Dragon Age Veilguard: ROMANCE & Nudity?! 

Sorry I don't have pictures of the article or music, I made this video with 1 hand and I'm in a lot of pain 😭 ALSO I FORGOT SOMETHING IMPORTANT THE DEVS IMPLIED SOME KIND OF SKELETON ROMANCE

I will never complain about having more options in a video game 😤

I actually agree with you for the most part. However I do think BG3's biggest misstep in their romances was how everyone thirsted for your Tav if you were nice to them. Not flirty, just nice. So it was very difficult to have platonic friendships in BG3 without having to turn down someone's advances. So I'm really hoping The Veilguard brings back the "Heart icon" for choices so we can choose who we want to pursue romance with and not worry about being nice to someone I just want to be friends with. In my first playthrough of BG3 I hugged Karlach because I wanted to be a good friend, but apparently she saw that as a confession of love because when I got with Gale she acted like I had cheated on her and broke her heart. I was completely blindsided by that. I felt so bad. I just want to have meaningful platonic friendships again.

I love the emphasis on friendships. Excited for that found-family vibe that I'm hoping for.

I dont think Solas being race/gender locked for romance matters. The friendship with Solas was deep and meaningful. And having befriended him as a human and elf, seeing the difference between those, it was incredible. As a human its harder to win his trust, and being human (when he has never liked humans) conflicts him about tearing down the vale.

I'm a simple woman, I see a notification for a new Kala Elizabeth video & I come running.

More choice is always better - I enjoyed CyberPunk but hated the limited romance options especially for a dystopian city like Night City!

I love that they are keeping the comraderie between companions. Some of the best banter in Inquisition was between companions. I also liked that some companions liked each other naturally while other relationships weren't great. It doesn't even take that much more effort to give the illusion of depth to a character. A few voiced lines, here and there, can be a game changer, even when it isn't followed up with a scene. Josephine and Blackwall from Inquisition are a great example. I remember when I uncovered this. I'd already played the game many times and was grinding collectibles on my completionist playthrough when I got the banter. It felt great to uncover that little bit of gossip, and it made me want to know more.

5:00 I really wanted to romance Vivienne but sadly she was a friendship locked character.

I disagree on Solas being into everyone, he should be a fem elf Inky’s only romance as that gives him a ton more character and fits far more with his love for the Elven people. What I do agree on is that he should’ve had more reveal with an either gender Elf Inky as I feel he is the type to value friendship highly.

If only they had nudity in inquisition! 😩 (Stares at the *very* suggestive Iron Bull black rectangle censor)

Totally looking forward to this game. Looks great and I am excited to see how the characters will play and how the story will be. Thanks for the news update!

I look at it like this, I as a pansexual, don't want a character story that revolves around their sexuality. We are far more than our sexuality and by taking that out of the equation the writers and developers have to focus on other aspects of a character's personality.

Honestly, I share your feelings on character sexualities in the game. On one hand, yes, having different sexualities is more realistic and allows for stories like Dorian's to be told, but on the other, you bet that many men, myself included, were very upset that we couldn't romance Alistair and Cullen (especially Alistair, goddammit, BioWare), so I think we can concede that, in a world where magic, spirits, gods and other sentient races exist, having an all-pansexual cast of squadmates shouldn't really take anyone out of the experience and gets rid of the frustration of some players not being able to romance characters they liked. I wish Mass Effect did this, you mentioned Jack not being bi/pan, but gay men straight up had no romance options until the third game, and one of those was Kaidan, who had voice files indicating he was meant to be bi since the original game.

I only have one complaint about the romances. I wish they had just one more male RO, to make it an even split. Especially since the typical “blonde British boy” isn’t available this time

I agree 100% with everything you said. The main reasons I play Dragon age or Mass Effect is the story and characters, the friends and romances you can have, the world and lore. I had given up hope for a new Dragon Age or Mass effect so to say the gameplay trailer and the news that keeps coming, has me so excited🎉 I check your chancel and a few others almost daily for news so thank you for taking your time and posting them. I hope you feel better soon.

If ALL of the characters will sleep with you regardless of your gender, then they're player-sexual. This can be compared to Iron Bull in DA:I who is actually pan sexual. Also, you could have romanced Morrigan or Cassandra if you wanted to. Just play a male character. If you want that roleplaying experience of their romance, then roleplay a guy. Because that's part of what their romance entails. I've played a guy to romance Dorian. I've been playing games since before you got the option to play a woman in these kinds of things, so it's not exactly the first time I've been in a romance where the gender didn't match my own. It's not a big deal. I'd rather the characters had personalities and backstories that tied into them as whole, complete people. And that requires them to have a distinct sexuality. I will agree with you that gender locking Solus seemed like a bit much for a character who is so critical to the plot. The race-lock thing, given his history, he seems like the kind of guy who would stick to his own race, at least to me. He tolerates humans and dwarves. He wouldn't sleep with them.

