Interview Torment: Tides of Numenera Interview at GRY-Online

[rogozhin]

There was a time modern Germany couldn't exist without killing Jews. I really hate those arguments.

Besides, nobody has ever managed to successulfy graft romance onto a good sci-fi story. Ever.

Aldous Huxley and the screenwriter for Blade Runner would like to have a word with you in that darkened alley around the corner.

Ok, never except twice.

 

[Western]

There was a time modern Germany couldn't exist without killing Jews. I really hate those arguments.

Besides, nobody has ever managed to successulfy graft romance onto a good sci-fi story. Ever.

Aldous Huxley and the screenwriter for Blade Runner would like to have a word with you in that darkened alley around the corner.

Ok, never except twice.

I'd also like to nominate Gattaca, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Back to the Future.

 

[rogozhin]

I enjoyed romantic dialogue in BG2. I don't remember anybody complaining about it back when the game came out.
I think contemporary 3D games kind of spoiled the concept, when the supposed climax of a "love story" in the game is the sight of angular polygonal shapes awkwardly shifting around each other. (there's a joke about intersections in there somewhere)

BG2 was already a step in the wrong direction, though. I felt like Annah's / Deionarra's and Safiya's romance plots were alright since they actually added to the story, were kept tasteful and also dealt with themes of uncertainty and loss instead of the Biowarean "pick your waifu out of a fine selection of bisexual elves/aliens, choose the right dialogue options, be rewarded with sex and supposedly live happily ever after" concept which is just a very sad form of escapism and feels like a tamagotchi minigame. BG2 didn't really venture into uncanny valley territory since it was text-based and had a fade-to-black instead of polygon sex scenes, but it was already pretty shallow and juvenile.

 

[Morality Games]

michael bay shit

lol no

> obviously not serious.

Although I'm sure there was one good sci-fi romance story, I'm not sure where.

 

[MrBuzzKill]

pick your waifu

Eh, guess you have a point there. They even play the "romance music" in certain dialogues to let you know that they're going to be furthering your "relationship". Though without over-analyzing it, I still find them pretty enjoyable, call it a guilty pleasure or something.

 

[Morality Games]

Besides, in Blade Runner, romance could only be described as 'good' in terms of how it hit the same themes and impressionist beats as the rest of the film. Dramatically, in its own right, it isn't much to speak of.

 

[throwaway]

I don't remember anybody complaining about it back when the game came out.

Hopefully an oversight. Nalia was shameful.

 

[Perkel]

I enjoyed romantic dialogue in BG2. I don't remember anybody complaining about it back when the game came out.
I think contemporary 3D games kind of spoiled the concept, when the supposed climax of a "love story" in the game is the sight of angular polygonal shapes awkwardly shifting around each other. (there's a joke about intersections in there somewhere)

That is because those "romances" were important to character developement. Like for example Viconia changing her aliment by end of game (if you choose so). Sure Aerie one was kind of modern biowarish sitcom drama but at least that romance plot had different resolutions (like bard "stealing" her). Jaheira as widow was most interesting one of them and all of those characters didn't need to be romance targets to be interesting characters in first place and if you wouldn't start romance with them they would switch to friend characters interesting on their own.

Point is that for all characters involved they were part of creating their characters where in modern casual gamer/bioware writer level romance is like fucking prize waiting for you at the end of journey to watch 2 minute cutscene before you final moments just before end of the world.

Good romance is hard to pull of especially if player character is part of it. That is why best romance subplots in games are mostly not fully realized romances.

Modern Bioware has only one good romance and it is Samara from ME2. Because it was used to show her character as Justicar instead of being fuck me i am hot MILF waiting for you to plow my justicar ass. Her braking romance was proof that she meant what she said about being Justicar even if she had moments of waver.

As of Safiya romance plot in MoTB. I think it was bad romance. I get that it was meant to brake Wizard of T. clishe but overall that subplot didn't have time to mature over course of game and it felt like another Aerie angst romance. Still props for devs for not including hot moments in bioware way.

 

[rogozhin]

As of Safiya romance plot in MoTB. I think it was bad romance. I get that it was meant to brake Wizard of T. clishe but overall that subplot didn't have time to mature over course of game and it felt like another Aerie angst romance. Still props for devs for not including hot moments in bioware way.

The romance dialogue itself was neither well written nor well timed, but I liked the way the romance was tied to the main story and gave you a way to identify your character's motives with Akachi's. It would have been far more difficult to empathize with the Founder without Safiya, and at the same time meeting the Founder added both a deeper connection and an element of uncertainty to the relationship between the PC and Safiya. Thus the romance actually became part of the story instead of a gimmick for people to masturbate and/or gigglesquee to.

 

[Perkel]

Yeah that is true.

Maybe designers created simply romance with Safiya for that plot purpose ? Thus making it mediacore as romance itself is not part of character bulding but plot building.