Romance Options are bad

[Dante Sword]

I feel like the entire relationship thing is really messed up in this game.
So I was flirting with everyone I could, and you can only do ONE relationship and there is no way to break up later in the game.
It's really restrictive, but also, the game puts you in the really bad position with Taash.
After flirting once, you are basically Forced to commit when you talk with Taash again, or you'll never be able to Flirt/romance ever again.
I chose to agree for content, but it's really bad when RPG forces you with binary choice of "Commit" or "Not commit and never be able to go back ever again".

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by Xeriath:

Originally posted by EH!:

I definitely took a double take when they started flirting. I guess it's because they both hate Venatori?

Lucanis has a weird character writing. If you save the wrong town, you get locked out of his romance because he doesn’t have time for you but he has time for Neve? This is just totally weird. I saved both towns to see how both react and one of the first things he asks, how is Neve? I have the feeling they don’t wanted him as romance option for Rook. This would explain a lot and how terrible his romance is (doesn’t help they fired his original writer)

If they want certain companions to get together, they should just make them not be options for the player, instead of writing it in a way where you end up feeling awkward and the romance is devoid of content.

[Kan3da.]

Originally posted by Icequert:

I feel like the entire relationship thing is really messed up in this game.
So I was flirting with everyone I could, and you can only do ONE relationship and there is no way to break up later in the game.
It's really restrictive, but also, the game puts you in the really bad position with Taash.
After flirting once, you are basically Forced to commit when you talk with Taash again, or you'll never be able to Flirt/romance ever again.
I chose to agree for content, but it's really bad when RPG forces you with binary choice of "Commit" or "Not commit and never be able to go back ever again".

Narrative freedom will always be a tradeoff with choice.

That said, i had a scene with Taash that said "brrak it off" or "continue romance / not exclusively".

That came later. I assume its maybe the amount of "romantic" you choose in dialogue? I wemt for flirty with Taash, Lucanis, Bellara, Harding and Neve until o finnaly settled on Harding which almost feels like the "canonical" relationship they had in mind.

But i havent finished it yet so i didnt check how it goes with the others.

I would have liked it too, to see more of the others but i appreciate how much work they put in into all the scenes. By far the best romancing cutscenes and writing ive ever experienced in an rpg. It feels they matter here.

Its adressed by the story, a lot of scenes change with choice of partner etc.

Was a bit disappointed that you could do what you want but none of it really mattered expcept that Shadowheart jealousy angle.

[Bloodonmoon]

If you wanna try to figure out what is strange about romance in this game, just watch a video of all "romance cutscenes" with a companion that you haven't romanced. For example, I romanced Lucanis, felt that something was off, and went to have a look at Davrin's romance (to check if it was only Lucanis). And so, I discovered that when you "romance" Davrin, you get absolutly, exactly the very same cutscenes and dialogues you got when not romancing him. I mean LITTERALLY. Nothing differs. Ah, yes, one thing does : on one of his final mission, instead of just standing next to him talking, you exchange ONE kiss. And the sexe scene that only triggers if you romance him but : really nothing changes. Not the way they interact, not dialogues, not their gesture toward each other. NO-THING.

And with that, you know why romance in DAV feels so empty. Because when you romance a companion, you still act as you do with any other companion.

I mean, I got that banter between Taash and Lucanis where they ask him "So you and Rook are a thing yeah ?" And I was like : Ho wcan you even know ? We litterally don't spent time together, we don't talk in a way that shows we care for each other, hell we don't even TOUCH ONE ANOTHER.
Whereas, in Inquisition, if you romanced Cullen, you went to his office quite often, you get a guard witnessing you and Cullen being... quite close (:D), and during one cutscene with Dorian he goes "so, you have a thing for handsome templars ?" Hmmm, how did you know ? :3

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by Bloodonmoon:

If you wanna try to figure out what is strange about romance in this game, just watch a video of all "romance cutscenes" with a companion that you haven't romanced. For example, I romanced Lucanis, felt that something was off, and went to have a look at Davrin's romance (to check if it was only Lucanis). And so, I discovered that when you "romance" Davrin, you get absolutly, exactly the very same cutscenes and dialogues you got when not romancing him. I mean LITTERALLY. Nothing differs. Ah, yes, one thing does : on one of his final mission, instead of just standing next to him talking, you exchange ONE kiss. And the sexe scene that only triggers if you romance him but : really nothing changes. Not the way they interact, not dialogues, not their gesture toward each other. NO-THING.

And with that, you know why romance in DAV feels so empty. Because when you romance a companion, you still act as you do with any other companion.

I mean, I got that banter between Taash and Lucanis where they ask him "So you and Rook are a thing yeah ?" And I was like : Ho wcan you even know ? We litterally don't spent time together, we don't talk in a way that shows we care for each other, hell we don't even TOUCH ONE ANOTHER.
Whereas, in Inquisition, if you romanced Cullen, you went to his office quite often, you get a guard witnessing you and Cullen being... quite close (:D), and during one cutscene with Dorian he goes "so, you have a thing for handsome templars ?" Hmmm, how did you know ? :3

The mind really boggles why they dropped the ball on this. You only have to squint towards BG3 to see how popular romances are and DA is known for theirs. Maybe we were supposed to play as Varric originally, or something, lol.

