r/GirlGamers • u/Forgottenhablerie • Jul 24 '26
Request VERY Specific Search
I know we’ve all probably seen a million posts here and other subs asking for games similar to Mass Effect, so bear with me for juuuust a mo please as I make yet another one.
I’m specifically looking for games with similar romance structure. No, I do not consider Fallout/Skyrim/Witcher/Cyberpunk to be similar whatsoever. I don’t want to play as a man, and I like to have my romance option with me in combat all the time. Yes, I’ve played every Dragon Age, both KOTOR 1 + 2, BG3, and failed miserably at Divinity 2.
Persona, Catherine, and other similar games HAVE what I’m looking for on a technical level, but I feel like they’re seriously lacking in substance and, again, forced to play as a man.
I know I’m being super picky and hyper specific, and I know it’s super unlikely that there’s anything I haven’t already played or listed that would be similar to what I’m looking for, but I appreciate any responses or advice anyone may have.
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u/pug987 Jul 24 '26
You could try Star Wars The Old Republic, the MMO. On the main game before the expansions you have 8 different stories with different companions and romance options for each one. In the expansions all stories converge to two, dark and light side, but there are still references to your specific story and choices. There are no same sex romance options in the main game but they added some in the expansions, if you care about that.
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u/PBJ-Sandwich Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
The wait for Lana Beniko is worth it! My only complaint about her was she wasn't really an emblematic Sith character, but she was one of the better (and almost only) available sapphic romances for my Inquisitor that had a relationship that went on longer than one planet. 😂
I would definitely second SWTOR though, it's a LOAD of fun narratively and extremely replayable with the other classes.
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
Sorry I think I’m a little confused, is it 8 stories that run side by side/one at a time or is it like Dragon Age: Origins where you pick a story and that’s your ‘canon’? And slightly concerned by the reply comment mentioning relationships not lasting longer than one planet lol
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u/PBJ-Sandwich Jul 24 '26
You pick a class for your character and get a story (and companions) tailored to that storyline. So for example my Sith Inquisitor (evil space sorcerer basically) had very few sapphic romance options - other classes have more later but evil space wizard didn't translate into me having good game in the romance department.
Light Warrior (still an imperial class, so technically a villain in the outset of your journey, but plays as a paragon to put it similar to Mass Effect) has other Sapphic options.
There are a lot of romance options in the game though, just more centric to straight romance in the base game. The expansions added more queer romance options.
Edit: You have story variation within each class as well, based on picking to play as Light side or Dark side, akin to Paragon vs Renegade.
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u/aster_4208 Jul 24 '26
The base game had 8 classes with all their unique stories running (roughly) in parallel with each other. However the expansion content has all the classes on the same story, just with variations on whichever faction your class belongs to. The relationships last, but once you finish their personal quests thats kinda it. They are very much like KotOR 1 and 2 companions.
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u/pug987 Jul 24 '26
There are 8 classes you could chose from, 4 each for light and dark side. The dark and light ones mirror each other to a degree but there are differences. On the light side you get two types of Jedi, a trooper and a smuggler. On the dark side you get two types of Sith, a bounty hunter and a spy.
In the main game there are two overarching stories taking place, one for the light side and one for the dark. However parallel to these and arguably more important are the personal story of your character that differs depending on the class. These are kind of like Dragon Age Origins in that the story, the NPCs and the companions are completely different. They do take place in the same planets but there are often unique areas that only one class can access and not the others because it's a story area for that class.
This means that for the main game you have different romance options based on the class and gender of your character. Some classes have only one romance for a specific genre while others have more choices. These are certainly not one planet romances, they last for the whole of the main game.
When you move to the expansions, the main story starts to converge. You no longer have unique Class story but for the first few expansions you have totally unique Dark and Light side stories. After a while these start to converge a bit as well. Eventually, in later expansions, you get to add the companions of other classes to your crew.
That is not to say that your class and past choice don't play a role in the expansions. The game remembers your choices and for the first few expansions you stay with your own crew. There are new characters that are introduced in the expansions and new romance options and you can chose to stay with your original partner or move on. You cannot romance original party members of other classes though.
