Describe Your Favorite Romance (spoilers)

Revi · Post by **Revi** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:35 am

Almost everyone who plays Baldur's Gate II is familiar with the romances, as just one of the many things that make this game the unique and rich experience that it is. In addition to the 4 romancable NPCs that come with the vanilla game, there are many romance mods floating about the internet. I would love to hear about your favorite experiences with any romancable NPC of your choice.

Let's start a discussion about one of my favorite subjects, and one of the things you really cannot argue about, because it's a very personal thing: love! What is it that makes that special person in Baldur's Gate II so special for you? Which moments in the romance especially got to you, how did you feel that first time Bodhi stole your love away from you?

-Revi

EDIT: 4! I meant 4! :laugh:

Revi · Post by **Revi** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:36 am

I will start it off with short descriptions of one of my favorite romancable characters, Sarah [url="http://www.gibberlings3.net/sarah/"](Gibberlings Three)[/url].

Sarah is a ranger, and as a character she fits perfectly into any SoA party. She comes without any magical equipment, and her portrait fits very well with the other vanilla NPC portraits. But that isn't what makes her special!

First of all, she is a lesbian girl, and she will romance your female protagonist. What I loved about her was her laidback character. No traumatised childhood, godly heritage or weepy insecurity here... she is, by Baldur's Gate standards, a very normal person with a healthy upbringing in the woods. It doesn't make her boring though, you will still have to win her heart by showing interest in the things she loves.

She has one background-infused conflict (a broken relationship with her mother), but here again, you are rewarded by not being the judgmental do-goody that most good-aligned romances require you to be, but rather by keeping a fairly neutral stance, like "we will have to see how this develops, don't judge your mom too harshly until you know the whole story."

I also loved the way the girl & girl thing was worked out. Rather than treat it as something really special and sexy, very different from a 'boring' heterosexual relationship, it was treated as a very natural thing (which I think is how it should be!). She didn't even do any Anomen-bashing (I think)!

Enough talk from me, let's hear some of you! :laugh:

-Revi

CFM · Post by **CFM** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:14 pm

My first and only run through the game I had Keldorn, Minsc, Jaheira, Aerie, and Yoshimo/Imoen, with no mods. I picked the Jaheira romance because:

- I have a soft spot for the BG1 returnees,

- I heard/read that the Jaheira romance had the most detailed character arc of any in the vanilla game,

- and most importantly, hers was the one romance accessible from SoA start to ToB finish with my lineup (I knew I would be replacing Aerie with You-Know-Who in ToB).

I would always do one of the available romances on any play-through, because I view the "romances" as nothing more than an in-game vehicle for character and story development.

While I grew attached to my cool little group, I never felt any actual libido towards any of 'em.

When I play BG and other games, I use self-imposed rules, such as only sleeping at night once a day, keeping reloads to a minimum, etc. This helps simulate a real experience, which helps perpetuate the whole suspension-of-disbelief thing, which yields the escapism entertainment that I'm there for. Constantly reloading, for example, feels too gamey. Escapism is what it's all about for me.

Yet as much as I try, I'm unable to get lost enough in the game, so as to develop anything resembling real world emotions for any of the fictional characters. If you are able to place yourself so far into the game, that you're able to actually do this with one of the characters... well then Cheers! I salute you.

On a side note, what's so boring about heterosexual relationships? Unless you don't like dudes, which I can certainly understand. If I was a chick, I'd be totally gay.

Thrifalas · Post by **Thrifalas** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 2:33 pm

It's 4 romancable NPCs. And personally, the romances are one thing of the game that I never bothered with. I like the music that play, but that's about it.

To begin with, it feels very forced and unfitting. Random dialogues coming in all the wrong places. I can understand the regular banters, but romantic banters shouldn't be like that. Also, I never cared much for the romancable NPCs. Aerie is whiny and weak, Jaheira is dull and stiff, Viconia is boring and annoying. Anomen is Anomen.

