Lack of romance in games ignores the female audience

[Vault101]

you know what I want? a good STORY nothing more nothing less, if theres a romance (and it works) thats good if there isnt? thats good too

I mean how many films ect thease days have a token romance there just for the sake of having a romance? and therefore create a token female charachter thats only purpose os to be the love interest

This.

Romance is great if it ties in with what else is going on inside the game. It's when a love interest gets shoehorned in for the sake of it that things start to go awry. You don't have to have it to make a good game; a lot of stories will function perfectly well without the lovey-dovey stuff, and you don't miss what isn't there because the rest stands up so well on its' own. And you know what? It's nice sometimes to see male and female characters just being normal without long, lingering looks across the room at each other. Because in the real world, most of the time we don't fancy everyone around us.

But then there's also times when it just really works. To the point where, when Alistair broke up with my Warden when she made him King, I was absolutely furious. And then the soppy git went and killed himself in my place against the Archdemon, and I was left wailing at the PlayStation for ages. In that circumstance, the romance arc tied in so strongly with the main story arc, it wouldn't have been the same without it.

or being treated to the pleasure of seeing Alistair and Morrgin dry humping...

I felt...Jealous?....why did I feel Jealous? did I want to see my female elf and alistair dry humping?

also before that...Zevran....why wouldnt he love me?????!!!!!!

 

[Trolldor]

I was talking with my girlfriend the other day about games. I was telling her how excited I am for some upcoming games and also discussing games I thought she might like to try that I/we own.

But she's just not interested. Why? She likes games with romances, and finds basically any and all games without that to be boring. Therefore, she absolutely loves Assassins' Creed 2, and moreso Brotherhood. She played the shit out of those games.

She also enjoyed a bit of Dragon Age, but I guess the style of the game isn't exactly her thing, and even though it has romances, they're very much "on the back burner". I mean if you think about it, the only point of BioWare romances, really, is to get that "steamy" cutscene.

So I was thinking of other games I really like, and I just can't think of any games with any sort of meaningful romance in the plot.

I think, of course, not every game needs a romance. I think boys especially can simply play a game and have fun on the mechanics alone (hence the male dominated FPS games). Please keep in mind I'm not saying girls can't like that, and I really wish my gf was one of those who can enjoy a game for the simple fun of exploration and blowing stuff up, but she's not like that. And I'm sure she's not alone, not by a long shot.

But thinking about my favorite books, they basically all have at least some sort of romance. I don't really like the cheezy stuff ("romance" novels) but I do appreciate the bond of love. I mean even Harry Potter has some romance and I guarantee a large portion of the audience would not like the series as much if it didn't have some sexual tension and the like.

So are developers completely ignoring a huge issue here? When there are romances in typical AAA games (BioWare for example) they're almost always heavy handed and shallow attempts. The nice thing of AC:B is that the romance is a main plot point, and it's very well developed. It's not the silly flirt/shower with gifts/sleep with/get different convo options that are presents in certain RPGs. Even Heavy Rain's romance was a bit sloppy, although my girlfriend did enjoy that game.

Two questions for Escapists: Can you think of any games with a good romance, ideally available on PC or PS3? And more importantly, it would be great to hear from female Escapists on if they feel like romance is important, would improve games, and whether they feel ignored.

Then tell her to play dating sims if all she cares about is Romance.
I am so happy that the girls I know can appreciate a story and a world without some hackneyed romance tacked on.

 

[Wolfram23]

Then tell her to play dating sims if all she cares about is Romance.
I am so happy that the girls I know can appreciate a story and a world without some hackneyed romance tacked on.

There's been plenty of replies as to why that's dumb. Basically, dating sims are completely different... dating sims are, at the core, a fake version of you, the player, dating some fictional character. That is completely different than having a romantic sub plot in a game involving two characters that may or may not be player controlled.

Also, why assume it's a tacked on romance? There's nothing saying that all games must have, or need, romance. In fact, that wasn't even the point of this topic. The underlaying point tht obviously went over your head is that games have a long way to go in their story telling/writing to be able to rival some of the epic movies and books we already enjoy.

 

[Trolldor]

Then tell her to play dating sims if all she cares about is Romance.
I am so happy that the girls I know can appreciate a story and a world without some hackneyed romance tacked on.

There's been plenty of replies as to why that's dumb. Basically, dating sims are completely different... dating sims are, at the core, a fake version of you, the player, dating some fictional character. That is completely different than having a romantic sub plot in a game involving two characters that may or may not be player controlled.

Also, why assume it's a tacked on romance? There's nothing saying that all games must have, or need, romance. In fact, that wasn't even the point of this topic. The underlaying point tht obviously went over your head is that games have a long way to go in their story telling/writing to be able to rival some of the epic movies and books we already enjoy.

Tacked on. Definitely.
Very few games with a romance sub-plot benefit from having it there.
Niko's story benefitted from having two of them.
Only final fantasy 6 benefitted from having one.

 

[Gindil]

Two questions for Escapists: Can you think of any games with a good romance, ideally available on PC or PS3? And more importantly, it would be great to hear from female Escapists on if they feel like romance is important, would improve games, and whether they feel ignored.

Not on the PC, or PS3, but Thousand arms [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_Arms] fit the niche you're looking for. I haven't looked at any other game that's quite like it.

 

[Kristi Kinch]

I really don't think lack of romance ignores women, it just ignores people who like romance. Everyone I know, male and female alike play video games, and the women play the same games as the men, and I've never heard anyone say anything about needing more romance. I quit 3 Final Fantasys because they got too darn mushy, while my boyfriend seems to like that stuff. I did get so into the romance in DA:O that I threw a huge fit when Alistair dumped me, but that game was a rare bit of awesome.

 

[Aesir23]

Just because your girlfriend prefers to have romance in a video game doesn't mean that the majority of female gamers are like that. Personally, I really couldn't care less about romance in a video game as long as the game is fun. Key word there. Fun. A good story goes a long way when it comes to me enjoying a game. Romance. Not. Required. While yes, the ones that do integrate romance do it a bit poorly at times but if they choose not to have romance in their game they do not ignore an entire demographic by that choice alone.

But as far as "romantic" games go. I would definitely say grab a copy of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

I might recommend Drakengard 2 as well, but I'll have to play that one again to be sure. Romance doesn't play a huge role in that game even though it is present.