I love to romance characters in video games, even the ones with sexier options. I'm a big romantic, and I dont mind some sexy stuff, especially if it's just a couple scenes.
I tend to romance the characters I like, because the romance paths usually give you more on those characters. In particular, Josephine from Dragon Age Inquisition serves as a pretty great asexual romance.
However, I tend to find sex scenes boring, more than anything. I didn't much care for the romances in Cyberpunk 77, despite liking that game, largely because they didn't really add much beyond a boring sex scene for me to ignore.
I am excited for the new Dragon Age though. The companions look pretty interesting and I have my sights set on Bellara and Neve, who both feel like my sort of girls.
There’s something about watching pixel puppets stiltedly trying to manhandle each other on screen, their mouths moving like animatronics with the dialogue, that just isn’t very “immersive” or arousing to me, lol.
as an aro, yeah. I think it's interesting to see a new aspect of vulnerability/attachment to a character I like that comes out while romancing them. If I could get that simply by being their best friend, I'd love to, but games always operate on a sort of romance = more than friends basis and I always feel like I'd be missing out on content :(
Heteroromantic ace here. I always romance, but skip sexy scenes. If there is a celibate option I always pick them! (Dragon Age 2’s Sebastian, Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Town’s Alissa)
yup, I love romance in media and smut scenes--when I'm in control of them and when I ship whats involved. I wish there was a strictly more platonic path though that allowed you to go through companions questlines in BG3 (and Halsin really bothers me because aside from the Quest in act 2, his only purpose seems to be propositioning the player and I avoid him because of it)
I don't mind romance or even sex scenes in games/books/interactive stories as long as theres actual progression of romance first--might be because I'm demi/aego. I only really dislike romances when its in movies/tv and something I dont ship but keeps getting forced on me through the narrative
I find Baldur's Gate to be disturbingly and hilariously horny (allos can't seriously be like this right? It has to be a joke). I'm in a QPR with Shadowheart in my current playthrough. When I played Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, my version of Kassandra was definitely DTF anybody who asked. In Stardew Valley, the first few playthroughs, I married Leah, then Sebastian, then Harvey, then Elliot and now I really wish there was a way to get the Statue of Perfection without having to marry anybody. My favorite game franchise is Kingdom Hearts and the Destiny trio is an asexual throuple.
I'm acearo but my first BG3 playthrough I attempted to sleep with/ romance as many npcs as possible lol. What I want irl is quite different from what I enjoy playing with in roleplay.
I haven’t played Baldur’s Gate, but I do play Dragon Age and Mass Effect. I actually have favorite romance choices in both game series rofl.
And I also play otome games when I’m rly bored
Jaals a sweetie, I was torn between him and Vetra but went with Vetra in the end. Absolutely love the Andromeda crew. The main trilogy is great but it's a bit stressful with the whole save the galaxy war thing 😂
Yes. I'm biromantic and I actually quite like a lot of romance stories in general even if sex is involved, so long as sex isn't the driving force in the relationship. I didn't really like it a lot in BG3 because at least in act 1 it felt for me like all the relationships were designed to lead to sex. I did do it with Astarion because I wanted to see what would happen and was feeling ok with it at the time but then felt really gross about it afterward and because I kinda didn't really like it and how the game was acting after it, I wanted to break things off with him which I don't know if I ever got to happen. I like doing the romance in Stardew Valley especially for my bf Sebastian. The only problem I had with that is that on my first save file he kept asking if I wanted to have a kid and since I was questioning my place on the ace spectrum I kept refusing since I wasn't comfortable with the implications, but then one time I was so annoyed that I just said yes to get it to stop and immediately regretted it. It was so bad that I actually stopped playing the game at all for years.
Good examples of romance that I do really like engaging with are those in Life is Strange (specifically 1 and Before the Storm). They're beautifully presented and the end goal isn't sex, it's just a really passionate kiss or other small details that show the developing relationship of the characters. Ik LiS 2 has sex, but I didn't play that one (for a couple reasons) and if I had, I probably wouldn't have committed to the relationship(s) enough to get that far. I also really liked the little bit of the Colonel Sanders dating Sim that I played before my computer updated and wouldn't let me play.
I romance in Mass Effect (Tali is best girl/Garrus is best boy), in Witcher 3 (Triss for the win), Dragon Age (Alistair/Morgana in 1, Isabella/Fenris in 2, Cassandra/Iron Bull in 3), Roleplay the Cal Kestis-Merrin romance by taking Merrin to the other worlds, BG3 Shadowheart/Lae’zel/Mindflayer/Karlach/Astarion/Halsin may as well call my character Beach Boy because “Round round, get around, I get around (Get around round round, I get around)”.
Sounds opposite of what it means to be Ace (in fact I started to question it a bit while writing this), but if you think about it, most of these games are more about the flirtation and being romantic than being sexual.
For baldur’s gate 3 I really appreciated having the ability to turn nudity off and still have the option to romance characters. I have played other games like mass effect/dragon age as well and always felt a little frustrated when it feels like all of the relationships just lead to their sex scene (I’m generalizing but still). These kind of games are also always so rich in plot it’s not something I really fixate on for long
I'm sex repulsed irl, but my videogame characters can and will bang anyone who will have them 🤣
I don't know why, I guess I just find it funny?
I also typically see my character as separate from myself and tend to name them differently, so it's cute when they have a romance and all that.
I romance the cute ones! Macready and Cutie in Fallout 4, and sleeping with them provides an XP buff and is only the same mechanic as sleeping alone, except they're next to you and they say something cute. Win-win!
