So having come back to the game with more tempered expectations my impressions are much more positive than they initially were. There’s way more interesting characters in the city than I realised (they got buried under all the gigs in my first playthrough), I’m used to the car feel to the point it’s now fun, the gameplay is good, the city looks great, rebel path is a banger of a track, animations are amazing...
However one thing still sticks out as glaringly bad, which is how unbalanced in content and depth the romances are. Both female romances are introduced early, main plot integral, also have lengthy side quests on top of their already substantial main quest content and generally feel like a presence through the whole game. They stand up to the best BioWare romances.
The male options, on the other hand, feel like an afterthought. Neither are involved in the main quest and instead of having extra side content to compensate, they have notably less.
River has three quests in act 2 (including his romance culmination) after which he is basically a non-entity. While I like the content he has, it’s only slightly more content than Meredith. It’s only the fact you can call him at the end that makes him a romance by the games standards, but he doesn’t feel like a big part of V’s life or story at all.
Then there’s Kerry, introduced after 90% of the main plot is done and only if you let Johnny take control of your body three times, after which you get three quests with him where you aren’t even playing as V (so build no connection). Then you get two short quests following him around as he enacts petty revenge schemes. Then his romance culmination. He’s like Zevran, a character already largely criticised by gay men, but with 20% of the content. Getting into a personal rant, as a gay man, I would have much, much preferred River and found his romance scene a lot more emotionally satisfying and refreshing. Kerry feels like the stale kinky hedonist bi guy cliche that further props up the stereotype that gay men don't desire wholesome romance and family values. This has been complained about ad naeseum in the gay pop culture community. I wouldn't change a thing with River's romance scene, whereas I actively felt uncomfortable with Kerry's.
For contrast: Panam is directly involved in 11 quests spread over the game, including main quests. Judy is in 10, including main, spread over the game. Compare this with River's three sidequests and Kerry's three sidequests (discounting the ones where you play as Johnny). That's a HUGE disparity. This isn't even getting into the endings, where Panam and Judy both have positive endings in Nomad, whereas River and Kerry break up with you. Their best ending is Sun, where V still acts hostile and closed off from them.
I understand that the biggest demographic is straight males and if a game has a set protagonist with set sexuality, fair play. Nothing wrong this that. The problem is when it’s advertised as a malleable protagonist with equality of romance content and then doesn't deliver. I think anyone would be hard pressed to argue that Kerry isn’t much weaker in content and relationship building (and character, but that’s personal taste) than all the other options (especially Judy and Panam) and that straight women and gay men weren’t done dirty here.
What’s kind of baffling is that the main plot already has an attractive male character (who you even seem to flirt with at times) with Takemura and then River would have been easy to weave into the main plot as a police detective. Going forward, River is an easy fix; just add more content. Even new texts where you can update him on the main quest would make a huge difference. Kerry is much more difficult, I’d honestly suggest just adding in an alternate m/m option in future content or, taking the more efficient route, take the kind-of-bi River and just make him fully bi. If he’ll romance you with a big wang, a man voice and being male identifying I don’t think it’s a stretch he’d be down for a pretty boy V he feels emotionally connected to seeing as his sexuality seems defined solely by physical femininity. It seems like a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but I it’s evident by now that getting players to feel connected to solid romances and companion characters can elevate a game to classic status and while Judy and Panam are having a good run at that, anyone wanting a male romance is left out in the cold in that regard. I hope this is considered for future content.
However one thing still sticks out as glaringly bad, which is how unbalanced in content and depth the romances are. Both female romances are introduced early, main plot integral, also have lengthy side quests on top of their already substantial main quest content and generally feel like a presence through the whole game. They stand up to the best BioWare romances.
The male options, on the other hand, feel like an afterthought. Neither are involved in the main quest and instead of having extra side content to compensate, they have notably less.
River has three quests in act 2 (including his romance culmination) after which he is basically a non-entity. While I like the content he has, it’s only slightly more content than Meredith. It’s only the fact you can call him at the end that makes him a romance by the games standards, but he doesn’t feel like a big part of V’s life or story at all.
Then there’s Kerry, introduced after 90% of the main plot is done and only if you let Johnny take control of your body three times, after which you get three quests with him where you aren’t even playing as V (so build no connection). Then you get two short quests following him around as he enacts petty revenge schemes. Then his romance culmination. He’s like Zevran, a character already largely criticised by gay men, but with 20% of the content. Getting into a personal rant, as a gay man, I would have much, much preferred River and found his romance scene a lot more emotionally satisfying and refreshing. Kerry feels like the stale kinky hedonist bi guy cliche that further props up the stereotype that gay men don't desire wholesome romance and family values. This has been complained about ad naeseum in the gay pop culture community. I wouldn't change a thing with River's romance scene, whereas I actively felt uncomfortable with Kerry's.
For contrast: Panam is directly involved in 11 quests spread over the game, including main quests. Judy is in 10, including main, spread over the game. Compare this with River's three sidequests and Kerry's three sidequests (discounting the ones where you play as Johnny). That's a HUGE disparity. This isn't even getting into the endings, where Panam and Judy both have positive endings in Nomad, whereas River and Kerry break up with you. Their best ending is Sun, where V still acts hostile and closed off from them.
I understand that the biggest demographic is straight males and if a game has a set protagonist with set sexuality, fair play. Nothing wrong this that. The problem is when it’s advertised as a malleable protagonist with equality of romance content and then doesn't deliver. I think anyone would be hard pressed to argue that Kerry isn’t much weaker in content and relationship building (and character, but that’s personal taste) than all the other options (especially Judy and Panam) and that straight women and gay men weren’t done dirty here.
What’s kind of baffling is that the main plot already has an attractive male character (who you even seem to flirt with at times) with Takemura and then River would have been easy to weave into the main plot as a police detective. Going forward, River is an easy fix; just add more content. Even new texts where you can update him on the main quest would make a huge difference. Kerry is much more difficult, I’d honestly suggest just adding in an alternate m/m option in future content or, taking the more efficient route, take the kind-of-bi River and just make him fully bi. If he’ll romance you with a big wang, a man voice and being male identifying I don’t think it’s a stretch he’d be down for a pretty boy V he feels emotionally connected to seeing as his sexuality seems defined solely by physical femininity. It seems like a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but I it’s evident by now that getting players to feel connected to solid romances and companion characters can elevate a game to classic status and while Judy and Panam are having a good run at that, anyone wanting a male romance is left out in the cold in that regard. I hope this is considered for future content.
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