I see pan as the best compromise in a no-win situation for Bioware. It allows the most people to role play the way that they want, which should be the goal. People arguing for more restrictive sexual identities are just going to have to compromise on this one.

I’m glad there’s more romance options because in DAI I only had Cassandra and Josephine. Both of which I wasn’t a fan of. Just hope it’s not like BG3 where they all want me because i said something nice

I think romances are the most difficult thing to do for any game, creating a deeper more intamite story and finding ways to make us feel closer to certain characters, but i think veilguard will do a good job with it as they are making this game quite companion focused so naturally the charcters stories would be one of their main focuses. Ofcourse we wont know for certain until we actually experience each of their stories

Locking characters out of certain romances or experiences is why multiple playthroughs are a thing.

BG3s romances were very well made and they're all pan/bi too. But... They're very playersexual and can be accidentally romanced very easily by just being nice to them exactly how it was in DAO. I'm excited for actual pansexual characters who won't be accidentally romanced. I'm pan myself so I love being presented in media more. I love how they do not need player to romance them for them to find love. DAV will be very roleplay open for what we can see so far, like you can make Rook the way you want them to be and romance anyone (or not romance anyone if you wish) without feeling limited at any point. I'm excited to get to explore DAV and its potential, I'm sure it will over take DAI as my most played DA game easily for what we can see so far.

I think we don’t have enough information at all about the game. This month has been a repetition of what we already knew over and over. I miss Larian 's transparency and how they handled gamers expectations really well.

I think both things CAN work. Making everyone pansexual and doing limited romances. Nothing will ever be perfect and cannot be and I do not expect it. The most important thing is that the relationships feel natural and that you do not romance someone by accident (it happened before in the past) when you just want to be best buddies.

I don't understand why people have such a hard time understanding a group of pansexual characters. My group of friends has more bi and pan people than strictly gay or straight people

First! I'm looking forward to this level of immersion.

I'm so excited to see some of the different romances through different characters. It'll be nice to romance anyone despite gender and lineage. Great video!

I know, I know, it's not what should make or break a game, but romances in RPGs are all-important to me, especially when there are more than one lesbian option (I'm still upset I couldn't romance Tali in ME as F without mods). Can't wait to experience this aspect of Veilguard.

Make a poll about this pls, I’d love to see what your community thinks about this.

i feel that characters like solas, cas, cullen and morrigan being race and gender specific romances make the characters more real.. as it shows us that they do have preferences and they choose what they want.. like real people.. if cullen did not want a quari or solas a dwarf.. it just gives them more life like personalities.. its what made bioware characters great.. it is what made us replay the games over and over.. if i wanted to romance cas ill play a male.. and the next playthrough i want to romance solas ill play a elf.. if i wanted to romance dorian ill play a male.. in the real world most people are not pansexual.. in the real world people get rejected all the time.. its part of life.. bioware has forgotten this trying to cater to everyone.. having a unromanceable character like viv made her more interesting just like having a gay character did.. people in my life are not waiting for me to start a romance with them.. if i tell my friend i want to be with him.. he is gonna punch me in the face.. if i tell my female friend i want to be with her she is gonna laugh at me and ignore what i said.. this is life.. and all bioware games before DA:V reflected this.. it was what made us invest in their games.. the game might be good.. but i think.. and only time will tell.. that this move will take away what made some characters more desirable.. all the previous characters that were gender and race locked did not hold us back or hold back any part of the game.. as romancing them in other playthrough gave us what we wanted or missed.. this is the beauty of dragon age and mass effect.. being upset that you could not romance morrigan in ur first playthrough is silly as you can do it on another playthrough.. this is why i loved dragon age keep.. it was for fans to save their multiple playthroughs.. as with DA and ME.. i lost count how many playthroughs i had..

No one’s ever locked out of a romance. You want to romance someone that your character can’t? Play a second time and play the type of character that can romance them. I wanted to romance Sera, so I did another playthrough where I played as a female Dwarf instead of my usual male Human.