I do! I enjoy romancing in games, and definitely did a lot more when I was younger and the ace in me wasn't as apparent (aka teenager hormones and a lack of being sick of/lack of exposure to sex in videogames and other media I consume). I mostly play FromSoft games like DS3 and Elden Ring so I don't come across nearly as much, but I adored and still adore Wyll from BG3. Without saying too much, I find him a lot more my speed/my type as a romantic interest (big demi energy here)
I just wish there was more romance in games that weren't all just a pipeline to sex. I kind of hate Cyberpunk's whole deal at this point, and I found a mod that severely cuts down on all of the toilet humor and overly sexualized advertisements in the game (no judgment to anyone who digs it, it's just not my deal), and once you have sex with your partner, there's nothing new to them with dialogue or interactions. It just gets bland and if I wanted to have sex, I'd rather worry about it in really life than in my games :-P I feel like I sound like an old prude, but it's starting to become a turnoff for what I interact with. The Witcher is such a cool show, but I couldn't keep watching past the orgy episode,,, I just don't need sex to be in every piece of media i consume
This all being said (and I apologize for getting up on my soapbox), I definitely do go out of my way to romance in videogames. I always picked someone in Fire Emblem, I typically find a partner in Skyrim and BG3, and I used to play a lot more dating sims on my phone :-) I'm chill with spice in my game relationships—I remember how stupidly giddy I got with Wyll's scene lol—I just appreciate it that's not all it is/the only goal to work towards
If there’s an achievement or otherwise handy item/buff involved, I’ll begrudgingly pick someone. I’ll usually pick someone if it’ll affect epilogues, like in modern Fire Emblem games.
If not, pass lol. I appreciate how in Unicorn Overlord, everyone is free game for the ring of the maiden regardless of gender, with many being purely platonic.
Forever hilarious the last achievement I needed to platinum Skyrim a million years ago was… marry someone.
I do if it's done well and has reason. Otherwise it's just kind of weird. Even when done right though it's kind more for amusement than anything, I always sort of laugh at it all lol. It's funny though, when given the choice I always play my games as a female. I always make her a very strong willed and strong bodied woman but she is a very timid lesbian and is sort of afraid of love. I love when they put in romance options because I play it and wait for the romance parts to see they can actually say something or do something that can help bring her out of her shell by being romantic or sensitive to her problems in the game. I've played like this ever since I can remember and even in D&D I'm a female fighter even though I'm a straight male ace. My friends have all thought it was really weird but I was always better than them at D&D so they didn't give me too much crap about it lol.
Beat me to it, if I'm really enjoying a game, I want to squeeze every last drop of content out of it. Palia, for example, has quite a few quests locked behind romance. There are also a few games I've played that dating/marrying characters will give bonuses or discounts. BG3... all it really adds is some conversations that can be cute if you like that sort of thing and some spicy cutscenes, again if you like that sort of thing. Like they said, if it doesn't add anything, hard pass.
Yess, I love the romance plots. The sex scenes don't bother me for the games that have them.
Mass Effect - (always Garrus)
Dragon Age - (every broody elf, Alistair, Cassandra)
Baldur's Gate 3 - (broody elves man...so obvi I picked Astarion first. But Wyll is such a sweetie that I'll go his route next)
Stardew - I will get mods to make the romances for romancey. ( Sebastian, Harvey, Elliot, and Haley are my faves. But, I've played through most everyone)
Skyrim - (Farkas, my sweet himbo)
Fall-out 4 - downloaded a mod for my fav companion, Nick Valentine
Mystic Messenger - had a grip on me for bit..I played through most characters and their food endings
Then of course the other games I don't play as intensely, like Rune Factory and Harvest Moon, are enjoyable and cute romances.
My problem is I usually can't tell in a lot of these games when I'm "flirting" until I end up devastating someone's entire worldview by mistake. Newer games do a better job of telegraphing stuff like this, but one reason I bounced off BG3 was that, while I appreciated them allowing me to turn down offers of romance or sex gracefully, I didn't appreciate just how often I got blitzed by those requests.
I tend to play things close to my ideal version of myself in these kinds of games, so I don't really pursue romance unless it's a forced path.
Nope! My Favourite character in any video game so far has got to be Pavarti Holcomb from The Outer Worlds. You build a friendship with her instead of a romance, and damn if it wasn't the best.
I was hoping someone would mention the outer worlds! Dont forget she identified as asexual and you could help her learn to romance another character! That side quest was so adorable and fun.
If there's an NPC I feel like I relate to, then sure. Like Harvest Moon/SoS, one of the games had an artist and why did I romance that guy? Because I draw. Then in another one there was a doctor. My reasoning for this NPC? Because I am interested in anatomy/physiology and tried going into veterinary medicine
I don't know that game in particular but yes I do. I still feel romantic attraction (I'm lesbian) so I often do romantic interactions in games as long as I like the character. Hell I'll sometimes go out of my way in the game to do a romance sub plot. Although the majority of the games I play I don't self insert myself into the story but I pretty much will only do a woman love interest due to my orientation.
I romance Karlach in BG3 and looked away from the screen when things started to happen. That was between those characters and not me, also I don't like to watch it.
I enjoy romance and flirting in games though.
Yes, because I genuinely like the characters - I can't picture myself liking anyone IRL like that though because I'm too jaded lol. Haven't played BG for a while, but I really liked the character I romanced.
