It’s that special time of year where all the couples are busy making goo-goo eyes at each other and everyone who is single is busy saying that they “don’t care” and that it’s “just a corporate holiday designed to get people to buy candy.” Valentine’s Day is here and what better time to reflect on things you love. Video Games are no stranger to the game of love. Here are my Top 5 Romantic Scenes in Video Games. WARNING VIDEO’S CONTAIN SPOILERS AND POSSIBLEY NSFW!
5) No More Heroes
She’s a big ol’ flirt.
Every guy has done stupid things to impress a girl, but few of us have gone to the lengths No More Heroes protagonist Travis Touchdown has in order to score with a lady. Travis is on a mission to become the number one assassin in the world, but his motives for becoming the top dog are not based on pride alone. Travis has his eye on a lady who says she’ll be his if he can claim the throne as the top assassin in the world. That’s a little more intense than dinner and a movie.
4) The God of War Series
You can’t write an article that deals with video games’ portrayals of love and sex without mentioning the God of War series. Sure, they might not be the classiest or most believable depiction of sexuality but they do have a good sense of humor to them. These “mini-games” bring a much needed break from the typical God of War offering of killing, killing, and more killing. Like it or not, they are a big part of the God of War formula, and, if you removed the scenes, fan boys around the world would be up in arms. God of War does nothing subtly, and sex is no exception.
3) Heavy Rain
No matter how you feel about Heavy Rain, you have to admit that it was ambitious. Heavy Rain attempted to draw gamers in to a deeper relationship with the characters on screen by keeping the gamer in control throughout the majority of the game. Such tasks that are usually relegated to cut scenes, such as drinking orange juice or playing with your children, are controlled by the player in an attempt to allow them to shape the game’s world. The most infamous attempt to fully immerse the player in the game world involved the love scene between Ethan Mars and Madison Page. Depending on the player’s prerogative, a love scene could be enacted with the player participating in some of the movements. Gamers were divided on how well the love scene was pulled off, but it was certainly one of the most talked about romantic scenes in gaming.
2) Mass Effect (1 and 2)
Bioware is no stranger to the love game. The company has long allowed players to pursue in-game relationships. With the Mass Effect series Bioware took a bolder stance by allowing players to pursue relationships with more characters than ever. The multitude of options allowed for extremely varied experiences for gamers and relationships was full of both awkward moments and touching new discoveries of someone’s personality. If you dismissed Ashley as an alien-hating human, you failed to discover her insecurities come from a tainted family history and that she loves the poetry of Walt Whitman. Did you romance Liara T’Soni only to be turned down by her in Mass Effect 2? Did you break through Miranda’s seemingly perfect veneer or were you more interested in the shy Tali? Bioware did a masterful job of making the characters build relationships, and players who did were rewarded with a deeper playing experience. The ladies, or men playing as a lady Sheperd, were not left out either as they can romance the baddest Turian around, Garrus, in Mass Effect 2.
1) Final Fantasy x
Final Fantasy could be on this list multiple times. A franchise as storied and tenured as Final Fantasy has many love stories throughout the series. Many gamers will always be loyal to Final Fantasy VII, which, perhaps more than any series, defined the Playstation 1. However, Final Fantasy x packed a more emotional wallop to me. Many people are divided over the quality of the game (bickering over which Final Fantasy titles are the greatest could be the gaming nerd’s national sport), but Tidus’ and Yuna’s kiss in the water was a touching moment. Still one of my favorite moments in the series.
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