This. So much so this~
I think that this is something that plagues almost every game, but most romance in games amount just getting into bed with your chosen partner and that’s it. Sure, you get a trophy or some kind of achievement for your efforts (even my beloved Dragon Age: Origins is guilty of this), but that’s it. I’ve have “won” the relationship; having sex is the proverbial finish line.
It’s probably a lot more difficult to code in and then create all of these dialogue options, cutscenes, and whatnot that would emulate a relationship in real life, but with IFs I think there’s the potential for the rest of the relationship to be done and to be done well!
For starters, you don’t have to create all these cutscenes and possibly more, you just have to write and let the readers do the work imaging the scene.
Dragon Age II briefly kinda dipped its toes into this by acknowledging your loved one, if you choose to romance someone, being kidnapped by a group of angry blood mages if you don’t have them in your party when you set out to begin this quest. There’s some brief tension and some small stakes, but they’re never in any real danger. Still… it’s worth mentioning and I appreciate the effort nonetheless!
Don’t get me wrong! I love romance! It’s why I bought Wayhaven after all! But I’m kinda sick of slow burn romances and usually almost always choose N or F over A or M because I crave the intimacy of those non-physical moments! I want to get to know N or F as a person more than I want to get into their pants because that’s more rewarding to me.
Final thought and then I’ll quit… I think someone mentioned this somewhere else on the forums, but I would like it if a possible RO was a character first, then a romance option second. This goes for pretty much any character who the author intends to be something other than just a character, but it’s a pretty important lesson that seems to be forgotten pretty often.