With Valentine’s Day having just been this weekend, we thought we’d kick back and reflect on the more romantic side of our chosen medium. While it’s easy to get hung up on point-scoring and hyper-violence, a growing number of video games feature romance as either a narrative device or an actual feature of sorts.
Two game series that have always stood out in this respect are Mass Effect and Dragon Age, both stemming from the creative minds at BioWare. In truth, the developer has allowed optional romances between characters as far back as Baldur’s Gate II, Neverwinter Nights, and Jade Empire. However, with a much larger audience, Mass Effect and Dragon Age have grown to become two prominent examples, allowing players to pursue their roleplaying paramores.
As Commander Shepard you can romantically engage with a small suite of primary characters in Mass Effect, leading to special dialogue options and some rather racy cutscenes. The same applies to Dragon Age, more or less, with both series also enabling same-sex relationships. Still, despite becoming a recurring feature in BioWare games, some have labeled its trademark romance system as inorganic due to how these encounters feel self-contained as opposed to being worked into the game’s core. That said, many appreciate having the option there, adding an extra layer of dynamism to BioWare’s player-centric plotlines.
When it comes to in-game romances, the RPG genre has its fair share of power couples. Square Enix can claim much of the responsibility here, making love a vein that runs deep throughout the Final Fantasy series, bringing characters together including Cloud and Aerith, Squall and Rinoa, and fan favourites Tidus and Yuna. Naturally, the suggestively named Kingdom Hearts series is no different, chronicling the complicated love triangle between protagonists Sora, Riku, and Kairi.
It’s these colourful examples that have perhaps stuck with me the most. However, in more recent years, our perceptions of romance in video games has continued to morph and expand. It isn’t always overt either, as the Uncharted series has continued to prove over the years. Despite there being an evident chemistry between Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher, their relationship became an emerging yet somewhat downplayed subplot. Tying in with the game’s lighthearted approach to dialogue and characterisation, interactions between Nate and Elena were largely conveyed through cheeky one-liners and the occasional moments of peril. Naughty Dog proved equally as subtle in building relationships with The Last Of Us. Although it’s never clearly stated, a romantic bond exists between Joel and fellow survivor Tess.
Another, more recent example of romance being used in-game can be seen in The Witcher III. However, instead of gradually gaining the trust of one particular character, players can quite easily sleep around with whoever they fancy, whether they be a core character or the subject of a sidequest. Geralt certainly likes to get about and will no doubt – for some people- perfectly symbolise the transient nature of modern-day relationships.
For Tef video game romances have come a long way but they still lack maturity compared to other mediums. This is, in part, due to the clunky animations carted out whenever two characters start necking, making for some “Ken and Barbie-like hilarity”. Still, he commends the recent work of Campo Santo in their attempt to illustrate the past life of Firewatch protagonist Henry, a 15-minute intro that many have compared to Pixar’s Up.
Tuffcub largely agrees, having found the freeform romances in games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim almost laughable. Looking back on Mass Effect, he also recalls Shepard’s terrible, terrible attempts at courtships through the medium of dance, making for one of the gaming’s most cringe-worthy moments to date. Poor Shep. Interestingly, when referring to on-screen relationships that succeed in feeling organic, he picks out Nathan Drake and Elena.
Finally we have Kris who simply isn’t convinced that the quality of writing in games is enough to deliver a genuinely romantic plotline. That said, he acknowledges that video games themselves have become a powerful conduit, linking millions of players around the globe and sometimes being responsible for the blossoming of real-world relationships. From multiplayer shooters like Halo to MMOs such as World of Warcraft, there’s no denying the effect video games have in connecting people who share similar interests.
We’ve had our say, so now we pass it over to you. Are video game romances at all convincing and if not, then why? If you’re on the other side of the fence then be sure to tell us your favourite gaming hook-ups.
JustTaylorNow
There has only been one awkward moment in gaming romance, Heavy Rain Ethan & that girl very awkward & disturbing to watch.
Amphlett
For me they never work in games, mainly because I’m hammering all the buttons on the DS4 trying to skip the scenes. I hate cut-scenes, loathe them. I want to play a game, not watch a movie. That said, the missus made me watch Fast & Furious 7 last night and I was desperate to fast forward that to the end as well – pile of vacuous tripe.
