#also its kind of funny that iw rote so much less abt the paths I did love dffdhfd i have more critiques ok

[quenthel]

Wrath of the Righteous Romance rantings... 2!!

I wrote a post abt this several months ago but that post is gone now so here is take 2 of my rankings and personal opinions of all the romances in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. I will try to phrase these as spoiler-free as possible, and will only be discussing things that are supported by the text within the game, so no headcanons or anything.

Also, since generally speaking the romances in this game are very good, most of these rankings will be up to my own preferences and how I experienced them. When there are writing issues that come up with a close read of these stories I will specifically point them out. I will be basing everything on both my own experience playing the game but also on stuff I saw after my initial playtroughs either online or shared by friends.

Video games rarely have well written romance arcs or stories overall in my opinion, since many of them are much more focused on telling a grand story, so romance content either gets a secondary seat, with not much focus or impact, or will simply be included to be included. They are also usually beloved parts of said games, even if the quality of the writing, or what exactly they offer and add to a regular playtrough are not great. Wrath of the Righteous on the other hand really elevates what romantic plotlines can add to the a game and how they can be an effective tool to showcase and explore different sides of individual characters as well.

Once again, most of these ratings are going to be based on my personal opinion as well as the overall quality of the themes these storylines present. The ones that go deeper into exploring characters and offer new insight are generally going to be ranked higher. The additional mythic path specific romances are not included in the ranking itself, but I will also briefly discuss them, since between now and the time I wrote the first post, I played them all too.

5. Camellia

Camelllia ranks the lowest on this list simply because of the general lack of content to her romance, and the lack of closure it offers. This romance starts out as a very interesting and exciting one that falls incredibly flat after act 4 and almost completely fizzles out by the last act. The issues in my opinion come from the same basis as the general issues that are present in Camellia’s writing (but I’m not here today to discuss those issues in great detail right now). It offers a lot and gives actually very little, while also just offering more of the same character one would experience when unromanced. That being said, still this story has some high points and toys with interesting ideas (like having a girlfriend who is a bit of a stabby sicko, and who actually challenges the commander in some way, which was honestly refreshing), but never actually delivers on them, leaving them instead half baked, with a somewhat flat finish. In an inferior game, this would be among the more interesting romance paths however, but combined with how good the rest of them are, and how much it falls apart on a close read, it simply was not an enjoyable experience for me.

An additional thing here is that her writing is occasionally transphobic, and sometimes logically makes no sense for the setting itself either. I mostly refer here to her incredibly heteronormative remarks towards Seelah specifically, which is a viewpoint that is simply not expressed by anyone else in the game, so it feels like she just has a very limited and rigid view on gender out of nowhere, which ruined the immersion for me.

4. Sosiel

While Camellia ranked lower because of the lackluster nature of the story, Sosiel gets a low ranking because it felt like whomever wrote his story hated writing it. What starts as a sweet and albeit a bit awkward romance turns worse and worse as it progresses. There are some high points, and they explore Sosiel’s general naiveté and worldview, a lot of the romance feels more like as a young guy having a crush on you instead of something mutual. For example, he talks a lot about his art and the Commander can’t really enjoy it with him, simply he will barely tolerate that part of him.

His romance is also the only one that crosses the line from being only together for sexual reasons into being an actual abusive relationship between him and the Commander if you pick specific options. While as a story this could be interesting if explored with enough grace and nuance, here it is simply presented more as a perverse fascination and the evil and abusive factors are offered just because its fucked up, pointlessly. I think this is especially in bad taste, given Sosiel is the not only the only gay character, but also the only black man among all the romance options.

If you go for the “true love” ending (which is something ALL romances have) you get a generally sweet and enjoyable story about the commander being his first love, and Sosiel having the opportunity to explore these feelings and his own sexuality with somebody who is perhaps a bit older and more experienced (based on the dialogue options you can pick). Again, in a lesser game, this romance would be very good! But it also tries to do things that are better written in the other romance paths that are there in this same game!

From this point on, the rankings are based only on my own personal preferences. While I will continue critiquing the writing here and there, overall these storylines are solid, and I think most people will find at least one that really works for them or any character they are playing.

3. Lann

Lann’s romance is very good. Not perfect, for reasons I will discuss in a bit, but very good. It’s a bit more slow paced than every other romance path given his awkward personality and hesitance when it comes to opening his heart up again (and his own feelings of inferiority), the amount of content he gets is perhaps only a little bit less than it is for the other romances. While his non-romanced story explores what kind of character he is, his romance path delves a bit deeper into why exactly he is like that, and explores a different, more intimate and open side of him. While his main struggle remains the same as in his regular storyline, his problems and issues are laid much more bare for the commander to see, and his struggles with those problems are written both realistically and compassionately. Too bad then, that the commander cannot express any kind of compassion or love towards him at all!

This is my main gripe with this romance. You are never given the chance to appreciate or reassure him. The commander remains incredibly passive in this romance story as well, and mayor beats of the story will keep happening AT her instead of with her present as a participant. Also, this story has a very specific idea for what kind of woman the commander is, and sometimes enforces a specific idea of womanhood onto her as well. Given that this is a straight romance, it is not entirely unexpected. For most cishet players, or for people who happen to roleplay as commander who do fit that ideal this will be no problem. While Cam’s gender ideas and general heternormativity felt out of place, Lann’s much more reflexive and flexible ideas about gender and gender roles actually work to inform about how these things are done in the mongrel society (as supported by both the Wenduag romance and some conversations with Sull). So this romantic story not only showcases Lann’s character in more depth, but also functions almost as a tool to explore the setting even further, and in my opinion this part made experiencing both his and Wenduag’s romances much more fun. The two stories also have paralells to each other as do their personal struggles, which was even more fun to explore and see.

