Adventure Gamers - Forums

While it probably isn’t the most healthiest relationship either, Chains of Satinav has a very tragic romantic underpinning.

I’m going to disagree. If we contrast Kings Quest IV with Chains of Satinav, imo Chains of Satinav is very obviously driven by the romance, the main characters desire to protect the girl and most importantly compared to Kings Quest IV there’s a lot more interaction between the two involved characters, since a large part of the game and their character development is their road trip where they can have conversations and solve puzzles together. But how many “scenes” and interactions do Alexander and Cassima actually share in the game? How much of the gameplay time do they actually spend together?

That said, if it doesn’t have to be an adventure game, I would say the 2008 Prince of Persia game has an actually quite romantic story that isn’t too disrupted by constant fighting off enemies. (and it also fullfills my requirement of the characters actually spending a lot of time together, talking to each other and playing off each other as part of the gameplay) Final Fantasy 8 and 10 might also be candidates.

Consider this official ad:

Yeah it’s been a while since I’ve done KQ6 and from my memory it did have a couple of nice moments. But I do remember it as still having most of the game like the typical “love interest fetch quest” feel.

Not that I want to praise Chains to the heavens. For example there is a scene in the beginning where somebody tells the main character that you are not supposed to look at a fairy for too long or else they’ll put a spell on you that had me questioning the entire game how real his feelings for her really were. But since the game doesn’t have a happy ending this wasn’t too much of an issue anyway and I would lie is by the end I didn’t sort of get choked up about the ending despite my initial skeptisism.

The Kings Quest games are still a good choice in general I think especially if you are worried she might not enjoy Chains having a tearjerker ending.

I also think that things like Guybrush/Elaine or Gabriel Knight/Grace have a decent chance of resonating with women because in both cases the female character is pretty cool and interestsing in her own right.

Not a traditional adventure but Shadow of the Colossus also has a good romantic (and tragic) component.

That’s another one that is really focused on the guy POV though, right? Where the girl is more of an abstract concept rather than an actual person? Maybe try ICO instead at least there the girl is part of the actual gameplay.

Of course SOC is a great game, it’s just not necessarily what I’d choose as an intro to a new gamer with romance as a selling point.

thalolli - 03 March 2014 05:55 AM

That’s another one that is really focused on the guy POV though, right? Where the girl is more of an abstract concept rather than an actual person? Maybe try ICO instead at least there the girl is part of the actual gameplay.

Of course SOC is a great game, it’s just not necessarily what I’d choose as an intro to a new gamer with romance as a selling point.

I think it can a great introduction to how different the possibilities of telling a story can be in gaming, instead of relying in typical cutscenes. But I agree that it’s more in the POV of the protagonist and, not being a typical adventure, the controls can be awkward for a first time gamer. Still, a touching story that anyone can relate to.

No mention of Plundered Hearts? Play Plundered Hearts! Everyone!
And also Anacapri, the game no one ‘got’ judging by the reviews and failed kickstarter
And Freddy Pharkas maybe?

wilco - 03 March 2014 07:05 AM

thalolli - 03 March 2014 05:55 AM

That’s another one that is really focused on the guy POV though, right? Where the girl is more of an abstract concept rather than an actual person? Maybe try ICO instead at least there the girl is part of the actual gameplay.

Of course SOC is a great game, it’s just not necessarily what I’d choose as an intro to a new gamer with romance as a selling point.

I think it can a great introduction to how different the possibilities of telling a story can be in gaming, instead of relying in typical cutscenes. But I agree that it’s more in the POV of the protagonist and, not being a typical adventure, the controls can be awkward for a first time gamer. Still, a touching story that anyone can relate to.

A great game without a doubt, but more a story a boy and his quest or a boy and horse than the story of a boy and a girl. I’d also argue it draws a lot of additional narrative power from subverting some video game expectations, expectations that a non-gamer is less likely to have.

It would probably still be stunning to watch for a newbie. But for romance I’d go for ICO over it.

No normal person is going to want to sit and watch someone play Shadows of the Colossus or Ico, especially not someone who isn’t normally into games. 

The story-based nature of REAL adventure games makes them a bit more palatable, but unfortunately many of them (especially the ones listed in this thread) are overly dry affairs.  I actually did this exact thing with my wife a while back (play an adventure game with her that I thought she’d like because of its romantic nature), and I chose KQVI, and she absolutely loved it.  She even got a little teary at parts (she does the same thing at Disney movies—heh.)  The structure of the narrative and the light-hearted, fairy-tale quality of the world makes it an ideal game for this type of thing.  It’s easy to get into, but nuanced enough to really make it stand out.  Also, the voice acting kicks fucking ass compared to most of the games others have mentioned.  If you want a game that is going to impress in terms of its romantic story AND beautiful presentation, you have to choose KQVI.

Rain PS3 - No competition.

The music and art made it so touching.

Phantasmagoria.

Bt