I definitely cycled in and out of agreeing with you on things, but I'm so glad that you mentioned Jaal. I went into ME:A genuinely cranky because the devs had, only hours before, admitted that he was M/F-only. at the time, that made it the fourth Mass Effect game in a row with zero M/M alien options, which was four too many in what many people jokingly refer to as an Alien Dating Sim. Ultimately, Andromeda is my favorite Mass Effect, largely because the rest of the game won me over but being able to do the Jaal romance really helped with that.

Ok, I wasn't going to comment but damn. As an older female gamer who is pansexual, I don't get the gripe about certain romances being inaccessible to a player. Just make a new character, for the love of Andraste! Case in point, I love Dorian's romance so I just started up a male Inquisitor. To me, that's no big deal. Isn't a RPG all about experimenting with being someone new, someone different, and somewhere wholly unlike the world we're accustomed to? It sure is for me.

Great video. I agree with you, for cast of characters as small as Veilguard, making them all pan was the best compromise.

Your videos are so informative and well-conceived. The option to romance has always been important to me. I think that having more choices is never a bad idea. The fact that you were locked out by gender or sexuality is "real" but is that what we want in a video game? That's just playing "life" in my opinion. We do that every day. Games are supposed to be that escape for us and allow us to experience these worlds to the fullest. I look at it as an option in Veilguard that is now is a long time coming. What I'm more interested in is seeing how the companions I don't romance might pair off. That's going to be super fun to watch.

A lot of stupid takes about Dorian's storyline in the comments here. No, Dorian isn't "just a great character who happened to be gay". Dorian being gay IN CONTEXT OF the homophobic society that is Tevinter's upper crust in absolutely integral to him as a character. If he were not challenged at every point in his life by homophobia, he could have never left the easy cushy life of a pampered slave owner, worshipping his father unquestioningly and taking over his place and his politics. He talks about how when he was a teen he thought he'd manage living stealthily, but it was too suffocating, and he came to understand that just conforming and existing is not truly living, which he later extrapolates on other oppressed people, those that are oppressed in different ways than him. Dorian's decision to improve Tevinter and to never buckle against the pressure of being a pariah are informed by his identity as a gay man, even though that's not all there is to his identity. And yeah, perhaps his story seems a bit heavy handed by today's standard, but it was pretty damn important when the game came out that he wasn't "just a dude who happened to be gay" but a character that explicitly discussed what it is like to be a gay man, to have stealth hookups, to practice plausible deniability with family, to have a disastrous coming out. Do people not remember all the reddit threads of straight men discussing Dorian? And not in the context of "oh Dorian is such a good buddy, it literally doesn't even matter that he's gay, I love him in my party" but thoughtful essays on how Dorian helped them *actually* understand and empathize with gay men? All and all I always prefer a variety of sexualities in characters, because 1. I don't care about self-inserting or role-playing thru an avatar. It's not like, DEVASTATING to me that Cassandra gently let down my fem Inquisitor, and it didn't diminish her character in any way. The main character for me is primarily a camera through which I experience other, more in-depth characters with actual storylines. This is why Hawke is my favorite DA protag -- I love how bold and uncompromising the story is with them. That's why Act 3 when Hawke ends up all alone in an empty house devoid of family, it hits so hard. 2. Romance doesn't constitute end all be all of my immersion or my fantasy. It's not like a godly romance storyline can improve a shitty overall plot, or inconsistent characterization, or tonal whiplash of the main game. Those are the dealbreakers in a big epic narrative RPG, romance really isn't. Like, did the quality and mystery of Solas' romance storyline improve the fact that Corypheus is a really underwhelming villain of the main game? Or the fact that the open world is mismanaged and frustrating? Hell, in the much praised BG3 most people reach Act 3, finish the romance storyline, and start a different character, because the main battle finale is boooooooooring. 3. I say this as a stereotypical slutty bisexual -- most games really don't write multisexuality well. They're not interested in exploring it as they are exploring monosexual identities. The Veilguard promises to have in-depth detailed takes on every character, with their "preferences and temperament" informing their approach to romance, but that remains to be seen, and I remain skeptical. You simply cannot tell me that Neve getting hit on by a woman wouldn't raise some questions/feelings/concerns/flashbacks for her that getting hit on by a man wouldn't. But would BioWare go there? I guess we'll have to see.

I didn't really like the way romance worked in BG3. The characters were WAY too thirsty, and I didn't like how Haslin insisted me being kind to him meant I was romantically interested in him, even though I was already seeing Shadowheart. Frankly, I would have liked to be able to select my character's sexuality in the creator. It would help negate the issue that NPCs are unable to read your body language like they would in real life. As for BioWare games, I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm afraid romance will eventually take too much importance in their games - if it's not the case already. Mordin and Wrex are great characters because they were not written to be too likable. Can BW writers still create those, or does everyone need to be a romance option now? I am not interested in any of the companions, so it will be interesting to see if I can still enjoy the game as much.

