Elden Ring

[LumberingCrane]

Just finished the game and getting all the known endings so far in one playthrough.

I think this game actually takes note of the player character's gender more than any previous soulsborne game. There's a bunch of female characters that can end up being fond of the player character, and while you can read into those as romantic, there's one that is undoubtedly so I think.

Ranni's questline progresses in a way that definitely leans towards romance in how she interacts with the mc, even without taking into account how the end result is the protagonist becoming Ranni's Consort. It all culminates with giving her a ring as her consort, the item you get as a reward is a greatsword typically given to the spouse, etc. It's not really even subtextual anymore.

Also as a bonus thing: there's a small variation you can have with Ranni's ending. If you talk to Miniature doll Ranni in her room anytime before the ending, the dialogue in her ending's cutscene will slightly change to be a bit more romantic. The fact that they even bothered putting in this kind of variation to begin with is already kinda telling. So yeah, definitely romantic in nature.

[Hanako Games]

Would it be fair to say that romance is not a major element though? (I don't play these games.) Just want to give people an idea of how much to expect.

[Bex]

huh, I looked at it and went "oh, another Dark Souls clone. looks good, but I think I'll wait for a sale..." any character/romantic content (even implied) is not what I was expecting, so interesting there at least :)

[LumberingCrane]

Originally posted by Hanako Games:

Would it be fair to say that romance is not a major element though? (I don't play these games.) Just want to give people an idea of how much to expect.

Yeah, romance is not a major element in the game as a whole, but I'd count it as a major element in the route/ending itself. I guess in terms of romance being relevant, I'd put it on the same level as other rpgs with romance options, like mass effect/dragon age/etc. As in the main story doesn't involve romance at all, but it's there if you want to go down that path.

In a way, you could even say the romance with her is more relevant to the main story than the romances in those games, since doing her questline to the end enables you to choose one of the major endings of this game, and MC being her consort is relevant to this ending; it's not just a character sidequest kind of deal.

[Saadiya]

Well... this went from being I dunno if I want to get punished to, maybe. lol Still gonna wait for a sale though.

[Bex]

yep, I loved the romance in Mass Effect/Dragon Age. Call me crazy, but I swear Liara is almost more of a main character than the player! And you cant beat the dynamic between her and FemShep <3

[Jeyl]

Originally posted by gamefreak1972:

yep, I loved the romance in Mass Effect/Dragon Age. Call me crazy, but I swear Liara is almost more of a main character than the player! And you cant beat the dynamic between her and FemShep <3

PC characters seldom are the protagonists of their own game because a true protagonist goes through development and change of character. Liara is certainly not the same Liara from Mass Effect 1, but Shepard certainly is. This is one of the big reasons the ending to ME3 is so bad. It kicks the characters who have actual "character" to the side in favor of focusing solely on Shepard.

I'm relieved that Elden Ring has these kinds of interactions because this was the 'Buy or Not Buy' moment for me. Some say it's cheesy, but I dig romances.

[Astra]

There's no romance at all. It's definitely not on the same level as Dragon Age or Mass Effect.
Sure in my own headcanon during their 1,000 year leave from the lands between will be like a honeymoon there is nothing remotely substantial in the game itself as far as romance is concerned.

[M Rainwater]

Yeah, mostly in agreement with Astra. The "romance" is very, very minimal.

Here are the most romantic lines, all of which are from pretty far down the questline. (plus the ending)

A bit tsundere:
Ah, should I add thee to the list?
Another one, kind of heart. As kind of heart as they.
Ach, this form hath loosened my tongue.
I've let slip too much.
Forget what thou'st heard. Forget.

A couple of one-lines:
Wouldst thou come to me, even now, my one and only lord?

Well then. Shall we? My dear consort, eternal.

[Astra]

Ranni is very tsuntsun, I love it. I maintain she became a small doll and waited for you because she knew you'd come, but was too tsun to just ask you to join her.

Even that sick freak Seluvis says even though she's a demi-god she's still a naive girl at heart. Which I don't think is true, she's just a good person who cares about her friends and people. She does seem awfully quick to trust in the tarnished, but I'm thinking that has a lot to do with Torrent accepting the Tarnished as well.

