterization or presence, without it we are left watching a guy just mope all the time).

I mean, in a story heavy game character relationships are everything and unless we can see, clearly, why the main character does like their intended love interest then any attempts to make us bond with either of them is lost. And before you know it, she's just been reduced to 'the princess in the other castle'.

Some games do this great, the Darkness made me fall in love with Jenny even though I only got to meet her very briefly. I genuienly grew to like having Cortana around in Halo if only to hear her and the Masterchief exhange banter (not sure if that's really a 'romance' though). I also really thought the romance between Raz and Lily in Psychonauts was quite cute and endearing. So it can work, it just requires effort.

Worst of all though, have to be the Fable marriages. Each one is just the same collection of responses and dialogue lines without anything new or unique about them, as Yahtzee said, you'll run into nine clones of your beloved whereever you go. When you try to chat them up, they have a complete lack of personality or uniqueness so any bond falls completely flat, and suddenly its all silly and trivializing. Plus when you remember that in Fable 2 and onwards they actually require a decent upkeep for the house and get upset if you don't pour out a lot of hard earned money to them every day, you have to deal with an unhappy marriage. Which, given there isn't much of a need or benefit to keeping them happy (aside from a cheap booty call basically), results in a choice between 'happy marriage' or 'being able to afford your damn weapons'. As a result most of my friends declared to me that it was actually a moment of relief, not sadness, when they were finally divorced.

Personally, I agree with the general consensus that Bioware do it quite well, especially Mass Effect. Partly because it requires player interaction and partly because you can choose personally who to romance according to your own personal preferences (I always, always choose Ashley Williams, I love tough women) and the dialogue and interaction is unique to each character. I admit though, sometimes the writing is a little cliched and frankly sometimes it's hard to believe that people could fall in love in just three conversations like that. (this is more a problem with Mass Effect 2 then it was with 1, at least for me anyway)
But still it at least worked enough to give me enough of a bond to Ashley that I'm still defending her on forums a full three years later, so that's a positive sign.

So yeah to give it a summary, if you want a story based game with a romance to work, the protagonist's love interest has to be developed enough that we actually give a damn about them. Generally Fable still needs a lot of work to make us actually care about keeping spouses happy (though curiously I have grown quite fond of my evil daughter in Fable 3) and while still not perfect, the romances in Mass Effect, Ashley in particular, were enough to almost create that seamless bond.
That's my view on things.

Eh, I don't usually care about romances in games much. I do like doing them though just so I can complete everything. One I probably only really cared about was Jack in ME2 because I liked her.

Hey, hi five! Seriously it's always nice to see someone else who liked Jack. True, Ashley is still my favorite but if I were going to pick one from Mass Effect 2, it would have been Jack.
Also perhaps it's just coincidence but I just found this picture on the web, thought you might like it. It kind of summarizes my whole opinion on the Jack romance:

Spoiler

It's so cute.

 

[badgersprite]

Romances are generally better when they aren't optional. You get more time devoted to it and it's usually woven into the story. I like the romanceable characters in ME and DA:O and all that, but, to be honest, having just played through ME2 again, I generally find the friendships more satisfying. I stuck with my partner from the first game, and so that meant I just got to know everyone as a friend and comrade, and that felt pretty darn rewarding at times, since it didn't get messy with the complications of romance.

That's why it kind of sucked in Dragon Age that you HAD to romance them or HAD to reject them; the love interests were instantly into you once their approval was high enough, and it's like, "Damn, I really wanted to be your friend and get to know you, but now you suddenly love me and I have to dump this relationship I wasn't trying to get into."

Not even going to lie, though, sometimes having so many romanceable characters becomes a flaw because it can alter the character you're playing, and the fact that everyone is romanceable makes it boringly easy sometimes and removes any sense of tension. I'll go on the record as saying that the best romance in ME is with Samara, because she actually REJECTS you, and I have never seen that happen anywhere in a game before. It's nice to see Shepard not succeeding at everything all the time.