I love the idea of the found family vibe, especially after playing Dawntrail where that has just been the major theme all the way through!

Hey, that's a great video! I'm new here, but I'll keep an eye out for more content - I still have hope for BioWare and Dragon Age. Oh and I hope you feel better soon! 😊 To the subject at hand: I totally agree that a cast of characters that have a diverse array of romantic and sexual preferences and dislikes makes for better dramatic writing opportunities. I'm replaying DS:I as a female elf Inquisitor solely for romancing Solas and getting to that very specific part of his intriguing character. From what I've read, Solas' writer decided to make him like one very specific type of love interest in order to *[MAJOR INQUISITION SPOILER AHEAD]* not have a "sexually deviant/callous bad guy trope *[END OF SPOILERS]* I totally understand if people want more options, but I will always prefer strong character specific writing for my possible companions. Oh, and yeah: Dorian's scenes with his dad were very powerful stuff! And I also adore Morrigan and Cassandra (I'm not leaving Skyhold without her! Or Solas... or Varric 😂 But I really like most characters, I think Inquisition is one of Bioware's very best!) Stronger friendships sound amazing and well written found family will _never_ not be dear to my heart ❤

You know... However we feel about BioWare and VG, we gotta hand It to then when It comes to taking risks. They do try New stuff. You cant strike Gold every time... Also. WHERE IS MY BLOOD MAGIC Q.Q

I'm more than OK with them going this route. Most people will only play this game once or twice. Why limit their options? I get the story aspect of a scene like Dorian had with his father... but u can have that same (or very similar) being pan-sexual as well. It's not like it's a default widely held stance lol. I was soo bummed when I found out I couldn't romance Judy on my first Cyberpunk run cause I chose to play as a male. She is easily the best character (IMO). I won't have that issue here.

Very balanced approach and I think you shared your opinion well, and strongly, while being respectful of other opinions.

I think you stated things very well. While I want representation, it will always come at the cost of player agency in an already limited virtual medium. In my case… I’m non-binary, and I typically let people use any pronouns for me, but I’m really not comfortable with femininity, especially as an afab. I can have attraction to certain women, but usually, I don’t. So in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, I never romance anyone. I spend both games just waiting till I can see Kaidan in 3. And that’s kind of crushing. It’s not like my Shep could go off and find somebody else. There are limited romance options. And even if there was only one added gay option, what if I hated his personality? Being forced to settle unhappily or be alone isn’t exactly a fun or fulfilling story. And when I found out how much lore was hidden in Solas’ romance, I was depressed. Because I did try to romance him the first time I played, but my male character that is what I am comfortable playing with, would never have access to that storyline. And yes, I was happy when I met Dorian and realized he’s amazing. But there’s always going to be a trade off in a limited interactive medium. Do we ask them to engineer more possibilities or more core representation? (Let us not forget, there can still be plenty of representation outside of the companions, too, so the companions’ sexualities do not stop there from being other lovable characters of all sexualities and backgrounds.)

Don't agree. If everyone is pansexual, then it removes a layer of uniqueness and depth from the relationships and makes sexualities feel rather generic. There will be no way to explore why a person has specific preferences if they are all the same. There are even storybeats that tie into preferences (Morrigan wanting the God-baby, Alistair wanting a Queen to rule with etc.) that wouldn't hit the same. I actually liked what they did with Aveline even though I know people hated it. It made the game have a better human experience, because it didn't matter how much you flirted with her she would reject you; she just was not interested. It added a level to her character as there was finally someone that wouldn't fall to your feet as the MC, and gave more weight to the budding relationship she had with Donnic. The whole "I should be able to get anyone that is romanceable because no one is allowed to have individual preferences" notion makes the companions feel like blow-up dolls to appease the masses rather than genuine individual characters, at least when it comes to romance. Having characters with preferences also incentivizes multiple playthoughs and trying new characters outside your comfort zone as well.

The next time someone submits a post to my fb group to complain about the sexualities in DAV: I am going to approve it, post a link to this video, and lock the comments. You explained this PERFECTLY, and just linking this would be so much easier than repeating myself lol.

Cullen's race locked preferences were actually a reference to origins I think. If you played the circle mage origin as a female human or elf, Cullen had quite the obvious crush on you. It was adorable. But Solas should definitely have been pan, no question.