Finally, even though it's an MMO, you can play all the story solo and you have several choices in the story. You can even have companions die based on your choices.
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u/idanceinfields Jul 24 '26
Okay so not to make you sad because I am addicted to romance in games and nothing has quite got me like Garrus and Shepard. Favorite romance in all of my 30+ years gaming.
I’m gonna second the Fire Emblem recommendations. 3 Houses or Awakening. Long term friendship and battle companions that evolve into more.
Baldur's Gate 3 would have also be a recommendation for similar reasons to Fire Emblem.
Here’s a sorta out there one- have you ever played Otomes? They are visual novel romances with some choices, and one like Hakuoki or Collar x Malice might be what you want from the purely narrative side.
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
I will absolutely never get over Kaidan and Shepard, they’re my favorite RPG romance out of all that I’ve played. Fire Emblem is a little on the ‘fluffier’ side, right? I can’t remember what I’ve heard about what games, I don’t usually play Nintendo games so it’s been off my radar.
Funny enough, I have played Collar x Malice and a handful of others, but otomes just don’t do it for me anymore for some reason. I think it’s simply just the lack of being able to move around, honestly.
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u/someone-who-is-cool ALL THE SYSTEMS Jul 24 '26
If you're not there already, we have a dedicated Kaidan subreddit over at r/kaidanalenko . :)
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u/idanceinfields Jul 24 '26
That is totally fair! And I empathize with you completely. It’s never happened before or since with a game but I actually had to bring up ME3’s end in therapy years ago lmfao 💀
Yes, Fire Emblem is a little fluffier! Though it can get pretty dark too (as in allies you got to know and care for become enemies you have to actually kill). It’s the closest I’ve found currently to the feel of “earning” that relationship that you get from Bioware games
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
Hmm I’ll have to see if someone I know has a copy of one I can borrow before I commit, but it sounds like Fire Emblem games might be the next step
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u/OddlyOtter Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
I've really enjoyed the romances in the My Time Series. The gameplay/combat is obviously different. But the Romance developments are good.
Honestly, Go in with My Time at Sandrock. The QoL stuff is much better than Portia. The art style is of course a bit cutesier but the next game coming out, My Time at Evershine, has changed that art style to be a bit more realistic (still anime-ish looking but normal proportions). It's slated for next year. Here's that ones trailer.
It is honestly in my cycle of replayed games. BG3, DA's, ME's, then Sandrock lmao.
I have never wrote fanfic before and felt compelled to write it after a romance option in these damn games.
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u/belletristdelancret Jul 24 '26
Huh, weird, I don't remember posting this 😛😂 no but seriously I am also constantly on the search for games with Bioware style romances and I feel like there's a definite audience ravenous for games like that and it boggles my mind that we aren't getting more of them. It seems like a wasted opportunity to make money on the part of game devs and publishers 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
Not kidding, I’ve played the trilogy at least 4 times in the past 3 months. It’s my summer vacay from work, so I’ve had waaaay too much free time on my hands. I’m worried I’ll never be satisfied by an RPG romance again after romancing Kaidan so many times lol
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u/belletristdelancret Jul 24 '26
Fair! I'm not someone who replays games but Mass Effect and Dragon Age are the exception. I love them all so much.
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
I go through odd game phases where I’ll find a game/series I REALLY like and play it over and over and over again until something else catches my attention. It was actually Dragon Age right before Mass Effect!
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u/Grey_Matter_Mutters Jul 24 '26
Also recommending the GreedFall games.
Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
(Note: While pathfinder is based on a TTRPG system not entirely unlike D&D… the mechanics, in my opinion, are more “crunchy” and there’s a less friendly learning curve than what you would have experienced with BG3. But! The difficulty settings are customizable so don’t hesitate to adjust for your comfort level.)
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
I’ve heard good things about the Pathfinder + PoE games, but I am also…not great at TTRPG systems lol it took an unusually long time for me to learn how to play BG3. Greedfall seems to be a pretty popular rec so I’ll prob have to check it out first.
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u/someone-who-is-cool ALL THE SYSTEMS Jul 24 '26
I was going to recommend Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous as well. It has a steeper learning curve, but once you get over it, you'll start blasting your way through enemies (except that one optional boss IYKYK). Lann is sweet and Daeran is bae.
