Romance

Five years ago I left an empty blog open in my drafts that had this title, and what you're reading right now are the thoughts I apparently didn't have to share in those halcyon days gone about the way that modern video game media presents and portrays Romance. And you know what, I think it's actually something of a salient topic even more now than it was in the last decade given that now it has become something of the expected norm for every big AAA game with even the slightest modicum of role-playing-potential to feature some form of romance. Once upon a time it was the request that would get the most side-eye in the room, as everyone immediately just identified the Mass Effect lover of the interviewing squad. Today, however, announcing romance possibilities in a game is seen as a bizarre sort of marketing point- which is frankly totally weird given that gaming is still pretty crap at it.

Now to be fair, I'm not the biggest fan of Romance as a concept when it comes to my personal fictional writing- I find it a crutch for building relationships in an organic manner that is best hand waved away- and oftentimes I see versions of romance in media that very much reinforces that world view. Then again, when Romance is done right I think it's one of the most fun aspects of being immersed in a character- coming to invest yourselves in an onscreen relationship will bring you closer to the world and heighten the tension of the dramatic highs. But then if you play around with it too much that extra spice can sour into dust and you'll come to resent the thing you once found endearing. Just consult literally any of the CW superhero shows on the topic- they always threw out all sense in order to pursue frivolous romance drama that made you grow to hate everyone on a deeply personal level.

I can't think of any game that has used romance as a tool like that off the top of my head, but I can definitely think of at least one very recent game that didn't make an especially good go at it. As much as I love the game, Dragon's Dogma 2's idea of romance hasn't really improved from the original game. Just questlines you do for a certain couple of people that results in inexplicable declarations of affection and that is... well, actually that is the extent of them! In fact, Dragon's Dogma 1 at least presented something of a follow-up cutscene after the events of the game but um... yeah this was clearly not an aspect of the narrative that the team thought much about during development. I wouldn't be surprised if they forgot entirely that the original game had any such content and rushed to try and meet a parity during the last few months of development. Because that is what it feels like. Still- lacking effort, in this instance, is better than trying and failing pathetically.

Like, for example, what Starfield does with it's cast. Now to be fair, all of the Starfield personalities are excessively one-note- and so getting closer to those companions was never going to be excessively interesting to begin with- although the extent to which these problems were amplified by the romance paths did, honestly, impress me. Romancing an Companion in Starfield is akin to subjecting them to a Dementor's kiss- robbing them of their soul and leaving a compliant husk. They all become helplessly lover-bombing automatrons that want nothing more than to remind you how in love they are, requiring the same affectations back. It's honestly pretty unbearable, particularly in how it strips what little characters these companions had, squarely away. Big miss on Bethesda's part. Fallout 4 honestly did it a lot better, and I thought that was pretty bare bones at the time!

It's little surprise that some of the best games for depicting romance in a more natural feeling manner are the Persona games, for the very fact that one of the key pillars of the gameplay is about building relationships with those closest to you. Going a bit further with one of those friends and striking up a romance can almost be done accidentally, and it plays out as an extension of your existing blossoming relationships. Persona 4 Golden in particular is especially good at integrating romance into the yearly events throughout the year as The Fool finds time to be alone with the one they have feelings for. It's all very cute, which I presume was the fresh hold that the team were shooting for. Of course, the less said about Persona 3's romances the better. Forced infidelities, inability to say 'no' unless you are a woman and if you are a woman... the Ken romance exists. Enough said, moving on.

Would you believe that more recent Like a Dragon games have romance routes in them? Actually I guess that's no great surprise given that Kiryu's peerless conduct around woman is one of his defining characteristics- which is part of what makes him such an icon among female Like a Dragon fans. With the introduction of new characters, Ichiban and Takayuki, all the team needed to do was lean in a bit on the hostess club minigames they had been recycling for over a decade and put actual main narrative characters in those date spots. Of course, given the nature of how these games play out these activities are typically played for jokes or small time side content. I'm pretty sure all the girlfriends mission in Judgement are required in order to get the secret boss so... once more infidelity is mandated. (What is it with you, Japan?) And 'Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon' plays out it's 'romances' as a series of accidental rendezvous' with all the woman in Ichiban's life which culminates in him receiving an absolute bollocking from all the girls who thought they were his one and only... just for the legend to somehow wiggle out of consequences in famous fashion. I truly think they could do a serious romance subplot if they wanted to, but RGG knows it wouldn't fit into the style of their games and they are absolutely right.

Casting an eye around the last few years, and even further back to be honest- I keep coming back to the single best iteration of video game romance, such to the point it should probably set a standard to be matched in the years to come, it's Baldur's Gate 3. Little surprise there. The game presents natural feeling relationships that evolve from the comradery you're already building- just like Persona- but for me where it goes beyond the basic is in the game's insane reactivity! In the romance just as with any other part of the game, your actions have consequences and the nature of your romantic connection is defined by the people your companions become just as it is by the person you become! An evil-aligned partner might find it impossible to see anything deeper than physical in your relationship, whereas the same partner on a 'good' aligned journey might find sanctity in your connection and feel personally affronted if you start down an alignment shift deeply opposed to the person they fell for. Ultimately, these feel like fully rounded character journeys on their own, which is more effort than I can see any other studio putting into optional interactions.

Romance can enhance a good story, weaving emotion and drama into a delicate tapestry of stakes and drama colliding beautifully. Nothing beats the raw power of sacrificing for love, whether chance, yourself or love itself. Sure, it's a bit of a cliché at this point- but only because it has worked so well in so many movies and shows up until now. I think games, typically not the place to go for character driven storytelling, have always struggled quite nailing the human side of their creations- but given the strange mandate that every single game with at least a single dialogue option is now privy to, I suspect we're going to start seeing smarter solutions to the romance problem in the years to come. Oh, assuming that the future isn't 'all Live Service, all the time!'.