Anyway yeah there is definitely subtext from which you can infer romance but it's so tenuous I don't think it warrants mention here.

[LumberingCrane]

The whole route's about becoming her consort lol. In terms of volume of lines it's not on the same level as dragon age and mass effect, but as previously mentioned, the fact that it's major enough to get its own ending definitely surpasses those games by a wide margin.

And even if you discount all of that, there's still more content here than a bunch of the other listings on the curator. On a completely detached, objective level, there is no angle to take here that would end up with it not being listed.

[LumberingCrane]

Wait, what am I even doing pussyfooting around this, trying to give this pov the benefit of the doubt? it's straight up objectively wrong to even call it subtext. you give her a ring meant for the consort on a cathedral on a place called moonlight altar plateau. You even get a greatsword that's been traditionally given to spouses of her royal family line. it's so shoved in your face it's actually ridiculous to even consider it subtextual

[Astra]

It's not at all a given that Ranni has romantic feelings for The Tarnished. She just needs you to be able to accomplish her goal, as well as become Elden Lord so she can enact her own order. You're her consort, that doesn't necessarily mean there's anything romantic there.

Though I do yield the point it should be listed regardless of romance since you can be a female tarnished, and can become a woman's consort.

Also in Dragon Age who you romance absolutely does affect endings, and is even mentioned in subsequent games. Human female noble can marry Alistair and become queen to jointly rule with him, or they can both remain wardens and Anora will rule.

[LumberingCrane]

Originally posted by Astra:

It's not at all a given that Ranni has romantic feelings for The Tarnished. She just needs you to be able to accomplish her goal, as well as become Elden Lord so she can enact her own order. You're her consort, that doesn't necessarily mean there's anything romantic there.

Though I do yield the point it should be listed regardless of romance since you can be a female tarnished, and can become a woman's consort.

Also in Dragon Age who you romance absolutely does affect endings, and is even mentioned in subsequent games. Human female noble can marry Alistair and become queen to jointly rule with him, or they can both remain wardens and Anora will rule.

There isn't any indication that she needs you to be her consort to accomplish her goal, at all. In fact, I distinctly remember an item description in the game that state the exact opposite, where her initial plan was for her to do this plan and go do her journey alone. Her reaction to the protag even giving her the ring clearly also indicates it wasn't planned on her part. You're the one who goes out of your way to do this for her. Multiple points within the route she tells you you've done your job, and you can go now, but you're the one who keeps pushing and following her. Give me a single clear indication, that you NEED to be her consort for her order to even work, then I'll concede.

As for the point with dragon age, barely even worth considering, I don't even know where to begin. Maybe with how the example being used is not even yuri, or how that doesn't dramatically change the course of the series at all, not even comparable to Age of Stars ending. Or how if you're gonna reference even a het relationship, why not use the one with Morrigan with the DLC that even focuses on her and her bigger role in inquisition. But even then that one isn't also comparable with how vastly different the direction of the Age of Stars ending is to the default one.

Edit: Even after I post this, I keep on remembering other stuff in-game that lends even more credence to the idea that she doesn't need you as consort. In fact one of em is the line that the earlier poster listed. It's when she was doubly making sure if you actually want to go with her, after clearly stating her plan that you'd both go far away on a journey. Giving you an out like this or trying to even consider how you feel about her plan doesn't sound like the mindset of someone who needs you for her plan to work. If the 'proof' that she needs a consort is that marika needed one, that also doesn't make sense for a bunch of reasons, namely: one, her whole shtick is breaking free from the golden order and all its trappings, and two, she already went so far as to detach herself from her body to be free from and distance herself from the golden order, why would she follow their footsteps on something so arbitrary, and three, we never even got a proper explanation why marika herself needed consorts, especially since the whole radagon situation makes it even more questionable than it already is. Every little thing you do for her, from the lead up to her confrontation with her own two fingers, to even the part where you beat all those bosses at the end, doesn't need you to be her consort to happen. Even after you summon her, she could just leave you behind if she wanted to.