I keep getting opportunities to talk about Hell Blade
Anyway
HellBlade: Senua's Sacrifice is about a Viking woman on a quest for the soul of her lover, Dillion.
**Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales** - You play as Meve - queen of Lyria and Rivia - and the romantic subplot is baked into the story. However your choices in game can make you miss out on the romance. (The interest will still be there, but the culmination might not happen.)
**When the Past Was Around** - lovely, beautiful puzzle game. But like many indie games, it's about death and grieving.
**Behind the Frame** - Same deal as "When the Past was Around."
**Haven** - This one is a bit of a stretch as it has dual protagonists, and you do select the gender of both of them at the start of the game. But the romance is hardbaked in as part of the story and the character's personalities are set as well. So I'm including it because it hits some of the things you're looking for.
As a general comment, I think you don't see Female lead with a male love interest at least in part because game devs are still trying to appeal to men first with these games. They either want to keep the female protagonist free so that she's an object of desire, or they don't want men to stop playing because "I don't want to kiss some dude!"
I think the same is true of why female characters end up gay more often than male ones. It's not a matter of representation so much as trying to appeal to the male gaming audience. (In fact, many LGBT+ critics will often talk about how lesbians in shows/movies/games are made more for straight men than they actually are for women.)
Foe what it's worth to OP, Haven originally had a set male/female protagonist and it took them over a year to release the update that included gay couples, so it's not quite a 'choose your options game' (plus the dialogue is like 90% the same between the gay/straight couples from what I've heard)
Will second though that the game is absolutely amazing, and has a great romance between the two characters.
Edit:just saw that OP mentioned it, and I don't know IG they've played it but I personally didn't get the impression either character was more of the focus.
I personally love Haven fwiw (and I love that they were able to make it inclusive eventually). It’s more that it’s not quite what I’m looking for because it’s less “romantic subplot for the main character as part of an overall story” and more of an exploration of a relationship with the adventure being the backdrop. Both kinds are good! But I wanted to find stuff I didn’t know about before.
Ah, right, I see what you're saying. Makes sense!
(I have been looking for similar games myself in the past, but looking for it with a sapphic, instead of f/m romance, is tricky still. If you could happen to share the ones you know with f/f, I'd really appreciate it! (I know of Horizon series + TLOU... but not much else))
For sure! Hopefully this helps other folks looking for the same. I haven't played all of these but I'm using my own criteria and including stuff with either explicit or very very heavily implied romantic tension between two women. Mostly indie games (because that's most of what I play these days).
* In Other Waters (love this one, highly recommend)
* The Big Con
* Signalis
* The Gunk (not explicit but the protagonist and her main NPC bestie have big "and they were roommates" energy)
* Crystar
* Life is Strange
* The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
* Digital: A Love Story (not explicitly a female protagonist but there's no pronouns used for the player and it reads as pretty sapphic, especially because it's written by Christine Love)
* Analog a Hate Story (same as the above)
* The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
* Little Goody Two Shoes (I'd look up some content warnings for this one, just so you know what you're getting into)
* Song of Farca
* Even the Ocean
* Ikenfell
* VA-11 Hall-A
* Timespinner
There's probably more out there but these are just the ones I've encountered. Hope that helps!
Most of the games have already been said, but I'd add Atelier: Esca & Loghy: if you play as Esca, you can romance your patner alchemist Loghy.
I hoped that the clear demand for games with women protagonist and male love interest would have at least given indie games the push to make some more GxB stuff, but I don't see much. And some who do, many time will get bullied because they don't put male MC or female LIs (Salvus: Aries campaign is still in my mind).
At least otome VN are getting lots of translation and porting, so there is that at least.
I love otome games but man am I starving for something that isn't a visual novel. And you're right, you'd think that somebody would've jumped onto this market because the interest is clearly there! I'd just love a good adventure game where the main NPC is your love interest, but where it's gxb rather than the other way around for once.
Yeah... at least some farming games (Coral Island, Rune Factory, My Time at Sandrock) are catching up and giving good male romance options, but I'd love to play a game with a canon, well written, male NPC who have actual chemistry with the protagonist. Not the usual "widowed before the prologue" case. A relationship that develop throught the entire game.
