Romance in Games that you thought was Well Executed

[G-Force]

Say what you will about FFX but Tidus and Yuna's relationship was effectively heartwarming.

 

[Gizmo1990]

Tidus and Yuna. Seriously, I thought it was really well done. And made me shed a single manly tear at the ending.

Me as well. That is why as bad as it is, I forgive X-2 for being so bad as it gave me the happy ending I wanted.

Also want to add Zidane and Garnet FF9.

And Guybrush Threepwood (Mighty Pirate!) and Elaine Marley.

 

[telocaster]

I know a lot of people have never played it and odds are never will, but the relationship and development of Emil and Marta is surprisingly well handled in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. You see the characters learn about one another and grow close to each other.

Wasn't that on the PS2? I need to check that out...it's a JRPG isn't it?

It is a Wii exclusive title.


But do check the game out. It's awesome

Also, I'm not sure if anyone here has played Super Paper Mario, but the romance between "Blumier" and "Timpani" is surprisingly touching. Anyone whose played the game knows what I'm talking about.

I forgot about that. Such a beautiful story

 

[Collegeboy21]

Leliana was probably my favorite romance option in Dragon Age: Origins. That game did a good job overall with character relationships I think. Look at my avatar, I'm a fanboy.

 

[miketehmage]

Heavy and Sasha.

"Who touched Sasha?! WHO TOUCHED MY GUN?"


More seriously I think the romance between PC and Morrigan could be good in DA:O

 

[Tigerlily Warrior]

Monkey and Trip from Enslaved.

At the beginning, she leaves him behind to die, and he threatens to kill her. It's past the end of the world, everyone is dead, slavers and robots are trying to kill them at every turn, yet still despite all of that they find love. It's an excellent example of "life endures".

This... It is the best executed character progression I have ever seen in a game! Helped by the fact that you are with the couple from start to end, and what starts as him being a fiery tempered loner, and her both leaving him to die and blackmailing him early on can result in a great love story because of the experiences they have shared!

Great storytelling and a great story!

Having just looked up the plot, I have to say that it disgusts me on a very deep level, and frankly I'm appalled that the writers got away with it without criticism.

It's rather disturbing at best and flatout Stockholm Syndrome at worst.

I can understand your reaction, but you really need to actually play the game before you can make a judgement call. Looking up the plot doesn't really do it justice.

Agreed. It might be because of the great performance by Andy Sirkus. He did motion-capture and voice work (as Monkey) as well as being the game's director. The 3rd act felt rushed but it was overall a good experience.

PS - We should have another train for "non-romanceable characters you wish you could romance in-game".

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I would say ME 1-3, mostly because its more of a side quest than a written part of the story that happens because the writers want it to. A lot of the above messages are all story based, as in, it happens because the story said it does. Where as ME its up to you who you like or dont like and you can just ignore it if you want to.

 

[elvor0]

For me it's romance options in Dragon Age: Origins. Characters were all very likeable, and the fact that the protagonist is a mute character that can represent you made it infinitely more immersive. I love that game.

It's so sad how bioware thinks it's not immersive now. Always like the dragonage/kotor/jade empire dialogue format way more than mass effect.

Well it's different strokes for different people, I always feel it throws me out of the experience a bit, like we're having a one sided conversation because my character isn't speaking, or you have to make an epic speech, but the epicness is totally lost because I never actually said anything out loud. It feels like I'm half reading a book and half watching a conversation. If it's all talky or all reading, I'm fine, half and half was always awkward for me. Until the tech arrives where we can say what we want out loud, I think Mass Effect has a nice middle ground, Shep has his own character somewhat and does actually speak, but you can modify it how you see fit.

 

[The_Great_Galendo]

After running through a bunch of video game romances in my head, I can't find a single one that can hold up as well as an even moderately well-written one in a book. I'm not too surprised by that fact, but I am a little (while I of course realized that there was basically no way that a game could compete with the best that books have to offer, I expected them to hold up a little better than they did.

That being said, the best ones I can think of off the top of my head are, in no particular order:
Cecil & Rosa (FFIV)
Celes & Locke (FFVI)
Chrono & Marle (Chrono Trigger)
Zidane & Dagger (FFIX)
Tidus & Yuna (FFX)

If this list has a huge bias towards SNES-era games and the Final Fantasy series (which it does), it's because I first thought of what is the hands-down best example of a character finding love that I've ever seen in a game: Terra, in Final Fantasy VI. It's not romantic love, so it doesn't quite qualify for this thread, but it's still the best example of a character finding love that I can think of, so it deserves special recognition for that.

 

[hermes]

Nathan Drake and Elena...

