Justin and Feena in Grandia. Such an innocent, feel-good, run-of-the-mill love story between two clueless kids that gets pretty well established through the whole game. One of the few that has a payoff of five kids in the epilogue.
The relationship between my female Elf and Alistair in Dragon Age: Origins.
SPOILERS: I was so gutted that I couldn't marry him and be queen, and then when he broke it off and we acknowledged the effects of the taint on us, it was genuinely moving. I ended up sacrificing myself in the final mission so that he could have a chance to be king.
Manny and Meche from Grim Fandango. Any of the Lucasarts graphic adventures for that matter. Love is always something that just happens, is often awkward and humiliating and slowly develops in minute ways rather than the sweeping melodrama that most games make it out to be. Anyone who suggests any JRPG as ever having had a realistic romantic subplot is off their rocker.
The Prince & Elika develops from romance at its best to romance at its absolute worst. I was very, very impressed by that game.
I keep hearing people reference that one. Really that good? I remember liking the Prince and Farah in Sands of Time, and her memory (or lack thereof) of their time together made for an interesting framing device for the whole story.
Best videogame romance, accept no substitutes.
I preferred how they handled the Farah story over the Elika one - although that might just be because I didn't care for Nolan North as: Nolan North, the Asshole Prince. He felt out of place in that world, and I think that made his relationship with Elika seem really forced - although the ending was actually quite touching, in a depressing sort of way. Farah also didn't go on and on about random Gods and shit the whole game. Like, Elika is fine and all, but seriously, no one cares about your fake Zoroastrian mythology. Ugh.
But yeah, SoT's romance made more sense in the context of the 'fairy-tale' nature of the game, and like BisonHero said, allowed for a very well done framing device for the whole game - one that gave it more depth than the 2008 game, I think.
I'm going to throw in another vote for the Sands of Time. While I remember enjoying that part of 2008 POP too, I can't really remember that much of anything from it. I still recall every beat of the Sands of Time romance, including the quick back and forth between Farah and the prince ("I'll meet you at the baths she said"). The ending of it was brilliant, how she didn't remember anything, and how he sort of proved everything with that special word just as he was on the way out.
It is absolutely Sonic and Elise from Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. Never has a video game romance felt so real, while at the same time defying expectations. This unlikely chances to meet, bond, and in their interactions form a lasting, loving bond. This is perhaps the most sincere a video game romance has ever been. Just watch the chemistry:
I wish I could find the GFW Heroes Of The Web of the Sonic freak freaking out about Sonic kissing Elise IN FRONT OF AMY FUCKING ROSE! Shawn Elliott acting out that rage was hilarious!
I wish I could find the GFW Heroes Of The Web of the Sonic freak freaking out about Sonic kissing Elise IN FRONT OF AMY FUCKING ROSE! Shawn Elliott acting out that rage was hilarious!
I would say my Shepard's romance with Kaidan in the Mass Effect series. While they ending was, eh, the romance thread throughout all three games was fantastic. I was totally engaged and they had some really great moments.
Course, most people kill off Kaidan so it's not like it's something everyone would see.
As just a story romance, and not one in which the player is actively participating or making choices, Drake and Elena from Uncharted are tops. I felt like I feel in a really good movie, it transcended being a *game* romance and became just a good story. You wanted them to make it, which made the weird story choices in the third game kind of infuriating, especially since they weren't really explained all that well. Anyway, that's more of a game criticism, not a criticism of the actual romance.
Nate and Elena from Uncharted have by far the best romance in a video game. Naughty Dog managed to use dialogue between the pair to reveal brief moments of intimacy between the two characters in such a way that it came across as entirely believable. They didn't resort to moral choices or scripted sex scenes with nudity etc in order to try and make the romance between the two obvious. They used good writing and tact to show the pair have a very on-again-off-again relationship that, by Uncharted 3 at least, had ended in some form of estranged marriage. Something that for anyone who has been in a real relationship can agree, it's not always an easy journey and undoubtedly every couple have their problems and a few bumps along the way, which Uncharted managed to get across to players beautifully.
Jahiera in Baldur's Gate II was fairly well developed. Especially in terms of Jahiera's history prior in the previous title, and the sort of internal struggle that induced.