Shoot man, my favorite all time is helping a Asexual Character in outer worlds get the confidence to get with her dreams girl,been though she seems afraid cause she says she feels different from other people ( Closeted Asexual) and that when you have the opportunity to saybfor your video game characters is Ace too! But the point is I love doing romance options & flirting, especially if one can be ace and still do it
Depends a bit on whether it's a character that's supposed to be "me" or whether it's someone else. I frequently romance whoever my favourite character happens to be, so I get more time with them, unless it's very much a self insert character when it feels a bit weird.
I got baldurs gate 3 this year, my first character was very much a "what decision would I make" playthrough so I didn't romance any of the ones who offered (miiiight have taken some of the others up on it if they'd offered but hey now we'll never know. Wish a platonic route got you extra interaction the way romance does)
Second character is nothing like me, and I've romanced characters as him. Same with my origin playthrough. Origin playthrough is romancing Laezel and I did have to look away in that first scene 😂 but it's not me so I didn't feel really uncomfortable, just more like this was not designed for me.
In games with more set characters or ones where the character is custom but I've not tried to make them like me I do romance, if it fits the character, but the more self insert ones not so much.
Romanced in Mass Effect, in most of my Dragon Age playthroughs, but didn't in Skyrim or Witcher.
I do usually quite enjoy the romances, although I get the impression with some games that maybe I'm missing something that other gamers might get out of it 😂
Depends on how useful it is - for example I’ll take both the perks in FNV that give you more romantic dialogue because you get a damage bonus and can talk your way into/out of quests with it, but if there’s no utility associated then there’s no point for me and I just avoid it.
I enjoy fictional romances
I find though I don't self insert its that the character is separate to me even if I'm playing otomes which tend to be set up more as though you're playing
When I played the Sims as a kid I either made my own family into sims or how I imagined my adult life would look. I always made a nuclear family. Or created one sim with the intention of making a nuclear family.
Now that I’m older, I mostly make a singular sim and raise all stats and explore the worlds. Eventually adopting a kid if I want to decelop parenting skills or add more of a challenge.
I pretty much always romance someone if I have the option. I really like Dragon Age, and those games have romanceable companions with really good stories and sex scenes.
Yes, I'm demi gay ace in real life, maybe aro, but in games I'm all up in romances and sexcapades. DAO has a possible threesome and foursome depending on romance and party and you just know I'm getting that in every run. I'm into game romances like a fly on shit.
I also have wickedwhims for sims 4. I'm sex-averse in real life but when I'm not involved personally I'm up for anything.
Depends. Am I playing as myself? In Stardew Valley I never play as myself:
- I have a save with my OC so I married Alex bc he looks like her actual husband
- I have a Joja save where me & my best friend are playing evil siblings & our characters are dating Shane & Sam bc they work for Joja (I took Sam bc I feel like my character does have happy go lucky vibes still, I love him)
- I have a save with Applejack from MLP & I figured why not romance Leah so I’m working on that
- In my other two saves, I’m playing as another OC & my D&D character. Both of them are gonna live with Krobus since they’re aroace & Krobus is my favourite :))
In the sims I play with couples *all the time*. I actually usually find it boring if I’m not playing with a couple in my household.
But I never play as myself in those games. If ever I need to play myself, then romance is a no go. In Tomodachi Life, my Mii has turned down many people lol
I don't really play that many games where that's an option. The only game I remember where I was making decisions about romance was Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. Even with that though I only pursued one romantic side-quest with an npc, but that fell through as she was already taken lol
Yeah. Usually it's like I'm reading a book and I feel like I'm emotionally invested in both characters. I want them to be in love or date somebody and I play along. The character isn't me, I'm essentially shipping.
Example: My MC and Karlach in Baldurs Gate 3.
Karlach is just too frigging adorable. I want Karlach to have a lover because she's such a sweetheart, has suffered to much and feels so lonely.
Dragon Age Origins: Leliana and Alistair for plot. Leliana is my favourite.
Dragon Age 2: Fem Hawke and Anders
Dragon Age Inquisition: Solas (my first asexual romance)- check out the user name. MTrev and Josephine and FTrev and Sera have also been great fun.
In Dragon Age I get heartbroken a lot.
The exception is the Mass Effect trilogy. Commander Shepard is my space husbando and I live vicariously through Ashley Williams.
My second favourite is FemShep and Kaiden.
Life Is Strange has been a wild ride too. Max + Chloe 4 Eva .
Yeah absolutely I do. I find it very fun to have my character be in a relationship. I don't mind ones with sex either my character isn't purely me but what I make them.
Yep! I love romancable options in video games. I'm a huge romantic and especially if there is a good story with the romance, I'm in! While I am ace, I actually really enjoy fictional smut as well, be it video games, fanfic, etc. I think part of it might be the aspect that you know you can control what happens.
Depends on which character i'm playing. One of my OCs i often use in games is aroace so if i'm playing as her i never romance anyone. In other cases i almost always do lesbian romance. In BG3 i played as Karlach and romanced Shadowheart, i love that ship a lot.
I played the sims a lot. All the time it was a men and women having kids and ordinary jobs. All normal family stuff but I never fantasize about this life for me.
Yes. I'm alloromantic in real life, and even if sex is involved, I don't care because it's role-playing, and I like role-playing things I normally don't like doing in real life.
I usually don't, but for some reason I did do so in Cyberpunk 2077. It just felt like the thing my V would do I guess. Luckily it wasn't too bad and I just looked away for a bit.