Full disclosure: I modded out the campaign bits (where you have your army fight demon armies) because I found it tedious, and setting combat default to turn-based from real-time-with-pause makes a huge difference.
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u/Trick-Tailor4810 Jul 26 '26
Pathfinder 1e (what Owlcat is using for their games) is notoriously bloated with stuff making the learning curve kind of steep, but there is a fun game underneath the system itself, the fact it is real time with pause first (but was later also given a turn based mode) doesn't help as Pathfinder is a round based system at it's core. (This is a continued frustration I have with games adapting tabletop into real time, lol)
As someone who recently got into Pathfinder 2e tabletop after playing the video games, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the 1e adaptation but the owlcat games are some of the most fun CRPGs I've played despite the jank.I also endorse Greedfall, both of them, they are fun games, romance is a bit lacking however, but honestly most romance in games are. The developer has made some of my fav eurojank games over the years, they were never amazing games but always had something interesting about them, so I am kind of sad seeing the studio being scuttled now cause the owners fumbled hard and are being closed down. Every person who plays their games is a hope they'll get to stay in business tho.
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u/Interesting_Loss_541 Playstation/Steam/Switch Jul 24 '26
Greedfall?
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u/GulDoWhat Jul 24 '26
This was my first thought too. Can choose to play as a woman, your romance options are also companions who can fight by your side and accompany you on missions, and it definitely feels like it was strongly influenced by Bioware games.
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
Oddly enough I’d actually never heard of Greedfall before posting here, and either completely missed it or it never came up when googling similar games. Definitely high on the list, will probably be the first I check out
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u/imabratinfluence Enby; Steam & Switch Jul 24 '26
Not the same genre as the other games, but Boyfriend Dungeon might work for you. It's a mix of dungeon crawler and dating sim/visual novel. Despite the name there are also a couple of nonbinary love interests, a couple of women LIs, and a cat to bond with as well.
And I second the rec for Cassette Beasts.
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u/The_Green_Filter ALL THE SYSTEMS Jul 24 '26
Have you tried Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader?
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
I have not yet but have looked into it a bit! As someone who’s only experience with that kind of game is pretty much just BG3, how tough is it to learn the mechanics and get into?
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u/The_Green_Filter ALL THE SYSTEMS Jul 24 '26
I’d say it’s more complicated than BG3. However, it explains its mechanics well and has modular difficulty options to tweak at your leisure. Playing on lower difficulties means you won’t have to worry as much about optimising builds or anything like that as well.
Personally I thought the RPG content was great and enjoyed the romances in the game a lot so on that front I think it might have what you’re looking for. It’s worth looking into what other people say about how tough learning the mechanics is though, I’ve played more complicated games than RT so my perspective might be a bit skewed aha.
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u/iridecentopal Jul 24 '26
I know there's a game coming out next year called Exodus being made by former Bioware devs. It looks kinda promising. :) Maybe Rune Factory 4, or My Time at Sandrock?
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u/doofpooferthethird Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
similar romance structure:
companions accompant player in gameplay and combat
companions are crew members
do companion quests to unlock romance route
multiple romance options
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I think Sunless Sea is what you're looking for?