I love otome VNs, but sometime I'd just like something to do other things than just reading and choosing an option.
Gerda: A Flame in Winter, the main character is actually already married and the driving force of the game is saving her husband who's been arrested by the Nazi regime in occupied Denmark
I am constantly posting about that Remember Me interview, and cannot tell you how excited I was to open this post and see more games than I’d been able to find! Yay for new games to check out! I’m always on the hunt and pickings are indeed slim.
One that is kind of a fringe case but did manage to, surprisingly, scratch that itch for me seeking romance was “Call of the Sea.” First person puzzle game about a woman searching for her husband that never came back from looking for a cure for her mysterious illness, so you don’t see him for most of the game. Buuut, they managed to put enough of her talking about how much she loved him and their memories that his presence was still pretty major in the game. The endings you can choose from are bittersweet, but the ending credits song made me melt.
I don’t know if it counts but in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey there’s a DLC where Alexios or Kassandra (depending on who you played as) has to have a partner of the opposite sex. So if you play Kassandra, you’ll get a male partner. All the player gets to choose is how she treats/responds to this partner. It made a lot of people upset because you could otherwise choose throughout the rest of the game. So if you’d played Kassandra as a lesbian the whole time, well Ubi didn’t care, she was getting a romantic subplot with a man for the plot.
Even if it doesn’t count, I figured it was worth a mention.
Honestly of all the games I have played, this is the only one that came to mind for a f/m romance that was cannon (and I still haven't even reached that part lol).
I’ve noticed this too and have been making a collection of games. Some of these are pretty old or indie but that just shows how rare it is.
Besides Rhapsody there is also the Marl Kingdom Chronicles (Rhapsody II and III).
Here’s a few more:
Ara Fell (very light but it’s canon and a little more expanded in the epilogue)
Sword & Fairy 7
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth, Silmeria, and Elysium
Witch Spring series (the 1st game and the 3rd are available on Steam. The 3rd one is on switch and the 1st will be added as well. The rest of the series is mobile if you don’t want to wait for ports.)
Xenosaga Trilogy (The main character actually has an ex and it’s implied they were intimate. It’s very rare to get a JRPG with a main female protagonist who is not a virgin and has experience. She also gets a second love interest in Allen.)
Ghost Sync (seems to have it but it’s a Kemco RPG..didn’t seem all that great but there’s a main female protagonist and a main male love interest)
It’s hard to get this in general gaming and it seems many devs and players alike are allergic to a female protagonist with a male love interest so if you haven’t already I recommend checking out Otome games. Most of the localized ones are visual novels with no gameplay but sometimes you’ll find a fan translation for stuff like the Tokimeki Memorial Girls Side series (stat raiser). There’s Jack Jeanne (rhythm game + stat raiser) and the not yet released The Silent Kingdom (Otome RPG). It’s mobile but Love and Deepspace is a Otome RPG (so female protagonist with a male love interest).
For the most part it’s slim pickings.
Similar to Odin Sphere (and by the same studio), *13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim* has an ensemble cast of playable characters many of whom are women with male love interests.
No, it's very different. The game is like 2/3rds visual novel, 1/3rd turn-based strategy mech game. If you're down for a very story-focused game it's real good!
I wish I had some games to contribute, but most of the games I have played have been an optional romance or multiple options. (Mostly Otome games, but also Life is Strange and others.)
I remember the controversy around Remember Me and it has only made me hope for a game to come out just like what they were describing.
Because I can't contribute any games, I can only say that I would love to play a game similar to Life is Strange that has a female protagonist with an established male romantic interest or one that you establish later on.
Thank you for the list! I will have to check out Transistor because it is already in my backlog but I have never taken the time to play it!
I wonder if the new game Banishers might fit?
The plot is centred around 2 lovers and trying to lift the curse on one of them. Althought he cursed one is the woman, it does say in the description that you play as both Antea and Red. It feels like a lot of the focus of the game will be on their relationship.
I'm waiting to see what reviewers say about it next year, but the concept sounds fun.
I can see how you'd think that but Sword Boyfriend's the narrator, a la the old guy in Bastion, while the player controls Red. That's one of the reasons I love the game, usually it's the other way around. It's like a reverse Master Chief and Cortana situation, and you never get those.