Tuffcub
We tried to watch it on Saturday. Got through ten minutes before deciding it was just too silly. There was an AWFUL lot of a tits and ass in that ten minutes tho.
JR.
Noooooo. Is that a Firewatch spoiler?
Tuffcub
Not really. I mentioned it in the review as well, its not exactly the same as UP, more of a “Fuck me that was an intense ten minutes” thing.
bunimomike
Ah, right. Okay. So no death of loved one at the end of said scene.
Got it. :P
JR.
Ahh… I read that as his ‘past life’ as in he’s not alive/died/in purgatory (or something). Rather than his ‘past life’ as in he used to have this whole other life with a wife and kids but he lost it all. But don’t tell me. I feel like I already know too much :)
bunimomike
It is, a bit. Not in the “you’ve ruined the game” sense but definitely something that lessens the impression that scene will now have.
JR.
The romance options in Dragon Age Inquisition were hilarious.
Andrewww
Gaming still has to mature a lot more, which basically means developers need to take the medium much more seriously. TLOU was a fine example that anything possible in a movie is also in a game. Mostly, storytelling in games today is either non existing (e.g. Destiny), or overly patronising (e.g. Witcher 3), or rubbish (most other games).
The Mass Effect series was definitely quite good, but romance felt tacked on.
Avenger
Agree with Kris, the writing in video games isn’t quite to the level where romance and other relationships can be effectively told.
That said some relationships (non-romantic) come to mind that are better untold than told. There was some mystery behind the relationship between Snake and Boss in MGS3, and then a relationship existed in a different way between Master Chief and Cortona.
bunimomike
I’d have to disagree with you (and Kris). I don’t think it’s the writing but the way things are animated and conveyed. Actually, maybe it’s the writing too. It doesn’t allow for the limitations that animated models have within the confines of development time, etc.
The quality of the writing isn’t what I want to question. It’s definitely the fact that the scenes will feel unbelievable – or even hilariously cringe-worthy – unless the characters are believable (read: so we can invest in them emotionally) and then animated to a decent level where we don’t break the immersion.
The way forward is to definitely leave things implied with simple touches or the usual tried and trusted techniques of cinema where a linger glance or a simple touch can mean so much.
We don’t have to see pixel-pounding in all of it’s horrifying high-def glory.
Please, god no. :D
RudeAwakening
Studiofow may have something to say about pixel pounding! :P
bunimomike
Oh dear god. Hahaha! The squelching noise on the “Lara” video was beyond disturbing. Thanks for that. :-P
Forrest_01
For all of its faults, God of War actually gets this right.
Mash some buttons for a bit > Money shot (signified by red orbs for some reason). Done.
rept0n
Catherine worked really well for me.
I liked that some aspects of the relationship storyline were based on choice, others were out of your control. There was temptation, and having to deal with morally strained decisions. Plus, scooting to the bar toilet to check your phone for messages from Katherine hit the tone perfectly.
Tuffcub
If you have a girlfriend (or boyfriend) I pity them :P
rept0n
I’m a changed man. Catherine taught me.
gazzagb
I think that gaming will continue struggle to convey relationships mainly due to a) the writing and b) the animation/graphics. As we get better mo-cap and better facial expressions it will become more believable, but some games can still struggle with just conveying meaningful friendship.
A lot of storytelling is done in cutscenes, which often break the emersion thanks to clunky animations, which is partly down to why stuff isn’t believable.
bunimomike
Agreed with the “better facials” comment. Oh, wait… yes. Better facial expression.
Avenger
We know about your salon visits…
Andrewww
I think it’s about where developer priorities and skills are, and where the budget goes. Mostly, there’s a bunch of techies developing a game, and as these people are always convinced they’re good at everything (that’s why most IT projects fail), they try to do the writing themselves. That goes wrong most of the times, as we all know.
With some very big budget titles, writing is just no priority, and it’s neglected as a consequence, probably as the decision makers don’t think that’s what sells a game.
(Sorry for the late reply…)
Severn2j
I think it can work, but not as part of a minigame or other interactive component. The only times I have thought it worked, was as part of the story, such as with the TLOU Left Behind DLC.
In fact, I’m hard pressed to think of anything outside of Naughty Dog that did a good job of it, although ISTR that the Max/Mona Sax relationship in Max Payne 2 was pretty good, but that could just be nostalgia talking..