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General discussionRecommend romance themed games(28 posts)(28 posts)
(28 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 04, 2021
Hello!

Edit: thanks for the replies!

Valentine's day is coming up and this year I am dateless. This is clearly the fault of covid, and uh, nothing else...*erhem*. This year I'm going to change it up a little. Instead of sobbing on the floor, I should play something where romance is the main theme. Visual novels, dating sims, and hentai games don't count. Games with optional romantic side plots also don't count. I would post something myself, but I'm afraid I can't think of anything. I will end with a quote from the most romantic poem ever told: take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door.
Post edited February 04, 2021 by J Lo
Posted February 04, 2021
Would the recent Haven count? It's on GOG.
Posted February 04, 2021
- To the Moon, unless you count that as a Visual Novel
- Life is Strange, depending on your interpretation of the main characters' relationship
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm

You will end up sobbing on the floor with these too though, so I'm not sure it's a good idea. ;P

Maybe Florence? When The Past Was Around? Catherine? Hunie Pop? Table Manners? Old Man's Journey? The thing is, such games usually tend to have some visual novel or dating sim elements, but also some casual or hardcore puzzle / arcade / physics stuff in these cases.

And since you didn't exclude Walking Simulators: ;)
- Gone Home
- Firewatch
- Before I Forget
- The Novelist

- Slime Rancher also has kind of a romance plot, but it's mostly about farming slimes.
- Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure has a Get the Girl subplot, if you can call it that (single player campaign is not much more than an hour long) - but then again, so have Monkey Island, Super Mario and a lot of other games
- Venetica has some romance themes, IIRC, but I don't remember how strong they were. They played a part in the beginning and maybe in dreams or something?
- There are some modules for Neverwinter Nights where it's pretty hard to escape the romance related stuff (some pretty centered on sex as well, like A Dance With Rogue or Gladiatrix or Demonheart series, but I think in Sanctum of the Archmage the romance is more sweet, and possibly not optional, or in any case not arbitrary but centered on one specific character)

Anyway, as you've found out yourself, pretty hard to find a game where romance is not just an irrelevant or optional subplot and which at the same time has neither visual novel nor dating sim nor walking simulator elements. Why torture yourself anyway? Forget about Valentine's Day and do something totally unrelated and fun for a change!
Post edited February 04, 2021 by Leroux
Posted February 04, 2021
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CMOT70: Would the recent Haven count? It's on GOG.
Oh, right, that seems like a pretty good suggestion, probably 'wins' the thread!

And it reminded me that Solo (fitting title ;) ) is also supposed to be a game about love and reflecting about your relationships.

Is Tender Loving Care a romance themed "game"? Never played it, but it seems to touch on relationships? Technically it's not a Visual Novel but an Interactive Movie with personality quiz, from what I can see. ;)

Maybe also Degrees of Separation? Not sure.
Post edited February 04, 2021 by Leroux
Posted February 04, 2021
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Leroux: ...
Is Tender Loving Care a romance themed "game"? Never played it, but it seems to touch on relationships? Technically it's not a Visual Novel but an Interactive Movie with personality quiz, from what I can see. ;)...
I was going to mention that, but having played it I decided against recommending it to the OP.

As you correctly said, the game is based on a relationship, but to avoid spoiling anything, it's not exactly a romance based on pink clouds, candy boxes and exchanging sweetness all around :)

(But I would recommend it in general to anyone that wants to play something different, it is a unique FMV game I have to say)
Posted February 04, 2021
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J Lo: Visual novels, dating sims, and hentai games don't count.
*sad noises*
Posted February 04, 2021
I'll just point out that there are a large number of hidden object games where romance is part of the storyline. Most are not on GOG, but e.g. Big Fish has many: they even have a separate love and romance category listing.
Posted February 04, 2021
Sad coomer thread
Posted February 04, 2021
HuniePop 2, Coming sooner than you think.</s>

Okay, so in my opinion, romance and video games have gone as well together as peanut butter & cactus needles.

Romances in videogames have existed about as long as they have themselves; the thing is most romances in them tend to be utter rubbish, so you'd be better off downloading something like Wordgrinder or Nano and writing it yourself.

I'm sure good ones exist, but for the life of me, I can't think of any, but at least Mobygames can.
Post edited February 04, 2021 by Darvond
Posted February 04, 2021
Several games feature a duo of protagonists with romantic tension between them. For example, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (Indy and Sophia Hapgood), the Broken Sword series (George Stobbart and Nicole Collard; 5-game series).
Posted February 04, 2021
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Leroux: - To the Moon, unless you count that as a Visual Novel
- Life is Strange, depending on your interpretation of the main characters' relationship
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm

You will end up sobbing on the floor with these too though, so I'm not sure it's a good idea. ;P

Maybe Florence? When The Past Was Around? Catherine? Hunie Pop? Table Manners? Old Man's Journey? The thing is, such games usually tend to have some visual novel or dating sim elements, but also some casual or hardcore puzzle / arcade / physics stuff in these cases.

