I've ranked the best RPGs with romance options, from Fire Emblem to Mass Effect

I'm here to bring you the 10 best RPGs with romance options. So, if you're looking to bond with companions and find love during your role-play experience, you've come to the right place.

Personally, nothing motivates me more than the promise of experiencing romance in sprawling RPGs. Affording a way to form deeper bonds with those you adventure alongside and the option to develop romantic relationships has always made me feel more connected to the story and world I'm in. I've played a lot of them in my time, but I believe the best RPGs with romance options are those that either feel like they work within the wider narrative, or they bring added depth to the overall game.

With some elements found in the likes of the best dating sims, romance is still gamified to an extent, but the storytelling, dynamics, and themes many of these deeper relationships explore make all of these picks worthwhile if you're looking to play a great RPG that lets you find love. Below, I've also included where you can play these picks, as well the kind of vibe you can expect from each (learn more about that in our FAQ section). It's also worth noting that a lot of the best farming games and best visual novels out there offer up some memorable romance options if you're after more recommendations, too. But for our top 10 selection of the best RPGs with romance options, read on.

The best RPGs with romance options, starting with...

10. Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader

Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader has a handful of companions with their own preferences that you can romance depending on your chosen customized character. As the story progresses, opportunities will be presented to you to deepen your relationship if you want to. Unlike some other RPGs, the dialogue to get a bit more flirtatious and establish a stronger bond feels like it pops up naturally, whether it be during a main quest that links to a companion, or as a result of the time you've taken to get to know a party member better through their own personal questline.

You still have to pick the right responses in order to enter into a romantic relationship and make it official, but it's great to be able to form deeper connections if you so choose. Rogue Trader is a great pick for anyone looking to step into the Warhammer universe, or dive into a story-driven strategy RPG that has some romance in the mix.

9. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

So much of the experience of Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma centers on the bonds you can form with those around you. While the friendships you can make are just as rewarding, you can also have the option to find love, but you have to put the time and effort in, which allows you to feel like you're truly developing a deep connection with your chosen paramour.

Taking on the role of the Earth Dancer who can use their powers to help restore the landscape and bring back the gods of nature, you can play as either a male or female protagonist, and as the story progresses, you'll have the chance to get to know a vast cast of characters who fight alongside you and have a part to play in the main storyline. With a bonding system that allows you to unlock new ways to spend time with your companions, you can choose to spend time with your party outside of your questlines, and eventually confess your love if they capture your heart.

8. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

As Pat Benatar famously sang, love is a battlefield, and in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, leading the fight on the battlefield can certainly lead to love. Playing as Byleth, who finds themselves teaching students at Garreg Mach Monastery, you choose to work with one of three houses, each with its own distinct set of characters. With a sweeping, engrossing story that branches out in different directions depending on the house you pick, helping the students develop their skills naturally leads to bonding.

Fire Emblem once again excels at making your deeper connections feel like they develop organically from the time you choose to spend getting to know the characters outside of class and combat, to the pairing system, which lets you grow closer with those you fight alongside. Outside of your own romantic bond, you can also try to encourage other relationships to blossom between the cast, and it's so satisfying to see those bonds strengthen.

7. Cyberpunk 2077

In Cyberpunk 2077, Night City is filled with danger, and it can be a lonely, unforgiving place. So, the relationships you can have as protagonist V become all the more meaningful. As you set out to try and save yourself from a chip in your head that carries the engram of Johnny Silverhand, you'll naturally meet others at certain points in the story who come to help you in your goal, and the effort you put in with them can also have some sway on the endings you'll have available to you.

From Panam to Judy and River and Kerry, each person has their own story to explore, and you're given the time to get to know them through main story missions and their own personal quests. Depending on your chosen V, you can choose to develop romantic relationships at certain points. And thanks to various updates that have brought in more text conversations on V's holo, as well as romantic hangouts, the romance of Cyberpunk 2077 feels more worthwhile than it ever did.

6. Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the best turn-based RPGs around right now, thanks to its staggering amount of choice, D&D-infused classes and combat, and its engrossing story. But the companions and the relationships you can develop also have a big part to play in making your experience in the Sword Coast so memorable. Thrown into an initial quest to try and rid yourself of the worm in your brain that threatens to turn you into a Mind Flayer, you're joined by a cast of companions who have the exact same goal as you.