The only girl in-game that would be moderately interesting for a romance would be Immy. She's the only one not suffering from having a very annoying character. For females, I bet Edwin would be hillarious. Or something like that.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad concept, but it's was performed disasterously. Three annoying elves and anoweenie. No thanks.

Now that you mention it though, I might try out some romance mod in the future, just because I've never done it. Having Sola and actually accepting the romance for once. Or trying the Immy mod. Or if another nice one get's mentioned here. I'll keep watching this thread.

Berethor · Post by **Berethor** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:52 pm

In the core game, I prefer the Jaheira romance over the others because it feels more like a genuine romance, since you had travelled with her before in BG1 and actually developed a friendship. The same *could* be said about Viconia , but she's very agressive until the very end of the relationship.

I tried out the Saerilith mod, and the romance was cute, but there was a bug that crashed the game when it tries to load a new area for her exclusive quest.

I also tried the Tashia mod and it's romance was interesting. She's very reclusive for a long time.

Revi · Post by **Revi** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 5:18 am

This forum has a weird way of crashing my browser every once in a while, my apologies for not having been able to post here for a while

Today it seems to be fixed through some magical means...

Thank you all for your insightful and interesting responses... I agree with a lot of things beign said here. I can understand why the 'bad timing' makes the romances feel pretty forced for some. And I understand what people see in Jaheira (though I don't see it myself).

Immy is indeed awesome... if she didn't feel so much like my little sister I would try out her romance mod. The romance system could certainly have been implemented much better, but I believe the game deserves credit for having the system in the first place... considering its an RPG from the 90s

In response to CFM:

I do get lost a bit too much in the game sometimes, just like I can get really well into pen & paper RPG. I try to immerse myself in my character, and a fitting romance is part of that. However, it's still just a game, and it's not like the feelings remain once I shut it down :laugh:

For me, roleplaying is exploring different aspects of myself. In one game I play a femme fatale, in another a sweet and innocent girl, in a third a bitter, power-hungry maniac. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, but because these are all aspects of my true self, I can immerse myself pretty well. The immersion only breaks when there is a lack of certain dialog options.

And about 'boring' heterosexual relationships... what I meant with that line is not that I consider heterosexual relationships boring, but that it would have been an easy, cheap point to make for the Sarah mod, and that I am grateful for the fact they didn't go for that.

I still find it a pity the romance system didn't get carried over to other D&D CRPGs. I'm currently playing the official campaign of NWN2, and find myself wishing I could romance Casavir.

-Revi

Elstarrion · Post by **Elstarrion** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:38 am

Personally I enjoyed the Aerie romance greatly, although my memory may have been influenced by the initial rush of being able to romance anybody (she was the only female in my group as I didn't bother picking up viconia and sorta left jaheira in her cell

). Especially towards the end when she became less and less shy and more sexual. Granted I have laughed a few times because of the dialogues knack for appearing at inappropriate times but I still found it thoroughly enjoyable and interesting as you learn more about their background.

I am currently playing with minsc imoen and the three romance options available to a male (non mod that is) and I have a question about it since it's turned out rather awkward. Basically I picked them all up as quickly as possible, did some minor quests for cash and set out after imoen. The dialogues sparked to life and I always tried to lean towards jaheira this time for the reasons posted above without pissing of the others too much. Anyway I got to the part in the underdark where Pheare tries to seduce you, and I was presented with the choice of all three. intending to once again lean towards jaheira I chose her and sure enough when I leave the room she says she is glad I got away from the Pheare, and right after viconia says something similar and then Aerie.

Is this supposed to happen? I thought that you basically had to choose one romance option. Will this prevent me from getting further with jaheira later? (postnote, were can you download the mods you guys are talking about? They sound awesome

)

wise grimwald · Post by **wise grimwald** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:31 am

I personally like the Saerileth romance, because that is what it is. If you're looking for lust rather than romance this will not be for you. I particularly like it when playing a Paladin, for unlike Aerie, she doesn't jump into bed with you without so much as a "by your leave".