History Main / DevelopersDesiredDate

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': The Hero has two potential brides: Bianca and Nera. In the UpdatedRerelease, he gains a third: Deborah. However, the game introduces Bianca first as the Hero's ChildhoodFriend, who is clearly in love with him even as children. Nera is a likable girl as well, but Bianca is shown to be completely devoted to the Hero's happiness and will even [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy wish him good luck]] if he marries one of the other girls in a method that's clearly meant to [[YouBastard make the player feel guilty]]. Even Nera, after seeing Bianca's devotion to the Hero, will suggest calling off their engagement so he can be with Bianca. Deborah, meanwhile, is a complete and utter vain [[{{Jerkass}} bitch]] and mostly a joke option, although she does [[TookALevelInKindness become slightly kinder]] as a wife and mother, becoming much more of a {{Tsundere}}. Even in official artwork and promotional material for the game, the Hero's two children Parry and Madchen are blond, indicating that Bianca is the semi-official choice. If their mother is Deborah, even ''they'' are absolutely stunned that their father would marry someone like her.

*** Hector for Lyn. The two of them have a lot of ShipTease moments with each other as well as some altered scenes.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': The Hero has two potential brides: Bianca and Nera. In the UpdatedRerelease, he gains a third: Deborah. However, the game introduces Bianca first as the Hero's ChildhoodFriend, who is clearly in love with him even as children. Nera is a likable girl as well, but Bianca is shown to be completely devoted to the Hero's happiness and will even [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy wish him good luck]] if he marries one of the other girls in a method that's clearly meant to [[YouBastard make the player feel guilty]]. Even Nera, after seeing Bianca's devotion to the Hero, will suggest calling off their engagement so he can be with Bianca. Deborah, meanwhile, is a complete and utter vain [[{{Jerkass}} bitch]] and mostly a joke option, although she does [[TookALevelInKindness become slightly kinder]] as a wife and mother, becoming much more of a {{Tsundere}}. Even in official artwork and promotional material for the game, the Hero's two children Parry and Madchen are blond, indicating that Bianca is the semi-official choice. If their mother is Deborah, even ''they'' are absolutely stunned that their father would marry someone like her.

*** Hector for Lyn. The two of them have a lot of ShipTease moments with each other as well as some altered scenes.

*** For Seliph, there's Julia or Lana (or her replacement character Muirne), though the former ship is sunk upon [[spoiler:[[SurpriseIncest Seliph finding out they're related]]]], unless [[GoodBadBugs you keep her and Seliph glued to each other until she's captured]]. It's more blatant in the Oosawa Mitsuki manga adaptation, though.

** ''VideoGame/Persona3'': While the game has you automatically hook up with any compatible character you reach a high enough rank with, Yukari is pushed by the game rather hard, with multiple scenes throughout the game pushing towards a potential relationship between her and the Male Protagonist. And during The Answer, the post game campaign, [[spoiler:she is the one most emphatic about using the keys to return to the past before the Protagonist died to save him to the point of coming to blows with the others when they don't agree.]] By comparison, Mitsuru and Fuuka, the other two female party members, don't get nearly as much teasing outside their social links and whilst [[RobotGirl Aigis]] has UndyingLoyalty to the Protagonist, her Social Link wasn't added until [[UpdatedRerelease later iterations]] of the game (and lacks the romance flags contained in the other female Social Links) and it is impossible to have Aigis as your date for the Summer Festival or Christmas Eve dates.

* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub''. The game at first gives you the options of [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Sayori]], [[{{Tsundere}} Natsuki]], and [[ShrinkingViolet Yuri]] to pursue a relationship with. Once the game reaches a certain point, you'll have to pair up with one of the girls to make preparations for an upcoming event, but you're forced into choosing either baking cupcakes with Natsuki or designing a banner with Yuri regardless of whether or not you've been interacting with Sayori more. [[spoiler: Later on, Sayori admits she's been suffering from depression for a long time, and the player is given the option to either confess their love to her, or declare her his best friend, the former happening even if you've exclusively hung out with the other two girls. [[SubvertedTrope Then Sayori commits suicide regardless of which choice you made.]] From there, [[{{Yandere}} Monika]] tinkers with the game files to alter Natsuki and Yuri's personalities to make them less appealing, while substituting certain options so you're forced to choose her at some points. At the end of Act 2, she erases all three other girls from the game's files so she's the ''only'' option the player has.]]

