Summary
There are few things more compelling than a good romance story, no matter the medium it appears in. Unlike movies, video games tend to have pretty long and substantial runtimes. This can allow players to further immerse themselves in a game, but it also lets them engage with a game’s love story to a much deeper extent. That is, if it’s good and decently written to begin with.
There are plenty of video games that have endearing love stories, and while most tend to be written quite well, some are better than others. Mario saving the Princess can only do so much for players. Even when a game’s main selling point caters to something else entirely, if its love story feels real, it can easily become a game’s best feature.
Updated on June 11th, 2024, by David Heath:Love comes in many forms, and video games have told many grand stories about love in all its interpretations. The first Walking Dead game, the 2018 God of War game, and Silent Hill 1 are strong depictions of familial love. Platonic love is everywhere in games, as seen in Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, InFamous, Days Gone, and anything involving the ups and downs between best friends.
Nonetheless, it’s romantic love that gets the heart pumping, and there are plenty of pairings in video games that could fit as updates on this list. For now, this list has received a handful of new examples, alongside some additional info, some reorganization, and other tweaks to make it an enjoyable, and hopefully informative, read.
TheStar Warssequel trilogy really could’ve done more with Rey and Finn, as fans thought the unknowing Jedi and ex-Stormtrooper could’ve made for an unlikely pairing. The closest equivalent to this comes from the games, asStar Wars: The Force Unleashedfollowed Sith apprentice Starkiller (previously known as Galen Marek) during his timein servitude to Darth Vader.
He mostly does a great deal of Vader’s dirty work, but he manages to find love with Juno Eclipse, an Imperial Officer and pilot employed by the Galactic Empire. WhenJuno and Starkillerare branded as traitors, however, they are both forced to go into hiding. They grow closer, being equally torn in their allegiances to Vader and Emperor Palpatine respectively, before ultimately sticking together to go against them both.
Before becoming the famed Keyblade wielder, Sora was nothing more than an ordinary boy who wished to live a simple life with his best friends, Riku and Kairi. When his world was plunged into darkness, however, he was forced toembark on a perilous questto reunite with them. He finds Riku quite easily, but the remainder of the game follows him on his search for Kairi.
Sora and Kairihave been an item since the first game, when Sora got simultaneously flustered and keen on the idea of sharing a Paopu fruit with Kairi. It’s said that, if two people share the same Paopu fruit, their lives would be intertwined until the very end. As crazy asKingdom Hearts’plot gets, with its different Nobodies, realm-traveling, memory-tweaking, etc., Sora and Kairi’s goal to share the fruit and be with each other for the rest of time is a consistent one.
InTelltale’sThe Walking Dead: The Final Season,Clementine and AJfind themselves making an array of new friends at Ericson’s Boarding School for Troubled Youth, two of whom can be romanced if the player wishes. Louis and Violet are completely different people, but they both serve to offer players satisfying love stories, no matter who is pursued.
TheClementine and Louispairing gives her the chance to have a sweet if awkward meet-cute, as he tries to flirt with her, and later dedicates a song to her when they’re going steady. While theClementine and Violetpairing starts off with the latter being more stand-offish, but gradually opening up to her. Whether things get better or worse for either pairing depends on the player’s choices, so they have to choose carefully.
In the originalGestaltversion of the game, players saw the unnamed hero (called Nier for convenience) try to save his sickly daughter Yonah from shadowy beings called Shades, and their master, the Shadowlord. InNieR Replicant, the hero is now much younger and is Yonah’s sister. Either way, he travels through thepost-apocalyptic worldto save her. Along the way, he meets Kaine, an intersex replicant on a similar Shade-killing adventure.
Aside from their hatred of Shades, Nier and Kaine have very little in common. Nier is a moody but loving parent/brother to Yonah. Kaine’s a foul-mouthed swordfighter seeking to avenge the death of her grandmother and her abusive past on a Shade called Hook. Not that this is apparent, asNieR’s different endingsreveal different parts of Nier and Kaine’s story. But the two gradually warm to each other over their shared goals, leading Nier to make the ultimate sacrifice to save Kaine’s life.
In Greek mythology,Achilles and Patrocluswere childhood friends, with the former teaching the latter all he knew about being a warrior. In choosing between a long but uneventful life, or a short but glorious one, Achilles chose the latter, and went to fight in the Trojan War. Patroclus joined him, and led a charge against the Trojans in Achilles' armor, only to be killed by Hector. His death drove Achilles to fight on before later being killed by Paris.
