CD-ROM Fossil

Screenshot: Uncharted: Thieves End
Written By: Matt Samples

Gaming has had some great couples, but as with any other media only a few get a spotlight on their love and many others are left in the dark. With barely a chance to express their feelings on screen, I’m here to take hold of that spotlight and point it at some people that should have had it in the first place. Now let’s begin.

Jak and Keira

It’s no secret that I’m a BIG fan of the Jak and Daxter games and I love the characters present in them. However perhaps my biggest complaint is the lack of screen time we get for Jak and Keira’s blossoming love and the almost blasphemous ending for Jak 3. Jak, having defeated the final boss and saved the world again, strolls up to side girl Ashelin, because I guess she’s just there and lands more than just a smooch.

What? Where’s Keira? I suppose you could argue she was stuck in the war zone of Haven City. But if anyone would have raced to see Jak’s final confrontation with the big bad, surely it would be her. But more importantly why the actual hell is Jak going for a kiss with Ashelin? Perhaps he’s grown tired of the chase for Keira, maybe she hasn’t reciprocated- but wait she did. Clearly you see how she looks at Jak with warmth and affection.

I suppose Jak just his let dark eco go to his head. All this said, in the grown up kart game Jak X, the couple finally gets their on screen kiss in the final moments of the game. However even with this I’m left wondering what if we had seen more of them? What if this couple had more time on the screen to show their love for one another? We may never know unless the developers at Naughty Dog can once again grab hold of the reins. And that’s a shame. While we’re on the topic of Naughty Dog games let’s move to another of my personal favorites.

Joel and Tess

 Joel is a man that, like many people in the world of The Last of Us, has lost everything he cares about. His only driving force was his will to survive to see another day, but to what end? What was it that drove him before deciding to journey with a young girl across the country through increasingly more dangerous territory?

I think perhaps it may have been his love for Tess. We see little to no hints of their relationship besides Tess’ final words as she looks into Joel’s eyes for the last time “There’s enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me, so you get her (Ellie) to Tommy’s.” and Joel takes the words to heart so much that he’s willing to honor her request at the cost of his life.

Love sure makes people do crazy things right? I believe there was a strong foundation for a relationship between the two that if we’d had a chance to see it grow into something more may have become something beautiful. But sadly we’ll never know as Tess gave her life for Joel and Ellie, thus the lights dim once again on what could have been.

Ren and Ryuji

Ryuji is perhaps one of the most lovable bad boys I’ve ever seen. He somehow walks a perfect line between being sweet and sour, you wanna hit him sometimes for his rude actions, but hug him when he finally shows vulnerability. That’s why when a friend and I sat down for our play through of Persona 5 I wanted so bad to be able to romance the main character with Ryuji.

They seem to just go so well together, they’re the best of buds through the strangest of times and you see them grow closer with each encounter. Ryuji begins to let down the walls he’s built for so long, showing his true self, a young man that cares intensely about his friends and would do anything to make them happy. Even if that means unintentionally being the butt of every joke. If we’d been given the opportunity to see a greater bond with Persona 5’s best boy who knows what we may have seen? It may have become one of the best romance options of the game.

Those are some small couples that should have made a bigger impact in the world of love in gaming. There’s plenty more out there and perhaps I’ll return to this subject later on but for now we have to turn the spotlight off and move on.

Got any on screen couples you wish had more room to grow? Let us know in the comments!