And since you didn't exclude Walking Simulators: ;)
- Gone Home
- Firewatch
- Before I Forget
- The Novelist

- Slime Rancher also has kind of a romance plot, but it's mostly about farming slimes.
- Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure has a Get the Girl subplot, if you can call it that (single player campaign is not much more than an hour long) - but then again, so have Monkey Island, Super Mario and a lot of other games
- Venetica has some romance themes, IIRC, but I don't remember how strong they were. They played a part in the beginning and maybe in dreams or something?
- There are some modules for Neverwinter Nights where it's pretty hard to escape the romance related stuff (some pretty centered on sex as well, like A Dance With Rogue or Gladiatrix or Demonheart series, but I think in Sanctum of the Archmage the romance is more sweet, and possibly not optional, or in any case not arbitrary but centered on one specific character)

Anyway, as you've found out yourself, pretty hard to find a game where romance is not just an irrelevant or optional subplot and which at the same time has neither visual novel nor dating sim nor walking simulator elements. Why torture yourself anyway? Forget about Valentine's Day and do something totally unrelated and fun for a change!
Thanks for the suggestions! I can't believe I forgot about Catherine.
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Darvond: HuniePop 2, Coming sooner than you think.</s>

Okay, so in my opinion, romance and video games have gone as well together as peanut butter & cactus needles.

Romances in videogames have existed about as long as they have themselves; the thing is most romances in them tend to be utter rubbish, so you'd be better off downloading something like Wordgrinder or Nano and writing it yourself.

I'm sure good ones exist, but for the life of me, I can't think of any, but at least Mobygames can.
You make a good point. Games are an interactive, action based medium; and romance plots don't have much going on when it comes to actually doing stuff.
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DiffuseReflection: I'll just point out that there are a large number of hidden object games where romance is part of the storyline. Most are not on GOG, but e.g. Big Fish has many: they even have a separate love and romance category listing.
I wanted to try something from Big Fish for a while now. Their romance category looks like a good place to start. Thanks!
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CMOT70: Would the recent Haven count? It's on GOG.
That looks pretty good. I try to grab it on sale. Thank you!
Post edited February 04, 2021 by J Lo
Posted February 04, 2021
I guess one could argue Transistor is build around a love story.
A love triangle is central to Call of Juarez Bound in Blood.
The Deponia games... sort of have a love story? It's more of a mcguffin really, at least untill the third and fourth game.
You can have a romance in Tales from the Borderlands, though it's not in any way vital to the game.
Grim Fandango definitely is a romance story.

Of course there are the Leisure Suit Larry games...
Post edited February 04, 2021 by Breja
Posted February 04, 2021
If you plan on getting something from Big Fish, note that there are currently at least two active coupon codes, each of which allows you to get any single game from them for free. Apply the codes during the checkout process.
FREEGAME865035
FREEGAME449269
One or both of these older codes might also still work:
FREEGAME864089
FREEGAME546711

Note: during checkout, Big Fish promotes a game club membership which has a monthly fee; only the first trial month is free. You can untick the checkbox if you do not wish to join the club.
Post edited February 04, 2021 by DiffuseReflection
Posted February 04, 2021
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J Lo: Valentine's day is coming up and this year I am dateless.
Oh, wow, I am so dateless I ever forgot about Valentine's day :P.
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J Lo: Instead of sobbing on the floor [...]
I realize you're probably not (100%) serious, but let me just say there's really no reason to sob at all. As with all things in life, romance comes with ups and downs. It can lift you and it can pull you down, but in the end you are you with or without it. Let that sink in a bit and learn to appreciate yourself outside of your relationship with others - only then will you see things more clearly when the time comes to play your cards.

Except this exquisite piece of unwarranted advice, I'm afraid I'm totally useless. I can't remember ever playing a game where romance was the main theme.
Post edited February 04, 2021 by WinterSnowfall
Posted February 04, 2021
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J Lo: Thanks for the suggestions! I can't believe I forgot about Catherine. You make a good point. Games are an interactive, action based medium; and romance plots don't have much going on when it comes to actually doing stuff.
It's not even a lack of interactivity, but a lack of factual writing skill by most western developers.

As shown by most Bioware productions (or most of the EA umbrella), I'll put it to a blunt fact that there are furry comics with better romances.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionRecommend romance themed games(28 posts)(28 posts)
(28 posts)