I have killed several million people, aliens, robots, etc across a few hundred video games in my life.
I’ve only fallen in love maybe three times.
While Baldur’s Gate 3 is centered around turn-based combat and elaborate storylines that surprise, involve lots of killing, it also does something better than almost any other game I’ve ever seen, create believable, genuine romances that…do not usually have happy endings, and yet they are some of the most authentic I’ve seen while they do last. Much ado has been made about all the nudity surrounding its sex scenes (which again, I’ve never seen a good video game sex scene, and these are no exception), the actual romances are where the where the spark lies.
If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you know that I’ve ben romancing Karlach, the large, demon-looking woman who is a Tiefling locked in service to actual demons, powered by an infernal heart literally burning her up from the inside. Other players have gone for Shadowheart, Gale or Astarion, but really, anyone is fair game.
Karlach has been just…adorable. The sex scene was whatever, but I will not forget when my character, in an awkward banter about liking each other a lot, finally said “I love you.” Karlach bursts out smiling, puts her hands to her mouth and says “ohmygodiloveyoutoo.” All the sniper headshots and chainsaw dismemberments in my gaming history really cannot hold a candle to that moment.
I keep thinking that for me, Baldur’s Game 3 is probably in the top 3 of AAA video game romance-infused games (not counting say, dating sims in this). The other two are the Mass Effect trilogy and Cyberpunk 2077.
Mass Effect had an entire trilogy to develop relationships with its various characters across anywhere from 1 to 3 games, as some options weren’t available until later. The “canon” romance was probably Liara the Asari, but I know others went for Garrus or Miranda or Tali, who my Shepard was in love with by the end.
My second choice here is…Cyberpunk 2077. These romanceable NPCs have resonated in a way that few others have in really, any game. The standouts are of course Judy and Panam, the only real issue being Judy locked into female Vs only and Panam locked into male Vs only, which seems a little bit inside the box. The Judy romance with the famous Pyramid Song mission is the best “date” in video game history, by my estimation. Panam was easy to fall in love with immediately, and her sitting by the fire is an iconic moment that’s one of my favorite in the whole game. Needless to say my female V was…quite sad she wasn’t interested. But still.
Just so, so few games get this right, and Baldur’s Gate has. It does not really let players end many of these romances without some level of tragedy but for me? Maybe I’ll just avoid whatever may or may not happen with Karlach, and stay in these recent good times.
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