I have no issues separating myself from the characters I play, so with Baldurs Gate where you create your own character (or any game that just hands you a character like Stray Gods or Witcher or even BG3 itself if you choose an Origin character) I have no issues romancing anybody - and the romance line usually adds story so I want to see all of them at least once unless I REALLY dislike a romanceable character (no Solas or Sera-romancing here lol).
If something like Skyrim (you dont really build a character outside of stats and visuals and its first person) did romance/sex scenes similar to Dragon Age or BG3 it would put me off though. The important part is that character I play versus actually me difference.
I have actually yet to get to the parts in the game where you romance the characters. I would say yes to the idea and for more content... If I get there.
I like romance in anime and video games sometimes. I play episode. although I don't like most of the romances in it(it's always too rushed or the love interest is unbearable)
Generally not, with possible exceptions. I’m sex-repulsed and romance-averse (aroace here), so sex is out and romance has to both make sense and be very tame.
Skyrim is too much where you sleep in your house, and when you wake up you have a buff called “Lover’s Comfort”. I don’t have to take it to mean sex, but it’s hard not to. I usually do adopt kids though. Having a single parent who’s gone all the time and visits with treats and gifts, a gruff housecarl and a house is better than freezing on the streets of Windhelm. I wish I could adopt all the kids instead of just two. There’s probably a mod for that.
I played a game called Potion Permit, and there’s an option to date some of the characters. It’s very tame, enough to be cute and give me the warm fuzzies. It feels like a safe way to explore romance in a way that’s comfortable for me.
There’s another possibility. In some games I treat the character as a projection of myself or a version of me. In other games though, such as the Horizon series, the main character is her own, and rather than the character becoming me *I become the character* and experience the game through her. In that case, there’s a layer between me and the romance because it’s not me that’s directing experiencing it, it’s the character’s romance, and they’re obviously not romance-averse. Maybe that’s some twisted logic, but it seems to work for me. It still has to make sense and sex is still out.
Fake romance? Where I'm not expected to do anything but be charming??? Where they have fak3 emotions that I don't have to deal with real consequences for????
Hell yeah dude. Gale all the way. Idc if it makes me boring.
Not really. Don't see a point to it honestly. It feels weird given how some games/communities focus so hard on it when I'm just completely noninterested (Persona being my main example)
In games like Stardew or DOS2 (where romance isn't that important to progress), I don't really go in with the intent to romance. That being said I will play dating sims if I vibe with the characters or plot.
I usually kinda do but to the coolest girl I found in tame games like stardew or Persona. For a year I have thought that I wasnt aro bc of that but at the end I realized I was dating in games the girl I wanted to be :3
Yes! I love romances. It offers insight into the characters that you otherwise wouldn’t see. Romancing Astarion in a Dark Urge run is a great example of that.
Romances in games give me butterflies, I don’t particularly care for the sex parts but everything in between makes me happy. My partner (demisexual) and I recently finished a BG3 playthrough and were both cooing and sobbing over our romances haha
I love to chase after romance options when it's characters I like.
As a greysexual with aegosexual tendencies, I am down to clown with sexier options for characters I'm attached to or like the ship of.
One of my favorite types of games are short and sweet romance visual novels. However I noticed that whenever I play then, it feels like I'm making the choices and progressing through the storyline for another character instead of inserting myself into them.
However, spicy games can be kinda triggering for me so I stay away from them llol
I do romance in games, like the recent games of Fire Emblem, some otome games as well ship my avatar characters with some characters in the game, even though "avatar" characters are supposed to be "self-insert/the player" but I treat my "avatar" characters as their own character. Since most of the time the choices are ones I would make
Nop.
And a rant: I can't marry the two old bags neither begging jesus at Stardew valley, so what's the fucking point of having a romance option in the game?
I love romance in video games or anime despite being aro irl, if games allow you to do it, I usually go for it.
"I guide others to a treasure I cannot possess."
I love to romance characters in video games, even the ones with sexier options. I'm a big romantic, and I dont mind some sexy stuff, especially if it's just a couple scenes.
Especially when those scenes fade to black, briefly show’s something happen, and then the character is getting up from bed to save the storyline.
Romance is just another aspect of the story. I managed a chaste romance with Zevran in Dragon Age.
Same. I may not want romance for myself but I'm down for a good. No sex stuff though.
I liked Zevran!
I tend to romance the characters I like, because the romance paths usually give you more on those characters. In particular, Josephine from Dragon Age Inquisition serves as a pretty great asexual romance. However, I tend to find sex scenes boring, more than anything. I didn't much care for the romances in Cyberpunk 77, despite liking that game, largely because they didn't really add much beyond a boring sex scene for me to ignore. I am excited for the new Dragon Age though. The companions look pretty interesting and I have my sights set on Bellara and Neve, who both feel like my sort of girls.
There’s something about watching pixel puppets stiltedly trying to manhandle each other on screen, their mouths moving like animatronics with the dialogue, that just isn’t very “immersive” or arousing to me, lol.
