Given the responses here and on Reddit, I don’t think it’s controversial to say the romances are not living up to what we were advertised. “The most romantic Dragon Age” this is most certainly not. The entirety of each romance arc is roughly twenty minutes, with characters like Lucanis spending most of that not responding to flirts at all. Not “responding awkwardly”, like Cullen rubbing his neck or shuffling before continuing to speak, I mean not responding AT ALL.Is there any chance patches could come in and save this? BG3 and Cyberpunk both had multiple patches that fleshed out their romantic interactions. It’s already been said we’re not getting DLC, but what kind of patches can we expect going forward?On the off chance the patches will be more substantial than bug fixes, I’d like to offer a few that could help turn the game around for me, at least. I’ll be upfront that I’m mostly talking from the perspective of someone who has only gone through Lucanis’ romance and has been jaded by the time sink required for a really lackluster experience.The “missives” system is right there for some low-effort lore drops. Maybe an interactive love note to carry through the game?Lucanis’ commitment scene is genuinely awful. It felt like the equivalent of putting on the marriage amulet in Skyrim. It was literally just hitting the “committed—on” switch. It is the least satisfying “romance” scene I have ever experienced. They don’t touch. They hardly even gesture. They just stand there staring at each other and cycling through what looks to be idle animations. Was there cut content meant to be here, or is this genuinely the effort put into the “most romantic game ever”? Is it possible to fiddle with some scenes to make them the smallest bit dynamic?And finally, could we get a patch to allow the players to turn off the flirting between companions? It’s a real kick in the head to hear the effort put into two companions getting together, knowing how little romantic content Rook gets to experience themselves. Especially in the case of Neve and Lucanis, where Lucanis is seemingly the one companion that can be locked out of a romance entirely—and then he immediately hooks up with the person who made the exact. same. call. There’s even a line in his Inner Demons quest about being into Neve, it’s relentless and it’s insulting. I’d rather just not even hear it.Obviously there’s bigger gripes about the romances—why only twenty minutes of content? why can’t we talk to them between missions? why no kiss button?—but I feel like this is a few relatively small adjustments that could help ease some of the ick. Maybe others have more, better ideas, I don’t want to write a whole book and a half.Additional:Adding an option to object to Rook being referred to as “young” in Emmerich’s romance to allow for more RP potential.

EXACTLY, EXACTLY, EXACTLY!!! omg i hope EA or Bioware is actually gonna read this because i’m LIVID about this. I hope they add more to all the romances but Lucanis’ especially because it feels so empty, it’s not even a slow burn, the climax being THE END OF THE GAME. But most of all i do hope they do something about disabling companions romance with each other, because it feels like they put more work into that than into Rook’s romance, and it’s honestly infuriating and insulting.

I couldn’t agree more with everything you said!! It would be awesome if they added a little something and definitely toned down the Lucanis/Neve stuff if we’re pursuing either one of them!

It feels like they put more effort in to their interactions with each other than it does Rook as a whole. I am entirely disconnected from this entire cast.

TL;dr: oops I typed too much again. Dear BioWare, Please make Lucanis better, he’s making me sad. XoxoIt’s really not even a slow burn, since the final scene feels very much like they’re already established and comfortable with each other. I would have been fine with a true slow burn, where the final scene is a culmination of all the build up that came before, like Solas and his Quizzy, but that isn’t what we got.As it is now, it goes: Almost something, nothing, nothing, “Idk what this is, but I’ll take it”, and then what seems like an established relationship? The burn all happened off screen, like the player wouldn’t want to see their relationship develop and would rather see the awkward nothingness we got. It’s baffling. It seems like the party banter is implying the relationship is progressing, but we don’t get to see it.They’re “together” enough for the companions to comment on it, but we don’t know what being together even means. Why is this being kept secret from the player? We can’t even be sure when their first kiss is, because the codex, party banter, and the behavior in the final scene doesn’t really scream “they’re not doing anything in their downtime.” We can only find out about Lucanis’ romantic history through party banter after meeting a checkpoint with Emmerich, how is that not a discussion to be had between Rook and Lucanis???BioWare, plz. I’m on my hands and knees begging for clarity. Lucanis doesn’t know what it is? Me, the player, doesn’t know what it is either, and that’s insane. You can apparently tell Emmerich you’ve never been kissed, but you can’t even clarify what the relationship is with Lucanis in by the second to last scene of the game.