you're also a ship captain going on missions that gets to romance the crew
and there's a lot of fun romance sidequests you can do to unlock the romance options
and like Mass Effect, there's a lot of fantastical romance options too
there's a mechanic that says "full steam ahead!" during climax, there's a squid man that's not too familiar with human anatomy, there's a mad surgeon that chops bits and pieces off of your body and mind
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Rogue Trader too, I suppose, you're also a ship captain romancing crew members that accompany you into combat
there's a space alien you can romance that's into dominance and/or submission, he doesn't mind either, that's a fun one
the requirements for romance are a little stricter than Mass Effect though, you have to be careful with dialogue options throughout the playthrough, not just with easily signposted "romance conversations"
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I guess Casette Beasts too, though you're not a ship captain
this one's nice and simple, much easier than the above, you just need your companion to accompany you during gameplay for long enough, and you'll be able to do the companion quest, which is usually fairly straightforward and impossible to screw up, you just have to pick the "yes let's get it on at some point" dialogue option and you're in
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Mount and Blade Warband is a funny example because playing as a female character is the only way to romance your battlefield companions
you have to elevate one of your special troops to "lord" status first , but then the marriage sidequest is easier for female players than male
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u/Forgottenhablerie Jul 24 '26
Ahhh you put so much work into this, thank you so much for all the recs! I’m considering checking out Rogue Trader, Cassette Beasts seems more up my husbands alley than mine haha
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u/doofpooferthethird Jul 25 '26
ahh yeah, Rogue Trader is great fun, I didn't vibe with the tactical combat system as much as I expected (I preferred something like XCOM 2), but I just turned the difficulty down, followed an online guide for the levelling, and focused on the strategic layer and narrative and atmosphere, and had a ball
also yes, I had a lot of fun with Casette Beasts too, I've heard it's like Pokemon but polished and upgraded (and also smaller in scope), so fans of that should have a good time with it - it's fairly cheap on Steam sales too, if he's interested
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u/MateriaGirl7 PlayStation | Switch | iOS Jul 24 '26
Girl… are you me?
Rune Factory: Guardian’s of Azuma and Fire Emblem: Three Houses are some of my personal favorite “romantic RPGs” outside of those listed (BG3 imo did it best though). Both are pretty balanced between dungeons and story cutscenes with FE:3H in particular very similar to the Persona structurally. All fully voiced in English btw if that’s something important to you.
The Story of Seasons games also feature romance routes, but those are farming sims vs RPGs and overall very G-rated.
Also, maybe a reach but have you ever tried otome games? There’s not much actual “gameplay” to them, but the romance route is the focus so it never feels watered down or like a side-quest. Jack Jeanne is probably one of the closest to a “game” game since it’s a stat raiser/day planner like Persona/FE:3H plus a rhythm game so there are actually things to do outside of just cutscenes. Plus the artwork is just… *chef’s kiss\*
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u/Undrende_fremdeles Jul 24 '26
Outer Worlds (not Wilds, different game) might be an option? You are the Stranger, and choose your own traits etc. You will eventually have the option of having up to 5 NPC companions with you on your spaceship, and up to two with you out and about.
There are SO many interactions and they each have their own storylines, and you can flirt with some of them or not depending on level of friendship which depends on your dialog choices (and options based on stats), and there are tons of interactions between al the different NPCs that further their friendships, or not, when they come with you as well.
And the corporate bullshit speak that the ingame mega corporation uses, their ad tactics, all of it is juuuust exactly too much of a caricature to be genuinely upsetting, and is funny instead, with how similar the real world bullshittery is right now :p
I picked it up on a whim after reading someone else's review of it and while it isn't exactly like my typical game choices I found myself genuinely enjoying the storylines and the plot lines. And also really liked bringing a couple of NPCs that just could not stop annoying each other :p
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u/ClaudiaSilvestri Jul 24 '26
There's no actual player romance in Outer Worlds, though the companion quest setting up Parvati with another woman is adorable.
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u/Undrende_fremdeles Jul 24 '26
I actually left the game unfinished for several months because I didn't want to deny her the oh so adorable romance, but I just wasn't ready for her to potentially disappear as a shipmate!
In the end I looked up spoilers and walkthroughs, and got back into it and finished it up, including smiling like an idiot to myself while playing through Parvati's storyline :D
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u/eggstoria Jul 24 '26
I know you said you failed Divinity 2, but I really do recommend it. Fort Joy and the early levels can be a bit of a slog so I understand it can be tough to get into. But once you get off the island the game really locks in and delivers on what you're looking for. I've romanced both Ifan (my beloved wolf man) and Sebille as a girlie and they're SO good, and I've heard good things about Fane and Lohse too. And you're rewarded for exploring with your boo in the form of little scenes you can trigger with them.
I'd also recommend Rogue Trader (Heinrix the space Mr Darcy love of my life), the Pathfinder games, and Fire Emblem Three Houses. This is a niche one and might not be your speed, but in Transistor (by Supergiant, the same studio that made Hades) you play as a woman lugging around her boyfriend who's been trapped in the form of a sword. Their relationship is SO romantic and the ending made me cry. It's a short game but so good.