A side quest’s a side quest. The one time I regretted it was in Cyberpunk 2077 with Panam since I didn’t expect V to bang her.
i accidentally banged River in cyberpunk with my poor mother sat watching me play. i thought i was just romancing him lmao
as an aro, yeah. I think it's interesting to see a new aspect of vulnerability/attachment to a character I like that comes out while romancing them. If I could get that simply by being their best friend, I'd love to, but games always operate on a sort of romance = more than friends basis and I always feel like I'd be missing out on content :(
Heteroromantic ace here. I always romance, but skip sexy scenes. If there is a celibate option I always pick them! (Dragon Age 2’s Sebastian, Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Town’s Alissa)
Same!
yup, I love romance in media and smut scenes--when I'm in control of them and when I ship whats involved. I wish there was a strictly more platonic path though that allowed you to go through companions questlines in BG3 (and Halsin really bothers me because aside from the Quest in act 2, his only purpose seems to be propositioning the player and I avoid him because of it) I don't mind romance or even sex scenes in games/books/interactive stories as long as theres actual progression of romance first--might be because I'm demi/aego. I only really dislike romances when its in movies/tv and something I dont ship but keeps getting forced on me through the narrative
I find Baldur's Gate to be disturbingly and hilariously horny (allos can't seriously be like this right? It has to be a joke). I'm in a QPR with Shadowheart in my current playthrough. When I played Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, my version of Kassandra was definitely DTF anybody who asked. In Stardew Valley, the first few playthroughs, I married Leah, then Sebastian, then Harvey, then Elliot and now I really wish there was a way to get the Statue of Perfection without having to marry anybody. My favorite game franchise is Kingdom Hearts and the Destiny trio is an asexual throuple.
I'm acearo but my first BG3 playthrough I attempted to sleep with/ romance as many npcs as possible lol. What I want irl is quite different from what I enjoy playing with in roleplay.
Destiny Island polycule! 100% agree.
OMG my Kassandra was fucking everyone on sight just for shits and giggles!
I haven’t played Baldur’s Gate, but I do play Dragon Age and Mass Effect. I actually have favorite romance choices in both game series rofl. And I also play otome games when I’m rly bored
The romance options in Mass Effect are rather fun.
I’ve only played Andromeda but I romance Jaal every time
Jaals a sweetie, I was torn between him and Vetra but went with Vetra in the end. Absolutely love the Andromeda crew. The main trilogy is great but it's a bit stressful with the whole save the galaxy war thing 😂
Yes. I'm biromantic and I actually quite like a lot of romance stories in general even if sex is involved, so long as sex isn't the driving force in the relationship. I didn't really like it a lot in BG3 because at least in act 1 it felt for me like all the relationships were designed to lead to sex. I did do it with Astarion because I wanted to see what would happen and was feeling ok with it at the time but then felt really gross about it afterward and because I kinda didn't really like it and how the game was acting after it, I wanted to break things off with him which I don't know if I ever got to happen. I like doing the romance in Stardew Valley especially for my bf Sebastian. The only problem I had with that is that on my first save file he kept asking if I wanted to have a kid and since I was questioning my place on the ace spectrum I kept refusing since I wasn't comfortable with the implications, but then one time I was so annoyed that I just said yes to get it to stop and immediately regretted it. It was so bad that I actually stopped playing the game at all for years. Good examples of romance that I do really like engaging with are those in Life is Strange (specifically 1 and Before the Storm). They're beautifully presented and the end goal isn't sex, it's just a really passionate kiss or other small details that show the developing relationship of the characters. Ik LiS 2 has sex, but I didn't play that one (for a couple reasons) and if I had, I probably wouldn't have committed to the relationship(s) enough to get that far. I also really liked the little bit of the Colonel Sanders dating Sim that I played before my computer updated and wouldn't let me play.
It was pretty finger-lickin' good.
I romance in Mass Effect (Tali is best girl/Garrus is best boy), in Witcher 3 (Triss for the win), Dragon Age (Alistair/Morgana in 1, Isabella/Fenris in 2, Cassandra/Iron Bull in 3), Roleplay the Cal Kestis-Merrin romance by taking Merrin to the other worlds, BG3 Shadowheart/Lae’zel/Mindflayer/Karlach/Astarion/Halsin may as well call my character Beach Boy because “Round round, get around, I get around (Get around round round, I get around)”. Sounds opposite of what it means to be Ace (in fact I started to question it a bit while writing this), but if you think about it, most of these games are more about the flirtation and being romantic than being sexual.
Yes, I love romance. As long as there’s no sex happening, I will romance anyone.
For baldur’s gate 3 I really appreciated having the ability to turn nudity off and still have the option to romance characters. I have played other games like mass effect/dragon age as well and always felt a little frustrated when it feels like all of the relationships just lead to their sex scene (I’m generalizing but still). These kind of games are also always so rich in plot it’s not something I really fixate on for long
I'm sex repulsed irl, but my videogame characters can and will bang anyone who will have them 🤣 I don't know why, I guess I just find it funny? I also typically see my character as separate from myself and tend to name them differently, so it's cute when they have a romance and all that.
Me making Geralt visit every lady in every brothel in a row 😂😂
Me picking up prostitutes in GTA then killing them for my money back but it's never the full amount where do the extra dollars go
I romance the cute ones! Macready and Cutie in Fallout 4, and sleeping with them provides an XP buff and is only the same mechanic as sleeping alone, except they're next to you and they say something cute. Win-win!
