Each genre of video game offers something different. You could load up the best FPS to satisfy your competitive nature or challenge yourself against one of the hardest games of all time. As games have become more sophisticated and started telling more complex stories with deeper characters, we started seeing romantic couples as a focus. Some games feature a pair that is narratively tied, while many more let you choose who you want your main character to enter a relationship with. In either situation, it is the writing and chemistry that determine how effective that couple is on us. These are the best video game romances that will give you high relationship goals.
Warning: Some spoilers ahead for each of the games covered!
Nate and Elena – Uncharted
The best part about Nathan and Elena’s relationship is how rocky it is. They start out a bit adversarial but come together through a dangerous situation. While the two both have plenty in common, they actually break up between games before rekindling their relationship, and nearly break up again in the final game due to Nate’s selfishness. It isn’t that he’s selfish for wanting to go on an adventure — Elena would understand that more than anyone — but the fact that he felt like he had to lie about it. That’s some real, human behavior that most games don’t touch. As rocky as things get, though, the thing that makes them such a power couple is that neither one is willing to give up on the other.
Tidus and Yuna – Final Fantasy X
There’s something so bittersweet about Tidus and Yuna. Tidus meets Yuna and agrees to protect her on a pilgrimage to save the world from the monster Sin, but is the only one in the group who doesn’t know that doing so means Yuna will die. They form a bond slowly over the journey, helping each other grow and step out of their parents’ shadows. Tidus and the group do break the cycle, but only then realize that he was never real. He was a dream, and killing Sin meant that dream would end and he would vanish. I challenge anyone to play this game and not tear up at the end when Yuna attempts to hug Tidus one last time but falls through him like a ghost.
Samantha and Yolanda – Gone Home
A game needs exceptional writing to make us fall in love with a couple that we never even see interact. Gone Home is a game where you piece together what has been going on with your family while away, including your sister Samantha who has fallen for a girl named Lonnie. We see how they bond over video games and music, eventually blooming into a romance. This is a new experience for both of them, and you see how the two help one another grapple with not only their own identities but also the judgment of those around them. In the end, you learn that the two have run off together to escape their families who refuse to accept them for who they are.
Commander Shephard and Garrus – Mass Effect
Whether you’re a male Shephard or female, Garrus is the ultimate romance option in all three Mass Effect games. Right from the start, Garrus has your back in the fight against the Reapers, but his loyalty goes deeper than that. Unlike most other romances, Shephard and Garrus as a couple actually feel like a team. There’s trust and a lot of depth to his morals that help shape Shephard. Garrus makes you a better character (unless you’re trying to be a renegade) and you find yourself wanting to live up to his vision of you. He might look like a strange bird creature, but he has a heart of gold.
Geralt and Triss – The Witcher
Some will argue that Geralt and Yennifer are the true pairing, but I find Triss to be the more fitting romance for the Witcher. For one, he and Yennifer have never exactly been healthy for one another, but I think they also work better as adoptive co-parents to Ciri than a romantic couple. Triss, meanwhile, is the perfect ying to Geralt’s yang. She is warm and kind, but strong enough to not put up with being treated unfairly. She’s the one who found Geralt after losing his memory and has stuck with him ever since. Unlike Yennifer, she has never abandoned him or put herself above his needs.
Sora and Kairi – Kingdom Hearts
I can understand why this romance wouldn’t make sense to most people since Sora and Kairi don’t share almost any screen time together throughout the franchise, but hear me out. This is a romance built in the distance between the characters. We know Sora has a bit of a crush on Kairi at the start of the series and see it grow as he fights to find and rescue her. Once he does, it is a short-lived reunion where Sora is forced to separate himself from her to save Riku, but only because he knows she’s safe. It’s unconventional, but the way that their hearts always find a way back to one another is very touching.
Ellie and Dina – The Last of Us Part 2
Most of the couples we talked about were formed in less-than-ideal circumstances, but none as grim as The Last of Us. Ellie and Dina have an uphill battle in every sense. Not only are people still intolerant toward their relationship despite the state of the world, they also have the physical threats of nature, infection, and other human factions to worry about. It is one small bright spot in the world that, sadly, does not survive unscathed. Dina is willing to risk everything to help Ellie get revenge, but eventually, that lust for vengeance is what drives them apart. There is still hope that they reconnect, but that chapter has yet to be written.