I wonder why the romance aspect of Dragon Age has drawn me in so much?   Maybe it’s just because I haven’t seen much of it in other games, and because there seems to be a genuine (if hit and miss) attempt to portray realistic emotions.

I tried to continue courting Alistair.  I dragged my party on a quest to find a particular gift for him that I had heard he would like, then rushed them back to camp to see if it was enough to encourage Alistair to make a move.   He started off by asking me about my relationship with Zevran.   I was able to tell him, genuinely, that we were just friends.   (Because that seems to be the way things go in the Zevran relationship.  Friends with benefits).    Finally, after a lot of fussing, he came to my tent, romantic music played and Zevran’s approval dropped way down.   Afterwards, Alistair seemed to go on a bit of a guilt trip, talking about being struck by lightning.     I was starting to get fed up with the whole idea that I was somehow sullying his purity (or something) by bringing in a physical element to the relationship.    It left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I went back to talk to Zevran, who, like Alistair, insisted on a choice, but for different reasons.   I made my choice and he became my right hand man.   I took him out on every expedition, except the one in the Deep Roads (where I replaced him with Oghren).   He kept me amused by flirting with Wynne.  His approval was 100% (adore) through much of the game, without me doing any more than inviting him to my tent (repeatedly, admittedly, but you would, wouldn’t you?).    I collected his special gifts, but they I never needed to use them.  He adored me anyway, regardless of what I could give.

That turned out to be the major difference between him and Alistair.  With Alistair it was all about him.  Zev makes it clear from the beginning that it’s about what you want.  There is no cajoling, no special quests, no gifts needed, no jealousy, no worrying about saying the wrong thing (unless you actually tell him to leave, there is nothing you can say that can’t be resolved  in the tent later).   He’s honest, caring (reciting bad poetry to cheer you up), loyal and devoted.  You don’t have to buy his body or his heart.  They are freely given.

Just before we went off to the final battle, I gave him all the gifts I’d been saving.   I don’t know if there was any point then.   He had been at 100% for so long, and ‘adore’ had already changed to ‘love’.    My character ended up with him at the end.  No regrets.

It was strange how involved I felt in the romance.   Zevran seemed ‘real’ in the way a character in a book or film might do.   He grew on me over time.  I was playing a rogue myself, but I liked him so much that I ended up giving him all the best rogue gear (quite selflessly, as it covered him up more.   My choice would have been to cover him up less).   I even ended up playing him more than I played my own character (I like to position him for backstabbing, and I couldn’t work out how to do that in tactics).    I chose him to rescue me from the dungeons.   I chose him as my champion to fight Loghain.   At the end, after Alistair’s speech, I looked round to where he had been standing in the crowd, and I felt anxious when I couldn’t see him for a minute.   Thankfully, he had just moved, and we rode off into the sunset together (for a time, apparently).   But it was strange how attached I became, and how the romance played such a big part in the story for me.   I would have liked more dialogue, but still, I think the romance aspect added greatly to my enjoyment of the game.

I’m playing through again as a male warden, romancing Leliana.   Or that was the plan.  Like Alistair, she’s rather demanding, and my male elf has ended up with Zevran.  Again. I think I’m going to have to go back to an earlier save.