Are romances necessary to enjoy the game?

No. In fact, the romances, while varied, can't really keep pace with the amount of time you can spend within the game exploring everything.

It helps if you care about at least SOME of the characters, since they develop over time. Only you can decide whether or not that's worth sticking around for, however.

You can't drum up feelings for anyone? Really? Not even your twin?

Not really. I romance Jaal and his romance works well with both the plot and his LM, but other than his romance, I find they can be skipped, good friendships formed and still get enjoyment out of it. Bonding with my crew has made me love them just as much as I loved my DAI companions.

I suppose you and I approach RPGs very differently, as I was super-stressed something terrible was going to happen to him my first playthrough, and it kept with me up until the very end. Alec's fate probably didn't faze you, either, I'm guessing.

The reason I asked, is you can absolutely have emotional connections with characters within these types of games without it being romantic.

I am glad you are reassured. Nothing anyone says can invalidate your feelings. Have fun, play what you wish however you wish. Cheers.

Are they necessary, no but to me like in most bioware games they elevate that enjoyment. Who knows if I'd found any of the dai romances half decent it might have lessened my frustrations with that game.

Dorian, the man who singlehandedly saved Orlais in my verse. Otherwise those rifts would have already swallowed it, and, likely, by now, Fereldain as well.

If you're that weirded out by romancing someone you "have authority over", I would think Peebee, Jaal, Reyes, Keri and Avela would all still be fine. You don't really have any authority over them. They work with you because they choose to and could leave at any time. Not everyone you can romance is really dedicated Tempest crew. The off ship romances, especially, seem like a good choice for you. It seems basically in every game there are LIs that I wouldn't say the PC actually have authority over. In fact, it's pretty common for LIs to do their own thing in major, dramatic ways with or without your approval, like Anders, Isabela, Solas, Reyes, etc.

Ding ding diiiiing

I like the romances.  I like this aspect of role playing.  For me, relationship building (not just romance, but friendships) is a very important part of this type of game.  

Now, I don't view having sex with a superior officer to necessarily be "rapey".  I mean, does anyone really think Kaidan or Ashley could be forced into this kind of thing?  And Liara wasn't even a regular part of the command chain other than that she chose to follow him.

For ME2, everything seems consensual.  Though a warship it was not military.  It was technically civilian.  I don't think anything is forced there though I understand parts of romance (or fling, maybe?) with Jack can be creepy.  She cries during sex or something?  Other than that, everything seemed entirely consensual.

In ME3, I think we had opportunity for romances to have continued from the past or even start up with someone we've known for a while.  Not creepy.  Traynor is amusing with her shower scene but that seems more her hitting on Shepard than the other way around.  Cortez is weird because of all the crying so to me it's always seemed too much like taking advantage of him so I can't do it.  Don't know anything about Allers but she has definitely flirted with Shepard so she knows what she's doing.  Kaidan definitely made the first move in ME3, regardless of whether previously romanced or not.  Their relationship was contentions enough since ME2 and Kaidan seemed to be the one seeing flirts where I, at least, never noticed.  

If your entire life is dedicated to living on a warship and fighting bad guys, a relationship might be difficult to find.  Is it really fair to ask the ship's commander to remain celibate or confined to hook ups on shore leave just because s/he has that rank?  I don't think so.  Since the likelihood of being dead pretty soon is very high, I want to give Shepard some happiness while they can get it.

I think this depends on the nature of the game and how you headcanon things.

DAO's Warden is not a true authority figure. Alistair is the senior Warden, and everyone else joins the merry band because they want to help. The Warden has no authority over anyone in the group.

DA2's Hawke is just the tie that binds a bunch of disparate people together, and so is also no authority here.

With both DAI's Inquisitor and MEA's Pathfinder, you can play the character as being reluctant in their role. With both of these games, the character doesn't really have a choice, so they could very well just not see most of the followers in the Inner Circle as subordinates. I sort of play my Inquisitor this way. I certainly don't look at the Inner Circle as subordinate, especially not Dorian as my LI. Every single one of them is free to leave. I would argue that these roles are different from the Inquisition grunts out in the field.

I would say that, as Pathfinder, Ryder has the most authority over Cora and Liam, and Kallo, Suvi, Gil, and Lexi as crew of the Tempest; Ryder is the captain of the Tempest. All of the other squad join under their own initiative.

But in the end, the characters are always portrayed as independent and the game doesn't allow you to coerce them. It's a consensual relationship.



I can't speak to other DAI romances, but I do think this is the case with Dorian. The friendship arc is really nice, and also meaningful; I don't take away from that. But if you don't do the romance, you can't really understand the true depth of his pain in how he's never been able to have a true emotional attachment that went beyond sex. The man is practically starved for affection.

I would say it's important for a character like Isabela, and also Fenris as well, given their histories. Gil also finds his purpose in falling in love with Scott.


But you know... I think it's fair, and also realistic, for them to have the characters be this way. There are some things we only share with our romantic partners. These are often the people that know us the best, who we're most intimate with and close to, physically and emotionally. I'm glad I can know the characters on a deeper level only if I choose to romance them. It makes it feel as if they're letting me in, allowing me to see this part of themselves, and being vulnerable. Falling in love with someone makes you vulnerable to them.

They're necessary for me. The only reason I ever picked up a BioWare game in the first place is because they let me be gay.