Obsidian Entertainment has been responsible for some great role-playing games. First coming to my attention with Fallout: New Vegas, the company has since released several other RPG titles such as The Outer Worlds and Avowed that have garnered both praise and criticism from fans, with the former becoming something of a cult hit in the years since its release. Fans of these titles have been rather vocal about the subject of romanceable NPCs and how romance as a mechanic is completely missing from Obsidian’s titles, something that seems to be a staple in other AAA role-playing games. While Obsidian has given their reasons for straying away from romance questlines and fans seem to be on the fence about whether or not they want them in Obsidian’s games, the inclusion of romance questlines in future RPG titles could likely make these games even more enjoyable.
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It is no secret that romance questlines in RPGs are popular. You only need to bring up Baldur’s Gate 3 to a fan for them to start gushing over their favorite characters and the game’s well-written romance plotlines. When executed well, romance becomes a great way for players to become immersed in the game and engage with their favorite non-playable characters. It can even become a reason to start a new playthrough of a title if you struggled to decide who to pursue in your first run. Even surface-level romance mechanics can increase a player’s engagement in an RPG; to this day, I still see people talking about their marriages made using Skyrim’s bare-bones romance system.
Despite some calling Avowed the spiritual successor of Skyrim, it is yet another Obsidian RPG that lacks a real romance questline, a tradition dating (pun intended) all the way back to the studio’s involvement in Fallout: New Vegas. With the incredible companion characters featured in Obsidian’s RPGs, it’s no surprise why this upsets some of their fans.
This is no mistake on Obsidian Entertainment’s part, but rather a calculated decision made by the company to reduce development times. Avowed’s game director Carrie Patel said in an interview with IGN, “Ultimately, I personally am a fan of making that an option, but I feel like if you’re going to do it, you really, really have to commit and make sure that you’re giving all to fulfilling that in a way that feels both true to the character, but also creates an engaging player experience. So [it’s] not something we’re doing for Avowed, but I wouldn’t say never.”
Patel essentially states that Obsidian is weary of the time and commitment needed to make full-fledged romantic plotlines for their characters. This sentiment was also echoed shortly after the release of The Outer Worlds, but with much fewer specifics given as to the reasoning why.
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Interestingly, while Patel said that romanceable companions are not something that will be present in Avowed at launch, the full quote does hint at the possibility of romance mechanics being featured in future Obsidian titles. With the nature of post-launch updates in games these days, and the updates to Avowed’s NPCs already made by Obsidian after the game’s launch, there still remains a possibility that romance could be added to Avowed at a later date.
While Obsidian seems to be cautious about the work involved in creating romantic questlines in their titles, one could say that they already have the groundwork made for some incredible NPC romances.
It isn’t just that Obsidian has written some of the most incredible non-player characters in gaming, but that they also haven’t shied away from romance and relationships completely in their titles. Obsidian games are known for their fleshed-out, platonic relationships with their companion characters, oftentimes including a few flirtatious lines that hint towards romance without going the full distance. These relationships are so well-written that players often look back to Fallout: New Vegas and find themselves surprised by the lack of romance mechanics, misremembering just how close they got to the NPCs in-game due to the incredible bonds Obsidian forms between player and companion.