I do see why BioWare locked certain things behind race and class due to “lore” base as it helps push replayability to motivate people to get every experience. I think this does help get a deep dive into a character, but as long as the companion goes into why that way you make that connection with them

You are my favorite RU-vidr

I prefer when there are romance options outside the party, like in Persona games. In party romance feels like an invitation to conflict, its slightly immersion breaking.

Dragon Age Origins, circle Mage prologue if your character is a woman, Cullen will show having a crush on them. So while he fears mages even back then, still would be willing to be with one.

As a bisexual gamer, I’ve always found the concept of “playersexual” to be a bit of a boogeyman that gets applied regardless of if it’s true in the game or not, I’ve seen people say Baldur’s Gate 3’s companions are playersexual, even though the companions flirt with each other and have clearly defined past relationships. I like having choices in games but I also can appreciate a well written gender locked romance (race locked romances are much harder to justify though). The thing is, Dorian’s romance constantly gets held up as an example of a well written romance that centers his sexuality (for good reason) but can you say the same for Blackwall or Tali? It feels like the majority of heterosexual romances are that way because the writers view heterosexuality as the default state for the character, and not a conscious creative decision.

Great video (and I hope your hand heals quickly, Kala.) Although I love knowing there will be so many options, I do get how set sexualities for companions can add to their backstories. Interesting conversation. I’m really looking forward to Dragon Age Veilguard. It will be my first DA game - and sadly I don’t have time to go back and play all the previous games. The character creator and romance options in this game look to be really varied and amazing.

Gaider, for all his faults, said that the Romances in DA2 were BISEXUAL, not player sexual. He emphasized that they all didn't just wanna lust after Hawke. DA2 isn't "player sexual"

I am guessing that the other companion x companion romances will be Neve X Emmerich and Davrin X Lucanis while Belara has a good chance of being the traitor of the game.

I think a good balance would be to give characters their 'preferences', but allow those preferences to evolve with enough work at varying difficulties. The only issue i see with that though would be possibly sending a message that sexuality is a choice that can be changed. But if they did enough to frame it more as sexuality being 'discovered' rather than 'changed by choice', i think that'd be fine.

"especially Anders" is an understatement 🤣

Listen, all im asking for is to finally romance Varric. PLEASE bioware 😭💔

I completely agree with this. And the point you made at 7 minutes is very true. Anyone who has played dragons dogma knows that the romance positions are very mast. But because there were so many people to choose from, the quality of the romance on those games are very poor. There was basically nothing there ever unless you chose one or two specific characters with a more flushed out romance.

For me, it has never bothered me when certain characters are gender locked in terms of romance. If I really want to romance that character, I create a character that they will romance. I love having every playthrough be different and experiencing those differences keeps me coming back. It’s why I have played all the DA games and BG3 so much. So, if I am playing as a female human mage, and I want to romance Dorian, I’ll make sure to play as a male character the next go around. It’s never bothered me. That’s just me, though. I love experiencing as much of the games as I can! With the “all the companions are pansexual” debate, I also don’t have a problem with it at all. But I’m a straight lady, so my opinion probably doesn’t or shouldn’t count for much. I can understand the camp saying how they wish there was more of a variety in sexualities, though. Representation is so important and it’s always fulfilling to see oneself reflected in the media we love. I think, however, we should wait to make judgments until we play the game and see how everything shakes out.

Show me more of Lucanis 😏

i need a release date like, right now.

I'm really curious how their relationships will evolve with each other after Rook has chosen a paramour. I really wanted to romance Cullen in Inquisition. But, he doesn't do guys and my player character is always male. Thus, I had to watch it play out on RU-vid, posted by someone who did play as a female Inquisitor. Like you said, if you're exclusivly gay or straight, you ended up with extremely limited options up until Balder's Gate 3. I am glad to see that trend continue.

Excellent video, and very well said. You hit pretty much every point that I feel myself. The people who are skipping this game because everyone is pansexual, or that are trying to make this political are beyond reason. Also best wishes to your recovery. I know how much that sucks, I had a pinched nerve in my back and couldn't walk. Love your videos, stay blessed.

I think people forget to consider that we now have a nonbinary player option which adds a whole new layer to potential sexualities amongst The companions and thus I feel the pansexual option was more practical in the long run

I appreciate your perspective on this-honestly, you put into words a lot of what I was feeling and thinking about it. I do get people's frustrations with this, but like you said, without a larger cast size, it's difficult to do that and provide enough options for everyone to be able to have a significant choice.

