Romance in IF: The Best (and Worst) Love Interests

[Foulwarden]

This thread will focus on one of the most popular aspects of IF: romance options!

Discuss the most swoon-worthy or disappointing love interests.

Debate controversial relationships or love triangles.

(Example prompts)

☆ Who’s the best-written romance option in any IF, and why is it [character name]?

☆ Which game had the weakest romance option, and what could have made it better (could it even be better??)

☆ Have you ever been caught up in a love triangle that either made the game more exciting or left you frustrated?

 

[Yama]

hi
Best-written romance option, in my opinion, would be Ava from Wayhaven, Eledwen from the soul stone war, Lea from Northern Passage, and Alessa from the Golden Rose. I like them all the best because they are very well written and are slow burns that I like very much. I like how you get many cute moments with each of them without it getting too fast, and every scene is just very good.
/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ I like slow burns Oh, and romances with very interesting pasts are cool too. You'll get to learn so much about them after a while.

The weakest romance option, in my opinion, would be...uh....I don't have any in mind right now. I will come back to that later ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌

I think I hate when the romance option you want to romance has a romantic past with another romance option, and they always somehow put it into a conversation when I just want to talk about them '-'

Enemies to lovers romance option are cool tooooo! Some can be maybe very sad or painful, but I think that makes it so interesting ಥ‿ಥ

 

[Foulwarden]

hi
Best-written romance option, in my opinion, would be Ava from Wayhaven, Eledwen from the soul stone war, Lea from Northern Passage, and Alessa from the Golden Rose. I like them all the best because they are very well written and are slow burns that I like very much. I like how you get many cute moments with each of them without it getting too fast, and every scene is just very good.
/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ I like slow burns Oh, and romances with very interesting pasts are cool too. You'll get to learn so much about them after a while.

♡ My favorites are Ava (Wayhaven), Alessa (Golden Rose), Daelynn (Soul Stone War), Oriana (Infamous), and Sarah (The Bureau). I love their slow-burn romances (they're so soft), and I enjoy characters with realistic personalities.

× I HAAAATE that the cheating ex is a romance option in Spices of the Heart. It's so hard to move past their betrayal, and honestly, I couldn't take their route seriously. On the other hand, Celine (my love) is charming and has a great dynamic with the MC. It's such a missed opportunity that she's not a love interest.

 

[kijut89]

Well... I'm a sucker for characters like M and A from Wayhaven, had a grand old time with Straasa, Morkai, Daelynn, Eledwen. BLADE from Shepherds of Haven, Trouble from Shepherds of Haven, Ulysses, the shade and angel dude from Superstitition.

I can't stand the sequel ROs that are introduced but get friendzoned each time in the books. A is my exception because I can see their thoughts, but if someone is introduced only to be an RO in the next book (which may or may not come), I'm biased against them.

I find sunshine character romances to be the weakest. I dunno, those characters never seem to have depth behind being happy and I like my relationships to have some ups and downs. Basically, most writers fall to stereotypes when crafting ROs (enemies to lovers, cant be with you to lovers) but those stereotypes allow for the characters to be interesting/romance to be fun. The happy-go-lucky romance doesn't have that. Spoiler: I haven't romanced F from Wayhaven lol.

 

[Foulwarden]

The happy-go-lucky romance doesn't have that. Spoiler: I haven't romanced F from Wayhaven lol.

I think in book 3,4 F has shown depth beyond the “it’s all sunshine and rainbows” vibe.

 

[Dev2003]

My most Favorite are Sera and Julia Ortega from keeper and Fallen hero series. I also like Astrid and Lady Argent . They are well written and one of the most fan favorite.

As for bad romance hmm...
Maybe Jilian from zombie exodus xd ,didn't try her route because she tried to rob me.

Ironheart one of the best games which people rarely mention but the romance part is weak for most of the characters, only some characters are noteworthy.

Edit- Am I seeing falling leaves Animation in screen or am I delusion ?

 

[LosLorento]

For best-written romances I'd say Fallen Hero, Golden Rose, The Exile, and Shepherds of Haven. I just really like the character-to-character writing in these plus they're all fairly malleable (with Shepherds being the least flexible of the lot) in how you approach character-MC relationships too. Runners-up would be The Passenger and Infamous (kinda).

For weakest... I'd have to say Wayhaven, Creme de la Creme (and honestly the author's other works too - it's just not for me), The Keeper series, and Infamous (specifically Seven).

Wayhaven; while I enjoyed the routes in books 1&2 it really fell off for me in book 3. Especially for A as it's the type of slowburn that I detest; where the slow is glacial and the burn has been snuffed out without anything to lean on. If the third book had a more fleshed out plot to temper the slower romance it may have been a better experience for me. It also doesn't help that aside from romantic tension there isn't really any real stakes for the cast.

Creme de la Creme (and associated works) and The Keeper series I found the romances to be fairly shallow and one-note. Keeper specifically had copy-paste date scenes for all 10 of it's ROs (most egregious in the first game, but the second had a few as well - not to mention that Cressidia/Cyrus have the exact same character route just genderswapped) and CdlC wasn't memorable in the slightest outside of Blaine (who I only remember because they were initially antagonistic and then they just disappear unless you go down a very specific route).

And for Infamous; Seven as an RO just doesn't work for me (at the moment at least). I personally just can't see a way, as it currently stands, for the MC and Seven to reconcile without ending up in an relationship were they both walk on eggshells around each other. Maybe the author will prove me wrong, maybe not but right now I'm of the belief that both Seven and the MC would do better for themselves by just cutting ties entirely. I also wished we had the context for the fight already so I can once and for all decide on the matter (this is honestly my biggest issue with Seven tbh).

