Your romantic interest is supposed to be on your side, your best friend and confidant; a source of support in bad times and an inspiration in good; compatible in mores and lifestyle and the all-important sense of humor; an intellectual and emotional companion whose need for you healthily balances your need for him.

Right?

Wrong.

Emily Short writes on the quandaries games face when incorporating romance into their plotlines. Two major issues: how does the interactive nature of games pose problems particular to the genre, i.e. what if the player (Heaven forfend) despises Princess Peach? And how does one create a convincing romance-centered conflict?

I’m blanking here trying to think of any video game romance I’ve found convincing, let alone emotionally affecting. I wouldn’t call it a romance by any stretch of the imagination, but Ico and Yorda’s relationship (err, in Ico) would be the closest I can think of. At least, I’m willing to admit on the Internet that I teared up at the game’s epilogue.