We decided to go through our library of video games and pull out the ones with the best love stories. How appropriate, right?
We looked at a variety of love stories ranging from games that would cause a tear to roll down your cheek at game's end to others that would have you go on a rampage of vengeance until a love is avenged. The last 15 years or so in the video game world have been ripe with excellent stories with love as the main theme, but here are our top 10 video game love stories.
SPOILER ALERT: Some of the summaries reveal major plot details of the chosen games, so if you're in the middle of one of them, you may want to skip the summary and come back after you beat the game.
Final Fantasy X
Tidus was just a jock living a Blitzball life until Sin, a gigantic creature/natural disaster, came and destroyed his hometown. Then Sin somehow took Tidus and placed him 1,000 years in the future. No worries though because he met the young summoner Yuna and went on a journey across Spira to battle Sin. But in the end, after defeating Sin, Yuna goes to embrace Tidus and it turns out that he is just a spirit and floats away. It’s a very sad and emotional ending after what they’ve been through together during the game. And the story continued in Final Fantasy X-2. True love never dies!
The Darkness
In this first person shooter, you play as Jackie Estacado a contract killer for the mafia in New York. On Jackie’s 21st birthday the mafia boss orders his assassination in regards to some missing money while at the same time his body is possessed by The Darkness, a spirit that has haunted his family for generations. While the game begins with you trying to survive the mob hit, things change after the mob gets personal and pays a visit to Jackie’s girlfriend Jenny. The game turns into a story of revenge and torment and drives Jackie to take out everyone. Love is a pretty good motivator.
Prince of Persia
If you haven’t beaten the new Prince of Persia game, the following summary has some spoilers. The Prince meets Elika while he was wandering in the desert. She is being pursued by armed men and The Prince, of course, helps her out. She explains to him that her father destroyed the Tree of Life which released the dark god Ahriman, who is pretty much corrupting the world. Elika has the power to heal the tree and capture Ahriman once again so the Prince agrees to help her. But as a final step, Elika must sacrifice herself to fully heal the tree and imprison Ahriman. Distraught, the Prince takes matters into his own hands to resurrect her. Yes, it's an undying love.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
The game takes place a couple of years after the original Max Payne. Max is on the NYPD and he reunites with Mona Sax, a contract killer who refused to kill Max and was thought to be dead at the end of the first game. As you play the game, rescuing Mona and battling against enemies with her, it turns out that Mona was really hired to kill Max. When the time comes to kill him, however, she can’t do it because of her feelings for him. It could cost her life. Ahhh, the things we do for love.
Final Fantasy VIII
The game is really about Squall, a military student, leading a crew of peeps to save the world. But within that story is the romance between Squall and team member Rinoa. At first, the two have clashing personalities but after some time, with the help of the rest of their crew, they start getting a bit closer to each other. But Squall’s love is truly shown when he rescues Rinoa, not once, not twice, but three times. Yeah, possession by divine beings takes a lot out of you. But the story does prove that opposites attract.
Shadow of the Colossus
The entire premise of the game is based on a man named Wander whose sole purpose is to resurrect his woman, Mono, from the dead. To do so, Wander must defeat 16 colossi located throughout the land. He succeeds in his task and Mono is brought back to life, but as far as Wander is concerned, his future… turns out a bit strange. Wander and Mono do end up together, but not in the way they probably hoped. All for the sake of love.
Xenogears
Within the convoluted and confusing war story of the 1998 Playstation game is a love story between Fei Fong Wong and Elly Van Houten. While the characters meet early in the game, their love isn’t realized until later on when Elly tells Fei that she loves him. That love is proven even later when Fei fights Urobolus, a serpent creature, in order for Elly to be released from the game’s villain, Krelian. It seems like love really is a battlefield.
Odin Sphere
While this Playstation 2 role playing game has five different stories within it, it’s the story between Gwendolyn, a Valkyrie, and Oswald, a Shadow Knight that really sticks out. Gwendolyn and Oswald first met on the battlefield as enemies. Oswald spared her life. Later on, after some family issues, Gwendolyn is banished from her country and forced to marry Oswald. Surprisingly, Oswald treats her well and after a couple of events, Gwendolyn realizes her love for him. She proves her love by going to battle several times for him and even risking her life to rescue him from the Queen of the Netherworld. Can love be stronger than that?
Ico
This 2001 PS2 game wasn’t a huge blockbuster title, but it has a story that pulls at the heart strings. Ico is a boy who is banished to an abandoned castle because he has horns on his head. While exploring the castle, he runs into a young girl named Yorda, the daughter of the castle’s queen. Yorda tells Ico that her mother plans to use her body to live longer. Ico takes it upon himself to try to get her out of the castle and save her life. He fails on his first attempt and the queen turns Yorda to stone. Ico returns, fights and defeats the queen breaking her spell over Yorda, but the castle crumbles over him. Yorda, however, quickly rescues him dropping him off on a boat floating away from the crumbling castle. Love always saves lives.
Super Mario Bros.
What can you really say? The entire series, starting with Donkey Kong, is based on Mario trying to rescue the Princess. Whether it’s from a crazy gorilla or a fanatical turtle/dinosaur reptile named Bowser or King Koopa, Mario was more than persistent in proving his love. If giving up a plumbing career to hop, jump, and defeat numerous enemies to save a girl isn’t love, then what is?
So Grab your Favorite Games, be sure to finish the Game to know the Ending of the Story
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