Summary
- Some open-world games excel in exploring complex relationships, providing a more immersive experience for players.
- Mafia 3 and the Fallout series showcase how in-game relationships can impact gameplay and narrative outcomes.
- Games like Vampyr and Dying Light 2 offer nuanced relationship mechanics, adding depth to player choices.
Humans are complicated things. They can be contradictory, or hyperbolic, or not know what they want. Very few are perfect and often tend to show off that lack of perfection in one way or another to other people. Until technology catches up to humanity's dreams and allows people to turn into murderous geese, unbound by society's laws, humans are unfortunately stuck as humans. That's what makes relationships so worthwhile; they help people get the most out of our shared flaws and features.
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Video games, as a far more interactive medium than things like movies or TV, have always done a good job at exploring relationships. Even as far back as the age of classic isometric RPGs, having direct control of the protagonist meant that game writers were able to create characters who felt far more human and approachable - since players were literally doing the approaching. Open-world games carry on this tradition in storytelling and design today, with many titles showcasing complex, multi-faceted relationships in various different forms.
7 Mafia 3
Balancing The Whims And Ideals Of Three Different Crime Families
Mafia III
- Released
- October 7, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
Getting caught up with a crime syndicate - whether in a video game or real life - is very tricky business. This is especially true for Mafia 3's Lincoln Clay, who gets betrayed by the Mafia and then gets his hands dirty with three other crime groups, helping them divide up the city of New Bordeaux and exact their revenge on the Marcano family.
The Mafia franchise is known for its bold storytelling, and this third installment in the series continues that tradition with aplomb. While many of the open-world mechanics are considered a little repetitive or even vapid, the way these mechanics tie into the overall story - and Clay's standing with the three factions on offer - makes it more than worth a single playthrough at least.
6 Fallout: New Vegas
Major And Minor Factions All Have A Role To Play
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Obsidian titles have always had incredibly interesting mechanics for gauging relationships that go well beyond the binary of "I hate you" and "marry me" that other RPGs will often showcase. The title that is arguably their magnum opus, Fallout: New Vegas, is no exception to this rule, playing on relationship mechanics in interesting ways.
Beyond the stellar writing that goes into this game's companions, every settlement, major, and minor faction all have a multi-faceted relationship with the protagonist that factors into the ending, as well as the quests available and even things like faction merchant prices. The 'good' and 'bad' elements that make up players' relationships with factions are not on a single scale, so players can have partially good relationships with a faction but overwhelmingly bad ones at the same time.
5 Fallout 4
A Similar But Distinct Mix Of Factions And Companions
Fallout 4
- Released
- November 10, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Most of the available companions in Fallout 4 have their own unique charm that makes them a worthy addition to the journey of looting and shooting that comprises the bulk of the game's playtime. The exception is perhaps the automatons players can make, but even they have enough depth in customization to warrant a try. What makes the game so interesting is that players can have strong relationships with a companion, but they can also fail to connect at all with the respective faction of that companion.
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Piper is an example of this, becoming incredibly angry and distraught if the player sides with the institute. Players can be in an active (even romantic) relationship with an institute detractor even while supporting that same organization.
4 Battle Brothers
Towns, Cities, And Noble Houses All Have Relationship Mechanics
Battle Brothers
- Released
- April 27, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Indie Games, Tactical, RPG, Strategy, Adventure
It would be hyperbole to call Battle Brothers underrated. It does have a strong and incredibly approachable community still thriving today, but considering that it's possibly one of the best open-world roguelikes on the shelves today, it still deserves more attention.
In Battle Brothers, relationships with noble houses are improved by completing jobs, and they can degrade if jobs are failed or if players raid caravans in their land. The settlements within each House's land, however, track relationships separately, meaning that players can be on good terms with a town but not the rulers over it. This becomes especially interesting when war between the Houses breaks out.
3 Vampyr
Are Relationships Important, Or Are They A Means To An End?
Vampyr
- Released
- June 5, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
Few games make players feel this bad for being bad. Jonathan Reid's talents and abilities are locked behind the resources the player gains from drinking blood. What muddies things is that players get more out of blood when they personally know the person they're drinking it from. The more they know about the person and the more connected they are, the better their blood tastes.
Are players - in the protagonist's capacity as a doctor - helping people in order to assist them with their ailments? Or are they salting the meat, so to speak, squeezing every drop of memory and vitality out of their victim's blood? Either way, Vampyr's relationship mechanics can get pretty complicated.
2 Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Highly Authentic Relationship Mechanics
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Released
- February 4, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action-Adventure, Open-World
Few games in recent years have made an impression quite as explosive as Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and its sequel has followed suit, providing players with a highly immersive open-world game that features some of the most in-depth relationship mechanics to date.
Similar to Battle Brothers, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 tracks the individual relationship that the player has with individual towns, as well as important figures of nobility and broader organizations all together. These relationships can all shift in different directions from a single act, becoming rather complex.
1 Dying Light 2
Relationships With Factions Are More Nuanced Than It Seems
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
- Released
- February 4, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes
Are the factions in Dying Light 2 really as cut and dry as "the fascistic police state vs. The peace-loving hippies?" Yes. Yes they are. Nuance hasn't died with the rest of the world in this game, however, and there's a surprising amount of complexity to how the protagonist's relationship with these groups work.
Players can side with one faction in dialogue but hand over generators to the other, building up a positive relationship with one faction while gaining the mechanical benefits of the other. This results in an interesting mix of playstyles while also leading to an interesting ending to reflect these relationships.
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