Favorite RPG romance

[deathsaber]

One thing I have found over the years is that for me, a romance element enhances a game for me almost tenfold.  I'm actually dissapointed now whenever I hear a game will not have one. 

Of course my favorite type of romance is when an element of choice is introduced.   My earliest memory of this sort of thing came with Final Fantasy 7, when the game gave you opportunity to kind of either hit on or reject Tifa and Aerith at times, in which this did sort of pay off later on in the game where you go on a date with one of the ladies (or get stuck with Barret, if you were kind of a jerk to both).  Granted, for plot reasons, Tifa kind of became the canon romance, but some of that early game stuff really drew me in like nothing before it. 

The thing is, I'll take any kind of romance, even if there isn't choice.  I'm a sucker for it- even if its the typical childhood friend that grows "closer" to the protagonist over the course of the game.  However, one pet peeve of mine- the JRPG love connection that NEVER pans out because the protag is oblivious to the fact that his leading lady fancies him.  Grr.

Needless to say, I love Bioware games, as romance choices have kind of become a signature feature with them since Baldur's Gate 2, and they all culminate to a decent payoff for the trouble.  My dedication to Tali over three Mass Effect games is one of those things that will stick with me forever when I think of fond gaming moments.  (even if she wasn't a romance option in Mass Effect 1- I was so hoping for it when 2 came around and wasn't dissapointed!)

So, back to the question at hand, what was your favorite RPG romance?  Also, feel free to discuss your opinion on the subject of romance in RPGS. 

[Aeolus]

FFVI's Opera House.

[Darilon]

I tend to prefer the romance of side characters rather than those of the main character. I prefered Laguna and Zell's romance stories in FFVIII over that of Squall. Fire Emblem Awakening also has certain good romance options but also contains horrible ones suce as Donnel and Sully.

Least favourite romance would be the 'love story' in Arc the Lad 1.

[Starmongoose]

http://www.rpgfan.com/features/Our_Favorite_RPG_Couples/index.html

[Klutz64]

Gotta go with Haseo & Atoli in .Hack//GU. I'm not even sure why I found their romance so moving. Both characters were kind of annoying in their own way, but I still found myself rooting for them and thought the conclusion rather touching.

[Dincrest]

http://www.rpgfan.com/features/Our_Favorite_RPG_Couples/index.html

+1.  My favorite was Zell and Library Girl.  And my thoughts on Squall and Rinoa are articulated in that feature.  

And I have to give it up to Tifa for being A++ girlfriend material for Cloud.  

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Tifa kept the 24-7 vigil with Cloud while he was a vegetable in the hospital after his mako poisoning.  She was probably helping feed him, bathe him, change his bedpan (or diapers), and all of that.

And she did it without complaint, because she loved him.  That a girl will stand by a guy during something like that shows intense dedication and Tifa's strength of character.  She's not a "fair weather" girlfriend who'd run when things get tough.  And that she's willing to work on a relationship with a headcase like Cloud- most women would run away screaming from a guy with that many psychological and emotional problems.  Tifa didn't.  That's love.  That's dedication.  That's strength.  Sure Tifa dresses sexy and has basketball boobs, but if you look past all that, you'll find an amazing woman who's way better than what that spiky haired freak deserves.  

My favorite Golden Saucer date scene in FF7 was definitely the Yuffie one.  I consider the Aeris date scene canon (since she says she'll compensate Cloud by going on a date with him very early on) but obviously the canon overall romance is Tifa.  My favorite FF7 lady was Jessie from AVALANCHE and I took the opportunity to make Cloud flirt with her every chance he got.  *Sigh* she was a sweetie-pumpkin who left too soon.  Mourn forever. 

My favorite love adventure was Hourglass of Summer, and each girl's storyline had its own specialness.  And though it's an H-game, Crescendo was a stellar love adventure.  Some of the storylines were intense, but the descriptions of lovemaking were some of the most beautifully written I'd ever seen.  With both of those games, the romances pursued with the older women yield the most interesting, and best, conversations.  

Memories Off is another favorite, though those romances were hit or miss.  I enjoyed Minamo's and Koyomi's stories the most.  Yue's was alright.  Kaoru's was pretty boring.  And though Shion is a fan-favorite character, I found her storyline boring myself.  The bad ending is totally worth getting; really beautifully done.  Memories Off 2nd had an interesting premise (relationship is in a rough patch; do you continue to work on it or break up and pursue love elsewhere?) but the characters weren't all that interesting.  The break-up/bad endings were great, though.