And lastly, I avoid love triangles/cheating in games because I just don't find it fun unless the former has the potential to end in a poly of some sort (because then I'm of the mindset of why choose?).

 

[Hitoshura_tdn]

Imo the best romance in the cog/hg catalogue is Breden from choice of rebels. No RO has had me invested in the relationship as much as her, mainly due to the writing of the book.

Plus I like playing arrogant nobles in games. And the troupe of a person in a higher position in life falling for someone that is in a different sphere in their life is one of my favourites.

My least favourite is the aromatic romances in the Creme de la Creme series, the romances in there are a bit lacking in certain aspects, but the aromatic romances are even more bare bones.

 

[DumbOrbit81]

I honestly really loved playing Arcadie: Second Born, I loved Cyril, and Arcadie: Second Born was the reason I started being into interactive fiction. The Romance between Cyril and the MC is one of those very soft and loving couples that always support each other kind of like Queen Elora, They both have these amazing qualities as kind and passionate towards who and what they love, Queen Elora (Crown of Exile) is always there to comfort the MC and reassure them that She loves the MC and will never let someone say they aren't enough for her. I loved most of the ROs in Wayhaven however I'm kind of a huge fan of soft romances so I'm more into Nat and Farah ( I'm a sucker for Nat, her character has my heart for reals ) but sometimes I do like a more complex romance like Morgan (Wayhaven) or Kaia (When Twilight strikes).
I find some of these complex romances really interesting and grew to love them more while playing When the Twilight Strikes, Kaia in fact, she is a really interesting character and has complex emotions and conflicting feelings towards MC for a number of reasons leaving her a little afraid of these feelings because of past experiences.

( I only didn't speak more of Cyril and Nat because of spoilers really )
( If you have questions about them or want to talk about them start a chat)
Anyway, these are in my opinion the best-written romances I have ever read (I also have been keeping an eye on Athena ( Apartment 502 ) and Hestia and Lea van Laere from ( Within Your Eyes ).

As for the disappointing ones
I would say I don't remember ....................

(if any of this doesn't make sense , my first language isn't english)

( Also would love some recommendations to other ifs with ROs with similar romance vibes )

 

[Foulwarden]

(if any of this doesn't make sense , my first language isn't english)

You speak like you invented the language, so you're GOOD don't worry
100000000/10 score for you

 

[Foulwarden]

In the future you are my best friend IF:

I would kiss the hand that created this masterpiece. The fact that it actually updates regularly?? That author deserves the world on a silver platter.

And don’t even get me started on the romance
Melon, my beloved princess, is everything. What’s not to adore about a woman who opens a portal to the past to rescue you? If that isn’t peak romance, I don’t know what is.

 

[kijut89]

In the future you are my best friend IF:

I would kiss the hand that created this masterpiece. The fact that it actually updates regularly?? That author deserves the world on a silver platter.

And don’t even get me started on the romance
Melon, my beloved princess, is everything. What’s not to adore about a woman who opens a portal to the past to rescue you? If that isn’t peak romance, I don’t know what is.

Could you recommend romance IFs/WIPs that are pretty deep in but aren't like super popular? I'm reading the same stuff over and over I feel

 

[Foulwarden]

Could you recommend romance IFs/WIPs that are pretty deep in but aren't like super popular? I'm reading the same stuff over and over I feel

At this moment, nothing comes to mind. However, if I do remember or come across something like that, I will send it.

 

[Foulwarden]

Could you recommend romance IFs/WIPs that are pretty deep in but aren't like super popular? I'm reading the same stuff over and over I feel

Have you read The porthecrawl witness?

 

[kijut89]

Have you read The porthecrawl witness?

Nope, going to explore! Thanks v v much

 

[luckz]

In the future you are my best friend IF:

I would kiss the hand that created this masterpiece. The fact that it actually updates regularly?? That author deserves the world on a silver platter.

And don’t even get me started on the romance
Melon, my beloved princess, is everything. What’s not to adore about a woman who opens a portal to the past to rescue you? If that isn’t peak romance, I don’t know what is.

Just wanted to say thanks a lot for recommending this. I've known this IF since forever but always thought the LI is female-genderlocked but still tried it blindly after reading your post and just....
I JUST WANT THE FULL GAME NOW! Reading that the full game is already written is just teasing me like WHEN WILL THE FULL GAME AVAILABLE PLEASE AND THANKYOU
It's been a while since I cried like a baby over a LI that is down bad for MC so the author is definitely one of my favorites now

 

[CaitLatteMacchiato]

While lurking I found this thread just now....if you got recs for characters kinda similar to Alessa, Shay..... DROP 'EM!

Even better if it's full of romance, i am gonna eat it up like a starved dog

 

[Foulwarden]

While lurking I found this thread just now....if you got recs for characters kinda similar to Alessa, Shay..... DROP 'EM!

Even better if it's full of romance, i am gonna eat it up like a starved dog

Daelynn (Soul Stone War) is pretty similar to Alessa, also Melon (In the future you're my best friend), Arden (When twilight strikes), Nat (Wayhaven), Eli (Citadel), Sam or Tobin (College Tennis: Origin Story), Jane (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - An affair of the heart), Ash (Vendetta), Raffi (Honor Bound)

 

[CaitLatteMacchiato]

Daelynn (Soul Stone War) is pretty similar to Alessa, also Melon (In the future you're my best friend), Arden (When twilight strikes), Nat (Wayhaven), Eli (Citadel), Sam or Tobin (College Tennis: Origin Story), Jane (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - An affair of the heart), Ash (Vendetta), Raffi (Honor Bound)

THANKS! i will play these ifs now, thank you a lot