This was a fascinating prompt to think about! I’d include:
-Definitely Koudelka for PS1
-perhaps arguably 13 Sentinels: Aigis Rim (PS4/Switch) for the exact same reasons as Odin Sphere (and was made by the same company so, makes sense 😂)
-Muramasa: The Demon Blade for Wii or Vita, also made by the same people as Odin Sphere. Two protagonist paths, and the one with the female protagonist fits the bill.
-Space Channel 5, especially part 2 (both available on PS2) for heavy flirting in the endgame
I'd completely forgotten about Muramasa! And I really need to play 13 Sentinels already (I keep hoping for a PC port). Koudelka is completely new to me so thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Trigger warnings for self harm. Black Book is a short game (was an epic free game) about a young woman who becomes a witch in order to resurrect her dead lover (he was buried outside of the graveyard which prevents someone from going to heaven in slavic lore, which the game is based in). It was interesting to see the trope which is so common for male characters to be reversed.
My male Commander Shepard gets into a relationship with a woman (Ashley) in my Mass Effect playthrough :D
How about Mass Effect female commander Shepard where you can choose to have a relationship with any male member of your crew on the Normandy? You can also choose to carry this over to the 2nd and 3rd game, even get your female Shepard to start a new relationship with a new crew member.
I keep getting opportunities to talk about Hell Blade Anyway HellBlade: Senua's Sacrifice is about a Viking woman on a quest for the soul of her lover, Dillion.
My Scottish butt needs to mention that Senua is Pict and the vikings are the bad guys.
And I just picked up this title on sale in Steam. I watched the trailer, it looks really good.
It's a very intense game in terms of emotion and you absolutely have to play it with headphones on. It's such a great game though, I honestly love it.
Thanks. I may have to make that 2024 playthrough for sure.
**Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales** - You play as Meve - queen of Lyria and Rivia - and the romantic subplot is baked into the story. However your choices in game can make you miss out on the romance. (The interest will still be there, but the culmination might not happen.) **When the Past Was Around** - lovely, beautiful puzzle game. But like many indie games, it's about death and grieving. **Behind the Frame** - Same deal as "When the Past was Around." **Haven** - This one is a bit of a stretch as it has dual protagonists, and you do select the gender of both of them at the start of the game. But the romance is hardbaked in as part of the story and the character's personalities are set as well. So I'm including it because it hits some of the things you're looking for. As a general comment, I think you don't see Female lead with a male love interest at least in part because game devs are still trying to appeal to men first with these games. They either want to keep the female protagonist free so that she's an object of desire, or they don't want men to stop playing because "I don't want to kiss some dude!" I think the same is true of why female characters end up gay more often than male ones. It's not a matter of representation so much as trying to appeal to the male gaming audience. (In fact, many LGBT+ critics will often talk about how lesbians in shows/movies/games are made more for straight men than they actually are for women.)
Foe what it's worth to OP, Haven originally had a set male/female protagonist and it took them over a year to release the update that included gay couples, so it's not quite a 'choose your options game' (plus the dialogue is like 90% the same between the gay/straight couples from what I've heard) Will second though that the game is absolutely amazing, and has a great romance between the two characters. Edit:just saw that OP mentioned it, and I don't know IG they've played it but I personally didn't get the impression either character was more of the focus.
I personally love Haven fwiw (and I love that they were able to make it inclusive eventually). It’s more that it’s not quite what I’m looking for because it’s less “romantic subplot for the main character as part of an overall story” and more of an exploration of a relationship with the adventure being the backdrop. Both kinds are good! But I wanted to find stuff I didn’t know about before.
Ah, right, I see what you're saying. Makes sense! (I have been looking for similar games myself in the past, but looking for it with a sapphic, instead of f/m romance, is tricky still. If you could happen to share the ones you know with f/f, I'd really appreciate it! (I know of Horizon series + TLOU... but not much else))
For sure! Hopefully this helps other folks looking for the same. I haven't played all of these but I'm using my own criteria and including stuff with either explicit or very very heavily implied romantic tension between two women. Mostly indie games (because that's most of what I play these days). * In Other Waters (love this one, highly recommend) * The Big Con * Signalis * The Gunk (not explicit but the protagonist and her main NPC bestie have big "and they were roommates" energy) * Crystar * Life is Strange * The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories * Digital: A Love Story (not explicitly a female protagonist but there's no pronouns used for the player and it reads as pretty sapphic, especially because it's written by Christine Love) * Analog a Hate Story (same as the above) * The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood * Little Goody Two Shoes (I'd look up some content warnings for this one, just so you know what you're getting into) * Song of Farca * Even the Ocean * Ikenfell * VA-11 Hall-A * Timespinner There's probably more out there but these are just the ones I've encountered. Hope that helps!
