Did Wing Commander start the game romances trend?

[Arbiter]

I have recently watched play-throughs of Wing Commander 3 and 4 on YT. Both games feature romantic interests for the protagonist Blair. Did those games start the trend that later infected RPGs or were there any precursors before Wing Commander? I do not count LSL series as such as those games are centered around lame pick up plots, while Wing Commander is primarily an action game with romances added to spice up the plot.

 

[Arbiter]

It is also interesting that the CAG in WC Prophecy is a 40 year old woman played by Patricia Drake. Blair is a war hero is his mid forties and holds the rank of a commodore, so technically he is more senior than CAG and the captain, yet CAG seems to be calling the shots on the ship. Could this be an early example of women in fiction holding positions of authority in fields that have been known to be dominated by men, like military? It appears that the first female CAG was nominated in 2013: https://www.midway.org/blog/karls-korner-women-in-naval-aviation/. Such progressiveness in a 1997 game!

 

[Falksi]

Custer's Revenge

 

[Nano]

Romantic interests for the protagonist are omnipresent in every other form of media. It was never going to be any different for video games.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Romantic interests for the protagonist are omnipresent in every other form of media. It was never going to be any different for video games.

almost like something that is rather important to humanity might end up being represented in its entertainment mediums

 

[Infinitron]

The more interesting question is whether WC3 was the first game to let you choose one of multiple romance options.

 

[deuxhero]

No. At the very least we have Phantasy Star 3: Generations of Doom in 1990 (western release 1991), Dragon Quest V and Dōkyūsei in 1992, and and Angelique released 3 months before WC3's release in December 1994.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

The more interesting question is whether WC3 was the first game to let you choose one of multiple romance options.

Was WC3 the game that had FMV of real actors, one of whom was Mark Hamill? Funny how much I remember about that game, but I don't remember romance. I only remember Angel from the previous games, and I think she must have been in WC3 because she was a recurring character. I guess I need to go do some reading to remind myself of what was in the game.

Was there a Wing Commander game that forced you to lose the war regardless of how well you flew?

 

[Arbiter]

The more interesting question is whether WC3 was the first game to let you choose one of multiple romance options.

Was WC3 the game that had FMV of real actors, one of whom was Mark Hamill? Funny how much I remember about that game, but I don't remember romance. I only remember Angel from the previous games, and I think she must have been in WC3 because she was a recurring character.

Yes, she dies in WC3.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The more interesting question is whether WC3 was the first game to let you choose one of multiple romance options.

Was WC3 the game that had FMV of real actors, one of whom was Mark Hamill? Funny how much I remember about that game, but I don't remember romance. I only remember Angel from the previous games, and I think she must have been in WC3 because she was a recurring character.

Yes, she dies in WC3.

SPOILERS

 

[Arbiter]

The more interesting question is whether WC3 was the first game to let you choose one of multiple romance options.

Was WC3 the game that had FMV of real actors, one of whom was Mark Hamill? Funny how much I remember about that game, but I don't remember romance. I only remember Angel from the previous games, and I think she must have been in WC3 because she was a recurring character.

Yes, she dies in WC3.

SPOILERS

For a 1994 game?

 

[Lagole Gon]

I believe Siulajia is the original western waifu. That makes Treasures of the Savage Frontier the first cRPG with some kind of romantic ontent. Not counting weeb shit.

And Jarbarkas for the ladies.

 

[Grauken]

The more interesting question is whether WC3 was the first game to let you choose one of multiple romance options.

Was WC3 the game that had FMV of real actors, one of whom was Mark Hamill? Funny how much I remember about that game, but I don't remember romance. I only remember Angel from the previous games, and I think she must have been in WC3 because she was a recurring character.

Yes, she dies in WC3.

SPOILERS

For a 1994 game?

