I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. I know, I know, wrong month, but still, I’ve also been thinking about different genres in other mediums and wondering how they translate to video games. There are some that work extremely well; Action, Horror, Westerns. But I’m not so sure about others; Documentary, Musicals, Romantic Comedy. So combining those two topics, today I’m going to speak about Romance in video games, and whether or not is it possible to make a Romantic Comedy in the video game medium.
Video games actually have a leg up on most mediums when it comes to telling a love story. Video games, much like novels, have a lot more time to develop relationships. In movies we’re often given montages of people falling in love, detailing twenty dates in two minutes. But with the expanded time in games, anywhere from eight to eighty hours for the characters to fall in love, we could see every single date the characters go on; follow their love story from start to finish without fast forwards.
Take Final Fantasy VIII for example. This one is my favorites in the series because of the love story. Ignore the broken battle system for a minute if you will (tents into curaga into the HP slot for the win), the love story in this one is ridiculously complex thanks in part to the fifty plus hours it is told. A brief summery, the two main characters, Squall and Rinoa, fall in love over the course of a rebellion/moon monster invasion, which would be ho hum in and of itself if not for the kicker of this story, that they are actually living out the love story started off by there parents, which we are privy to in bizarre waking flashbacks. This brings up questions of whether or not Squall/Rinoa are actually in love, or are they being manipulated through the DNA of their parents? Are these two love stories, one that failed and one that flourished? Or is this actually a single love story told through two generations.
So romances are possible in video game format, but what about romantic comedies? How would the game play work? Would there be a simple misunderstanding mini game, a common scene in the movie version of a Romantic Comedy? Could you have an FPS comedy? One scene that translates well into video games is the last minute dash to the train/plane/bus that one of the lovers is leaving on. You could probably get an entire game out of one/many couples racing to meet each other at the last minute. Although where does the comedy aspect come in?
I’ve seen several top tens on the subject of couples in video games. Weirdly, the two highest ranking couples in most of these lists are Mario/Peach and Mr./Mrs. Pacman. Two couples whom I’m not sure have ever shared an onscreen kiss in a video game are considered the most romantic couples of all time in video games? If we had games that actually focused on love as the main aspect of the game play, and not rescuing the damsel, would there be better examples of video game love?
A quick list of things that are integral for any Romantic Comedy:
1. Both love interests would have to be in seventy percent of the game.
2. More often than not, they’d be meeting each other for the first time at the beginning of the game.
3. A more mundane setting. Exotic love story locations work, but the time for falling in love would need to be condensed and generally precipitated by action to increase the tension leading to love.
4. Witty banter is a must.
5. The characters must have fallacies that form the bond that leads to love, I know, this is a tough one for video games.
So how would that translate into a game? Let’s take a crack at it:
I imagine a co-op game, online only since a large part of romantic comedy would be ruined if the players could consult each other in-between rounds. The best match up would be randomized servers, to give it an authentic meeting-for-the-first-time feel. It takes place in a big city, there has to be a chance for missed encounters and varied locals for dates. There’s chat between the players, but there probably should be some prompts which are written by professionals, people in romantic comedies are almost always more clever than their real life counterparts. And maybe a Wheel of Romantic Handicaps, such as one character is poor and has a limited selection of dating locals. Money and time management would be key elements of the game play. And every game would end with a mad dash to catch the other player before they leave the city for good.
So there you go, my Romantic Comedy is a futuristic co-op dating Sim. I feel like I cheated a bit because I don’t think my game could have a single player component. Much like dating, it works better with more than one player… although that gives me an idea for an expansion, group dates… What do ya’ll think? How would you make a Romantic Comedy Game?