This, although its probably because I really liked Elena as a female character. She felt well written, pretty natural and not forced into the whole "female protagonist", so their relationship felt that way too.

 

[BrotherRool]

I would say ME 1-3, mostly because its more of a side quest than a written part of the story that happens because the writers want it to. A lot of the above messages are all story based, as in, it happens because the story said it does. Where as ME its up to you who you like or dont like and you can just ignore it if you want to.

If we're looking at it mechanically though Mass Effect has some of the most disgusting romances in gaming. I mean technically even the Witcher requires you to do something for the people you sleep with. With Mass Effect you just walk down stairs every couple of missions, pay them the barest amount of attention and nod and smile and then at the end of the game they'll sleep with you. It's so flat and uninteractive and meaningless. (If you can guess I'm really not a fan =D)

If we#re looking at sidequest romances then Knights of the Old Republic 2 blows anything Bioware ever wrote out of the water. In KotoR 2 if you take your companions with you and talk to them, then they'll judge you on what you say and do, if you act in a manner they respect and they see something in you thats important to them, they'll trust you more allowing you to get to know them better and share some of their secrets until ultimately they'll put all their trust in you and fall in love.

If you get Visas Marr to open up to you and tell you about her family and guide her away from the dark place she'd been before, the relationship she declares with you is deep and meaningful. Not only did you choose to pursue it, but you earned it and you're both contributing something valuable to the relationship. (Plus if you fall in love with the Handmaiden she lets you turn her into a Jedi =D)

And then you go back and play I Bioware game and it's "Shepard" "Paragon option" *wait x missions* "Shepard" " Paragon option" *wait x missions" "Shepard I want to sleep with you." "Okay"


It's not even fun if you can't work out when the conversations come up having to go through all the loading screens after every mission just to hear the love of your life brush you off

 

[Mikeyfell]

I'm probably going to catch flack for admitting that liked some of the Bioware romances.

Garrus in ME2, because "I've been through all sorts of shit with my friend and we both figured it would be in our best interests if we had sex right now" is a real start to a relationship. I also like that it was the girl (Shepard) who initiated it. And the guy got to be the one who was nervous about the whole thing. Take that traditional gender rolls!

Tali in ME2, for much the same reason, the thing most game romances lack is a believable sense of history, and with the whole of Mass Effect 1 in these character's resumes that's not really a problem. Also Tali is a really good character in general. I could watch her romance the phone book.

Traynor in ME3, Maybe I'm a little biased here but my Shepard had a bit of circumstance that made this choice so natural. I played her from the start as gay, romancing Liara, trying my damnedest to fuck Jack, but settling for Kelly. (and unfortunately letting her get killed by the reapers) But then in Mass Effect 3 Liara was written worse than a dictionary read by Ben Stine. Completely unwilling to do anything but spout off compounded exposition. Then my comms specialist wants to come up to my room and play "chess" with me... Oh, I know what that line means, sure, revenge sex against Liara for not acknowledging my presence I'm all over that. Alright Shadow broker what do you have to say about that!? Nothing... okay what ever.
But then every time I talked to Traynor in the CIC she had something really sexy and clever to say to me and I really ended up loving her by the end of the game.

Now on to some Japanese game you've probably never heard of. (And if you do know about it well done)

Leo and Fyuria from Record of Agarest War, This is the best execution of a Tsundere style romance I've ever seen anywhere. The way those usually work is Girl is a massive ***** to you for no determinable reason, Then half way through the story arc she wants to fuck you for even less reason, and the male character just goes along with it like a brain dead chimp.
In Fyuria's case she has a legitimate reason for distrusting you (You are a general in the army that burnt her village to the ground) And she also has a real tangible reason for warming to you (You treat her with respect and not like some mojo powered douche who thinks sex heals all wounds) Mostly though Leo is just far too good of a guy, somewhat oblivious but far from ineffectual (Which is really good for standard JRPG protagonists)


Sherufanir and Ladius from Record of Agarest War. It's a pretty blatant case of opposites attracting but with the one major boon that puts it above all other attempts at this kind of cookie cutter romantic subplot. Neither party wants to change anything about the other. Ladius is perfectly contented in the passive roll with allowing her to be over the top in pretty much every aspect of her character with out letting it grate on his nerves, while she never once accuses him of being no fun and there fore inferior to everyone who would rather be out having fun. It also helps that she doesn't seem to care at all for Valaria (Who is a very bad example of a Tsundere romance type) At first it seems like she's just fanning the flames of animosity between Valaria and Laduis, but when you figure out that Ladius is catching all the shit from an exchange that he had absolutely nothing to do with you could realize that Sherufanir is just looking out for you by making Valaria reveal her true colors.