Rusty lives in the past

 

[Lemming42]

WC2, WC3 and WC4 are among the first "we're too bad at this to write a remotely passable movie, but since it's a videogame and nobody has any expectations of anything good, maybe we'll get away with writing absolute shit" games. Love watching McDowell struggle through the worst shit ever written, hair inexplicably brushed way back by the makeup department (probably just Chris Roberts himself with a cheap hairbrush) to reveal the full extent of his receded hairline. Just think about the money, Malcolm.

WC2 in particular just has a fucking nonsense plot, start to finish. The romance arc with Angel is so bad and comes out of nowhere. Your dumbass jock protag just spends the whole game being all "YOU GOTTA BELIEVE ME ANGEL, THEY WERE USIN' CLOAKED SHIPS!!!" and she's all "non! merci! sacre bleu! crossaint! mon cheri, you 'ave no evidence! en france, we cannot accept things wivout evidence!"

Then during one of these meetings, they embrace and kiss. Alright!

 

[Grauken]

WC2, WC3 and WC4 are among the first "we're too bad at this to write a remotely passable movie, but since it's a videogame and nobody has any expectations of anything good, maybe we'll get away with writing absolute shit" games. Love watching McDowell struggle through the worst shit ever written, hair inexplicably brushed way back by the makeup department (probably just Chris Roberts himself with a cheap hairbrush) to reveal the full extent of his receded hairline. Just think about the money, Malcolm.

At that time people believed in the convergence of games and movies. Thank god FMVs died out

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Fmv games were great because of the low budget.

 

[Grauken]

Fmv games were great because of the low budget.

Not sure if that's meant ironic, as those FMV games had usually much higher budgets than games without them. Sure the FMVs looked like shit, but they still cost a lot of money

 

[Infinitron]

The more interesting question is whether WC3 was the first game to let you choose one of multiple romance options.

Was WC3 the game that had FMV of real actors, one of whom was Mark Hamill? Funny how much I remember about that game, but I don't remember romance. I only remember Angel from the previous games, and I think she must have been in WC3 because she was a recurring character. I guess I need to go do some reading to remind myself of what was in the game.

Was there a Wing Commander game that forced you to lose the war regardless of how well you flew?

You literally got to pick which of the two ladies sitting at the bar you wanted to smooch. The other one would then storm off in a huff if you hadn't politely let her down first. Also one of them was Ginger Lynn.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Fmv games were great because of the low budget.

Flashback to Command and Conquer's silly Soviet campaign with the poisoned tea and the emotional woman getting her revenge and shooting the dude's corpse.

Edit: Also, the gun didn't even shoot blanks. The actors pretended the gun had recoil, and VFX added the muzzle flash later.

 

[Arbiter]

The more interesting question is whether WC3 was the first game to let you choose one of multiple romance options.

Was WC3 the game that had FMV of real actors, one of whom was Mark Hamill? Funny how much I remember about that game, but I don't remember romance. I only remember Angel from the previous games, and I think she must have been in WC3 because she was a recurring character.

Yes, she dies in WC3.

SPOILERS

For a 1994 game?

Rusty lives in the past

Spoiler

Oddysey is an ancient Greek poem attributed to Homer. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. At the end of the poem Odysseus returns to Ithaca, kills suitors competing for his wife Penelope's hand and is reunited with her.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Fmv games were great because of the low budget.

Flashback to Command and Conquer's silly Soviet campaign with the poisoned tea and the emotional woman getting her revenge and shooting the dude's corpse.

Love this stuff more than typical Hollywood crap.

 

[Arbiter]

Fmv games were great because of the low budget.

A low budget game with Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell?

 

[Lagole Gon]

I fixed the images you fucks, now give me some cool button rating!!!

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Fmv games were great because of the low budget.

A low budget game with Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell?

Ive never played the games and now I can't because I was spoilered.

 

[luj1]

There is a difference though between reading a romatic story and interactive romances in video games which are supposed to emulate real life experience

Romances are decline, not just for video games where core gameplay suffers, but represent societal decline as well

All these people who obsess over their "waifus" end up being mentally ill closet cucks who keep sex dolls in their basement