The Harvest moon saga.

Hmm, that's what I call persuasive endorsing :). *fist bump*

Would you consider Cinders a game with romance options? It didn't seem like it on my playthrough.

*MILD SPOILERS*
The only romance options I saw was marrying or not marrying the prince, and you hardly get to know him, and regardless of that choice every ending I got was more depressing than romantic.

And Rune Factory, which has actual combat. :)

I love Rune Factory. :D

*Mild spoilers as well*

Oh yeah, there's also Captain Perrault and Tobias, so I'd say you definitely have some options. I quite liked the Perrault endings, and the Tobias one wasn't all that bad either. The prince's route is the blandest, because, as you say, you hardly know him. Many of the endings are in fact rather positive, but it depends on what you do. I quite like the ones in which Cinders becomes an independent noblewoman.

*SPOILERS*

Huh, I never knew they were an option at all. I thought they were, and I let Cinders flirt with them, but apparantly I took a wrong turn somewhere, so the options to end the game this way were never presented to me. I have to say I quite disliked how the game handled choices. I wasn't aware of doing anything bad, I couldn't say where I made a wrong decision, and I still ended up with limited choices and only bleak endings that contradicted the "take matters into your hand, do something with your life" theme of the VN. It didn't seem very logical and consequential. And I found it too long and tedious to replay it several times. I would have really liked the game if not for these disappointing mechanics (choices and pace/replayability).

Really? I can't say I had too much trouble with it, but maybe because I'm used to playing these games? The more rewarding paths may not be immediately obvious, though. The game certainly isn't perfect, but I still enjoyed it a whole lot, and I thought the artstyle was absolutely gorgeous as well.

Note: the game keeps track of Cinders' personality, and that personality in part determines what varieties of the endings are open to her, and how well she gets along with Perrault/Tobias. Still, having a different personality should not lock you out of any of the paths, it should just change some minor things.

*SPOILER*
Well, it definitely locked me out of these paths. And it's not at all apparent to me how trying to make peace with your stepmother and stepsisters and being nice to Tobias, while keeping a free spirit and your own will, should result in making everyone's life miserable. And neither how the few choices I was allowed to make during the game, during the span of a few days shoud determine the rest of Cinders life. ;)

Anyway, sorry for derailing the thread, I already wrote down my thoughts on the game last year. If you want to continue the discussion, feel free to PM me. :)

Haha, maybe it simply wasn't the game for you, then. :P Your points are valid. It can be easy to end up on a bad path. I guess I got lucky my first time around by getting a decent ending, and then I went back to unlock more of them. Still, despite its flaws, I really enjoyed the game, and I think it's worth it, especially if you can get it on sale. It was in a bundle a bit ago, I think it might still be? Maybe it is the OP's cup of tea. :)

EDIT: Yep, I'll stop the derailing as well. Good luck finding some enjoyable games, OP!

While NWN1 is a Bioware game.
The user made module, Valine's A Dance with Rogues has the best lesbian romance I've come across in a game.
It is very explicitly sexual, but becomes very romantic as Pia becomes more vulnerable & dependant on you..
She's such a cutie, you can't help but love her.
Cheating on her with another "women" won't end the romance, but it will subtlety change it, and you will never get back what you had.

I really don't recommend Magical Diary, I played it when it came out through and through and all those romances are quite unhealthy (one unbelievably so), and more importantly, if you don't want to date certain characters but be just friends with them, they become butthurt. One believably, as he just wants to use you, but the other one just doesn't make sense. Also the game feels very lonely, your friends aren't really your friends much and it's not very long (I think you can finish the game during one evening, esp. if you don't save/reload because of the stat cramming). It starts out good but then falls through, so watch a bit beyond the demo, so you won't get disappoined, esp. if you want something in the tone of Harry Potter, this isn't it. And the atmosphere, like I mentioned, is often very sad and glum.

If you want something happy, this won't be for you, although one route makes the game happier. I might be biased, but I was very disappointed by this game as it really isn't what I wanted or was expecting after playing the demo, so I felt like the demo sold me on a completely different game and then turned from a 'happy beginnings at the magic school' into a 'depressed, sad and rather lonely in a magic school' game.

Academagia is the way to go if you want a magical school simulator, for anyone interested, and it has about 16 free DLC with more quests, characters and skills. But I'm not sure if it contains a romance.

that post you are replying to is almost 18 months old

If people didn't stupidly flag Tauto's posts as spam and thus removing them, these necro threads would be much easier to recognize.

but you just have to look at the date of the post
its not exactly hidden