Okay, slight amendment. The spoiler listed previously does apply. I am so disappointed!! I've wanted to romance Lucanis since Tevinter Nights and was over the moon when I found he would be a companion..... and then it turns out to be the least romantic relationship that BioWare have ever done. I don't get it! How can they go from doing amazing romances in three DA games... even DA2 ... to this unbelievably trite relationship...not even going to use the word romance because it's really not. There's a couple of nice words but no kiss and nothing to show they like each other. What a kick in the backside!

Potential patches for romance? | EA Forums

fishonamission
Seasoned Rookie
8 hours ago
Signing my name to this cause. There's some bare-minimum things that could be done (like you said, missives, or unlocking the Lucanis romance), but I'd love to see some honest effort put into polishing the romances that are there. The Lucanis commitment scene is incredibly sub-par. It feels very middle school. I don't even need steamy make-outs (although....) from a commitment scene, but some emotionally vulnerable discussions about "What are we" actually acknowledging commitment would be nice.
Mkaybellene
Seasoned Novice
13 hours ago
Halfway through a playthrough where I’m romancing Davrin. Seriously, how many times do I have to hear “I’m not an easy catch”?!? Like, I get it, Dav. Give me a little more attention, though 🙄
sat1
New Traveler
3 days ago
Back again. Currently romancing Davrin and I'm happy to say this is more in line with DA romances. Still kinda late in the game but not last minute stuff so yay for that. However, on the note of the Lucanis/Neve thing, I wholeheartedly agree with the comments to find some way to block this. It's awful. I've never been a fan of this, from Garrus/Tali to Bull/Dorian. The latter one was so annoying because Bull was mostly my go to romance, and Dorian was such a brilliant character but I couldn't have them in the same team because of the constant flirting. So, even if something can't be done for this game please could EA/BW perhaps take note for future reference. All I keep thinking whilst playing this game is how amazing it would have been with the same romance/companion setup we had in DAI because everything else is pretty great
KAR15MA
Seasoned Newcomer
3 days ago
I have only romanced Lucanis so far, but here are my opinions. I love the first coffee date and the scene with talk of ”danger” and almost kiss. And it left me waiting for more. That never came. And it makes the only/last romance scene very weird and out of nowhere. We haven’t even kissed before! The ”comittment” scene was strange. He makes me dessert so now we are together? Rook seems really desperate in this scene. Grasping at straws to make this a relationship. They don’t even talk about their feelings! The coffee date with him and Spite was not romantic at all. Not even a caress on the cheek, a kiss or hug or even a line of dialogue that show any romantic interest?! The scene after Lucanis is made First Talon had potential! He did’t want to stay and celebrate, because he ”had something else in mind” AND ALL HE WANTS IS TO DRINK COFFEE. I really thought I would at least get a makeout scene that time. And I didn’t even get to sit down and share a coffee WITH him.
- Francoolo
  Seasoned Novice
  2 days ago
  Commenting again because THIS 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 i second everything you just said. EA/Bioware take notes thank you.
- sat1
  New Traveler
  3 days ago
  That's exactly where my mind went! I thought now we're getting somewhere. I've never despised coffee as much as I did in that moment :\
Yaslanya
Seasoned Novice
8 days ago
It’s not just Lucanis. I romanced Emmrich and there is clearly half of his romance missing. (I mean, there is clearly half the game missing, but we are talking romance now.)
After locking in the romance, I was constantly sitting on coals for the next bit, for some adult conversation about the "us", about his attempt for lichdom, everything. Then there is a blow up pretty much at the end that reads to me as if there should be way more build up to this point, a reason more than what we have why this conversation ends in such a massive fight.
I am sitting here right now, and I am so heartbroken, on behalf of Trick and their team, on behalf of us fans. This is like telling P&P and cutting out the first proposal with its aftermath and Lydias elopement and expecting the reader to understand how Lizzy and Mr. Darcy end up together at the end.
I would love if they'd patch in those missing bits and pieces. I doubt it will happen, but I can hope, right?
I also absolutly would love to object to the "young" comments. Like, I am in my 40s, my Rook is in her 40s, and that man acts like Rook is barely legal. But again, I feel like there is part of the story missing, esp. since this is part of their blowup. B/c its almost like its not even about the age, like there is some thing deeper behing all his "younger" comments that we never get to properly explore and work through.