** Sumia:** She has an obvious crush on Chrom, is depicted as his wife in the game's opening cinematic, gets her own CGI cutscene with him titled "Lovebirds", is one of the few units to appear in a cutscene after their debut chapter (where her main role is also to interact with Chrom), and has the highest priority of his prospective wives if he's still not married by the end of Chapter 11.[[note]]The game chooses Chrom's wife based on which of his possible options he has the highest Support rank for. If there's a tie, the game chooses based on a priority system, of which Sumia ranks the highest.[[/note]] If the game forces them to pair up at that point, she also gets a unique cutscene that none of the other wives get any variation of. While not required for other characters to be married, certain support pairings have a lower threshold for a [[RelationshipUpgrade S-Rank]], by about 14 compared to 16 or 18. This is also true for Chrom and Sumia, as their S-Rank threshold is 14 as well.\\\
** Female Robin:** As the two main characters her and Chrom's bond becomes a key part of the game's story regardless of if they marry or not.[[note]] This does not change for Male Robin creating quite a bit of HomoeroticSubtext.[[/note]] However, she is also the only one of Chrom's potential wives to remain relevant to the story after meeting [[KidFromTheFuture Lucina]]. And if they do marry, there are a lot of plot conveniences that arise with their marriage since Robin is the vessel of [[BigBad Grima]] which itself creates more emotional conflict later on with Lucina. This is even lampshaded when Lucina and Male Morgan who's not Chrom's son mention it's a little odd that Chrom and Robin never got together. While Lucina mothered by any one but Female Robin accuses her of trying to seduce Chrom, then swings in the opposite direction by ''demanding'' she fall for him.

*** Julia or Lana for Seliph, though the former ship is sunk upon [[spoiler:[[SurpriseIncest Seliph finding out they're related]]]], unless [[GoodBadBugs you keep her and Seliph glued to each other until she's captured]]. It's more blatant in the Oosawa Mitsuki manga adaptation, though.

Sumia: She has an obvious crush on Chrom, is depicted as his wife in the game's opening cinematic, gets her own CGI cutscene with him titled "Lovebirds", is one of the few units to appear in a cutscene after their debut chapter (where her main role is also to interact with Chrom), and has the highest priority of his prospective wives if he's still not married by the end of Chapter 11.[[note]]The game chooses Chrom's wife based on which of his possible options he has the highest Support rank for. If there's a tie, the game chooses based on a priority system, of which Sumia ranks the highest.[[/note]] If the game forces them to pair up at that point, she also gets a unique cutscene that none of the other wives get any variation of. While not required for other characters to be married, certain support pairings have a lower threshold for a [[RelationshipUpgrade S-Rank]], by about 14 compared to 16 or 18. This is also true for Chrom and Sumia, as their S-Rank threshold is 14 as well.\\\
Female Robin: As the two main characters her and Chrom's bond becomes a key part of the game's story regardless of if they marry or not.[[note]] This does not change for Male Robin creating quite a bit of HomoeroticSubtext.[[/note]] However, she is also the only one of Chrom's potential wives to remain relevant to the story after meeting [[KidFromTheFuture Lucina]]. And if they do marry, there are a lot of plot conveniences that arise with their marriage since Robin is the vessel of [[BigBad Grima]] which itself creates more emotional conflict later on with Lucina. This is even lampshaded when Lucina and Male Morgan who's not Chrom's son mention it's a little odd that Chrom and Robin never got together. While Lucina mothered by any one but Female Robin accuses her of trying to seduce Chrom, then swings in the opposite direction by ''demanding'' she fall for him.

*** Julia or Lana for Seliph, though the former ship is sunk upon [[spoiler:[[SurpriseIncest Seliph finding out they're related]]]], unless [[GoodBadBugs you keep her and Seliph glued to each other until she's captured]]. It's more blatant in the Oosawa Mitsuki manga adaptation, though.

Sumia: She has an obvious crush on Chrom, is depicted as his wife in the game's opening cinematic, gets her own CGI cutscene with him titled "Lovebirds", is one of the few units to appear in a cutscene after their debut chapter (where her main role is also to interact with Chrom), and has the highest priority of his prospective wives if he's still not married by the end of Chapter 11.[[note]]The game chooses Chrom's wife based on which of his possible options he has the highest Support rank for. If there's a tie, the game chooses based on a priority system, of which Sumia ranks the highest.[[/note]] If the game forces them to pair up at that point, she also gets a unique cutscene that none of the other wives get any variation of. While not required for other characters to be married, certain support pairings have a lower threshold for a [[RelationshipUpgrade S-Rank]], by about 14 compared to 16 or 18. This is also true for Chrom and Sumia, as their S-Rank threshold is 14 as well.\\\
Female Robin: As the two main characters her and Chrom's bond becomes a key part of the game's story regardless of if they marry or not.[[note]] This does not change for Male Robin creating quite a bit of HomoeroticSubtext.[[/note]] However, she is also the only one of Chrom's potential wives to remain relevant to the story after meeting [[KidFromTheFuture Lucina]]. And if they do marry, there are a lot of plot conveniences that arise with their marriage since Robin is the vessel of [[BigBad Grima]] which itself creates more emotional conflict later on with Lucina. This is even lampshaded when Lucina and Male Morgan who's not Chrom's son mention it's a little odd that Chrom and Robin never got together. While Lucina mothered by any one but Female Robin accuses her of trying to seduce Chrom, then swings in the opposite direction by ''demanding'' she fall for him.

* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'': While Sean technically has an equal shot with both Cassidy and Finn, and can end up with either on the same terms depending on choices made, unlocking Finn's romance route involves making the exact correct dialogue choices ''and'' making an ethical decision most players will balk at. Meanwhile, it's actually harder ''not'' to romance Cassidy than it is to get with her, with her main romance scene being unmissable (and unmistakably sexual in its tone, unlike Finn's which is flirtatious but still far more ambiguous), and there's also the fact that Finn's route [[ButNotTooGay ends with a kiss at most]] while Sean and Cassidy can potentially sleep together. [[spoiler:Plus, the '''[[MultipleEndings Parting Ways]]''' [[MultipleEndings ending]], which is the only one where Sean's Episode 3 love interest(s) can reappear, seems to default to Cass as Sean's partner in the future unless Sean actively has a negative relationship with her, regardless of whether the player chose to pursue her romantically earlier; whereas Finn has to be successfully romanced (and survive, of course) to appear.]] On a meta level, Cassidy was featured way more heavily in promotional materials prior to the pair's introduction, also hinting at her being the developers' preference.

* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'': While Sean technically has an equal shot with both Cassidy and Finn, and can end up with either on the same terms depending on choices made, unlocking Finn's romance route involves making the exact correct dialogue choices ''and'' making an ethical decision most players will balk at. Meanwhile, it's actually harder ''not'' to romance Cassidy than it is to get with her, with her main romance scene being unmissable (and unmistakably sexual in its tone, unlike Finn's which is flirtatious but still far more ambiguous), and there's also the fact that Finn's route [[ButNotTooGay ends with a kiss at most]] while Sean and Cassidy can potentially sleep together. [[spoiler:Plus, the [[MultipleEndings '''Parting Ways''' ending]], which is the only one where Sean's Episode 3 love interest(s) can reappear, seems to default to Cass as Sean's partner in the future unless Sean actively has a negative relationship with her, regardless of whether the player chose to pursue her romantically earlier; whereas Finn has to be successfully romanced (and survive, of course) to appear.]] On a meta level, Cassidy was featured way more heavily in promotional materials prior to the pair's introduction, also hinting at her being the developers' preference.

* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'': While Sean technically has an equal shot with both Cassidy and Finn, and can end up with either on the same terms depending on choices made, unlocking Finn's romance route involves making the exact correct dialogue choices ''and'' making an ethical decision most players will balk at. Meanwhile, it's actually harder ''not'' to romance Cassidy than it is to get with her, with her main romance scene being unmissable (and unmistakably sexual in its tone, unlike Finn's which is flirtatious but still far more ambiguous), and there's also the fact that Finn's route [[ButNotTooGay ends with a kiss at most]] while Sean and Cassidy can potentially sleep together. [[spoiler:Plus, the '''Parting Ways''' ending seems to default to Cass as Sean's partner in the future unless Sean actively has a negative relationship with her, regardless of whether the player chose to pursue her romantically in Episode 3; whereas Finn has to be successfully romanced (and survive, of course) to appear.]] On a meta level, Cassidy was featured way more heavily in promotional materials prior to the pair's introduction, also hinting at her being the developers' preference.

* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'': While Sean technically has an equal shot with both Cassidy and Finn, and can end up with either on the same terms depending on choices made, unlocking Finn's romance route involves making the exact correct dialogue choices ''and'' making an ethical decision most players will balk at. Meanwhile, it's actually harder ''not'' to romance Cassidy than it is to get with her, with her main romance scene being unmissable (and unmistakably sexual in its tone, unlike Finn's which is flirtatious but still far more ambiguous), and there's also the fact that Finn's route [[ButNotTooGay ends with a kiss at most]] while Sean and Cassidy can potentially sleep together. [[spoiler:Plus, the '''Parting Ways''' ending seems to default to Cass as Sean's partner in the future unless Sean actively has a negative relationship with her, regardless of whether the player chose to pursue her romantically in Episode 3; whereas Finn has to be actively romanced (and survive, of course) to appear.]] On a meta level, Cassidy was featured way more heavily in promotional materials prior to the pair's introduction, also hinting at her being the developers' preference.

* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'': While Sean technically has an equal shot with both Cassidy and Finn, and can end up with either on the same terms depending on choices made, unlocking Finn's romance route involves making the exact correct dialogue choices ''and'' making an ethical decision most players will balk at. Meanwhile, it's actually harder ''not'' to romance Cassidy than it is to get with her, with her main romance scene being unmissable (and unmistakably sexual in its tone, unlike Finn's which is flirtatious but still far more ambiguous), and there's also the fact that Finn's route [[ButNotTooGay ends with a kiss at most]] while Sean and Cassidy can potentially sleep together. [[spoiler:Plus, the '''Parting Ways''' ending seems to default to Cass as Sean's partner in the future unless Sean actively has a negative relationship with her, whereas Finn has to be actively romanced (and survive, of course) to appear.]] On a meta level, Cassidy was featured way more heavily in promotional materials prior to the pair's introduction, also hinting at her being the developers' preference.