Love between party members yay or nay?

[Makio-Kuta]

I don't think there's anything wrong with giving people choice in the game versus having the relationships set by the plot, it simply depends on what sort of game you want to make. There are some games where the option of choice fits in well and some where it wouldn't make sense. Again, it's just another important element of determining the tone you want to give your players in your game. Anything honestly goes in a game as long as you keep a consistent overall sense of tone for the players. It's when things start flying out of left field and breaking the mood the game has set that you can tell a bad decision was made in game development.


I also can't get behind the concept that adding the simple element of choice suddenly makes the relationships 'robotic;' that depends on the player's play style. I take it very seriously when I court the Doctor in Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral town. There's nothing robotic about me spinning circles in his lab crying out in sadness because he isn't ready to marry me yet. O: Joking aside (or was that a joke?), not everyone plays 'choose your own romance' style games with a strategy guide in hand, and I doubt that that was the intention for how they should be played when they were made. You, as the player, are supposed to fall in love with this character (if the writing is handled well) and it's not the fault of the creators if you're treating it like a step by step handbook to marriage.


Besides, it doesn't matter to me if I can date them or not; if there's a character who I have a sudden interest in I will spoil them through any means necessary either way. So I suppose, to me, it just doesn't make that big a difference. The option of choice just gives my natural gaming style an end goal. haha But really, focusing on the person you are trying to flirt with is how it happens in real life too, so I'm not sure where the big deal is there??


Ahum, rambling aside, the point I'm trying to make is that the addition of 'choice' as an element to your relationships through game play doesn't automatically conclude robotic relationships. That is up to the player and how they play the situations you've made and how willing they are to immerse themselves within them. The only control the game dev team have on that is writing something that is believable. imho

 

[Archeia]

I honestly don't understand the whole robotic choices. I certainly don't find myself adjusting my ..."personality" while playing visual novels. It's honestly because I'm interested on the girls and I want to learn more about them. The problem I have mostly is I'm forced to act like the protagonist without having a personality of my own. Which is okay in a sense I guess since I would just think I'm the only thing that keeps the protagonist from fudging up from his life or the others around him.


Choices shouldn't be a bad thing and I DO want them in case I just hate the main protagonist's first choice (COUGHSABERCOUGH) or I want to do a roulette and see which girl will accept me based on the choices I have on that time and time again.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Exactly, the VN and dating sim genres wouldn't be as popular as they are if choice automatically equals 'robotic.' Choice is fun and gives the player a chance to be a part of things, or at least gives them the illusion to be a part of things.


That being said though, simply going out of your way to add options to a game that doesn't need them or would be hindered by them just to appeal to a demography outside of your original target demography is risky and foolish. If your story has something specific it needs to say with the relationships you've originally penned out to say it, don't wreck yourself and your story trying to add options and paths and routes and spend hours smashing your head into the wall trying to figure out how to say what you wanted to say with every single possible character. The player will call it out as tacked on fanserive fluff and then there -will- be a level of detachment present.


I like this thread. but I often pen relationships between party members ahaha

 

[OM3GA-Z3RO]

For those not understanding the whole "Robotic" thing I was mainly referring to Fables relationship thing... well up till the point they improved it just a tiny bit but still robotic.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

I've never played the Fable series, so I can't speak for those lol


But the games where I have courted ladies and lads I can't recall it feeling robotic, except maybe the last couple of legs in Princess Debut, but that was for completion purposes. (and maaaybe some of my later matchups in the newest Fire Emblem, but by then I was done with the ones I enjoyed and actively sought out for the purpose of wanting them to be together <3 )

 

[Archeia]

Although it brings up a good question. Is romance really needed for RPGs?

 

[Xortberg]

Well no, romance isn't needed. But then, most things aren't needed. Even a plot can be largely unnecessary if you're just going for a dungeon crawler. And if you're going for a more story-oriented game, you don't necessarily even need a whole lot of combat. It all depends on what you want to achieve.

Some stories require romance. Some stories don't require it, but it can enrich it if it's added. In some stories, romance is completely unnecessary and can harm the experience. It really all depends. There's no hard or fast answer, IMO.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

I wouldn't say they are needed, but they can be a fun element if they are done right.

 

[OM3GA-Z3RO]

Unfortunately love is put everywhere I guess it can be obvious why it has become cliche,it has been awhile since I have played a game that had no love but just friendship in it, I think the last game I knew that only had friendship was... one of the Star Ocean's? I think... not sure which one but the main characters name was Fayt

 

[Silent Darkness]

An RPG doesn't need romance, like the average human being doesn't need to eat anything but bread, water and steak. Sure, it can be done without it, but it's kind of missing out if there's a genuinely good opportunity to weave love/romance into the story that you DON'T take.