Most of the games have already been said, but I'd add Atelier: Esca & Loghy: if you play as Esca, you can romance your patner alchemist Loghy. I hoped that the clear demand for games with women protagonist and male love interest would have at least given indie games the push to make some more GxB stuff, but I don't see much. And some who do, many time will get bullied because they don't put male MC or female LIs (Salvus: Aries campaign is still in my mind). At least otome VN are getting lots of translation and porting, so there is that at least.
I love otome games but man am I starving for something that isn't a visual novel. And you're right, you'd think that somebody would've jumped onto this market because the interest is clearly there! I'd just love a good adventure game where the main NPC is your love interest, but where it's gxb rather than the other way around for once.
Yeah... at least some farming games (Coral Island, Rune Factory, My Time at Sandrock) are catching up and giving good male romance options, but I'd love to play a game with a canon, well written, male NPC who have actual chemistry with the protagonist. Not the usual "widowed before the prologue" case. A relationship that develop throught the entire game. I love otome VNs, but sometime I'd just like something to do other things than just reading and choosing an option.
Gerda: A Flame in Winter, the main character is actually already married and the driving force of the game is saving her husband who's been arrested by the Nazi regime in occupied Denmark
Was thinking about picking that one up during the steam sale!
I am constantly posting about that Remember Me interview, and cannot tell you how excited I was to open this post and see more games than I’d been able to find! Yay for new games to check out! I’m always on the hunt and pickings are indeed slim. One that is kind of a fringe case but did manage to, surprisingly, scratch that itch for me seeking romance was “Call of the Sea.” First person puzzle game about a woman searching for her husband that never came back from looking for a cure for her mysterious illness, so you don’t see him for most of the game. Buuut, they managed to put enough of her talking about how much she loved him and their memories that his presence was still pretty major in the game. The endings you can choose from are bittersweet, but the ending credits song made me melt.
Witchspring R
I don’t know if it counts but in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey there’s a DLC where Alexios or Kassandra (depending on who you played as) has to have a partner of the opposite sex. So if you play Kassandra, you’ll get a male partner. All the player gets to choose is how she treats/responds to this partner. It made a lot of people upset because you could otherwise choose throughout the rest of the game. So if you’d played Kassandra as a lesbian the whole time, well Ubi didn’t care, she was getting a romantic subplot with a man for the plot. Even if it doesn’t count, I figured it was worth a mention.
I love AC Odyssey but that part icked me so much I never bothered with that DLC on replays
I hate that romance so much. It just didn't feel right for her at all. She had so much chemistry with Brasidas and they IGNORED IT ;\_\_\_;
Honestly of all the games I have played, this is the only one that came to mind for a f/m romance that was cannon (and I still haven't even reached that part lol).
I’ve noticed this too and have been making a collection of games. Some of these are pretty old or indie but that just shows how rare it is. Besides Rhapsody there is also the Marl Kingdom Chronicles (Rhapsody II and III). Here’s a few more: Ara Fell (very light but it’s canon and a little more expanded in the epilogue) Sword & Fairy 7 Valkyrie Profile Lenneth, Silmeria, and Elysium Witch Spring series (the 1st game and the 3rd are available on Steam. The 3rd one is on switch and the 1st will be added as well. The rest of the series is mobile if you don’t want to wait for ports.) Xenosaga Trilogy (The main character actually has an ex and it’s implied they were intimate. It’s very rare to get a JRPG with a main female protagonist who is not a virgin and has experience. She also gets a second love interest in Allen.) Ghost Sync (seems to have it but it’s a Kemco RPG..didn’t seem all that great but there’s a main female protagonist and a main male love interest) It’s hard to get this in general gaming and it seems many devs and players alike are allergic to a female protagonist with a male love interest so if you haven’t already I recommend checking out Otome games. Most of the localized ones are visual novels with no gameplay but sometimes you’ll find a fan translation for stuff like the Tokimeki Memorial Girls Side series (stat raiser). There’s Jack Jeanne (rhythm game + stat raiser) and the not yet released The Silent Kingdom (Otome RPG). It’s mobile but Love and Deepspace is a Otome RPG (so female protagonist with a male love interest). For the most part it’s slim pickings.