I hope your arm recovers soon! Honestly, I think that more varied sexualities is more realistic, especially when literally every character is from a different faction and ergo a different walk of life, but a group of just pansexuals is not unrealistic either (coming from someone whose friends are almost all bi/pan). I think what was most wrong with DA2 was the rivalry romances actually. They made little sense to me. You could be violent, racist, whatever, and still romance Merrill somehow, which I’ve seen some people call abusive of her and of Hawke’s power/status over her. You can also have a rivalmance with Fenris, and then just sell him into slavery. No one rational or with any sense of morals would give a Hawke like that a chance, so if the companions in DATV’s romances are locked off bc Rook is an asshole, I think all of them being pansexual is fine.

I’m open to pan romance options. If done right, that will be more immersive than “player sexual”

Honestly I feel like this we will lose all the meaning of a romance story. If responses and romance stories will be the exact same as a male and as a woman, they will kill the meanings of a relationship. I hope dialogues change if you romance a companion being a female or a male.

You forgot to mention that in origins Leliana can be romanced by both male and female grey warden . Just a heads up

I don't mind that they're all pansexual, or even if they are playersexual, bc as a lesbian I have usually been very limited in my choices. I love Leliana (my favorite romance ever), Isabela, Merrill, Josephine, Liara, Samantha Traynor, Karlach, Shadowheart but I've never had as many options as straight/bi people have. Couldn't romance Bastila in KOTOR, Tali, Cassandra. In AC Odyssey DLC female character would have a baby even if they romanced the female love interest. 🤮 Harvest Moon never having gay relationships. Then all the LGBT shows that get cancelled, and the bury your gays disaster of 2016. Could go on. There were only 2 options in DAI when women who liked men had 4, 6 for bi women. And the only straight romance I could ever bring myself to do is Male Shep/Tali. So if I want to romance a male character, I can just make a husband for him. With only 7 romances (assuming by this point no npc romance), it makes most sense to not limit it. Also sorry for the essay. Thanks for all the vids, you're doing great work!

Thank you for your time and dedication! The fandom appreciates it

Okay I wanted to start this out with I don't know if Liara qualifies as a lesbian romance considering she's an alien but strictly a female alien. So I guess that's neither here nor there. But I do believe that it's okay to have some bisexual characters, some straight characters and some gay characters. I believe that it definitely gives the characters that the player wants to romance, more depth, and the romance that the player chooses obviously chooses it for a reason so it means much that much more to the player when they choose The character that they went to romance for the specific reason like I'm sure most male characters in Mass Effect decided to romance. Miranda, for obvious reasons, just like I'm sure they decided to romance. James if they chose so for obvious reasons I 100% Believe in a vast array of choices in video games, but just like they said about their story in Dragon Age the Veil Gaurd some things are better, left linear and not wide open like the world we had in Inquisition The same should be applied to the romances in my opinion, but I'll still buy this game. I'll still fall in love with it and the characters and the story!

I was just sad my dwarf inquisitor couldn’t romance scout harding. Now that she is a romance option she will be my first. I just wish there was a templar subclass option

Wow, I think you handled this subject so well. I am pansexual so it seems so natural to me for people to be pan. But it was great to hear your perspective and I really respect the care with which you handled it. I am so excited for this game. It seems practically perfect! 💜

I think restricing access is good, it increases the value and specialty of the romance with solas and encourages multiple playthroughs. It would be cool if there were multiple kinds of romances you could have with the same character kinda like with the alien girl in andromeda. You could have a fling or do something more serious. I think if you can make a robust and fully realized version of that you could get more and more immersive such as a character vibes with you, but because of your roleplaying or even character creation options they could find you unattractive or attractive. Imagine someone commenting on your cauliflower ear and asking you how you got it, or about the scars you put across your face. Maybe if you pull that buldge slider all the way to massive, your love interest looks down and is like "Uh I think i found the dragon we were tracking". Im ambitious, but i like when characters have agency at maximum. Imagine AI being used in the game to adapt to your choices down to the minute details of your character creator. "Oh darling, I have a thing for red heads." From a villager hitting on you. Stuff would be wild.

Not a popular opinion. I'm saying this as a writer, mostly an OC writer. You're never going to get it right. You are never going to please everyone. I could create a romance game with all romances being canon bisexuals and pansexuals and each route is unique to the player's attractions. And I would *still* get complaints. So... These new romances could be well-done, unique, give a new experience to each player. And people will *still* complain about them. I personally think the characters all being pan is great. Pansexuals need representation! The Iron Bull is Pan. As for Inquisition and Origins, I guess I've never really cared about the limits. To me, it made them more realistic. But, that's me, I do understand the frustrations. For Solas to be straight and only attracted to elven women, made sense to me. Because he's a narcissist and an ancient one at that. It's very much hinted throughout the game that he feels that everyone is below him. Especially if they're not elves. But, yeah, that's my take on this.