 

[Sneakaboo]

I think the best romances are the ones that aren't answered in game , just subtle hints here and there.

Example would be FF4 with Rydia and Edge.

That or if you go down the route of final fantasy tactics which puts things in a different day light (Delita)

I've enjoyed quite some rpg's with a cliche romance or a wacky one ( Grandia/Lunar2/Mana Khemia 2).
Even though these games aren't written well and are jumping the shark over and over.

But to me it feels like in most jrpg's the big rule is don't take it very serious just enjoy.

Bit like a B movies, I don't ask why the monster is wrecking the city or how it even exists.

The same goes for most Anime.

This is what I appreciate in JRPG's (oddly enough I don't like amine much)

When a game tries to be serious and have an serious romance plot it can be epic.

The problem is most games just aren't written well and these romance plots are pretty poor.

I rarely play a JRPG with a decent to well written romance plot, but I've played a rotten amount of bad ones.

Bottom line it's a hit or miss with romances, it depends on your game but I would say give it a long hard thought.

A story based RPG doesn't need a romance arc but tension and atmosphere do help.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Wacky romances are pretty common in things. Probably because that is a way to play 'safe.' it's hard to get people to take a serious romance serious, but if you play something crazy or for laughs then you know people don't have to take it seriously right off the bad.

@Om3ga I agree there does need to be more focus put on friendship in things. Not even just from the eyes of the creators, but a lot of times something that is played out as a friendship in the story gets misinterpreted or changed into a romance by fans. Friendship is a pretty key factor in other forms of media, but video games seem to feel the need to match up a guy and gal romantically if they have a connection a little more quickly.

 

[Chaneque]

Well, I have two characters and they're going out and they're both male, but the thing is, their romance doesn't develop. It's already there. They're already together when you start playing. Would you have any complaint against that?

 

[Silent Darkness]

I can't personally say i'm in on that(personal feelings, y'know), but for the more open-minded people, you need to do a good job explaining it, preferably by giving some backstory bits here and there so it's not straight out of left field.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

@kumori I don't see anything wrong with previously established relationships, because we can explore a whole plethora of different kinds of growth! You can test the relationship's resolve over the course of the game and other such things. Just because we aren't seeing the relationship form doesn't mean a player won't see development within the relationship.

I think it's perfectly fine as long as you give the players reasons to care about the relationship by exploring its background through conversations and allowing the pair to grow as a couple within the story if the game. Nothing should ever be static in a story. Static is boring.

That's my opinion anyway!

 

[mlogan]

As others have said, I don't mind romance in games, if it's done well.  I do also like choice in romance, it adds a bit.  But I can think of one game I played where the main character you were playing was confronted with the choice to have a romantic relationship with a childhood friend, but it was so early in the game, there had not been a chance to develop that relationship.  It may sound stupid, but I felt I had to choose against the romance because there had been no development towards the romance you know?  I hope that makes sense.  

 

[SLEEP]

I'd go on some rant about how dating sims are about the most robotic fricking romances i've ever seen, but you're going to need at least 50 charisma points to unlock this dialogue branch, and have given me 3 presents i've given a "good" or higher reaction to. Maybe practice talking to yourself in the mirror, or join the debate club? But hurry, it has to be before day 15!

 

[Xortberg]

I dunno what dating sims you've been playing but as a guy who likes to run through the occasional one, I rarely see anything like that so yeah. Usually it's just dialogue or action choices that direct the story in certain ways, which then leads to various conclusions with whichever girl is most relevant to the story as you've made it unfold.

 

[SLEEP]

How do you feel about street art?

>Street art is cool (+5 relationship points)

>Street art is lame (-5 relationship points)

>FUKKING GRAB THE SPRAY CAN LET'S WRECK THE STREET (+10 relationship points if you have 50 points in art, otherwise -10 because your painting is ****. 49 art points wtf is that ****.)

>lol (+500000021 relationship points + unlocks the dating sim rant when we get married.)

 

[Xortberg]

Again that's like, hardly ever the kind of thing I see. I'm hardly a connoisseur of these kinds of games, mind you, but I really feel like you're just heavily biased in this argument and not even willing to entertain the possibility that you might have the wrong impression of the genre.

And even if that is how it works, it makes some degree of sense. If some chick really digs street art and you call it lame, you're not exactly making the best impression. Yes, your example is a bit mechanical in how it works, but it is logical (at least until you just get downright silly).