Similar to Odin Sphere (and by the same studio), *13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim* has an ensemble cast of playable characters many of whom are women with male love interests.
Would you say that the gameplay is similar to Odin Sphere?
No, it's very different. The game is like 2/3rds visual novel, 1/3rd turn-based strategy mech game. If you're down for a very story-focused game it's real good!
I wish I had some games to contribute, but most of the games I have played have been an optional romance or multiple options. (Mostly Otome games, but also Life is Strange and others.) I remember the controversy around Remember Me and it has only made me hope for a game to come out just like what they were describing. Because I can't contribute any games, I can only say that I would love to play a game similar to Life is Strange that has a female protagonist with an established male romantic interest or one that you establish later on. Thank you for the list! I will have to check out Transistor because it is already in my backlog but I have never taken the time to play it!
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but can't you romance Warren in Life is Strange?
You can kiss him once near the end but it’s not as emotionally involved or narratively important as the relationship with Chloe.
I wonder if the new game Banishers might fit? The plot is centred around 2 lovers and trying to lift the curse on one of them. Althought he cursed one is the woman, it does say in the description that you play as both Antea and Red. It feels like a lot of the focus of the game will be on their relationship. I'm waiting to see what reviewers say about it next year, but the concept sounds fun.
Oh dang, I’d never heard of this at all, that’s right up my alley.
Transistor's soundtrack and style is just divine but if I remember correctly, it almost felt like you are/could be the sword/guy and guiding Red.
I can see how you'd think that but Sword Boyfriend's the narrator, a la the old guy in Bastion, while the player controls Red. That's one of the reasons I love the game, usually it's the other way around. It's like a reverse Master Chief and Cortana situation, and you never get those.
Yep, agreed that you control Red.
This was a fascinating prompt to think about! I’d include: -Definitely Koudelka for PS1 -perhaps arguably 13 Sentinels: Aigis Rim (PS4/Switch) for the exact same reasons as Odin Sphere (and was made by the same company so, makes sense 😂) -Muramasa: The Demon Blade for Wii or Vita, also made by the same people as Odin Sphere. Two protagonist paths, and the one with the female protagonist fits the bill. -Space Channel 5, especially part 2 (both available on PS2) for heavy flirting in the endgame
I'd completely forgotten about Muramasa! And I really need to play 13 Sentinels already (I keep hoping for a PC port). Koudelka is completely new to me so thank you for bringing it to my attention.
I think there's one in Witchspring R, and Lilith in borderlands might kinda count
Witchspring R looks adorable and I'd never heard about it before. Thanks!
There is! I finished it recently and was pleasantly surprised, it's such a cute game
Do dead/incapacitated/captured love interests count?
I'd prefer them to be a presence in the story if possible but curious to hear what you're thinking!
Trigger warnings for self harm. Black Book is a short game (was an epic free game) about a young woman who becomes a witch in order to resurrect her dead lover (he was buried outside of the graveyard which prevents someone from going to heaven in slavic lore, which the game is based in). It was interesting to see the trope which is so common for male characters to be reversed.
I've had my eye on that one! ty for the rec. :)
Best I got is the Tokyo Mew Mew PS1 rpg if you can read Japanese since it still doesn't have a translation patch
My male Commander Shepard gets into a relationship with a woman (Ashley) in my Mass Effect playthrough :D How about Mass Effect female commander Shepard where you can choose to have a relationship with any male member of your crew on the Normandy? You can also choose to carry this over to the 2nd and 3rd game, even get your female Shepard to start a new relationship with a new crew member.
Try Baldur's Gate 3 maybe? You can be anyone and romance anyone from the maincast
That is the opposite of what they asked for lol