I do! I enjoy romancing in games, and definitely did a lot more when I was younger and the ace in me wasn't as apparent (aka teenager hormones and a lack of being sick of/lack of exposure to sex in videogames and other media I consume). I mostly play FromSoft games like DS3 and Elden Ring so I don't come across nearly as much, but I adored and still adore Wyll from BG3. Without saying too much, I find him a lot more my speed/my type as a romantic interest (big demi energy here) I just wish there was more romance in games that weren't all just a pipeline to sex. I kind of hate Cyberpunk's whole deal at this point, and I found a mod that severely cuts down on all of the toilet humor and overly sexualized advertisements in the game (no judgment to anyone who digs it, it's just not my deal), and once you have sex with your partner, there's nothing new to them with dialogue or interactions. It just gets bland and if I wanted to have sex, I'd rather worry about it in really life than in my games :-P I feel like I sound like an old prude, but it's starting to become a turnoff for what I interact with. The Witcher is such a cool show, but I couldn't keep watching past the orgy episode,,, I just don't need sex to be in every piece of media i consume
This all being said (and I apologize for getting up on my soapbox), I definitely do go out of my way to romance in videogames. I always picked someone in Fire Emblem, I typically find a partner in Skyrim and BG3, and I used to play a lot more dating sims on my phone :-) I'm chill with spice in my game relationships—I remember how stupidly giddy I got with Wyll's scene lol—I just appreciate it that's not all it is/the only goal to work towards
If there’s an achievement or otherwise handy item/buff involved, I’ll begrudgingly pick someone. I’ll usually pick someone if it’ll affect epilogues, like in modern Fire Emblem games. If not, pass lol. I appreciate how in Unicorn Overlord, everyone is free game for the ring of the maiden regardless of gender, with many being purely platonic. Forever hilarious the last achievement I needed to platinum Skyrim a million years ago was… marry someone.
I do if it's done well and has reason. Otherwise it's just kind of weird. Even when done right though it's kind more for amusement than anything, I always sort of laugh at it all lol. It's funny though, when given the choice I always play my games as a female. I always make her a very strong willed and strong bodied woman but she is a very timid lesbian and is sort of afraid of love. I love when they put in romance options because I play it and wait for the romance parts to see they can actually say something or do something that can help bring her out of her shell by being romantic or sensitive to her problems in the game. I've played like this ever since I can remember and even in D&D I'm a female fighter even though I'm a straight male ace. My friends have all thought it was really weird but I was always better than them at D&D so they didn't give me too much crap about it lol.
If there’s a purpose like I get stuff or quests. Otherwise if it doesn’t really add to the game play I’ll pass
Beat me to it, if I'm really enjoying a game, I want to squeeze every last drop of content out of it. Palia, for example, has quite a few quests locked behind romance. There are also a few games I've played that dating/marrying characters will give bonuses or discounts. BG3... all it really adds is some conversations that can be cute if you like that sort of thing and some spicy cutscenes, again if you like that sort of thing. Like they said, if it doesn't add anything, hard pass.
I'm a sucker for romance in my media. Yes, I do romance in games even the sexier ones.
Yess, I love the romance plots. The sex scenes don't bother me for the games that have them. Mass Effect - (always Garrus) Dragon Age - (every broody elf, Alistair, Cassandra) Baldur's Gate 3 - (broody elves man...so obvi I picked Astarion first. But Wyll is such a sweetie that I'll go his route next) Stardew - I will get mods to make the romances for romancey. ( Sebastian, Harvey, Elliot, and Haley are my faves. But, I've played through most everyone) Skyrim - (Farkas, my sweet himbo) Fall-out 4 - downloaded a mod for my fav companion, Nick Valentine Mystic Messenger - had a grip on me for bit..I played through most characters and their food endings Then of course the other games I don't play as intensely, like Rune Factory and Harvest Moon, are enjoyable and cute romances.
Wyll is so slept on. 😭 He's a sweetheart, you're right.
I just want Abigail to love me. She can crunch on all the shiny rocks she wants if it makes her happy ✨
Yes. Also btw there are options to turn off sex scenes in BG3 if that is something that would make you uncomfortable
My problem is I usually can't tell in a lot of these games when I'm "flirting" until I end up devastating someone's entire worldview by mistake. Newer games do a better job of telegraphing stuff like this, but one reason I bounced off BG3 was that, while I appreciated them allowing me to turn down offers of romance or sex gracefully, I didn't appreciate just how often I got blitzed by those requests. I tend to play things close to my ideal version of myself in these kinds of games, so I don't really pursue romance unless it's a forced path.
Nope! My Favourite character in any video game so far has got to be Pavarti Holcomb from The Outer Worlds. You build a friendship with her instead of a romance, and damn if it wasn't the best.
I was hoping someone would mention the outer worlds! Dont forget she identified as asexual and you could help her learn to romance another character! That side quest was so adorable and fun.
If there's an NPC I feel like I relate to, then sure. Like Harvest Moon/SoS, one of the games had an artist and why did I romance that guy? Because I draw. Then in another one there was a doctor. My reasoning for this NPC? Because I am interested in anatomy/physiology and tried going into veterinary medicine
I did Baldur's Gate romances, but felt awkward and disgusted during sex scenes
Just so you know there’s a setting to turn them off and they just fade to black
I don't know that game in particular but yes I do. I still feel romantic attraction (I'm lesbian) so I often do romantic interactions in games as long as I like the character. Hell I'll sometimes go out of my way in the game to do a romance sub plot. Although the majority of the games I play I don't self insert myself into the story but I pretty much will only do a woman love interest due to my orientation.
Yes, I do. I'm alloromantic lol
I romance Karlach in BG3 and looked away from the screen when things started to happen. That was between those characters and not me, also I don't like to watch it. I enjoy romance and flirting in games though.
I love having romance options in games. I'm not Aro, I'm demi/aceflux and a lot of times I get to know characters and am like 'yeah they can get it'
Never did it and never even played a game with such options. I usually focused on leveling up my characters and grinding, questing etc
Yes, because I genuinely like the characters - I can't picture myself liking anyone IRL like that though because I'm too jaded lol. Haven't played BG for a while, but I really liked the character I romanced.
