Romance options have become a pretty standard part of every Bioware game, so it’s not that surprising that the studio is keen to get them right. To do so, they’re taking inspiration from games like The Darkness and The Last of Us.
”I think there are some really, really solid counter examples when you look at where relationships fall down and where they’re flat,” Inquistion’s creative lead Mike Laidlaw told IGN. “There are some that are really, really effective.”
Titles that Laidlaw namechecks include Persona 4 and The Darkness, with the latter in particular including some surprisingly tender moments. “The most romantic moment in a video game that I’ve ever seen is when Jackie visits his girlfriend’s apartment in The Darkness…. She baked me a cake, she’s moving in, and you watch possibly the entirety of To Kill a Mockingbird as she passes out on your lap because she’s tired and snuggly. That is amazing.”
There’s also a little moment in the second game where you’re dancing with said girlfriend Jenny to a 50’s pop number. It’s pretty understated, and it does a good job of showing the connection between these two characters. Underestimated series, that. Of course it’s not just about love and sex, sometimes you just need to create a believable, relateable bond. “That’s the thing I think the Last of Us goes right to elemental heartstring moments,” Laidlaw explains. “It says these are real people and it’s okay to care about them. I think to some degree there’s a joy to escapism when it’s okay to care. That is something that I think is kind of a single-player phenomenon.”
Which is one of the reasons why Bioware has moved away from the clunky ‘sex for goodies’ mechanic found in Dragon Age: Origins. “Let’s not have gifts that buy affection. Let’s not have sex be the end goal. Let’s instead try and reach for something that’s like genuine affections and let you go up and say, ’˜Hey you, we’re going to kiss now.’ And let players enjoy that, and feel like, yeah, that’s a real thing.”
As you might expect, Laidlaw says that this more subtle approach on behalf of the writing team has come to fruition in Inquisition. “That’s something I think the writing team’s done a really good job of,” he says. “Playing with your expectations to some degree, and none of them feel the same.”
Dragon Age: Inquisition hits PC and consoles this November 18.
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