Romance

[Eloquent, My Dear]

I see that romance is mentioned as part of the game. Will this include same-sex options?

[Aducan]

I'm also interested in knowing this. I appreciate when devs take the steps to be more inclusive and representative in the types of relationships they portray / allow the player to be a part of in their games.

[poetic]

Hey Eloquent, My Dear,
Hey Aducan,

thank you for reaching out. As a micro-studio we have very limited resources what we can add into the game and what not. So there is no ill will in the decision, but no, Sacred Fire does not include same-sex romance.

We set out several years ago to create something new in the role-playing genre in high quality and it's been a long road, and there is still a lot to do to finish the game and cover all the basics so that it provides an immersive experience.

The nuance, detail and self-expression of the writing means, even adding the support to play as a female protagonist brings a lot of work, to capture all the interactions, observations, perspectives and new tactical options. In fact there is a dedicated female writer to go trough all the scenes and rewrite them accordingly.

I hope the exploration of war and peace, hope and bitterness, family relationships and what it's like to be an outlier in your own culture because of a different mindset is something many people can relate to.

So this is a decision based on our limited time and resources, not an attempt to exclude someone on purpose.

[Eloquent, My Dear]

Originally posted by poetic:

Hey Eloquent, My Dear,
Hey Aducan,

thank you for reaching out. As a micro-studio we have very limited resources what we can add into the game and what not. So there is no ill will in the decision, but no, Sacred Fire does not include same-sex romance.

We set out several years ago to create something new in the role-playing genre in high quality and it's been a long road, and there is still a lot to do to finish the game and cover all the basics so that it provides an immersive experience.

The nuance, detail and self-expression of the writing means, even adding the support to play as a female protagonist brings a lot of work, to capture all the interactions, observations, perspectives and new tactical options. In fact there is a dedicated female writer to go trough all the scenes and rewrite them accordingly.

I hope the exploration of war and peace, hope and bitterness, family relationships and what it's like to be an outlier in your own culture because of a different mindset is something many people can relate to.

So this is a decision based on our limited time and resources, not an attempt to exclude someone on purpose.

That is quite disappointing to hear, but I appreciate you taking your time to reply, thank you.

[Thanaeon]

I do see how it's easier to understand for this game than it would be for others, given the depth of the writing. With most CRPGs, romances boil down to a handful of unique interactions per potential partner and they have much larger budgets to work with, to boot. From what the demo shows us, I think the amount of extra content it would involve in this game would be rather more extensive.

So while it's regrettable, I can also understand the decision here.

[poetic]

Hey Thanaeon,

thank you for reaching out and expressing your opinion and showing understanding at the same time, I appreciate it.

[TysonL]

Originally posted by poetic:

Hey Thanaeon,

thank you for reaching out and expressing your opinion and showing understanding at the same time, I appreciate it.

hi this any romance at all? being a male or female character? i'm assuming you choose your sex, skills etc. also just want to say beautiful art for this game.

[poetic]

Hey there thank you for your interest.

Yes there is romance in Sacred Fire.

You can expect a similar take of romance, like you see in 'The Last of the Mohicans' with Daniel Day Lewis - the war is a backdrop creating scenes that require extreme measures, and romantic love can be the one thing worth walking through fire in this harsh world.

But you can completely opt out of it and explore what else makes a life meaningful and is worth fighting for.

When you play a male protagonist, there are 3 female characters that could be romantically interested. And when you play a female protagonist, there are 3 male characters that you can enter into a romantic relationship with.

[TysonL]

Originally posted by poetic:

Hey there thank you for your interest.

Yes there is romance in Sacred Fire.

You can expect a similar take of romance, like you see in 'The Last of the Mohicans' with Daniel Day Lewis - the war is a backdrop creating scenes that require extreme measures, and romantic love can be the one thing worth walking through fire in this harsh world.

But you can completely opt out of it and explore what else makes a life meaningful and is worth fighting for.

When you play a male protagonist, there are 3 female characters that could be romantically interested. And when you play a female protagonist, there are 3 male characters that you can enter into a romantic relationship with.

thank you so much that makes me very happy to know. i love when rpg's include romance. i will buy for this reason <3

[Voronwer]

I realise this is on old thread, but seeing the dynamic in the demo between the main character and Etain, I was curious. There's a lot of potential there and I was hopeful a game with a focus on narration and character development would be inclusive.

The reply I found here is highly disappointing. I cannot imagine that making some of these romance options playersexual is that much strain on resources. The reasons given here to not invest in diversity is bumping this game back off my wishlist.

[Kazuma Skultum]

I can only hope that once the game is complete maybe same sex relationships will be added as they are historically accurate to this time period. People place less importance on the gender of those in the relationship and more on what they brought to the tribe. Regardless I am still loving this game, I just won't be picking any romantic options.

[Marc28]

Originally posted by poetic:

Hey there thank you for your interest.

Yes there is romance in Sacred Fire.

You can expect a similar take of romance, like you see in 'The Last of the Mohicans' with Daniel Day Lewis - the war is a backdrop creating scenes that require extreme measures, and romantic love can be the one thing worth walking through fire in this harsh world.

But you can completely opt out of it and explore what else makes a life meaningful and is worth fighting for.

When you play a male protagonist, there are 3 female characters that could be romantically interested. And when you play a female protagonist, there are 3 male characters that you can enter into a romantic relationship with.

So it's 3 potential romantic partners each for both protagonists? I assume it is for the complete game when we have 3 arcs?

Because it seem I have found only 1 for each gender so far. Not sure if I miss something in my playthrough.

Now I am curious. Who are they?

[Aducan]

Originally posted by Marc28:

So it's 3 potential romantic partners each for both protagonists? I assume it is for the complete game when we have 3 arcs?

Because it seem I have found only 1 for each gender so far. Not sure if I miss something in my playthrough.

Now I am curious. Who are they?

I'd guess one is the person who comes up to you while you're in the hideaway - for my female PC it was a completely new character who offered me some stew - and I'm guessing there's a female equivalent character for male PCs? So that's one each.

On top of that, I'd be willing to bet wealth points that the Male PC can romance the doctor/sniper that saves your life (seems like there are lots of "She's so beautiful" options). Maybe MPC can also romance your childhood friend? I mean, that's basically a guaranteed cliche, right?

Not so sure on FPC romances... The bully who tries to mug yah, maybe? Or even the Roman who helps your people, but I doubt it since he doesn't have his own character page and is just bundled in with the villagers.

All I know is, please, at least give me one enemies to lovers pairing for my FPC, I LIVE FOR THAT STUFF!

[poetic]

Hey there,

thank you for reaching out and for sharing your thoughts, this is interesting feedback.

Yes, once the story is complete, the player will have 3 potential romantic partners (6 characters in total). And yes, some of them start off hostile, and some off them can turn hostile, based on your choices.

You can expect some additions and changes to the current interactions.

[🌘 N O I R 🌒]

Originally posted by Voronwer:

The reply I found here is highly disappointing. [...] The reasons given here to not invest in diversity is bumping this game back off my wishlist.

I am a bit late to the party but hard same. Personally, I will prefer to support (indi) developers who take same sex romance as a given when developing an RPG that includes romance options.

[poetic]

Hey there, thank you for letting me know.

I agree that there is not enough information in this thread for people to understand why same sex romance in Sacred Fire is not a simple switch making the characters player-sexual, but it would have to be developed as a theme.

For those who are interested, there is a thread with a more detailed explanation here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/900400/discussions/0/3709307511567834782/#c5828254465007169057