Video games aren’t primarily focused on telling love stories but they do happen on occasion. For JRPG fans, Cecil and Rosa have a deep bond that players get to see throughoutFinal Fantasy 4. She’s not just some damsel in distress like Princess Peach is in mostMariogames either. Rosa has dimensions and she’s an active party member in most scenarios.
Uncharted’sNathan Drake and Elena are also a good pairing for the action-adventure fans out there. Then there are some games that feature more unconventional romances be it between enemies, different species, or maybe a love triangle is involved. Either way, these romantic tales don’t end well. There will be spoilers.
.hack//Infectionis the first game in what would become a quadrilogy on the PS2. It starred a player named Kite in a fake MMO called The World. Players can recruit party members like in a typical action RPG and one of those characters happened to be Elk. Elk is often accompanied by a cat person named Mia and everyone suspects she’s a hacker because cat models are not standard in The World. The two are very close in the series leading up to a heartbreaking finale in.hack//Quarantinewherein Kite and Elk have to fight Mia who was an evil program caused by a glitch in the game. Elk is unwilling to forgive Kite for finishing her off as his love was that deep even for a piece of A.I.
Catherineis sort of a spinoff to thePersonaseries as that team at Atlus handled it. It was about Vincent who was unsure of how he felt about taking his relationship forward with his girlfriend Katherine. Haunted by commitment issues, Vincent wakes up one night after drinking to find another woman, Catherine, sleeping next to him. Should he pursue this new girl or make things work with Katherine? Oh, also Vincent has nightmares where he dreams of sheep people, and nightmarish things chasing him through block puzzles. Also, in the expanded game,Catherine: Full Body, players can pursue another woman, Qatherine. If players decide to go theproper route inCatherineand fix their demons with Katherine, then the succubus revealed to be Catherine will not be happy.
El Paso, Everywhereis a small-budget indie game with a relatable tale about relationships but with a twist. James isa vampire hunterand Draculae IS a vampire who wants to destroy everything. The two break up forcing James to hunt her down to save humanity.
It’s framed as a film noir story so the tragic ending can be seen from a mile away but there are two major endings, each equally sad. In both scenarios, Draculae dies but James can survive albeit in a grim fashion but drinking Draculae’s blood and becoming the thing he hates the most.
The Evil Within 2dives more into Sebastian’s home life, forcing players to relive the trauma of seeing his house burn down with his daughter Lily inside. That’s what he assumed at least but it seems like Lily is alive, forced by his ex-wife Myra to create a universeusing a sort of VR technology. Sebastian finds a way inside this makeshift mind place of a town only to find it filled with monsters like the hospital inThe Evil Within. By the end, Sebastian is able to rescue Lily and tackle his estranged wife in a goopy final boss battle. Therapy probably would have been a less messy route than what these two go through.
Final Fantasy 7is about a mercenary suffering from amnesia named Cloudreturning to his childhood friend, Tifa, to help a group of rebels take down an evil corporation. Cloud and Tifa share a romantic connection as kids albeit unrequited and that familiarity blooms again when Tifa reunites with Cloud who is more indifferent. Then he gets separated and finds a girl in the slums, Aerith, who he seems more infatuated with. A love triangle is not that weird in a piece of fiction but it gets stranger. Cloud has taken on the persona of the friend he lost as a soldier named Zack unbeknownst to him. Zack and Aerith used to date before he disappeared, so Aerith isn’t so much in love with Cloud as a person. She likes Cloud because he looks like Zack. Needless to say Aerith famously dies in the game and this is only the tip of the iceberg that isFinal Fantasy 7.
Master Chief wasassisted by an A.I. named Cortana from the first game onward. In the new trilogy, Cortana becomes corrupted but unwilling to sacrifice her to his superiors, Master Chief becomes a rogue agent. Despite his best efforts though, Cortana goes full evil A.I. in the fifth game and it doesn’t get any better inHalo Infinite, ultimately ending in her destruction.
Cortana could come back in some way though as she is a program but it’s hard to say. Even though she’s just an A.I. there was a true romance blooming between the two throughout the series. While the developers never showed them sharing a kiss, the Internet covered that territory with plenty of fan interpretations.
Ada andLeon first meet inResident Evil 2. Ada frames herself as a reporter but Leon soon finds out she was a spy sent to gather intel on Umbrella. The two rendezvous again inResident Evil 4with the two sharing opposing missions as well. By this point, it’s implied they share a past which is more evident inResident Evil 6. It’s the ultimate “will they, won’t they” scenario with Leon unsure of how to move forward with someone so untrustworthy. While they haven’t been officially together yet onscreen, the two are still both alive at least so it’s not the most tragic out of all these love snafus.
Metal Gear Solidwas groundbreaking for several reasons from big boss battles to voice acting to pushing the stealth genre forward on the PS1. The voice acting, while corny at times, did have some gravitas behind it like whenSniper Wolf dies. She’s one of the FOXHOUND units who helped kidnap the scientist Otacon to create Metal Gear Raven. Sniper Wolf was in charge of keeping him safe and the two formed a sort of Stockholm Syndrome together. While never officially a partnership, the two share a gut-wrenching farewell after players have their boss fight.