[Kan3da.]

Originally posted by Myers Babe:

Originally posted by Xeriath:

Lucanis has a weird character writing. If you save the wrong town, you get locked out of his romance because he doesn’t have time for you but he has time for Neve? This is just totally weird. I saved both towns to see how both react and one of the first things he asks, how is Neve? I have the feeling they don’t wanted him as romance option for Rook. This would explain a lot and how terrible his romance is (doesn’t help they fired his original writer)

Tbh I also think the whole Town saving thing is such a weird dilemma, you literally don't show favoritsm but you will be treated as the bad guy or rather get someone who distance themself from you, but why exactly is that? They tell you, you can choose whatever AND you send an equal amount of teammates with them. It's literally 3 people there and 3 people there, how in the world is it MY fault that one group didn't succeed and why do either Neve or Lucanis act distant afterwards? It doesn't make any sense. That Lucanis has time for Neve but not for you afterwards either just shows they really wanted those 2 together and not your player or Lucanis/Neve have some resentment towards you for not choosing their town, which like I said makes no sense as you send 3 people there and 3 people to the other one. How's it Rooks fault, I don't get it-

Yeah, it seems there was a preferred way to go. I went with Lucanis since i didnt like Neve and her constant white savior style ghetto tourism and it felt organic.

Neve went "hardened" which fit her more self centered "im with the poors of Dock Town" better and the quests actually progressed her own arc and the healing of the relationship between her and Rook.

From what you describe it seems that the other way feels more forced and stilted.

[Replica]

Originally posted by Kan3da.:

Originally posted by Myers Babe:

Tbh I also think the whole Town saving thing is such a weird dilemma, you literally don't show favoritsm but you will be treated as the bad guy or rather get someone who distance themself from you, but why exactly is that? They tell you, you can choose whatever AND you send an equal amount of teammates with them. It's literally 3 people there and 3 people there, how in the world is it MY fault that one group didn't succeed and why do either Neve or Lucanis act distant afterwards? It doesn't make any sense. That Lucanis has time for Neve but not for you afterwards either just shows they really wanted those 2 together and not your player or Lucanis/Neve have some resentment towards you for not choosing their town, which like I said makes no sense as you send 3 people there and 3 people to the other one. How's it Rooks fault, I don't get it-

Yeah, it seems there was a preferred way to go. I went with Lucanis since i didnt like Neve and her constant white savior style ghetto tourism and it felt organic.

Neve went "hardened" which fit her more self centered "im with the poors of Dock Town" better and the quests actually progressed her own arc and the healing of the relationship between her and Rook.

From what you describe it seems that the other way feels more forced and stilted.

I don't think I'm going to do many playthroughs not saving Treviso and it really does suit her character, I'm not sure if the writers were self aware enough to realize the kind of person they made Neve. I've taken her out with Bellara a lot since and being mad at the person who made the call (however self centered preserving power dynamics is)- I could handle her being short with Rook, but taking it out on other people?

The major problem for me is the stakes weren't in any way equal and Neve's white saviour style attitude turned the second things weren't about her interests and she never acknowledges it. I'm hoping her character quests do something because....ick.

In reverse, Lucanis being broken and hardened is justified given you gave into preserving power dynamics over which city was in critical danger.

Originally posted by Settings:

Originally posted by EH!:

The mind really boggles why they dropped the ball on this. You only have to squint towards BG3 to see how popular romances are and DA is known for theirs. Maybe we were supposed to play as Varric originally, or something, lol.

I mean.. originally when the game was Dread Wolf you were supposed to play as the Inquisitor again. This is what happens when you rewrite your entire game 8 years after starting development and then try to play catch up with more popular games like BG3.

Same ♥♥♥♥ happened to Duke Nukem Forever.

I think a different character suits Dragon Age and I think trying to do otherwise would have created more problems. I think the way romances come across is a side effect of everybody being romance-able. I've heard Lucanis is better, flows better romance wise if you've picked the Crows for your background.

[Star Rain]

Bioware romance has always been dumb as hell, why are we still dating our employees?

[Silvi the Bun]

Personally I'm disappointed in the quality of writing of this game in general, but romances in particular. Nobody feels like they have chemistry. There is absolutely no sign that anyone is interested in Rook, whatsoever. The 'romance choices' don't even make sense - sometimes an innocuous line at the 'this will lock you into a romance' would be impossible to decipher as that if they didn't have the massive warning banner to it. Why is telling Emmrich his parents would want him to be happy something that breaks the romance?? If anything it was the best answer you could give there (obviously subjective).

And the npc romances are just... so weird and they come out of absolute nowhere, unless I just missed their dialogues somehow (but I tried to check on npcs as often as I could between missions so it shouldn't have happened?

