Romance in a Cannibalistic World: Owlcat’s Quirky Dilemma

The Unusual Romance Dilemma

So, here’s the scoop from the folks at Owlcat: when they were crafting romantic storylines for their games, they hit a curious snag. Imagine the scene: they huddle around a brainstorming table, coffee cups clanging, and suddenly one team member drops the bomb – “Guys, we have three female romance options… and they’re all cannibals!” Yup, you heard that right. Nothing says love quite like a dinner date with a side of human roast, right?

Romantic Curriculum Vitae of Cannibals

In their latest developer insights, Owlcat shares how building romance options shouldn’t be as boring as molding your basic, average waifu. But they also realized they might’ve swung the pendulum too far. Especially in their popular game, Wrath of the Righteous. They had to spice things up and make it less of a ‘nice girl’ trope and more of a ‘you might want to think twice before inviting her to dinner’ scenario.

Take Arueshalae, a succubus on her redemption arc. Oh, you know, she has a delightful little quirk: she doesn’t care for human flesh. You know, normal things for a demon! This was cleverly snuck in, addressing her character evolution after some feedback. Meanwhile, Wenduag, the cool mutant with spider legs, was left to fully embrace her cannibalistic urges because, well, if you’re into her, you’re probably not aiming for the conventional!

Now, don’t think for a second that this horror show of romance puts a damper on gameplay. You could say it’s an adventurous menu to choose from! Even within this wild narrative, Arueshalae shifted slightly towards a more palatable ‘nice girl’ vibe, but thankfully went through a makeover without losing her edge completely.

Having taken a leap of faith into Arueshalae’s storyline back in Wrath of the Righteous, I found it a tad too vanilla. Can we crank the dark and edgy dial up just a notch, maybe? During my next play, I’ll be seeing if Daeran’s romance is a more thrilling rollercoaster of emotions. Not to mention, he merits a huge effort, even getting a waterfall erected just for romantic shenanigans. Who doesn’t love a good waterfall scene?

Let’s not forget Kingmaker, which offered its own funky romance options, boasting a couple that was up for a polyamorous triangle. In a hilarious twist, I began romancing one half of the duo, and the other showed up, all casual, like, “Hey, let’s share this thing instead of fighting over it!” What a way to break the ice!

But hang on to your hats, because before you get too excited about future Owlcat games, brace yourself. They’ve put the brakes on polyamory in the coming titles. Apparently, it’s a pretty loaded undertaking and they couldn’t help but think, ‘Yikes, the development complexity just exploded. Let’s avoid stepping into a minefield!’

As for fresh characters, Owlcat hinted at two new companions in their upcoming Warhammer 40K RPGs, one for Rogue Trader and another in Dark Heresy – though if they’re packing any romance or cannibal tendencies, that’s still under wraps! Guess we’ll have to keep our fingers crossed that the devs are cooking up some more quirky storylines in the near future!