Anyway, one thing I would really like to see in future is more romances within the party that DON'T involve the protagonist. Especially in something like Dragon Age or Mass Effect, with all these characters who have very specific dynamics with each other, it seems like such a waste that they don't hook up the minor characters, especially once the player has made their choice of love interest. I know that the idea is that they want to give the player the freedom and opportunity to be with anyone or switch between love interests at any time, but, you know what? Sometimes the player SHOULDN'T be given all this freedom and leeway. It's way more impactful to play a game where the player has to watch the character they wanted to romance run off and elope with someone else because they made the wrong choices earlier in the game; that is a story writing itself through the player and their actions, and that adds emotional depth to a relatively hollow romance mechanic.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I find most in-game romances have little to no bearing on the plot of the game and are pretty much just token. Even the romances in Dragon Age were ultimately meaningless since regardless of who you romanced Morrigan still offers you the Ritual anyway. It would be nice to play a game that included an in-game romance that actually dramatically altered how the game turned out depending on your choice.

Yeah, i completely disagree with this.

I think the way that Morrigan offered the Ritual regardless of your chosen LI was part of what made it so effective. If you were playing a female and romancing Allistair, she would proposition you and you'd then have to pursuade him to do it or one of you will die.

In Mass Effect it does just feel tacked on, though slightly less so if you choose Liara, but i think that Bioware did a great job with Dragon Age.

Yeah, but the overall impact of it was pretty small. Better than Mass Effect, true, but still ultimately insignificant. When it came down to the end, regardless of who your character's race, gender, origin, or choice of romance, you were still presented with the same 2 choices come end game,

Spoiler

A)Take Morrigan's offer and go through with the Dark Ritual or refuse and commit to condemning either you or Allister to death. And B)Whether to take the fall your self or let Allister do it (naturally if you actually go through with the Dark Ritual this choice doesn't come up).

I just think it'd have been more interesting if you only got the option for the Dark Ritual if you romanced Morrigan. Like say for example, you romance Morrigan and come the night of the night before the final battle, uh oh, turns out she had just been using out all along and her feelings for you were faked just so she could get close to you so she could carry out the ritual, but she did care enough to tell you that the ritual could mean you actually survive the battle. Hey bright side!
However if you don't romance her, let's say she abandons you on the night before the battle, having realized there was little chance of ever carrying out her plan at that point because she failed to get close to you.
That's just off the top of my head, so yeah probably not very good, but you get the idea.

 

[Timmaaaah]

Game romances... hard to find the good ones... The ones in JRPG games are the most painful because both people never seem to want to show their feelings... Tifa and Cloud and Aeris (although I still love FF7). Kairi and Sora (I'm not too sure what's going on there).
Then there's Alyx and Gordan from HL2, but it's not really a romance since Gordan can't talk, but you can tell Alyx gets feelings for him. Her Dad at first makes hints at wanting them to be together and then in EP2 blaintantly tells them to make babies and Alyx gets kinda embarrassed but since Gordan is a mute he can't do shit (I actually like this because the player is fully put into Gordan's shoes so in effect the player IS Gordan. Makes you more emotionally involved). It's really more of a kickass partnership. I liked this one because it's not one of those annoying ones when the NPC sucks ass, it's one of those times when the NPC can actually hold it's own against enemies so you don't have to be looking after it and when Alyx does get too swamped by enemies you actually WANT to help her out because she's a likeable character... Did anyone else get super shocked when the Hunter stabbed her?
Then there's Ashley Williams from Mass Effect which I thought was a well made romance but personally I don't think her character was that great. Jan and Kyle in JKII was pretty wierd because they're just basically partners and then all of a sudden after he thinks she's dead he seems to love her although he never says it, they just kiss in a cut scene (kinda just rub each others faces together since the graphics are average as and because of the angle.
Besides that I can't really think of any memorable game romances.

 

[Timmaaaah]

I suppose I enjoyed Max Payne and Mona Sax, even if their names are extremely cheesy.

Max Payne stumbled through the hospital like a tattoo artist on a taboggan. But really he was stumbling because of all those painkillers he's been chugging.