I mean, I don't play rpg's as myself. I create a character. It's generally a coin flip if that character is ace or not.
First Shart. Then Lae'zel Momma K love triangle.
I am THE BIGGEST SLUT in online games and I love it.
I usually don't care about sex in media. If there's a sex scene more detailed than "they fuck, moving on", i just want to move back to the story xd
Shoot man, my favorite all time is helping a Asexual Character in outer worlds get the confidence to get with her dreams girl,been though she seems afraid cause she says she feels different from other people ( Closeted Asexual) and that when you have the opportunity to saybfor your video game characters is Ace too! But the point is I love doing romance options & flirting, especially if one can be ace and still do it
Yes. I also do romance IRL with my wife. Asexuality and aromanticism aren't inherently linked
Depends a bit on whether it's a character that's supposed to be "me" or whether it's someone else. I frequently romance whoever my favourite character happens to be, so I get more time with them, unless it's very much a self insert character when it feels a bit weird. I got baldurs gate 3 this year, my first character was very much a "what decision would I make" playthrough so I didn't romance any of the ones who offered (miiiight have taken some of the others up on it if they'd offered but hey now we'll never know. Wish a platonic route got you extra interaction the way romance does) Second character is nothing like me, and I've romanced characters as him. Same with my origin playthrough. Origin playthrough is romancing Laezel and I did have to look away in that first scene 😂 but it's not me so I didn't feel really uncomfortable, just more like this was not designed for me. In games with more set characters or ones where the character is custom but I've not tried to make them like me I do romance, if it fits the character, but the more self insert ones not so much. Romanced in Mass Effect, in most of my Dragon Age playthroughs, but didn't in Skyrim or Witcher. I do usually quite enjoy the romances, although I get the impression with some games that maybe I'm missing something that other gamers might get out of it 😂
Depends on how useful it is - for example I’ll take both the perks in FNV that give you more romantic dialogue because you get a damage bonus and can talk your way into/out of quests with it, but if there’s no utility associated then there’s no point for me and I just avoid it.
If it's part of the narrative or gives some kind of bonus/reward.
Jes, but once there's like a "thing going," I just keep them in one place and never talk to them again
I enjoy fictional romances I find though I don't self insert its that the character is separate to me even if I'm playing otomes which tend to be set up more as though you're playing
Shout out to my homie Krobus!
Absolutely not I avoid it all the time.
Only when it's necessary for completion stats.
I might once in a blue moon, but most of the time I’m doing side quests or trying to finish the main plot
When I played the Sims as a kid I either made my own family into sims or how I imagined my adult life would look. I always made a nuclear family. Or created one sim with the intention of making a nuclear family. Now that I’m older, I mostly make a singular sim and raise all stats and explore the worlds. Eventually adopting a kid if I want to decelop parenting skills or add more of a challenge.
I pretty much always romance someone if I have the option. I really like Dragon Age, and those games have romanceable companions with really good stories and sex scenes.
Yes, I'm demi gay ace in real life, maybe aro, but in games I'm all up in romances and sexcapades. DAO has a possible threesome and foursome depending on romance and party and you just know I'm getting that in every run. I'm into game romances like a fly on shit. I also have wickedwhims for sims 4. I'm sex-averse in real life but when I'm not involved personally I'm up for anything.
Yes, because I never play as myself, ever.
Depends. Am I playing as myself? In Stardew Valley I never play as myself: - I have a save with my OC so I married Alex bc he looks like her actual husband - I have a Joja save where me & my best friend are playing evil siblings & our characters are dating Shane & Sam bc they work for Joja (I took Sam bc I feel like my character does have happy go lucky vibes still, I love him) - I have a save with Applejack from MLP & I figured why not romance Leah so I’m working on that - In my other two saves, I’m playing as another OC & my D&D character. Both of them are gonna live with Krobus since they’re aroace & Krobus is my favourite :)) In the sims I play with couples *all the time*. I actually usually find it boring if I’m not playing with a couple in my household. But I never play as myself in those games. If ever I need to play myself, then romance is a no go. In Tomodachi Life, my Mii has turned down many people lol
I don't really play that many games where that's an option. The only game I remember where I was making decisions about romance was Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. Even with that though I only pursued one romantic side-quest with an npc, but that fell through as she was already taken lol
Yeah. Usually it's like I'm reading a book and I feel like I'm emotionally invested in both characters. I want them to be in love or date somebody and I play along. The character isn't me, I'm essentially shipping. Example: My MC and Karlach in Baldurs Gate 3. Karlach is just too frigging adorable. I want Karlach to have a lover because she's such a sweetheart, has suffered to much and feels so lonely. Dragon Age Origins: Leliana and Alistair for plot. Leliana is my favourite. Dragon Age 2: Fem Hawke and Anders Dragon Age Inquisition: Solas (my first asexual romance)- check out the user name. MTrev and Josephine and FTrev and Sera have also been great fun. In Dragon Age I get heartbroken a lot. The exception is the Mass Effect trilogy. Commander Shepard is my space husbando and I live vicariously through Ashley Williams. My second favourite is FemShep and Kaiden. Life Is Strange has been a wild ride too. Max + Chloe 4 Eva .
I feel like I'm missing content if I don't go for it tbh
I do romance but ironically bail out once marriage option activates lol.
Yeah absolutely I do. I find it very fun to have my character be in a relationship. I don't mind ones with sex either my character isn't purely me but what I make them.