Of course, they also have other things on their mind, and as you wind down at camp, you can try to get to know them better and help them with their own personal motivations. The time you invest speaking with the cast can lead to romantic relationships if you so choose, and they often bring added depth to the later acts of the storyline. Plus, with the option as playing as your own customized character or one of the set origins, there's so much scope to explore relationships from different perspectives.

5. Dragon Age 2

All of the Dragon Age games are home to romance options, and while Dragon Age 2 might not be quite as diverse as some of the later games, it does have one big thing going for it that makes it stand out from the rest: rivalry romances. Yes, anyone who's a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope absolutely needs to check out the second game in the series, because not only can you romance your companions by getting their approval up, you can also engage in a romance if it drops too, which brings a completely different dynamic and feel to the relationship.

As you take on the role of protagonist Hawke, you'll be thrown into the rising tensions between the mages and templars in the city of Kirkwall, and each companion will have set beliefs about what's going on and your responses to it. Naturally, that can lead to some disagreement depending on how you choose to role-play, and hate can soon turn to lust-filled love. Of course, romantic bonds that develop out of friendship are also worth experiencing, but the rivalry side of things gives this RPG another layer.

4. Persona 5 Royal

All of the Persona games factor in romance options, so it's worth considering checking out the series as a whole. But Persona 5 Royal always stood out to me thanks to the storyline, which sees you try to fight back against corruption in the pursuit of justice in Tokyo. While you awaken to powers and find yourself in a strange dungeon-like metaverse, you get to decide how to spend much of your time outside of that.

From attending class to developing skills that will help you connect with different characters, there's also a bonding system that lets you grow closer to your fellow students and other characters. While you can make plenty of friends along the way, romance can also naturally come into the picture. You do have to put the work in, but the relationships you can form enrich the experience, and the vast number of romanceable options is what makes me return to Persona 5 Royal time and again.

3. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

While there are dalliances you can have as Geralt of Rivia, the central romance options in The Witcher 3 with Yennefer and Triss feel so integral to the experience of the RPG. With both factoring into the story, who you choose to romance will influence the ending of the game and who Geralt ends up with (if anyone). Yennefer, in particular, has such a history with Geralt, and their relationship feeds into the canon of the Witcher universe. But whoever you choose, the relationships add to the role-playing experience in my mind – letting you recapture your past, or seek a fresh start of sorts.

With some very memorable story moments wrapped up in the romances you can have, the expansions also feed into who you've decided to be with, and they both feel meaningful in their own respects, offering something different for us as the protagonist. With The Witcher 4 in the works, I have every hope we'll see romance options continue in the series.

2. Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Among the best story-driven RPGs, the Mass Effect trilogy continues BioWare's long-held tradition of including romance options, and each entry is well worth experiencing for the romances they offer. While the original Mass Effect is more limited with just three romance options in Kaiden, Ashley, or Liara (depending on the commander you choose to play), Mass Effect 2 brings lots of new faces to the fold to get to know and potentially romance.

Your romantic history is carried over through all three games, which is a role-playing dream once you reach Mass Effect 3. Commander Shepard goes through a lot, facing galaxy-wide threats, a suicide mission, and more, so that's why the company they keep become so important. Aside from sometimes helping in life-or-death scenarios, so many of the companions help cut through the heaviness and having people there for you (both romantically and otherwise) helps Shepard carry the tremendous weight of trying to save the day. Besides, "there's no Shepard without Vakarian".

1. Dragon Age Inquisition

I've lost count of the number of times I've played Dragon Age Inquisition, and the romance options have a lot to do with that. With a cast of some of my favorite RPG companions of all-time, putting a stop to the antagonistic Corypheous and the tears in the sky as the Inquisitor is made all the more memorable thanks to those who fight and journey alongside you. The diverse cast all have their own stories to tell, with preferences and themes that will ultimately shape how they view you both as a potential love interest, and as a leader.

The writing really shines through in so many of the romantic relationships you can develop, from Blackwall's angsty storyline that explores his secret past, to the heartbreak of Solas, the pranks and cookie-laden joys of Sera, and the meaningful relationship with Dorian, each and every romance is well worth experiencing at least once. With some fantastic representation that is so meaningful to see in a fantasy RPG, it doesn't get much better than this.

Best RPGs with romance options FAQs

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