Romance Question

[Quacksalber]

To those who've managed to trigger a romance, how did you do it? I was planning to hit on Vasco, but even after getting him to friendly (ages ages btw) I haven't had any such option with him or anyone else except Aphra. I didn't even recruit Aphra until what I assume to be Act 3 and have ignored her since then, only just having done her first mission. She's at "nice" and when I talk to her, there's a convo option with a heart, which I take it is the romance option, and which I've never seen on any of the other companions.

[CastilloRA]

The downside with romancing Vasco (I can't speak for the other companions as I have not tried those yet) is that there is no indicator on which dialogue response will progress the romance. Even worse, if you make the wrong choice, it pretty much scuttles your chances but you won't know where you went wrong.

As you pointed out, some of the dialogue headers had small heart icons if my relationship was at 'nice' level with Aphra. Unfortunately, there were no such icons when I was talking to Vasco. I'm hopeful that will be addressed in a future patch.

The only thing I can suggest for now is to check out Naughty Gaming's "GreedFall Vasco Romance & Companion Quests [Male]" video on YouTube. It lists step-by-step the responses they chose that successfully completed Vasco's story arc, including the romance. Hope this helps!

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by CastilloRA:

The downside with romancing Vasco (I can't speak for the other companions as I have not tried those yet) is that there is no indicator on which dialogue response will progress the romance. Even worse, if you make the wrong choice, it pretty much scuttles your chances but you won't know where you went wrong.

As you pointed out, some of the dialogue headers had small heart icons if my relationship was at 'nice' level with Aphra. Unfortunately, there were no such icons when I was talking to Vasco. I'm hopeful that will be addressed in a future patch.

The only thing I can suggest for now is to check out Naughty Gaming's "GreedFall Vasco Romance & Companion Quests [Male]" video on YouTube. It lists step-by-step the responses they chose that successfully completed Vasco's story arc, including the romance. Hope this helps!

Ah thanks! I must have picked the "wrong" convo option at some point then. Seems super restrictive & metagamey to block romance paths based on convo options even if you get them to friendly super fast (as in it would make sense if you properly annoy/ignore them over and over), but oh well, there are future playthroughs. I did have one issue with Vasco where he -1 me for killing people in his first quest although I killed no one, though I'd been in the area while exploring prior and had fought some people then, so that may have caused a problem too.

[criffyzou]

I like that the romance is not obvious, and often the correct option will not be the romancey one.

Except the very last for Vasco, which I've avoided because it was flirty, everyone else I've picked the "right" answer without even trying, because it felt the right thing to say.

Companions overall want to be understood, not wooed. If you go in trying to classic-game-romance them, you'll be locked out.

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by criffyzou:

I like that the romance is not obvious, and often the correct option will not be the romancey one.

Except the very last for Vasco, which I've avoided because it was flirty, everyone else I've picked the "right" answer without even trying, because it felt the right thing to say.

Companions overall want to be understood, not wooed. If you go in trying to classic-game-romance them, you'll be locked out.

Not sure about that. I'm more inclined to think the system is't very fleshed out than to assume it's based on some ritual where characters judge you exclusively on one faux-pas in one convo once while ignoring everything else you said or did on the basis you "don't understand them", while completely ignoring a character, never speaking to them except when you are told to and leaving their missions for last equates "understanding them" and hence leaves the option open.

[Ogami]

Originally posted by criffyzou:

I like that the romance is not obvious, and often the correct option will not be the romancey one.

Except the very last for Vasco, which I've avoided because it was flirty, everyone else I've picked the "right" answer without even trying, because it felt the right thing to say.

Companions overall want to be understood, not wooed. If you go in trying to classic-game-romance them, you'll be locked out.

Thats definitely correct for some of them. Sioara for example does not care about overly flirty advances, she much more appreciates if you try to understand her culture and her role in it.

[Quacksalber]

Anyway, I resorted to googling this, and apparently my "wrong" dialogue choice re. Vasco was to say "not all brothers are alike" as opposed to stating he had been able to assert himself (which seems a bit patronising to me), so nothing to do with flirting. I'm still not 100% sure about this as it doesn't explain being able to flirt with Aphra when she's only at "nice" and without having actually spoken to her at all and hence not having picked "wrong" or "right" conversation options.

[Neckwhiskers]

>you can fail at romance options
Too real, man.

[Quacksalber]

Originally posted by SloppyJobMossad:

>you can fail at romance options
Too real, man.

I know right? xD

[CastilloRA]

Originally posted by SloppyJobMossad:

>you can fail at romance options
Too real, man.

I don't want to get shot down in a video game. I get enough of that in real life. XD

[devSin]

New conversation options open after each of their personal quests. You have to respond a certain way in each of these conversations to unlock the possible romance at the end of their quest chain (if you've done it right, it'll happen the next time you talk to them after the last conversation).

It's the same for all the companions. I'm not sure why Aphra has the heart icon (her conversations aren't any different than any of the others).

[DracoAngel]

It's all about choosing the "correct" dialogue choices. There is a convo after each of their companion missions, and you have to choose the right responses in order to trigger the romance. Miss even 1 of the 3 correct responses and you jacked yourself out of a romance with that companion, I found this out on my first time through so wasn't able to romance anyone. Unfortunately, unlike some other RPG games (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, SWTOR prime examples) Greedfall doesn't indicate what option is the correct one to trigger the romance.

I suggest finding a guide that tells what dialogue choices to make. Just Google 'Greedfall Romance Guide'

[Quacksalber]

I ended up romancing Aphra, but this is my least favourite part of the game so far. Locking romances behind a sequence of not very obvious dialogue choices that defy the concept of your character having a personality or having only one right answer from selections that are nebulous, just seems contrived. A number of the "right" answers actually seem rude to me hence I wouldn't pick them w/o looking them up or reloading. Most people only play a game once and without knowing this, probably won't metagame it. It doesn't have to be like DAO where you can end up inadvertently dating several characters, but it should definitely be accessible to all or at least most players without being blocked by invisible barriers. Then after all that hassle, the actual romance is a complete non-event that wasn't worth the effort.