InHades, Achilles gives up his place in Elysium, Greek Heaven, to Patroclus without telling him. Patrolcus just thought he’d earned a spot in paradise, but being there alone just makes him feel abandoned. As Zagreus, if the player manages to build a rapport with the two warriors, he can repair their contract, so Achilles can join Patroclus in Elysium…occasionally. They may not be together 24/7, but it gives them enough time to amend their differences and spend time with each other.
The Witcher 3: Wild HuntfollowsGeralt of Rivia, a Witcher, on his quest to locate Ciri, his adopted daughter. Finding Ciri, however, proves to be quite difficult because of her time-jumping abilities. To ensure these powers don’t fall into the wrong hands, Geralt seeks help from Yennefer of Vengerberg, a powerful sorceress with whom he shares a complicated past.TW3allows players to pursue several different romances, but the relationship betweenGeralt and Yenneferis the most compelling.
She’s the only character considered to be Geralt’s true love, and like a mother to Ciri. Players can pair Geralt withYennefer’s friend Triss, but canonically, she never understood how Geralt and Yennefer formed their connection. They’re like two broken jigsaw pieces that somehow manage to fit together. Just don’t try to date Yennefer and Triss at the same time, or that won’t be the only thing broken.
Romance is a spotty affair in theYakuza/Like a Dragonseries. Kazuma Kiryu has managed to charm all sorts of women, yet has never had a long-lasting relationship. His first love, Yumi, would form the basis forYakuza 1, along with itsKiwamiremake, and will play a big part in the upcomingLike a Dragon: YakuzaAmazon series. Yet Kiryu and Yumi never got to have a real romantic encounter with each other until it was too late.Yakuza 2stepped things up by bringingKiryu and Kaoru Sayamatogether.
She’s a hotheaded cop known as the ‘Yakuza Huntress’ who contrasts with Kiryu’s quiet, serious demeanor. They press each other’s buttons in a way that’s funny and endearing, where their growing feelings feel believable, even when Kiryu thinks he’s lost his shot with her forever. Nonetheless, by the end, it seemed like they’d be the series' power couple. Unfortunately, the developers didn’t want Kiryu attending hostess clubs in the sequels while being in a relationship, soYakuza 3cooled the two off and sent Sayama off to America.
Shepard can romancea variety of different charactersinMass Effect, but the most compelling of the bunch is arguably theShepard and Garruspairing. Though the Turian made his debut inMass Effect 1, it’s not untilMass Effect 2that players can pair their Female Shepard character with Garrus, where they get a look at his softer side.
For an otherwise gruff, tough guy, Garrus comes off awkward in an endearing way when pursued romantically. When Shepard asks him if he’s uncomfortable with the two of them being together, he says it’s quite the opposite. He feels alone in the cosmos, with Shepard as his only friend. After everything that’s happened to him, he wants at least one thing to go right. By making the right choices, the player can help do that for him.
Kiryu had his relationship retconned into friendship for gameplay purposes, but his best frenemy had better luck with a longer-lasting but equally bittersweet love inYakuza 0. To get back into the Shimano family, Goro Majima is tasked with carrying out a hit on someone named Makoto Makimura. He thinks he’s after some pimp, only to find out they’re actually a young woman left with psychosomatic blindness after being rescued from a human trafficking ring.
Majima’s desire to get back into the yakuza now clashes with his urge to keep Makoto safe from them. Even when he learns more about Makoto and her part in the overall plot, he tries to keep her away from the brutality of the yakuza life while sinking more into it himself. He can’t give Makoto the security she needs, but he’ll do his best to lead her to someone who can. It’s a sad story, but theMajima & Makotoromance shows love can be more complicated than a meet-cute.
Familiarity can breed contempt.The Last of Usimpressed players with its more serious take on the post-apocalypse. However, the series' numerous, arguably negligible remasters, and the dwelling on its dour drama from fans and Naughty Dog staff alike has worn its welcome out with some. Nonetheless, when the storytelling hits, it hits, like with Ellie’s tortured love life.TLOU: Left Behindsaw her relationship with her best friend Riley get ruined by the infection. InThe Last Of Us Part 2, she ruins her own relationship with Dina.
Ellie and Dinadevelop feelings for each other at the beginning of the story, and though they allow their feelings to blossom during their trip to Seattle, they rarely get time to enjoy how they feel. This is because Ellie is too obsessed with avenging Joel’s death, yet Dina still accompanies her on this journey, just because she loved her that much. But Ellie’s determination tolocate and kill Abbyleads her to give up a peaceful life with Dina, and ultimately leaves her alone. Not every love story ends happily.