Personally, as a nonbinary lesbian, im overjoyed. i can finally make a character who is nonbinary like me. Think i might cry hearing my pronouns in the game. While i feel like I'd love some more lesbian representation, i am still salty over not getting to romance Morrigan. I adore her, and i dont want to have to play as a male inquisitor to romance her, so i think they made the right choice.

I respectfully disagree regarding the romance. Mainly for 2 reasons. 1.I think dao and dai did it best with each character having a set sexuality. It made them more "real" like a real person with set views, a set personality and sexuality. It is also a great way to ensure replayability. Imho i think that people tend to forget these are RPG; *role playing* games not self insert games. We are meant to play different roles and experience the world through different characters' perspectives, eyes and views. The fact that I couldn't romance solas wih my human inky made me go back and play as an elf, the fact that Cullen did not want my qunari inky made me play as a human mage (because of his background with mages). I know you said you wanted to romance Casandra and Morigan but you always could. That was always a choice. If you make a male inky/warden. And it will give you the chance to play a different *role* and it would give you another perspective into the story and characters, too. 2.If everyone wants literally anyone, then what is the point of me creating different characters with different personalities etc? Also, if my rook romancing a chracter means another character will be single because I am "stealing" away their partner (ie romancing harding and leaving taash single) then why would I want to do that? That is mean😢 Imho I think Bioware did not make the right choice here 😕

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I think BG3 honestly has BioWare scared, after all the success of BG3 is one we won’t see for awhile unless BioWare or someone else gets the lead out of their pants, the companions of BG3 were a huge part of the story, but there was more to them than just their sexualities (which are never actually confirmed in canon, leading players to interpret the characters however they choose) but from what I keep hearing it seems BioWare isn’t learning from this, I don’t want walking sexualities, I want fully realized and fleshed out characters that just so happen to be a certain way, (I’m mostly looking to how Lucanis has been described by his game writer as “a walking Bisexual disaster” rather than anything actually meaningful for his character beyond that) from a roleplaying standpoint the point of playing an RPG is allowing the player to craft the story they want to play, which is where BG3 shines IMO and where BioWare should look to, because the main story, and outcomes, is where BG3 really stands out “oh, you wanna play the hero who saves Baldurs gate? Awesome! Here you go! Oh, you wanna play the Villain who takes over the world? Go have at it then!” Vs most modern RPG’s where all you get to be is the hero, I want the choice to either keep the veil up, or tear it down on my own terms, but I doubt we’re going to get that here… ah sorry I’m rambling 🙂‍↕️ I’m just super nervous about how this is gonna all play out because I worry they’re playing up the companions so much because they don’t have much of a main story to fall back on for replay ability

This does make me wonder about next Mass Effect as well. Like would they go back to what was before or would they do the pansexual romances again.

Sounds fine, "romance" in a video game has always been a bit a joke anyway, I just hope the characters are well written and interesting.

Personally I prefer the "everyone is bi" route, mostly because Dragon Age has, historically, been unable to make a queer male romance that doesn't rely on stereotypes. Case in point: Zevran: a sassy, slutty bisexual who was abused as a child and can betray you. Iron Bull: a slutty bisexual who betrays you if you don't make the right choice, will only get with you if you become his sub, and seems annoyed with the fact that he's in "a committed relationship" to begin with in banter with Cassandra. Him even being queer seems to come out of nowhere; he only talks about finding women attractive until Dorian or m!Inquisitor. Dorian: a sassy, snobbish, fashionable gay with daddy issues who only tells you he loves you at the very end of Tresspasser. To be clear, I love all these characters. They're great. But come *on*. Why couldn't Blackwall have been bi? Or Solas? BW said they decided against Solas's male romance because they didn't want to lean on the "depraved bisexual" stereotype... and then made Iron Bull a traitor.

Beside Dorian, there hasn't been any romance that couldn't have been pansexual in mass effect or dragon. Solas only being attracted to elves maybe. I don't really get why people complain that everyone has access to every romance option.

I think this is definitely a step in the right direction for these types of RPG games.