Geralt has an interesting relationship with Trish during Witcher II as well. That relationship could be played more or less similar to the books, depending how you role played Geralt.
Aside from those, Eve and Joker in ME3 was kind of funny and endearing, so I think it was one of the better romances in a game even if it played for humour in a lot of situations (or because of that).
After romancing a pining cheating queen, an adolescent witch, and the voluptuous traveling merchant. Then the Dragon decided to kidnap the game's main blacksmith a bald portly dude who apparently had more "friendship status" with me due to the garbage i kept giving him to get discounts and unlock extra items. I never even talked to the blacksmith romantically or otherwise, just bought shit from him. So imagine my surprise. Also my character was a stocky muscled bearded dwarf.
Having rescued the blacksmith from the Dragon there was much kissing and rugged man love.
Mass Effect. All of it. You name it. Shepard/Liara. Shepard/Garrus. Shepard/Tali. Garrus/Tali. Shepard/Wrex. Shepard/Mordin. Kelly/Varren. Shepard/Reaper. Reaper/Reaper. Shepard/Shepard.
The one in Uncharted is pretty good. The rest I'm about to mention are just some that are Ok that stick out in my mind.
Valkyria Chronicles has Welkin and Alicia who are sort of fun together. Okami has one thats cute, but not especially deep between Susano and Kushi.
There are brief moments in Red Dead Redemption between Bonnie and John Marston that seems like she fancies him. Also once you get back on the Marston property John's scenes with his wife are nice.
In Mother 3 even though Flint and Hinawa spend no screen time together, you really do get a sense for what Hinawa means to Flint, just by his actions through out the game.
I really liked how Enslaved: Odyssey to the West handled the relationship between Monkey and Trip. The voice acting and animation was really really good.
Nate and Elena from Uncharted have by far the best romance in a video game. Naughty Dog managed to use dialogue between the pair to reveal brief moments of intimacy between the two characters in such a way that it came across as entirely believable. They didn't resort to moral choices or scripted sex scenes with nudity etc in order to try and make the romance between the two obvious. They used good writing and tact to show the pair have a very on-again-off-again relationship that, by Uncharted 3 at least, had ended in some form of estranged marriage. Something that for anyone who has been in a real relationship can agree, it's not always an easy journey and undoubtedly every couple have their problems and a few bumps along the way, which Uncharted managed to get across to players beautifully.
I love Elena and Nate, but I felt they fumbled it a bit in Uncharted 3 when they didn't convey the whole estranged marriage angle well enough.
Oh man, the part where she stabs him at the end and he kinda realizes that even having accomplished so much, he's really got nothing was fantastic. I just adore that game.
Best one I can think of (if you can really call it a romance), is Snake and Boss in MGS3.
I almost wish that you found out that she was loyal to the US to the very end before your showdown with her. I think it'd have made it even more heartbreaking knowing she was innocent and was dying to save her country rather than for having done anything wrong. Still, the ending as-is is one of the best emotional sucker punches I've ever seen in a game.
It is absolutely Sonic and Elise from Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. Never has a video game romance felt so real, while at the same time defying expectations. This unlikely chances to meet, bond, and in their interactions form a lasting, loving bond. This is perhaps the most sincere a video game romance has ever been. Just watch the chemistry:
Sonic + Elise 4EVER
That... That can't be real. There's no way this is a real thing that actually happened in a video game. Right? Everything about this is so... I think I need to lie down.
When I played the Mass Effect games as a female Shepard, I did romances with Liara in ME1, Jacob in ME2, and Kaiden in ME3. I realized that Kaiden and Liara were my favorites.
Between Johnny and River's first childhood encounter, the post-rewrite montage with Laura Shigihara's "Everything's Alright," and finally the realization of the ideal ending Johnny yearned for deep down inside embedded in his last request -- the entire romance of To The Moon is the best, most bittersweet experience of love I've gone through in a video game. That soundtrack was the icing on the cake.
For a completely serious answer this time around (though Nate & Sully do make for quite the enchanting bromance), Jackie and Jenny from both The Darkness games was rather touching.
I lost my shit a few times during The Darkness II.
Jackie and Jenny are the only reason i want to play a Darkness 3, so I'll go with them.
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