- DexiDerp
  Seasoned Traveler
  7 days ago
  Yeah, I feel like past iterations were a bit better about walking the line between a telling the story they wanted to tell and giving the players room for their imagination to fill in the blanks. I wish I could come to the table with examples from Inquisition, but I’m just not that invested at the moment. I’ve been involved in the visual novel writing community, I’ve dabbled in branching story writing and it’s definitely tricky to encompass all the choices the way that they do, but I feel like that’s one of BioWare’s strengths and also one of the things that was missing in Veilguard. All of this is with a little asterisk that I haven’t finished Emmerich’s romance yet, so I’m going off other people’s critiques.
  I just feel like this same situation handled in a past game would have had an option to say “I am not that much younger than you!” and Emmerich would have responded with a line that explained it was Rook’s baked-in inexperience (established in their background when you pick it) or his own life experiences that made him call Rook that, and then it would have gone with all the same beats until the plot resolved itself. That’s really all it takes for me to have a blast playing pretend in these sorts of games. Even if I know it all plays out the same in the end, I like getting to choose an option that makes me feel like I got there differently.
- cornerbite
  Seasoned Rookie
  8 days ago
  What's even worse, is I was getting all of them to the "point of no return" to have a save and check out all the branches, and up until that scene I thought his was pretty well done. I wasn't going to finish it since he isn't my type, but I did him and Davrin both because folks seemed to think these were the two best.
  So there we are at the "before the commitment" scene, and I decided to start my commitment branch journeys with a different character. And it just... swaps ALL the quests from the "romantic" version to the "friendship" version and NONE of the characters have anything to say about it. Nothing at all. All the flirting and buildup disappeared into nothingness, and earlier games DEFINITELY did this better. I distinctly remember characters having something to say about it if you've been chatting someone else up and then come sniffing around.
  Hell, in this game one LI actually goes to your former flirt for advice and there was absolutely no tension! Like, really? He doesn't have ANYTHING to say about this? At all?
  This game was written by AI or a bunch of kids whose experience with romance is limited to teen novels.
billthegreat150
Seasoned Newcomer
9 days ago
Why tease nudity in the character creation only to erase it from the game. I've romanced everyone and NONE have nudity. In fact I haven't noticed any throughout the game. You can flirt but you can't even kiss. BioWare you've falsely advertised romance and taken a Disney approach to it. At the very least stick some expansion on it in a DLC like cyberpunk
dogportrait
Seasoned Rookie
9 days ago
While unrelated to the Lucanis romance, I was really disappointed after having made an older looking Rook to romance Emmrich, only for him to consistently refer to her as young. It takes me out of the immersion and I'd rather have the age related dialogue either be optional or just patched out altogether
- DexiDerp
  Seasoned Traveler
  9 days ago
  I did think that was a weird choice too. I was planning to do an age gap Rook just for the drama, but not being able to play my actual age at all feels weird when some of the skins seem to be older looking. At least old enough to get annoyed that everyone keeps calling you “kid”.
  That’s why I tried to stress I was hoping to bring the brain trust together for potential fixes for all the romances. Lucanis is getting the most flak, and I am definitely part of the problem, but I’m sure there’s tons of little things I haven’t seen in the other romances that could use some adjusting.
  - dogportrait
    Seasoned Rookie
    9 days ago
    Really hoping that they listen to some of these concerns :( The romances were heavily marketed pre release and to have them pan out this way is a letdown
Mareike9
Seasoned Novice
9 days ago
I’m joining the chorus of people who would like to have Lucanis’ romance patched.
It’s understandable for him to be aloof in the beginning, and for the relationship to be a slow-burn, but the nothingness that transpires between the flirtings and the commitment scene just lends to a very jarring experience. It would be lovely if we had content that shows us that it is progressing in some manner.
Then there’s the matter about Neve. Once the relationship is locked, the LI shouldn’t even be entertaining the other party. Like everyone has already said, there’s already painfully less love that goes Rook’s way outside of quests and the occasional companion quips about their relationship status. Whatever triggers those dialogues need to be fixed.