It’s definitely a tough and nuanced thing. I think people getting more options is better, even if making everyone pansexual isn’t quite realistic. It helps you tell the story YOU want to tell, not to mention that giving the rest of the party the opportunity to develop relationships with each other is so freaking cool

EXCUSE ME? YOU CAN ROMANCE HARDING? They forgot she has a potential romance with Sera? At least now with Bianca out of the picture, I can (try to) romance Varric.

i total agree with you about the relationships locking/unlocking, its complicated. like Dorian's story was perfect even if i never got to romance him, but also, it is an RPG and it just seems like it should have the most options. i am worried about the skeleton romance, like, i don't get it, maybe just me. curious if any romance options that aren't companions like Cullen and Josie in Inquisition, i guess the skeleton would count.

"Solas only cares about spirits." If that's what you got from interactions with him in the DAI it must be so.

I'm on the side of being pleased with the pansexual aspect. Mostly because I want to be able to experience all of the companions love while still being myself (or at least my Dragon Age self.) It feels very clunky and awkward for me to play a masculine character to romance the beautiful women. Though, obviously I powered through for the love of Dorian and Cassandra.

Kala, it's simple to romance Morrigan and Cassandra. Simply roleplay a male character.

Reading comments about this topic made me conclude that pretty much everyone wasn't happy about romance options, no matter what was their sexual orientation, and thinking about that, I can absolutely see why. The only relationship that I wanted and actually could have was with Liara, and even if it wasn't the best representation of a lesbian relationship, it was the closest thing I could get in a video game at a time. None other romance managed to beat it till this moment. And, even though some people say that sexual orientation isn't everything, it is very important part of someone's experience which affects everything and shapes their life and personality. That being said, making everyone pansexual is quite problematic and very unrealistic, but I would rather choose that, than again being unable to romance the character I truly like (e.g. Morrigan, Casandra, Jack, Dr. T'Perro, etc.). IMO BG3 isn't the best example of video game with good characters or good relationships. Characters were quite childish, unrealistic, irritating and I couldn't really connect with anyone, eventhough I wanted. Bioware is way better in developing these, so let's just hope that they know what they are doing and that they'll bring us great new friends and lovers.

I do think that everyone being romance-able makes the game less realistic and less role playing having characters having different sexuality is better for role playing might encourage someone like myself to play as a different kinda of character instead of just a straight male and helps with replay ability but people are always gonna romance who they want for me as long as the writing is on point that’s all that matters and BioWare probably does romance better then any other studio based off of their track record I can’t think of one BioWare game that doesn’t have a good romance actually kotor was probably the worst but even then that’s early BioWare and early romance in gaming but in the end the writing and characters themselves will make to break the romance

I honestly thought they were going to give us a Tali/Femshep relationship in ME3 after LotSB, because they had her download all this stuff about understanding humans and the self-stimulation attachment being used while I had my femshep.

people are worried that The problem with the sexuality in DA will be similar to the problem with shadow heart in bg3 people got mad because in act 3 with the dark elves and halsin s

Don't worry, Mod's are what make things possible.

I feel like the more we hear about this game, the worse it gets. Weve heard more about romance,nudity, pansexual characters and being thirsty then we have about anything else. It feels like a fanfiction written by a horny teenager. Very little gameplay shown, less skills, less travel companions. But we know so much about romance and if we can be super gay.

I mean no disrespect to anyone... people it's a video Game!!!!, so what are we, you, or anyone else talking about let's all just remember that it's a Video Game.

Who else is terrified to see what some of these companions look like in the nude?

i think Cullen's romance being race restricted fits the character because he's stuck in a heteronormative framework, he's only imagined himself in a protective and dominant dynamic so he can't imagine his girl to be taller than him or having more beard than he does. it did frustrate me, he was my first choice as a dwarf female, but that's because he doesn't know what's good for him. Still, learning that all characters are pan in this game, while I loved the authenticity of Inquisition's sexualities, it makes sense if you add trans and nonbinary identities. inquisition had no trans option and only one trans npc (the best npc I might add, love Krem, great guy) so you didn't have to figure out how the strictly gay and straight characters felt about romancing trans people. at the end of the day it's about the coding, and each individual backstories. so if that's the price of having a more inclusive character creator, it's worth it. but anyway I'm bi so it's all just flavor to me. (also I do hope we see more trans npc here and there, the set the standard pretty high with inquisition)

I will treat romances as i have always done. I say what i think i should say, not what gives me the most chance on a specific romantic partner. I do not care if they approve or not. Just like i do in real life. It will shut me out of some options, no doubt, but i don't care, i will stay true to myself under ALL circumstances. . Just like they have a right to approve or not, so do i... I'll take the one thats left at the ends of it, as long as it is a female. Or, much like in Inquisition, i don't romance anyone at all.