 

[MrPhyntch]

The romance between the Hero and the Random Transvestite Prostitute in Fable 2.

Okay, now seriously...

Trying to be original (the ones that came to mind were Zidane/Garnet, ME Romances past the first game, and other ones that have already been stated), I feel that the Romance between Roland and Lilith in Borderlands 2 is actually fairly well done, especially considering how notoriously lacking in story and character development the Borderlands games are.

Most other romances that I would say would likely fall under shipping rather than an actual on-screen romance, so I'll probably stop with that.

 

[saintdane05]

All the paths in Katawa Shoujo. And Alice/Luka in Monster Girl Quest.
Really.

 

[Okysho]

Cloud and Tifa. It's surprisingly believable based on their interactions as a childhood and how she helps Cloud regain his memories of his past and separate it from his extended Mako poisoning. If that isn't love...

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

People like to complain that the BioWare romances are poorly-written minigames with sex for rewards, but I disagree. At least in the case of female PCs.

Examples:
*Female Warden with Alistair in Dragon Age: Origins - it was very sweet with a lot of playful joking around, and Alistair's vulnerability and embarrassment about being a virgin was something you don't see very often in games. He was a big doofus who wasn't very good at romance but he tried his hardest, and it was a great little story to play through. Not to mention the fact that there were some serious conflicts toward the end, including

Spoiler

possibly losing him from your party if you take on Loghain, or forcing Alistair to sleep with Morrigan while the game makes you watch, or Alistair dying if he doesn't sleep with Morrigan (I think he will always die in that situation because he won't let the Warden deal the killing blow herself), or losing him when he becomes king if you didn't play as a human noble, especially if you arranged a political marriage for him with Anora.

*Female Imperial Agent with Sanju Pyne (an Imperial mole you meet on Balmorra) in SWTOR - Sanju is one of the only truly good people in the Empire. If you're playing a Light Side Imperial Agent, it makes for a very sweet romance. (And your terrible companion NPC Kaliyo points this out and makes fun of you for it.) There wasn't even any sex, it was just a touching little side-story of two compassionate people sharing a few moments of affirmation.

*Female Imperial Agent with Vector Hyllus (a companion NPC who is a Killik Joiner) in SWTOR - a lot of players disliked Vector at first because they said he was creepy and had the personality of a rock, but that's just how he is at first. After living so long with the Killiks and being a part of their hivemind, he is very creepy. But then his bizarre mannerisms quickly become charming (like when he takes 2 hours to eat a ration bar because he's so fascinated with the complex flavor), and the more time you spend together, the more your interactions (combined with his feelings for you) remind him how to be human. He always remains a Joiner, but he slowly grows into a very interesting and relatable character as the story goes on.

 

[Black Reaper]

Saya and Fuminori from the game "Saya no Uta".
Yes, I know what you will say, but I don't care. This game had a giant impact to me when I play it...
Also this romance is so effective, that even you know this is wrong, you want to see the them happy. You know they deserve to die for the horrible things they did, but you don't want this to happen. You don't know why, you just don't.



To a more suitable selection, I will say also Goal and Rufus from the game "Deponia" and "Chaon on Deponia"
Reason? Rufus is a jerk. An egomaniac, irritating, assh*le, jeck, care only for himself. And this is the reason why this make this romance so effective. This romance show to us that even an assh*le like Rufus can change for the better. Sure, it is a Comedy Adventure, but it is affective to me at least. I am waiting the last part, "Goodbye Deponia"
Also Goal have a great ass!!!!

I second the Saya part,bonus point since the game has no happy end

And,even if i haven't played it in a hell of a long time,i remember the Heaven's feel normal end in Fate/stay night was pretty sad

Spoiler: spoilers here

Basically,you are dying for using magic too powerful for your body,and having an awesome fistfight with a ridiculously badass priest,and you don't stop,and eventually you save the world by using more of said magic,but you die in the process
The game then cuts to a scene in which your girl is waiting for you(you promised her you would go see cherry blossoms together)
And she waits,and waits,and waits,and is still waiting for you as an old lady

Another thing i like about the heaven's feel route is that you could kill your girl at any time and save countless lives,but you don't

 

[rosac]

ooh, ooh, I forgot to mention zack and Aeris. That romance was... good. Not quite tidus and yuna level, but still good!

 

[BakedZnake]

Easy kratos & aphrodite, no question about it

 

[acey195]

I would say Tali and Shepard,

Spoiler

She was the main reason for me to choose the red ending(with enough war assets) over the green one. Too bad for Joker though...