On that note, I also echo the sentiment that it often felt like Rook is an outsider in these bonds. It was as if more care was given towards the background relationships of the companions versus their relationship with Rook.
b5f64108c12d8c21
Seasoned Newcomer
9 days ago
The character relationships kinda suck overall in this game when you compare to every single other Dragon Age game tbh. Massive letdown after waiting a decade for this game; this and the "build your own world" stuff is really the selling point on these games for me and it's really not up to the hype
- Amnixx
  Seasoned Rookie
  5 days ago
  I often asked myself while playing if this lackluster romance/relationship writing is due to the direction shift of the game halfway through. It feels like they just didn't have time to flesh out romance/relationships dialogue/branches. Just doesn't feel like a Bioware game in this regard.
Francoolo
Seasoned Novice
9 days ago
EXACTLY, EXACTLY, EXACTLY!!! omg i hope EA or Bioware is actually gonna read this because i’m LIVID about this. I hope they add more to all the romances but Lucanis’ especially because it feels so empty, it’s not even a slow burn, the climax being THE END OF THE GAME. But most of all i do hope they do something about disabling companions romance with each other, because it feels like they put more work into that than into Rook’s romance, and it’s honestly infuriating and insulting.
- DexiDerp
  Seasoned Traveler
  9 days ago
  TL;dr: oops I typed too much again. Dear BioWare, Please make Lucanis better, he’s making me sad. Xoxo
  It’s really not even a slow burn, since the final scene feels very much like they’re already established and comfortable with each other. I would have been fine with a true slow burn, where the final scene is a culmination of all the build up that came before, like Solas and his Quizzy, but that isn’t what we got.
  As it is now, it goes: Almost something, nothing, nothing, “Idk what this is, but I’ll take it”, and then what seems like an established relationship? The burn all happened off screen, like the player wouldn’t want to see their relationship develop and would rather see the awkward nothingness we got. It’s baffling. It seems like the party banter is implying the relationship is progressing, but we don’t get to see it.
  They’re “together” enough for the companions to comment on it, but we don’t know what being together even means. Why is this being kept secret from the player? We can’t even be sure when their first kiss is, because the codex, party banter, and the behavior in the final scene doesn’t really scream “they’re not doing anything in their downtime.” We can only find out about Lucanis’ romantic history through party banter after meeting a checkpoint with Emmerich, how is that not a discussion to be had between Rook and Lucanis???
  BioWare, plz. I’m on my hands and knees begging for clarity. Lucanis doesn’t know what it is? Me, the player, doesn’t know what it is either, and that’s insane. You can apparently tell Emmerich you’ve never been kissed, but you can’t even clarify what the relationship is with Lucanis in by the second to last scene of the game.
- libelleigh
  Seasoned Rookie
  9 days ago
  It feels like they put more effort in to their interactions with each other than it does Rook as a whole. I am entirely disconnected from this entire cast.
  - Francoolo
    Seasoned Novice
    8 days ago
    I absolutely agree. And i’ll add that what i felt during my playthrough was that the companions were closer to each other than they were to Rook. She (my Rook) was always there for them, helped them, and yet i couldn’t help but feel alienated from them, in a way that i could only explain as a leader/subordinates dynamic that really shouldn’t be there, since they’re basically just a bunch of guys. In DAI the protagonist is a literal head of state, with an army of soldiers and faithfuls, and yet their friends always tried to keep them grounded all the time, by making them feel more like a person (pulling pranks with Sera, playing cards with Varric, Bull introducing you to your soldiers, etc). In DAV i felt the exact contrary, and even the romances felt like some companions were more smitten with each other that they were with Rook. Truth be told, it made me feel really sad, as if i was a stranger in “my own” game and squad. And that’s definitely not something a game, a saga, that mostly resolves around companionship, romance and friendship should make you feel like.