While Lann can be only romanced by female commanders (and is generally a very gendered romance path, but not necessarily in a bad or distracting way) he does express some bisexual desire in other conversations, which makes me wish there was more of a space in his writing to explore that further, but that would have required more time to implement, since that would have called for an entire rewrite of the whole thing.

2. Arueshalae

Arueshalae was the first romance I ever played trough in this game, so it will always have a soft spot in my heart. She is also the only character whose romance arc ties incredibly heavily into her regular friendship arc. The payoff at the end is incredibly good! But it CAN be lessened if you already experienced the un-romanced version first. That being said, this story is incredible. Its a closer exploration of her struggles that we do get to see generally, but here we get a much closer view as she struggles to realize her dreams. It’s also somewhat slower paced, but it maintains a level of emotional intensity that I enjoyed a lot. Generally speaking it is a very sweet romance that is definitely worth a playtrough.

Another thing I really liked about this story is how relatable it felt to me, as a lesbian who used to struggle a lot with intimacy and my own desires and feelings towards other women. Her writing captures these complex and contradictory feelings incredibly well, and that deserves credit! I also enjoyed, how she as a bisexual woman received guidance from Anevia in her quest towards love, since to me that mirrored the real life experiences of wlw forming communities and teaching each other that it is okay to have these feelings and desires.

She is also technically a romance option if you decide to go her “evil” way, but that bit to me felt more like a little joke than anything serious. The writing barely even acknowledges it if you decide to sleep with Evil!Aru, which feels fitting, and I simply don’t consider that version an actual romance story.

1.Daeran AND Wenduag

They BOTH get to be first because both of these stories are just excellent.

Daeran

Daeran ranks very high not only because of how fun, well written and reactive his romance arc is, but also because he is in my opinion one of the most well written companions on the game. Just like his personality, the romance story at first appears shallow and a little bit annoying and uninteresting, but as it develops, the story deepens and we get to explore entirely new facets and elements of his character. Generally he is written in this way in the main game too, since picking different options while talking to him or taking him along will sometimes reveal hidden opinions and depths to him that are sometimes unexpected.

The narrative development of his romance story is just excellent. The game dedicates a lot of time to the exploration of how exactly he is slowly opening up and truly falling for the Commander. This is also thanks to the fact that he has the most romance content among all of the companions, and it is clear that whomever was writing him had a lot of fun with his character. His romance arc also offers closure to his personal quest that is simply missing if you are only friends with him. While this might be a bit frustrating, I think this is a very strong choice that fits his overall characterization as a person who has a LOT of trouble with opening up to others or being even a little bit vulnerable.

Overall, excellent romance story that fits his personality perfectly, and which is just a blast to play trough, since it perfectly mixes between emotional beats and the more playful elements of a romance.

Wenduag

Wenduag is perhaps one of the more controversial or dividing characters in the game. It’s mostly because of her generally unpleasant personality and because to pick her your character also has to be either a little bit evil, or simply somebody who dislikes Lann, who is definitely the more charming at first glance of the two. She is also my favorite character.

Similar to how Daeran’s story and character develops, Wendu starts off as somebody who clearly is only around to get some sort of an upper hand, and who gets interested in the Commander for purely sexual reasons. But as her story develops, her romance explores much more of why she is the way she is and how EXACTLY she feels about her place in the world, and what struggles come with it. Her story mirrors Lann in many many ways, which makes sense since both of them grew up and got socialized in the same environment, but found very different answers to how to survive and thrive. Her romance arc also offers a better conclusion to her end quest, since the commander is more privy to her inner world and personal feelings. Also during the final scene her VA did SUCH a fucking excellent job it was just an absolute joy to experience it.

While Wendu might not be for everyone I cannot recommend this romance enough. Wendu’s writing is just incredibly compelling and there is a lot of depth to her and her reactions and the emotional beats of this storyline just hit perfectly. Just as I mentioned with Lann, her worldview is also more presented in the romance specific conversations, either mirroring or contrasting how he sees the world, but also it informs a lot about how mongrel society functions. Just an absolute joy this one was.

Other romances

Wrath of the Righteous also has some more minor romances. These generally have less or barely any content.

Galfrey

Objectively the most developed and fleshed out of all of these. There is an actual storyline here, and we get to know Galfrey a bit better, which helps to humanize her further (which does not really happen in the game, a writing decision that i find VERY good). She has an opportunity to become less of a crusader figure and more of a person, which is interesting to see. Unfortunately this romance is limited to specific mythic paths (Aeon, gold dragon and angel iirc), so not a lot of players will have the opportunity to explore it. That being said, it is a worthy addition and offers some new perspective on Galfrey which was nice to see. (Also I never actually finished this one, BUT a lot of my friends who did enjoyed it a lot).

Nocticula

This is a very very limited romance that only be accessed if you take specific options during the demon mythic path. You get to become her lover/butler which is pretty fun. She leaves your ass eventually though I’m sorry. Still, was enjoyable, and I liked that it was an option, but generally demon path offers more complex relationships you can have with her.

Socothbenoth

Almost nothing. You go Trickster you can have sex with him and flirt with him like 3 times. If you want to do that lol. Its barely anything though.

Deskari

You heard me. Play swarm!!! Play swarm now its good its soo good!! You can develop a mutual psycho-sexual fascination with each other its VERY good.

Thats all! Overall, lot of good and great options! Most of these stories imho really elevate what video game romances can be like and what they can offer. Too bad that there are no poly options, but as I understand it they simply had no time to implement them. I’m also a bit sad abt the lack of lesbian romance options specifically, but thats more of a representation thing for ME. Also would have been cool if they give more room generally speaking for nb characters to exist, but alas.

Thanks for reading. <3