[Dice]

http://www.rpgfan.com/features/Our_Favorite_RPG_Couples/index.html

+1.  My favorite was Zell and Library Girl.  

And I have to give it up to Tifa for being A++ girlfriend material for Cloud.  

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Tifa kept the 24-7 vigil with Cloud while he was a vegetable in the hospital after his mako poisoning.  She was probably helping feed him, bathe him, change his bedpan (or diapers), and all of that.

And she did it without complaint, because she loved him.  That a girl will stand by a guy during something like that shows intense dedication and Tifa's strength of character.  She's not a "fair weather" girlfriend who'd run when things get tough.  And that she's willing to work on a relationship with a headcase like Cloud- most women would run away screaming from a guy with that many psychological and emotional problems.  Tifa didn't.  That's love.  That's dedication.  That's strength.  Sure Tifa dresses sexy and has basketball boobs, but if you look past all that, you'll find an amazing woman who's way better than what that spiky haired freak deserves.  

This for sure.  I actually never really liked the Aeris/Cloud pairing because I felt Tifa got him more and she was willing to face his shit with him and be there for him.  I don't doubt that Cloud like Aeris more, I thought that much was obvious, but that's sort of a "dead" dream now (ooh burn).  I'd like to hope for CloudFa in the future!

Estelle and Joshua were goddamn adorbz.  The entire 'Finale' chapter of TitS was extremely well done and very sad.... and probably the MEANEST cliff hanger we've been stuck with given the poor state of things with that series and it's Bible-sized script that gives translators nightmares.

Estelle and Yuri, though not necessarily romantic, was one of my favorite couples. I tend to groan with how "well" Tales games handle romance -- usually in the most uninteresting "childhood friends" approach (though I did like Tear and Luke's development).  Anyways, Estelle and Yuri come from opposite ends of the socio-political spectrum... she's a well-to-do princess facing tough decisions while her people need her, and he's a free-roaming peasant who helps people but gets none of the cred (that consistently goes to Flynn instead).  They understood each other anyways and never judged one another but understood one another for everything else they had to offer.  They never kiss, they hug, but nothing else implied.... nonetheless, I thought their relationship was effective and nicely developed.

Celes and Locke.  One of the earlier gaming romances I've seen and thought was "cute" (Cecil and Rosa were too easy and too obvious).  Between Locke's baggage and Celes being freed by him and finding her reason to live through him (not for love but as a sign of 'hope' that people are alive in a ruined world) was surprisingly poignant.

Fuck it...
Joel and Ellie/ Nier and Yonah (US ver. :P )
I know it's gross to put this here, but I mean it as in the parent/child dynamic is highly under-utilized and under-appreciated as a whole and probably a dynamic that makes more sense as to "how far you'd go for someone".  It's not romance, but certainly a better depiction of true love on a whole other level.

Garnet and Zidane. FFIX
C'mon! Too good!  It was tacked on, but it did a great job.  I loved the reversals we kept seeing too.  Classic thief/princess story; but i loved Zidane's pursuits for being both comical, but in the end quite honest.  Despite being a flirt, he gets really bummed out when his time with Garnet is separated by her return to active Princess-duty.  While Garnet really didn't react much or walked away from his passes, later on she starts asking the questions and looking up to Zidane.  Nothing wrong with Zidane's loss of faith on Terra and return to reality too; I thought that was a great chance to see a more human-side of a character that's greatly dimensional than paper-thin.  People get happy, people get sad.  In the end, love triumphed.

Link w/ everyone
Boy is a P-I-M-P.
Every woman in those games throw Link a "do me" vibe.  Fuck, even fish people.

[Dincrest]

I still think the big pimp in RPGs is Meis from Thousand Arms.  Where characters like Irvine claim to be womanizers, they're all talk whereas Meis walks the walk.  He dates every girl in his party AND hass girlfriends in various towns (including the little sister of one of his party members.)  Heck, he even dates a priestess who's probably 200 years old or something. 

...pity Ratchet wasn't date-able in that game.  le sigh. 

[Agent D.]

