Underappreciated Couples In Games

Summary

• Established couples in video games can provide a magical and organic love story experience.
• From new love in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 to mutual respect in Wolfenstein, diverse relationships shine.
• Hidden gems like Parvati and Junlei in The Outer Worlds offer refreshing asexual representation.

As great as it is to have romance options in a video game, there’s something special about seeing an established couple in the game itself that exists regardless of the player’s input. Sure, we all want to choose who we smooch, but when two characters organically come together on their own? Magic.

You’ve got your Tidus and Yuna, Nate and Elena, and any other number of classic love stories between two very similar and very straight people. But there are plenty of game couples out there who never seem to get the same level of appreciation despite having just as much heart, if not more.

8

Noah And Mio

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

• New to life and new to love
• Bittersweet in the best way

Half the fun of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is getting to watch this group of six emotionally newborn soldiers slowly learn to interact with and appreciate the world outside of their violent upbringing. The other half is watching this same group come together to absolutely wreck every random creature they come across.

But as they all become closer as a team, they also develop their own relationships, whether that be as friends or more. The two leads, Noah and Mio, find themselves drawn together from almost the start, but their development actually feels natural as the game goes on, particularly since they’re both coming from the same experience level. It’s a beautiful love story to watch develop, made only more powerful by how it ends.

7

Parvati And Junlei

The Outer Worlds

• Just the cutest crush
• Some refreshing asexual representation

Sometimes, an adorable romance will occur on the side without player input. Other times, you might need to give them a little push. That’s what happens in The Outer Worlds, when perfect angel with a hammer Parvati expresses her feelings to the player regarding a certain engineer on Groundbreaker.

Previously, Parvati had revealed to the player that she’s asexual. But she’s not aromantic, which can make things a bit difficult. Nevertheless, you can urge her on when she tells you about her feelings for engineer Junlei Tennyson, and your reward is the cutest little courtship you’ll ever get to witness.

6

Janey Springs And Athena

Tales From The Borderlands

• Flawed as any real relationship
• Honesty is the best policy

Janey and Athena start out together in the excellent Tales from the Borderlands, and it can be up to your actions as the player to determine where they go from there. If you don’t do everything in your power to help them, that’s not very nice.

There’s a little tension at first, with Athena not exactly being completely open with Janey about certain merc-related activities she’s engaging in. But speaking of engaging, if you encourage honesty and give them just a little push, they can end up planning a wedding by the end. Plus, you’d better hire them for the last mission, because they could use the money.

5

B.J. And Anya

Wolfenstein: The New Order

• More than just trauma bonding
• A great example of mutual respect

A romance forged in war can go either way. It might turn into something tragically toxic, or it could quite possibly become a truly unbreakable and meaningful bond that lasts. That certainly seems to be the case with William ‘B.J.’ Blazkowicz and Anya Oliwa in Wolfenstein: The New Order and its sequels, right down to a proposal over the corpse of a dead Nazi. That’s true love.

While some might question how they met, with Anya tending to B.J. while he was physically incapable of taking care of himself, their relationship once he regains his faculties is kind of special. It’s a partnership of mutual respect and responsibility, with both fully invested. Not even death via decapitation could keep them apart.

4

Dorian And The Iron Bull

Dragon Age: Inquisition

• Easily missable; worth searching for
• Romeo and Bulliet

Dragon Age: Inquisition is such a massive game that it’s remarkably easy to miss so many of its secrets. But this one is very much worth going for, and you don’t even have to go out of your way to find it. Take Dorian and The Iron Bull with you in your party as much as possible, and you’ll experience a blossoming love.

It starts off antagonistic, with them just taking verbal potshots at each other, being from regions long at war. But over time, this shifts to a one-night stand, then a full-blown relationship with genuine care for each other. This whole journey takes place entirely through banter, and they’re already the most fun people have in your party (plus Sera). So this is a journey well worth having.

3

Garrus And Tali

Mass Effect 3

• Like seeing your two best friends get together
• Two perfect tens might as well go for it

After the first Mass Effect came out, fans almost immediately began begging BioWare to make two specific companions romance options in the next game. This was young quarian engineer Tali’Zorah and hotheaded turian security officer Garrus Vakarian.

BioWare listened, and they both became two of the most beloved love interests in the series going forward. But if you get with neither, then they can actually end up together in Mass Effect 3. They’ve always had great chemistry, and there’s the whole fan-favorite thing in common, so it works out great.

2

Fang And Vanille

Final Fantasy 13

• A love that transcends centuries
• Heavily implied, but it makes too much sense not to be canon

Don’t you start on this. Yes, the relationship between Oerba Yun Fang and Oerba Dia Vanille in the Final Fantasy 13 games is never explicitly called out as romantic. But look at the way they are around each other. There’s got to be much more than a simple platonic bond at play here. They move into a quiet little cottage together after Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13, come on.

Apparently, Fang was actually supposed to be a male character with the romance between the two being more pronounced. But the undertones are still there, and you can tell there’s genuine affection every time they interact. It’s that kind of love where you’ve been together forever but aren’t jaded about it, and that’s beautiful, even in a literal sense when they (spoiler alert) become crystals for a good long while together.

1

Lunkbug And Beldron

Baldur’s Gate 3

• A refreshingly regular couple in a land of chaos
• Love can withstand any disaster, though a party of heroes helps

Sometimes all it takes for a great love story is something simple. In Baldur’s Gate 3, you’re eventually tasked with helping some trapped Gnomes (and one very uncool dude), and one of the people desperate to see you succeed is Lunkbug, whose husband Beldron is one of those in danger.

Once you take care of all that, you’re treated to a heartwarming reunion between the two. Beldron seems a little embarrassed by Lunkbug’s fussing, but who wouldn’t be worried in that situation? It’s a simple moment where a frankly very normal couple is reunited, and among all the chaos, it feels great to see. (Don’t you say a word about Lunkbug’s name. He’s been through enough.)