Lucanis Romance Super Disappointing

Neve even gets a big role in his Inner Demons quest that has a line from Spite hinting about his potential feelings for her, with absolutely no reference to how he feels about Rook at all, not even in the little notes. It’s garbage! How did they go from the romances in Inquisition to this…? Why would they even pair off the spares if you’re not going to make sure their core romance with the player character is finished first?

I think it's horrible that you can't even romance Lucanis after choosing Minrathous. I saved Treviso and romanced Lucanis on the first playthrough. On my second, I chose to save Minrathous and I have been locked out of the romance with Lucanis (when I wasn't locked out of a romance with Neve for saving Treviso), and there are these scenes we're forced to witness between Neve and Lucanis - beyond the general banter in-party - (plus a scene with Emmrich talking about the romantic date that Lucanis took with Neve - um where was ours?) and their "relationship" feels more deliberate and fleshed out than Lucanis x Rook.

It feels like Rook is the second choice, especially since the writers were obviously trying to have them be bonded over the dragon attacks on their cities and their mutual crusade to protect their people/cities. 

That would have been an interesting dynamic to have played out as the bond between Rook and Neve or Rook and Lucanis, instead of having Rook play the piece that comes between them. 

Overall, I think that removing the ability to "chat" with your companions at the Lighthouse (the way they did in every other Dragon Age game), kind of limited our interactions with all of the companions. There's no opportunity to get to know them outside of their companion missions, which are focused and time locked. You don't even really get to hear anything about Lucanis' struggle with Spite until the "Inner Demons" quest. There's no follow up to how he's going after being stopped from going through the eluvian by Taash and Harding. You can't talk to him about the crows, his previous relationships, his life before Spite, ways to help him sleep or keep him safe, his adjustments or problems with spite, etc. There isn't even an option for Lucanis to say "Hey, Spite is really riled up by your presence, so it would be good for me to keep my distance for a while". 

I just feel like there were so many opportunities to build a platform of friendship with Lucanis and the other companions outside of their fetch quests. I used to love chatting with the companions across all the games, looking to see if there were new questions or interactions. I really miss that with this game. It's just them giving you a mission most of the time.

I agree, I feel like I’m the third wheel in Lucanis romance. I get that all the romances are different and his is supposed to be slow burn, but it is more like Rook yearning for Lucanis that is barely interested. I’ve seen a lot of comments that people wish it would have an arc where Lucanis has feeling for Rook, but stays away to keep Rook safe from Spite that is obsessed with Rook or that the romance would benefit if it had moments like in Cullen’s romance instead of necessarily having something super spicy. But yeah, the worst is that they seem to like Neve more than Rook.

The Neve romance isn't much better. Barely any real interactions beyond capers, no real "scene". I never used Lucanis so I didn't hear any of the banter, but I suspect it's much the same. Very disappointing. 

I'll have to put them in a party to see if they flirt even when she's 'committed' to Rook. 

EDIT: I started a new playthrough and well, you guys are right. They CLEARLY intended Nev and Luca from the jump. Every single interaction with him, he's asking about Nev, thinking about Nev, wanting to get something for Nev, wow. She's not QUITE as bad,  but she does still mention him quite a lot for someone that doesn't trust the mage-killer. 

Devs, please do better. While it's cute that some of them can pair off on their own, this is just over the top annoying for the player character interested in the companion quests for either of these two. 

+111111 That really disapoiting, we have inquisition with Cullen, Solas, Dorian, Blackwall, Bull... Romances with real fire and the possibility to interact with them has we want. The romances is a part of the all story.
Here... you gave nothing and Lucanis romance is the worst of them. After the "no kiss" scene, i have a party banter with taash, telling we are together ? 
Like what ?! Oo Sorry but, i wasn't there or i missed something ? That make no sence.
And yes, Lucanis et Neve interact more than we can do with him, and for real, all other compagnon interact more like we do.
I played since the first one and, the romance was a big part of the story. Don't lose the soul of Dragon Age, you made a good story but, we ask you to approve the romance of Lucanis. This caracter deserve much better. Pls, made beautiful scenes for him.

A beautiful patch like Larian does will be perfect :)

Well, I'm glad I read all of this!  I started a playthrough romancing Davrin and good grief it moved so slow and bland.  Every time I came back to the Lighthouse they had him placed somewhere else talking to another companion, sort of like they are preventing you from talking to your love interest.  And, after reading enough, I see that is the deal with every romance you try.

With Davrin, I did get a comment from Emmerich about Davrin and I, but outside of a quick kiss and a couple of adventures with Assan, that's about it so far.  Just bland and boring.

I also started a playthrough to romance Lucanis and the scene before the coffee shop scene where he tell Teia to stop flirting with this... colleague, then the coffee scene is okay I guess - kind of hints at what should be things to come.  Only it never does, right?

Sad, sad, sad.  I could have written better stuff than this.   There is almost no reason for this to be rated mature.

I have been playing DA since Origins. The story and romances in the first three games was great in comparison to DAV. I think the romances in DAV are lacking as well. I share the same views as listed above. I don't like how you spend more time focusing on everyone else's relationships but can't get enough screen time with your romantic interest. I think with all the people that were "let go" during the making of DAV has caused the things that most everyone liked about the DA franchise, to suffer. It's stupid that you can't get to know your character better. 

Now that I have also seen what kind of moments were thought for Lucanis’s romance, it makes it even more sad. Romantic condola cruise in Treviso or even more intimate scenes. But mostly, that would have been THE first kiss for this type broody character. I wish we would have had that the most.

https://www.nickthornborrowart.com/projects/dragonage-njmd9

What I don't know is why we continue to call it romance when it doesn't show any of its characteristics: Lucanis never expresses that he loves Rook, he only seems to feel a deep respect for her, a contract, the only emotion that overcomes him when he is with her is the fear of disappointing her, of losing control with Spite and not fulfilling the contract. Even when Rook delves into her subconscious, there is no trace that Lucanis feels love for her: there are feelings for members of her family, for Hardin, what is she doing in her subconscious? And of course, of course, for Neve. But not a single mention, spoken or simply noted by Rook. In the moments of tranquility, when there should be closeness between them, everything goes to waste after the no-kiss scene (along with the first one in the cafe, the only ones that initially seemed to be going in the right direction), it doesn't matter if you save Treviso, Lucanis He will only talk to Rook about: revenge, coffee and paella (heck, I'm Spanish, and Bioware has managed to ruin my favorite dish, let's see how I enjoy it now without thinking about the idiotic crow who was unable to give the person in question a simple kiss. the one he was supposed to be in love with) There is no romance, it's a scam. In the no-kiss scene, something clicked in her head and she backed away definitively. From then on, you can see that she doesn't feel anything besides camaraderie or respect for fulfilling her contract, no matter how tender Rook is, how much she loves him. She does express her emotions, if she wants to hear him speak from the heart, let her take him for a walk with Neve, and she will want to die when she hears everything she would like him to say to her, intended for another.