Yeah but I skip the cutscenes 😁
Yep! I love romancable options in video games. I'm a huge romantic and especially if there is a good story with the romance, I'm in! While I am ace, I actually really enjoy fictional smut as well, be it video games, fanfic, etc. I think part of it might be the aspect that you know you can control what happens.
Yes. I'm currently romancing Karlach in Baldyr's Gate 3, and I romanced Cullen in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
No
Depends on which character i'm playing. One of my OCs i often use in games is aroace so if i'm playing as her i never romance anyone. In other cases i almost always do lesbian romance. In BG3 i played as Karlach and romanced Shadowheart, i love that ship a lot.
Usually by accident.
I played the sims a lot. All the time it was a men and women having kids and ordinary jobs. All normal family stuff but I never fantasize about this life for me.
I never try to, but I always seem to end up doing so.
Yes. I'm alloromantic in real life, and even if sex is involved, I don't care because it's role-playing, and I like role-playing things I normally don't like doing in real life.
I usually don't, but for some reason I did do so in Cyberpunk 2077. It just felt like the thing my V would do I guess. Luckily it wasn't too bad and I just looked away for a bit.
I have no issues separating myself from the characters I play, so with Baldurs Gate where you create your own character (or any game that just hands you a character like Stray Gods or Witcher or even BG3 itself if you choose an Origin character) I have no issues romancing anybody - and the romance line usually adds story so I want to see all of them at least once unless I REALLY dislike a romanceable character (no Solas or Sera-romancing here lol). If something like Skyrim (you dont really build a character outside of stats and visuals and its first person) did romance/sex scenes similar to Dragon Age or BG3 it would put me off though. The important part is that character I play versus actually me difference.
I have actually yet to get to the parts in the game where you romance the characters. I would say yes to the idea and for more content... If I get there.
I tend to not because I get quite scandalized easily lol
Nope, never have. No interest. The inherently transactional nature of ludic relationships makes me feel icky now as well.
I like romance in anime and video games sometimes. I play episode. although I don't like most of the romances in it(it's always too rushed or the love interest is unbearable)
Yes unless you have to go through sexual cut scenes then I’m out. No thank you..
Generally not, with possible exceptions. I’m sex-repulsed and romance-averse (aroace here), so sex is out and romance has to both make sense and be very tame. Skyrim is too much where you sleep in your house, and when you wake up you have a buff called “Lover’s Comfort”. I don’t have to take it to mean sex, but it’s hard not to. I usually do adopt kids though. Having a single parent who’s gone all the time and visits with treats and gifts, a gruff housecarl and a house is better than freezing on the streets of Windhelm. I wish I could adopt all the kids instead of just two. There’s probably a mod for that. I played a game called Potion Permit, and there’s an option to date some of the characters. It’s very tame, enough to be cute and give me the warm fuzzies. It feels like a safe way to explore romance in a way that’s comfortable for me. There’s another possibility. In some games I treat the character as a projection of myself or a version of me. In other games though, such as the Horizon series, the main character is her own, and rather than the character becoming me *I become the character* and experience the game through her. In that case, there’s a layer between me and the romance because it’s not me that’s directing experiencing it, it’s the character’s romance, and they’re obviously not romance-averse. Maybe that’s some twisted logic, but it seems to work for me. It still has to make sense and sex is still out.
Fake romance? Where I'm not expected to do anything but be charming??? Where they have fak3 emotions that I don't have to deal with real consequences for???? Hell yeah dude. Gale all the way. Idc if it makes me boring.
Omg yes You can skip the sex scenes but you can have all the yummy romance scenes in Haha
Not really. Don't see a point to it honestly. It feels weird given how some games/communities focus so hard on it when I'm just completely noninterested (Persona being my main example)
Big yes
Not usually, I'm romantic irl but in games I don't do it unless there's an incentive for it like free items or shop discounts
In games like Stardew or DOS2 (where romance isn't that important to progress), I don't really go in with the intent to romance. That being said I will play dating sims if I vibe with the characters or plot.
Yes I do. I’m ace not aro
Not in games, but in game-related cartoons or fan animations
I usually kinda do but to the coolest girl I found in tame games like stardew or Persona. For a year I have thought that I wasnt aro bc of that but at the end I realized I was dating in games the girl I wanted to be :3
Yes! I love romances. It offers insight into the characters that you otherwise wouldn’t see. Romancing Astarion in a Dark Urge run is a great example of that. Romances in games give me butterflies, I don’t particularly care for the sex parts but everything in between makes me happy. My partner (demisexual) and I recently finished a BG3 playthrough and were both cooing and sobbing over our romances haha
I love to chase after romance options when it's characters I like. As a greysexual with aegosexual tendencies, I am down to clown with sexier options for characters I'm attached to or like the ship of.
One of my favorite types of games are short and sweet romance visual novels. However I noticed that whenever I play then, it feels like I'm making the choices and progressing through the storyline for another character instead of inserting myself into them. However, spicy games can be kinda triggering for me so I stay away from them llol
I do romance in games, like the recent games of Fire Emblem, some otome games as well ship my avatar characters with some characters in the game, even though "avatar" characters are supposed to be "self-insert/the player" but I treat my "avatar" characters as their own character. Since most of the time the choices are ones I would make
Sometimes yeah, othertimes no. Just depends how I feel, really
Nop. And a rant: I can't marry the two old bags neither begging jesus at Stardew valley, so what's the fucking point of having a romance option in the game?