
One of the sillier aspects of the original Dragon’s Dogma was accidentally falling head over heels for some rando innkeeper, and having them appear beside you as your sweetheart during the ending scenes, much to the surprise of many players who didn’t realise they were hitting on every NPC they did a favour for.
The game’s Affinity system saw NPCs organically forming an attachment to players when you interacted with them, gave them things or carried out tasks for them. Towards the conclusion, one NPC is selected as “Beloved” and promptly abducted by a dragon for you to quest forth and rescue. There are a few characters who are positioned more obviously as romanceables, but the brilliance of the system is that you can raise your Affinity with pretty much anybody. If you want to finish the game staring passionately into the eyes of the court jester or that hearty bloke who runs the armour shop, it’s within your power.