What RPG Western or Japanese has the best romance plot/mechanics? Every great story has a romantic sub-plot, from Gilgamesh to Odysseus to Arthur - it's a critical part of the human experience and is both the root and ruin of all great hero's.
What RPG Western or Japanese has the best romance plot/mechanics?
if a romance has mechanics, it's automatically bad. there are basically no good ones, maybe shadow hearts because the male lead isn't a pussy or moron.
>if a romance has mechanics, it's automatically bad
Dating sim crap has destroyed proper romances and character relationships.
This. Every modern multi-choice romance feels like it has no depth and is more just a "choose which sex scene to view before the boss battle" selection.
You have good taste since you like Yowkow but you can´t have her. She is mine.
As for your question the best romances in games are actually the professionally scripted ones that are meaningful for the plot and canon for the characters like Lenneth and Lucien from Valkyrie Profile or Yuri and Alice from Shadow Hearts.
Choice comes in detriment of depth. It can be satisfying for the player as it makes the experience feel more personal but one could argue the true value of storytelling lies in sharing a common experience. Drama is stronger when there is a clear intention, a distinct message.
True enough in Valkyrie profile you can completely miss the love story that triggers Platina´s awakening and Lenneth´s rebellion against the gods but that´s clearly the intended story. The other story available in the game seems to be there just to confirm that fact. If we are talking about intense meaningful romances i think that one is one of the best in all gaming. Fan service marriage simulators are not on the same league.
>Yuri and Alice from Shadow Hearts.
I'd put this as the absolute apex. While the other example you gave does lead to some great acting ("That earring..."), Yuri and Alice go through a comedy-tragedy-comedy cycle in the first two games that nothing else has replicated. Very few JRPG scenes match the scene below. The way Karin clings to the doors alone is so fricking evocative.
>DO NOT FRICKING WATCH IF YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS
>I'd put this as the absolute apex
Only in the first game, in the second game it just gets stupid at the end.
I gotchu senpai. best love story ever told in an rpg, and the awesome part is there is no mechanics to it; it's integral to the plot and completely baked in.
I think they have the best love THEME but not best love story.
Treasure That Can Not Be Stolen is "play at weddings" tier.
Trails in the Sky
FF VIII
>t. has only ever played 5 rpgs in his life
No, I am simply successful in Romance, making my taste and understanding far different than most RPG players.
Ugly people can never understand.
>No, I am simply successful in Romance
Nobody successful in romance would play trails in the Sky
but FF8 has one of the most amateur, unrealistic portrayals of romance in any game.
>written as a celebration of the author's (to this day still successful) marriage
FF8 is fluff but it is realistic fluff. Meanwhile FF9 is a much more idealistic romance (and one I largely prefer to FF8's romance)
Really? I thought Zidane/Garnet was veru realistic. They actively flirt with each other for 2/3 of the game before fessing up. Pretty much the only FF romance I was invested in
Same; as someone who has been in love and had it reciprocated multiple times (sorry guys) FF9 is easily one of the most realistic and also enjoyable. FF8's however, is very true to your typical teenager romance so it is also realistic in that regard. But still annoying and cringe, as teens generally are.
I'd say it's fairly traditional story telling romance though effectively done.
As I said...
Ugly people can never understand.
Tell me what you're thinking of
Tell me if you love me now
I have so much I long to ask you
but now that chance is gone
>but FF8 has one of the most amateur, unrealistic portrayals of romance in any game.
especially since Squall goes from "Whatever" to "I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU" at the drop of a hat when Rinoa goes into a coma
2nd worst romance of the series
Pure shitty translation problem. The relationship makes more sense in Japanese and in context of the Japanese sensibilities of the time. (was a time when girls were hardcore fangirling over cold guys)
>Pure shitty translation problem
that is the ultimate cope
Only if it wasn't true.
>IT'S GOOD IN JAPANESE, I SWEAR
The screencap is about the joke brainwashing theory of when they met in the dance.
That is why you should pay a bit more attention when you shitpost
> when you shitpost
says the idiot claiming that the "love story" of 8 makes more sense in Japanese
That has nothing to do with shitposting.
And if I did shitpost, I'd make sure not to look like a moron responding randomly
too late
>I'd make sure not to look like a moron responding randomly
except you already did by bringing up something irrelevant to the conversation with
Black Souls is great if you want some romance with a heavy dose of tragedy; it's Dido & Aeneas, not Odysseus & Penelope.
It's not a jrpg, but when I finally got around to playing a Fire Emblem game I was dumbfounded at how stupid the romances and character interactions were. FE fans made them sound very interesting and well done and they're all like 20 lines of dialogue total.
Planescape: Torment
Knights of the Old Republic 2
Disco Elysium
In Ar Nosurge, romance and it's healing effects on the soul are both heavily involved in the mechanics, narrative, and overall theme of the game.
Ion is mine btw
>when the sole purpose of the game is to make the player fall in love with a character in the game
What was Haseo's deal with Shino again? Why did it matter to him so much that she got PK'd? At least Kite has the excuse of Orca being his irl best friend.
Haseo was Sora from the anime.
Haseo had no friends.
Shino needed a prop while she was dependent on Ovan.
So he became dependent on her.
And then Atoli became dependent on him
That information would have been nice to have known in game. It's l the main driving goal for Haseo and I don't even think we get any flashbacks of their time together. If you didn't watch the anime, you're really stuck trying to piece together why this matters.
>And then Atoli became dependent on him
And Endrance. And (Saku)Bo.
Nothing Western for sure. The women in warpigs are all used up roasties. My vote goes for FFX.
Rance series.
>that scene when Rance makes love to Suzume for the last time
Jacob >>>> Edward
Edward is a fricking prick and doesn't deserve Bella plus vampires will never be cool.
>the best romance mechanics
Rune Factory is a good example. You have a town with many npcs and your task is to marry the girl you like the most (if you play as a guy). You do the quests for her, talk to her daily, cook food for her (you must know her tastes), craft equipment for her, take her into your party and kill things together with her, take her to date spots and tell her things she wants to hear etc.
Harvest Moon's relationship mechanics always were pretty solid, Rune Factory was just expanding on that thanks to adding the other half of the game that is action RPG. RF was always more of the fantasy life-sim than RPG and it's kind of unfair to compare it to any other RPG games.
the thing is jrpgs should have fricking ROUTES. not pick a girl ending more PICKING THE GIRL WILL DETERMINE YOUR FATE type shit.
Black Souls has that, kind of.
Not really.
is a good example of how it should look like.
play Kamidori Alchemy Meister
Monster Girl Quest: Paradox
Exactly. You should meet all the girls early enough and then pick one then and there. THEN have a unique romance route that reflects and comments on the story of the game.
Mass Effect.
I kinda wish I properly played the game in order
>watched the anime
>read the manga
>bought the 3+1 discs set
>2 got corrupted
>"oh that's okay, I know what's happening based on the manga and movie"
>got compleyely confused by Yoko plotline since she appeared in like 2 panels in manga
>decided to carry on anyway
Wish I know more about her seeing how she has so many husbandos