It's Valentines Day?!?!?

Most video games now a days have the option to romance one of your companions in your party. Ok, so just Bioware games. But, those only seem to consist of talking and talking to characters that you don't even like, but only find them to be physically attractive. It's just a means to get to an unsatisfying and confusing "sex" scene at some point near the end of the game. Video game character relationships have been done right before, strangely enough one of the ones that I'll be talking about will be from a Bioware game. So, I want to take a look at some of the video game relationships that have stuck out in my mind. 1. Mario and Peach / Link and Zelda Aaah, the classics. You can't beat 'em. We've Grown up with these two games. Both of these two faithful heroes will travel the world to save the one they love, and they'll do it all over again in the next game. We don't really play these games for their plot, but we still invest ourselves in them because we just love these games. By our current incarnations of these games, we really couldn't care less about any of the story, at least in Mario's case. Sure it's all the same, but these guys put in the dedication to always, always, always be there for their ladies. They are some true romantics. 2. Agro and Wander Shadow of the Colossus is a great game. A lot of people refer to it as an artistic game, I'm right there with them. Though, I think it's just because people don't quite understand it. But, one thing that really stands out to me is the relationship in that game between two characters. No, not the main character and the dead girl! I'm talking about the main character and his horse. First, get your mind out of the gutter, and second, these two are total bros! Through thick and thin, which is a theme in this game, these two have each others back, or at least the horse does. After every single battle with a colossus, the player character is transported back to the shrine, while the horse is left to trot all the way back across the desolate world. Every. Single. Time. This horse is as faithful as they come. 3. Bastilla / Carth Well, Love isn't all about being faithful. It's also about trust. Both of these relationship options are actually very well written, and there is a human connection. Now, it's probably just because I'm just a huge Star Wars fan that I love this game so much, but these characters are just so deep. In KOTOR, your character, whether it be male or female, just happens to show up out of nowhere. Both of these characters, when you finally meet them are wary to trust you. Throughout the adventure the characters grow, and change their opinion of you based on your actions. Yes, I know that in the second game, the supporting characters actually changed their alliance based on your actions, but that seems more like Stockholm syndrome than a relationship. Anyhow, Bastilla and Carth stood out to me as video game relationships because you had to earn their trust. Carth didn't know who you were, or why you were even with the resistance in the first place. Though he was forced to trust you because you were his only ally. I've never engaged in a relationship with Carth, because I've never done a female run of KOTOR, but even as a male character, earning Carth's trust was some kind of achievement to me. I felt a friendship with him, and that was special. Bastilla on the other hand was hesitant about trusting you because she knew of your past and what had happened. I enjoyed the conversation that I had with this character because I was engaged in what she had to say. Her role was that of my superior and mentor. I would look to her for guidance, and ask her what to do with these new responsibilities as a Jedi. That's another thing that I feel that game captured well. The foreign feeling of being thrust into a new world of being a Jedi. It was something completely different, but you had your guide there to help you along the way. Then the ultimate test came. Bastilla was captured and turned to the dark side of the force by the evil Darth Malek. On your way to the final confrontation with him, he sends his new pupil to stop you. Bastilla. She fights you to stop you from preventing her new master of his plan. During the fight there are pauses for Bastilla to try and convince you that your cause is pointless and that you should just give up. Before you're allowed to strike the final blow, there is one last pause for conversation. At this point, you tell her that you love her (this is all completely optional by the way). And she returns that love, with one of the greatest lines in Star Wars and video game history "May the force be with you my love" and she lets you pass to defeat her former captor. This was so amazing to me. I felt as though I had earned her trust, I had fought for her, and even against her to win her over. I actually felt a connection to this character. That is how a video game relationship should work. Or at least it's a damn good way to go about it. 4. Nozomi and Ryo Shenmue was Yu Suzuki's magnum opus for the Sega Dreamcast. It was something completely new to me. I never played that many adventure games as a kid, and figuring out who exactly killed my father was a rather different concept to me. In Shenmue, there was a girl by the name of Nozomi. She is quiet, well mannered, and she cares for Ryo deeply. Throughout the game she always shows up at the right time to tell you that she misses and cares for you. She tells you that it's dangerous what you're doing. Yet, everytime Ryo is blinded by revenge and is missing the point of his fathers last words. "Keep friends, those you love, close to you." That's the moral of the story. It really is a great romance that the team over at Sega wrote for these two characters. So, yes. There are my favorite, or at least a few of my favorite, video game romances/relationships. I'm sure I've forgotten, or dismissed quite a few, but from all of the different video games that I've played, these are the ones that have stood out to me. I hope you all enjoyed reading about my lack of experience with actual relationships. See you next time!