Romance is dead

[Jiro]

What are your favourite romances in the Final Fantasy series? I know Squall-Rinoa always gets a lot of hate, but at the very least it was a dynamic relationship; Squall didn't just spot her, think "I'm gonna tap that" and then spend the whole game either doing so or winning her over. He had to fall for her, albeit it very strangely. I'm not even going to touch that specific one now.

Zidane-Garnet and Tidus-Yuna remind me of each other in a sense. Both females are sort of tentative about relationships for one reason or another, and then in the end boyo "disappears" and the girls are all heartbroken and sing away their sadness.

[Jinx]

Yeah, except Garnet and Zidane are AWESOME.

Honestly, I've always had problems with the Yuna/Tidus relationship. I've also had problem with the Tifa/Cloud and/or Aeris/Cloud relationships.

Mostly it's because I've always felt like those mentioned relationships the people really had nothing in common. They had no particular reason to have feelings for each other. Especially Yuna/Tidus. They came from completely different worlds, believed in completely different things, had completely different personalities to a fault...they just ended up together because they were the same age, and were attractive. Personally, I felt like Rikku/Tidus would've made a much better relationship. And wtf is up with the Lulu/Wakka relationship? She had his brother, and then Wakka was the next best thing? (well, after Tidus, I guess.)

I feel like the Garnet/Zidane relationship was the best. They come from different worlds both figuratively and literally, but they both deal with being lost and not knowing who they are. Garnet's kind of bitchy, but she's not a bad person, even in the beginning. Zidane's kind of annoying and needs to put his tail back in his pants, but obviously has a heart of gold. Over the course of the game she comes to care for him because of who he really is past all the womanizing, and he comes to care for her for more than just her looks.

[Del Murder]

Garnet and Zidane was the only well-written romance of the entire series.

Maybe Cecil and Rosa, but there wasn't much to that. They were together from the start.

[blackmage_nuke]

Draco and Maria, but Im a sucker for musicals.

Also Mog and Umaro.

[Elpizo]

Garnet and Zidane was the only well-written romance of the entire series.

This.

[Jiro]

I'm a big fan of Zell and Pig-tailed girl, as well as Cid Fabool and Hilda. The fact that she can forgive him, phwoar. Cid and Shera is a little bit hard to believe, but I'll give it some credit.

[Jinx]

Were Cid and Shera an actual couple?

[Sephex]

Even though it was already established, there is something about the simplicity of the romance between Cecil and Rosa that I enjoyed.

[Trumpet Thief]

Just to echo previous poster's sentiments, I really enjoyed the Zidane/Garnet romance. I also really wanted Terra and Locke to hook up in Final Fantasy VI, but even as a platonic friendship, that worked.

Personally, though, the most believable romance to me was Squall/Rinoa. It was a very strange and downright stupid dynamic at times, but it was probably the closest thing to 'love' that I've seen in these games. Squall's transition from jerkass to desperate lover was pretty darn accurate in my books, and for all of the strange dialogue, I felt a real (if not strange) sense of infatuation presented between the two. I kind of liked that it wasn't completely straight forward, and that a lot of it was marred by Squall's general awkwardness.

Just in general, I give props to Final Fantasy VIII for pulling off a very 'different' type of love story.

[Spooniest]

Even though it was already established, there is something about the simplicity of the romance between Cecil and Rosa that I enjoyed.

This. The beauty of understatement.

I'm not playing Final Fantasy to experience the agony and the ecstasy of a stormy love affair, I'm playing it because I think slaughtering mass quantities of unholy abominations is an ok way to dull the misery of existence for a few hours.

I like that Final Fantasy 4 just puts the romance "there" and doesn't repeatedly beat you over the head with it. Plus, Cecil and Rosa are both consenting adults who get married at the end, so there's none of this "will they or won't they" BS.

[Pike]

Locke/Celes. Locke/Celes forever. So freaking cute.

[Wolf Kanno]

I've never been fond of the "boy meets girl" love story because the writers always try to make it a focus and like Spooniest, I don't want good story telling being mucked up with this whole "Will they? or Won't they?" BS, especially since it usually pretty flat in the FF series.

I tend to like the love triangles the most, because I feel they are the love stories that bring out more discussion and they are not usually as easy to see. Cecil, Rosa and Kain was always an amusing dynamic among the three of them and I felt the love triangle makes their relationship and their characters more interesting. Locke/Rachael/Celes was one of my favorites, partly because the love story rarely overshadowed the plot and always stayed as this side event but I also feel it's interesting to see a story where one of the three isn't really a participant anymore. While I kind of feel that Cloud and Tifa's relationship is established on poor grounds since Tifa really didn't know Cloud as a kid; I have always liked the CloudXAerith relationship just because it was interesting since their attraction was kind of twisted, with Aerith sensing Cloud was like Zack, and Cloud being subconsciously controlled by parts of Zack's memories. It was interesting to watch. I also just liked the Ashe/Prince Rasler relationship since it was nice to see a well developed "lost love" story that actually didn't end with Ashe getting a new boy toy to replace the love of her life.

Honestly, I want to see a love story between to former lovers. People who actually have history for one another and called it splits because they both had issues that got in the way of the relationship. I find these types of love stories to be far more interesting and we've seen the "boy meets girl" story done to death by now so let's give it a rest.

[Quindiana Jones]

Barrett and Cloud. It was a beautiful night at the Gold Saucer.

Seriousness aside, Del said it perfectly. I love the Zidane and Garnet relationship. It feels genuine.

[darkchrono]

Honestly, I want to see a love story between to former lovers. People who actually have history for one another and called it splits because they both had issues that got in the way of the relationship. I find these types of love stories to be far more interesting and we've seen the "boy meets girl" story done to death by now so let's give it a rest.

True. But you also need to remember that these types of stories would be a little too complex for fourteen and fifteen year olds to relate to. Even into highschool (but especially so in junior high) boy/girl relationships tend not to get any deeper than he likes her and she likes him so why not start talking to eachother.

[Jinx]

Honestly, I want to see a love story between to former lovers. People who actually have history for one another and called it splits because they both had issues that got in the way of the relationship. I find these types of love stories to be far more interesting and we've seen the "boy meets girl" story done to death by now so let's give it a rest.

True. But you also need to remember that these types of stories would be a little too complex for fourteen and fifteen year olds to relate to. Even into highschool (but especially so in junior high) boy/girl relationships tend not to get any deeper than he likes her and she likes him so why not start talking to eachother.

I'd say a majority of the fans of Final Fantasy are 18+, as most people have grown with the series. They should cater to all of their demographic, not just the younger audience.

That said, if a a teenager wants a boy meets girl story, they can play an older title. One title with the "former lovers" story would not throw off the series.