Something is just... off.

Originally posted by Bloodonmoon:

If you wanna try to figure out what is strange about romance in this game, just watch a video of all "romance cutscenes" with a companion that you haven't romanced. For example, I romanced Lucanis, felt that something was off, and went to have a look at Davrin's romance (to check if it was only Lucanis). And so, I discovered that when you "romance" Davrin, you get absolutly, exactly the very same cutscenes and dialogues you got when not romancing him. I mean LITTERALLY. Nothing differs. Ah, yes, one thing does : on one of his final mission, instead of just standing next to him talking, you exchange ONE kiss. And the sexe scene that only triggers if you romance him but : really nothing changes. Not the way they interact, not dialogues, not their gesture toward each other. NO-THING.

And with that, you know why romance in DAV feels so empty. Because when you romance a companion, you still act as you do with any other companion.

I mean, I got that banter between Taash and Lucanis where they ask him "So you and Rook are a thing yeah ?" And I was like : Ho wcan you even know ? We litterally don't spent time together, we don't talk in a way that shows we care for each other, hell we don't even TOUCH ONE ANOTHER.
Whereas, in Inquisition, if you romanced Cullen, you went to his office quite often, you get a guard witnessing you and Cullen being... quite close (:D), and during one cutscene with Dorian he goes "so, you have a thing for handsome templars ?" Hmmm, how did you know ? :3

I think you nailed how I feel about it pretty well there. It's because the romances just feel like a very general afterthought - written INTO dialogues and not with specific dialogues and scenes around them.
I also feel like the lack of ability to just go to a companion and talk to them about things whenever you feel like talking - even if it's just 2 lines of dialogue of the 'what do you think of our progress' variety - detracts from the experience immensely. They don't feel like companions, they feel like statues in the base camp you can sometimes observe moving.

[Star Rain]

To be fair its realistic, dating your staff is bound to be awkward as hell.

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by Silvi the Bun:

Why is telling Emmrich his parents would want him to be happy something that breaks the romance?? If anything it was the best answer you could give there (obviously subjective).

I picked that too. Not romancing him, but that's wild. It made the most sense for an answer. Are you supposed to discourage him from his ambition if you romance him, due to it being weird to romance him if he achieves that? LOL

[gehenna]

Originally posted by Icequert:

I feel like the entire relationship thing is really messed up in this game.
So I was flirting with everyone I could, and you can only do ONE relationship and there is no way to break up later in the game.
It's really restrictive, but also, the game puts you in the really bad position with Taash.
After flirting once, you are basically Forced to commit when you talk with Taash again, or you'll never be able to Flirt/romance ever again.
I chose to agree for content, but it's really bad when RPG forces you with binary choice of "Commit" or "Not commit and never be able to go back ever again".

The reason this game runs so smooth (bugs aside) is because they've oversimplified many things. Like this and like combat, like the superlight RPG elements, etc.

So yeah, of course the game runs smooth if you take all the tricky things out of it

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by Cin-Cin:

I also feel like the lack of ability to just go to a companion and talk to them about things whenever you feel like talking - even if it's just 2 lines of dialogue of the 'what do you think of our progress' variety - detracts from the experience immensely. They don't feel like companions, they feel like statues in the base camp you can sometimes observe moving.

Oh and this too. We can interact with Assan more than anyone else. It makes you feel like you an onlooker, rather than one of a team. Seems they wrote the player character last, or it was originally someone different with no romance options and they cobbled it in at the end.

[Calaestra ♥]

Originally posted by Myers Babe:

Originally posted by Icequert:

I feel like the entire relationship thing is really messed up in this game.
So I was flirting with everyone I could, and you can only do ONE relationship and there is no way to break up later in the game.
It's really restrictive, but also, the game puts you in the really bad position with Taash.
After flirting once, you are basically Forced to commit when you talk with Taash again, or you'll never be able to Flirt/romance ever again.
I chose to agree for content, but it's really bad when RPG forces you with binary choice of "Commit" or "Not commit and never be able to go back ever again".

The Romance was really bad. Romances bring me back to replay those games often enough, unless the story is really great (DAI I played many times only for the cullen romance) but this now feels so awkward. You can flirt with anyone until a certain point, once you commit to one person, there is no "so you want to choose me or them" kinda thing, there is just nothing. The characters move on, don't even MENTION that you flirted with them and the romance itself is very short, with barely interaction.

I mean for example with Cullen, I could ask him if he's okay with me being an Elf Mage etc, i could discuss deeper topics, could go for a kiss if wanted and that man went out of his way to make me feel like my character is being loved, even with his shy acting at the war table lol

Now Veilguard romance feels like just a bit more added content that doesn't give you any value really.

Agreed. (but the Emmrich didn't disappoint me but I do expect a tiiiiny bit more , like an occasion kiss like in Inquisition)

[Star Rain]

Maybe we shouldn't be sliding our sword into the company's sheath?