Decades before today's RPG fans began to hunger and, indeed, thirst for romanceable characters, Baldur's Gate 2 writer and Dragon Age narrative veteran David Gaider says including romance at all felt both uncertain and rare.
Speaking to PC Gamer magazine, Gaider describes the development environment on Baldur's Gate 2 and shares an amusing anecdote featuring Baldur's Gate lead and fellow BioWare veteran James Ohlen.
"The whole romance thing was just an experiment, like James had no idea that anybody would even like this," Gaider recalls. "We were writing these long stories, and they were cool, but romance? It was like, ‘People don't come here to romance, they come here to fight shit and battle dragons!'"
Gaider himself said he was "not a romantic guy" and sought to avoid handling companion romance stories himself, but was eventually tasked with the romance for Anomen and, at one point, additional companion love stories that ended up being cut after issues with Jaheira's own romance.
Even on a mechanical level, romanceable companions proved challenging. Related issues, complicated by triggers and turning points in personal vs romance quests, were apparently common – so common that, "By the end of the project, James put a sign on his door saying, ‘If it's about Jaheira, don't knock,'" according to Baldur's Gate 3 designer and writer Lukas Kristjanson, who worked directly on Jaheira's quest.
As it happens, I spoke to Gaider about romance in RPGs earlier this year, and was intrigued to hear his thoughts on the spread of "player-sexual" casts who can all be romanced and are, by and large, instantly into you.
Baldur's Gate 3, a game where I accidentally romanced at least four people just by not being an asshole, is the most topical example. Gaider acknowledged the demand for, and appeal of, games that let you date anyone you want, but also championed the value of having characters who just don't see you that way.
"I think it takes away an element of agency from the character," Gaider says of companions who like you no matter what, "and, I mean, there are players who absolutely prefer player-sexuality and it's totally justified.
"But I think you do get something in return for that, because when a character is player-sexual, it feels like every romance is always on the table. It means you have to craft a story for this character where romance is a possibility. And that limits the different types of stories you can do. They always have to be somebody who ultimately could romance the player. And so that is quite limiting."
Personally, Gaider says "I like the idea of characters with agency, where romance is a possibility, maybe, or maybe they have their own relationships."
RPG legend Josh Sawyer says the reason classics like Baldur's Gate disappeared in the '00s was "because retailers told us no one wanted to buy them".
