Disappointed romance
Maybe small spoilers here and there.
I just want to express the disappointment I feel about the romance in this game. I would like to start by saying that I liked all companion, I liked their stories, their missions.
We haven't seen many fantasy RPG games with properly developed relationship building, and deep character stories but Bioware was always outstanding in this genre, I think that's why many of us loved their games (and of course because of the storytelling, but i'm here for the romance this time). That's why I had high expectations for Veilguard, because I'm someone who likes to fall in love with fictional characters and then entertain myself for days, weeks, even months by making up stories between my character and her imaginary partner. I was really bothered that the companions were almost not interested in Rook at all. Rook solved their problems, she was there for them, but nobody was cared about how Rook feels. If a little bit more personal question came up, the topic was soon changed. The optional faction background story mattered very minimally, which could have had a lot of potential. The main element of an RPG game is perhaps that it should be based on our personal responses as much as possible.
It also bothered me that I didn't feel at all in the game that Rook would be in a romantic relationship with the chosen companion. After the commitment there were hardly any personal interactions between them. There were no personal small conversations, or cute touches.. (maybe I was too spoiled with Cullen in DAI, or maybe time just beautifies memories, I don't really know anymore..)
The companions developed a deeper connection with each other than Rook had with her love interest. Seriously, I hated to travel with Emmrich-Bellara or Emmrich-Harding together because I always started to feel jealous when they talked with each other about cute little nothings sometimes :D
The only one who asked questions was actually Solas..
It would have been nice to see at least one emotional hug, or at least to hear soothing words for example after Rook is escaped from the Fade prison.. because she's only get like 1 sentence.. at least from Emmrich. Or to talk about the huge responsibility that weighs on Rook's shoulders. I know, that's why Varric was there, but it would have been nice to hear some kind words time to time from the loved one too. (Well, if the voice actors are expensive, then use at least the Lighthouse missives) And the most disappointment we can't even interact them in the Lighthouse.
It's sad because all companions seems so interesting, and i wanted to spend more personal time (not questing time) with them, like just talking or anything.
And i really miss the drama between characters too.
This is a very sensitive and embarassing topic, I know, because you can easily say to me "go and have a life and don't expect everything from a game." - I have a life, but that's what games are all about, right? To escape reality. To be a hero, to take part in great adventures, meet others and to form relationships with exciting people who don't exist in reality. If this title were a game from another studio, I would accept it, and even be happy about something like this. But I didn't expected that from Bioware, especially not after the interviews where they said how much the relationships would matter and how deeply developed they are. Unfortunately, I didn't experienced that. (okay, at the very end it really matters but not the way i expected...)
They could have at least written a post-credits scene where the couple is together and they tell what happened to the team, the world and them after the events. But the whole end seemed so unfinished and rushed. I was just sit quietly and watched the monitor. It ended like a series with a cliffhanger. I love Veilguard, i'm on my second playthrough over 120 hours but I often feel like there are so many missed opportunities and we've been just given a really good basis to write our own fanfiction to fill the holes. So I'm very disappointed and i wish they will add some more romance dialoge options in the future.