Alex and Luna, Lunar Silver Star Story. Being in love since they were kids, knowing they were always gonna be together, and then Luna's kidnapping and Alex becoming the right hand of the goddess to save her...and the secret of her story altogether...man it's touching even if it's cheesy as all fuck. All the character's love stories were pretty nice, but Alex and Luna...I'd like to meet a guy who wouldn't want this to happen to him. Pretty sure every guy in existence has a fantasy along these lines.

[Annubis]

I'd have to go for Claude & Rena simply because it's amazing to see the love develop from both perspectives.

As Claude, you try and woo Rena who seems only interested in her childhood friend.
As Rena, you try and one up Celine who seems that much more ahead due to her 'assets'.

[ZshadeZ]

Ceres and Locke / Opera house... opera house is one of my favorite scenes, but I think Alex and Luna take the cake. The entire adventure is less "Save the world" and more "Save the girl".

[Synctor]

Tidus and Yuna.

[Klyde Chroma]

Alex and Luna, Lunar Silver Star Story. Being in love since they were kids, knowing they were always gonna be together, and then Luna's kidnapping and Alex becoming the right hand of the goddess to save her...and the secret of her story altogether...man it's touching even if it's cheesy as all fuck. All the character's love stories were pretty nice, but Alex and Luna...I'd like to meet a guy who wouldn't want this to happen to him. Pretty sure every guy in existence has a fantasy along these lines.

As far as Romance is concerned I must agree that Lunar nails it! But to expand, its less the exclusive Alex/Luna love I appreciate and more of the romance dynamic in the series. Jessica and Kyle in particular really entertained me but it was the Hiro and Lucia relationship in Eternal Blue that I was truly able to relate to a bit more than any other romance dynamic. While Alex/Luna and Hiro/Lucia both illustrate an idealistic love, I always felt like Hiro was "fighting against the odds" a bit more when it came to winning Lucia's affection (which proved endearing) whereas the Alex/Luna thing was predistined and illustrated Alex's dedication to his love. In other words, Alex fights to protect indomitable love whereas Hiro is fighting to attain it.

I'm also going to echo the Celes/ Locke mentions on account of really being able to relate to Locke. Nothing more need be said on that note.

But truthfully romance is not my gig. Honestly it disturbs my enjoyment of some narratives. Maybe it is simply because I'm not that affectionate or easily taken by the opposite sex or maybe it is because in the wake of saving the world/destroying evil empires/slaying demons and liberating the opressed bagging myself a wife would become an afterthought... but the truth is the only romances I can really relate to are those involving an uninterested party too dedicated to their purpose to even notice the affection. Sorry if that sounds confusing.

On that note, I really liked Tatsuya in P2 EP and IS. What I liked was how he was way to wrapped up in being emo about his problems and the battle at hand making his own love interest and those interested in him distant 2nd's so to speak. Clearly love motivated him, but it was not the sole driving force behind his fighting and often times clearly ignored in the interest of "the greater good".

I also liked Asbel being damn near oblivious to the affections offered to him in tales of graces F as well his brother Huberts outright denial of them.


Which finally brings me to my final answer to the question. Cloud and Tifa. I could go on for awhile about why this illustrates the most relatable relationship or romance dynamic I've seen in a game but I would be echoing my earlier points. What the cloud/tifa dynamic has that makes it unique is the element of Aeris. And all in all none of the love interests really bud or develop as result of the far more impacting and dire events transpiring outside of this character development but rather the element of "love" itself just acts as proper motivation or fuel for our heroes. The love in FF7 is far more bitter sweet then we usually see, and in my experience "bitter sweet" tends to be a far more common "flavor" of love.

[Dincrest]

Tidus and Yuna.

What I liked about that was that Tidus wasn't your typical "shy guy" introverted protagonist.  Even after Wakka warned him not to hit on Yuna, he went up and hit on her/talked to her every chance he got.  And, as the laughing scene illustrates, Yuna was happy to have a boy her age in her life.  All her other guardians were older, so having a boy that she could be a silly, playful, even flirty teenage girl around was paramount.  When with Tidus, she could take a breather from being this paragon savior that all the world looks up to and just be a giggly girl playing with a cute boy. 

[Annubis]

Question for all: are there games where the relationship does manifest itself into a stable commitment AND continues along the game?

What I mean by that is that most of the times, the love will be implied or if it manifests into a commitment, it usually is right at the end of the game.
I'd be interested in a game where you get to also play the stable relationship.

The closest example I can think of this would be Lost Odyssey.