Despite the modern integration of gaming in our daily lives, two terms that still do not tend to share the same sentence are 'romantic' and 'video games.'  While movies, books, and music have genres and sub-genres focusing on amorous pursuits, successful attempts in gaming range from the very specific dating sim category and amateur-at-best forced narratives in action games to lengthy RPG character relationships.  Let's just set aside fan-service in the vein of Dead or Alive and Senran Kagura for the moment.




Over the last decade or two video games were synonymous with youth, toys, an immaturity, so it makes sense that given the assumed target audience the majority of video games weren't interested in developing nuanced characters and relationships.  Over time however, the artistry of the medium has come more into focus as well as more mass acceptance to gaming as a spectrum of different experiences.  Today many games are known for their outstanding stories and interesting characters, as the writing, world development, pacing, and overall design have finally become recognized as a worthwhile if not vital components.  The point here is that now more than ever, video games offer unique and emotional experiences, both internal as artistic expressions, and external as worthwhile experiences to share with others. 

As I was reflecting upon this during Valentine's Day, instead of writing another "check these games out" list, I wanted to briefly share part of my own experience when it comes to the bonding of my Beloved and I when it comes to video games.  I've referenced in the past how we have a two-person recliner placed in front of two big side-by-side TVs and how we have played through countless titles together.  We all know that great connection of sharing entertainment together, like a good movie or interesting book that gets passed around.  Video games may not have that same 'dating' entertainment motif as movies or the modern Netflix equivalent, but at our home it is far more frequent.  The two of us grab a big blanket and a snack of choice, fire up a game we are curious about, and make a date of it.


 
Visual Novels are an obvious choice; recently we enjoyed seeing all of the story paths to Root Letter.  Narrative-choice heavy games like Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls and of course, the Telltale games have been great selections.  Hidden Agenda was pretty neat also.  Any branching path narratives are particularly well suited to play together because we can debate about the choices to develop our stories.

Indeed, sometimes we've had interesting divisions in narrative decision games.  When we played through the first Mass Effect, Liara was our mutually decided beau.  In the sequel however, for story reasons not immediately apparent, Liara isn't as much of a romance option and even somewhat snubs Shepard.  I'm playing this game next to my wife, of course, and assume faithfulness even in difficulty is to be expected, so I was holding out for Liara.  Then my wife wonders aloud about us romancing Tali instead.  This obviously puts me in a no-win situation; do I show digital faithfulness in front of my wife while ignoring her preference, or follow my wife's choice and cheat on our Shepard's girlfriend? 


Thankfully, after the Lair of the Shadow Broker dlc our Liara (and my wife) came around and we stuck it out.  Lemme tell you though, that led to some interesting conversations.

Another game that had us up late talking was the unexpected and fascinating Catherine.  Since the entire story centers around fears of marriage, infidelity, life choices, selfishness, and family, not to mention the online quizzes that poll players with uncomfortable questions at the end of every level, we had much to explore.  If you don't share many of the same opinions with your significant other on these topics, it literally may be a dangerous game to play together; the questions it poses are quite direct.  In the end, my wife and I found it an introspective (and endlessly weird) experience.  Although neither of us ever really came around to liking protagonist Vincent that much, perhaps that is a bit of meta-commentary from the game as well.

We've also had our share of games we just didn't enjoy enough to stick with all the way.  The first Tales of Xilia had a setting and characters that interested my Beloved, and so she asked for us to pick it up.  We put about twelve hours into it and even though it wasn't bad, it also just wasn't that engaging for us.  We'd snuggle up to play and she would end up reading a book even during story moments, simply because after awhile it just didn't get hooks in us.  I think the game is fine, it just didn't connect with us.

Lately, we've become the couple our other couple-friends come to for game suggestions.  Horizon: Zero Dawn, Journey, and Torment: Tides of Numenera have been the most recent suggestions, but we're always talking up some recent game we enjoyed.
 
While not every couple enjoy games together like we do, there are so many different types of gaming experiences out there now that I'd suggest trying it out a few genres and seeing of something really connects.  Maybe a well-done FMV experience like The Bunker?  A psychological horror story like Soma?  A throwback point 'n' click like Thimbleweed Park or Broken Age?  A laid-back exploration game like No Man's Sky?  A co-op classic like Diablo III?  At this point the choices are as varied as in any other media. 

My favorite gaming by far is with my best friend at my side (or I at hers.)  If you can, I highly recommend it.

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