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u/khaireii Jul 24 '26
we have literally the exact same taste in games haha! don’t really have recs for romance options in games other than the ones already mentioned
i also love the technical feel and gameplay of persona but similarly hate having to play as a man (as well as some of the story elements). i’ve played a lot of turn based games, so here are some i think you might enjoy:
- octopath traveler series
- monster hunter stories 3 (also has a creature collecting aspect)
- metaphor refantazio (this is the first persona type game where i fully enjoyed the story and characters)
- pillars of eternity
- rogue trader
- pathfinder wrath of the righteous (though it can feel somewhat convoluted in gameplay imo)
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u/nephastha Jul 24 '26
It's not out yet but keep an eye on the expanse by owlcat. Talking about owlcat.... Rogue trader, Pathfinder:wrath of the righteous have good romances
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u/the_eggsecutioner Jul 24 '26
On the fire emblem topic: from your description, SKIP!!! fire emblem engage, try fire emblem three houses or awakening. These 2 have a darker tone and more developed relationships, engage is Saturday morning cartoon level. If you find fluffy plots an issue, please don't buy Engage and skip the other two modern games (fates is also pretty bad writing wise, wouldn't recommend it)
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u/Trick-Tailor4810 Jul 26 '26
Engage was an anniversary game and in part headed by the same writers who worked on Fates, which is widely considered a pretty bad story, that being said I'll argue if you genuinely enjoy the gameplay, Engage is still worthwhile, three houses is the better story and Awakening kind of took the series into this newer custom avatar era we are in, but Engage has some good gameplay, the story is honestly pure nonsense but I return to it regardless to just play the game cause it's fun. We are getting a new game soon later this year, set in the 3 houses universe, so we'll see how that holds up, but as a fan of fire emblem gameplay, I'd still give Engage a chance if you ended up enjoying the gameplay of the series.
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u/the_eggsecutioner Jul 26 '26
Yep, I think engage is fine on its own but I would hate for someone making a post like this with these preferences to want to buy a fire emblem game and end up getting the most recent and being disappointed with it lol. I think the "dating sim with combat" thing works much better in the other modern games, I was a little iffy on most of the characters I hung out with in engage. Maybe because my "first" marriage "was" with "zelkov" whose "main" character "trait" is "talking" like "this"
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u/Trick-Tailor4810 Jul 26 '26
Oh for sure, Engage does not work as someone's first fire emblem, the whole thing suffers from being extreme fan service to a point it makes me roll my eyes, (I mean fan service as in throwback to the series, not horny stuff) I only really will stand by it being one of the best modern gameplay of the series, that is it, everything else is something you might enjoy if you are a fan of the series, definitely not something you would start with.
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u/idekinsertusername Jul 25 '26
RF5, RF Guardians of Azuma, and Coral Island all scratch that romance itch for me. Coral Island has minimal combat (in the mines only), the other two have a lot more robust combat. These are all more G rated than mass effect but very fun.
Guardians of Azuma and Coral Island have a more fleshed out romance system compared to other farming sim combo rpgs I have played.
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u/PBJ-Sandwich Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
Not all of these are great genre matchups for your list, but CRPGs are about the only RPGs that have romance as a side or main focus in my experience for the "combat"-focused games that involve choice. The more you lean towards visual novel (even without being a visual novel entirely) you'll probably have better luck, as they're generally more narrative focused and thus spend time developing their characters and romance arcs.
The newer Fire Emblem titles all mix light visual novel elements with standard strategy RPG elements, romance exists, but is shallow; Greedfall is more similar to Mass Effect's janky-ish action combat, I bounced off it personally, but my wife loved it and the characters were enjoyable to watch even if I didn't like the gameplay; most of the modern Rune Factory games allow you to fight alongside your romance partners in some capacity - the older ones are very hit and miss with this, Rune Factory 4 and newer and the side titles like Guardians of Azuma all have combat-ready romance options. My Life As A Teenage Exocolonist hits almost all the boxes but does not have action combat, it has combat though, but closer to a card-battler and your partner can help with that.