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Gaming

VIDEO GAY-MER | What are some great gay couples in video games?

They are few and far between, but I've managed to narrow down a few of my favorites.

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In the world of queer gaming, we have to latch onto the canon queer couples that we're given.

We don't see a lot of them, and when we do, we love them with all of our hearts. Admittedly, half of the time one of them dies or they're barely there, but even then they matter a little bit. They matter much more than the queerbait-y, kind-of-sort-of-barely couples that we're given (cough-cough Life is Strange cough-cough).

It's hard to pick some, because you have the think about exactly what counts as "canon." Like, Life is Strange is not canon - it's hinted at and never followed through. Sorry, but that ending where you pick Chloe doesn't count. So, in the end, these are the main criteria for this small list:

1. They have to be a romance between two out characters.

2. Neither can die - because killing queer characters for pain is annoying. Queer people die/have died enough in real life.

3. If they are optional - then they have to be a romance-able option that affects your character.

4. If they are side characters, then they need to be a major driving force in the game.

And with that, here are a few of my favorite couples.

Gregg and Angus (Night in the Woods)

A couple of months back, I wrote about Night in the Woods and its important contribution to the queer gaming world. This little adventure/exploration game had some astounding representations of bisexuality and mental illness. But the heart of the game lies in the relationship between characters Angus and Gregg.

When I played through the game a second time, it floored me how layered these guys' relationship was. Mostly, you see this through Gregg. You hear him constantly talking about how he doesn't deserve Angus, because Angus is a really good guy. This is a typical trope in a lot of relationships in media, but it's not something you see in a lot of queer relationships.

Most of the time, it constantly revolves around the struggle with sexuality and coming to terms with that while being in a relationship. Both Angus and Gregg are very real gay characters in the sense that they don't have to deal with that. Sure, they both probably dealt with that separately - but by the time Night in the Woods starts, they're in a committed relationship. The only issue is Gregg's idea that he isn't good enough for his boyfriend, because he thinks he's trash.

And while that is sad, it's really great to see queer characters getting treated like real people with real problems.

Samantha and Lonnie (Gone Home)

Now, on the other end of the spectrum, we have Samantha and Lonnie from the queer classic, Gone Home! This couple has the odd distinction of never appearing on screen. We hear Samantha's voice, but we never interact with either her or Lonnie. Instead, we take the role of Katie, Samantha's sister, as she pieces together what happened in her home while she was away.

During your time, you figure out that Samantha had a hard time adjusting to life in her new high school. But, she finds solace in a girl named Yolanda, or Lonnie, and eventually they become romantically intertwined. However, when Katie and Sam's parents find out - Sam is forbidden to see Lonnie. And Lonnie finds out that she's about to ship out to join the army.

However, all is not lost, they do end up together. While it's tragic that Samantha had to suffer - what makes her and Lonnie's relationship so important is the power it gave Samantha. Not only did she get the courage to leave her home, but she found acceptance and love in someone. There was no suicide, there was no death or physical pain of any sort. And Samantha didn't let the tragedy of her parents' horrible parenting define her.

And while we never find out what Katie thinks of everything - I like to believe that she loves Sam and Lonnie just as much as I do.

The Sole Survivor and Preston

I know, I have a lot of negative opinions about Fallout 4 - but even I can't deny that they did right by us queer folk by including some amazing same-sex romancing options. My favorite of which has to be the goody two-shoes of the Commonwealth, Preston Garvey. I don't know what it is about this guy. Is it because he fights for the people of the Commonwealth with such tenacity? Or is it because he looks to you as a friend and a beacon of hope, not just for the people, but for himself?

What makes this relationship, and literally every queer relationship option in this game, is how important each character is to the game and unapologetically in love with you they are allowed to fall. Each character plays an important part in the story, or they have a specific side quest that has a pretty interesting story attached. Preston, for example, brings back an entire militia to defend the Commonwealth.

Preston is important, and his sexuality does not define him, but he is also never afraid to love you. There is never a moment where he's like, "But you're a man!" None of the characters are like that. They just fall in love with you - and that means so much! Doesn't it?

So, what did you think of my list? Did you agree? Did you not agree? Well, if you did, wonderful! If not, tell me why in the comments. Or, better yet, tell me what you think your list would be! I'd like to hear more from you guys.

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Gaming

VIDEO GAY-MER | Why do we love visual novels so much?

What do queer gamers/developers love the visual novel platform so much?

Coming Out on Top game trailer
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Visual novels are an art form, and when done right, they are an amazing storytelling tool. We've seen a lot of good, queer visual novels in the past years - or games that are about as close to visual novels as you can get. Just last year, we had two instant classics: Butterfly Soup and Dream Daddy, take the world by storm. Not only did they showcase incredible queer stories, but they managed to do it without any ounce of mockery or depressing melodrama.

So, I got curious.

What makes these kinds of games so incredible? And why are there so many? On Queerly Represent Me - a large back log of games with some sort of queer representation within them- 215 games are listed as visual novels. That's the largest genre of games on the list, clocking in at 20%. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it is - and that's significant. What draws queer gamers and developers to these specific type of game? I think that visual novels not only provide a simple, fun escape from the harshness of modern queer depiction, but they are also accessible, and cheaper than most other video games on the market.

In my last article, I wrote about a game called Butterfly Soup - a beautiful visual novel that covered the lives of four queer, Asian woman going through high school during Prop 8-era California. I gushed about it, and talked about how it's unabashed happiness just made me smile. And that's not something that happens in a lot of major games or successful indie games. Even a beautiful game like Gone Home, is mired with intense drama, reminding the audience about how much it can suck to be a queer person. That doesn't exist in games like Butterfly Soup.

There's an inherent layer of sexuality that exists in a lot of these kinds of games.

A huge example is a gay dating sim, Coming Out on Top, a very NSFW visual novel about a young, freshly out, college senior who is looking for love and sex. This game has a huge selection of guys you can seduce, and even goes the extra mile to have you come out to your friends and actively maintain your friendships. All the while, you are treated to some saucy pics and scenes of your gay character actually having/enjoying sex.

It's liberating, because even when queer people are depicted having sex - it's never correct. There's always that one scene where the guy doesn't use lube - and then you cringe, cause you know they got hurt. The visual novels I've played don't have that problem - because they're made by queer developers.

I think queer visual novels exist in such volumes because they can be easier to make than other games like RPGs of even exploration sims.

I can't say I'm an expert on game development, and visual novels definitely have their own set of challenges, but they can be made easily thanks to user friendly game engines. This accessibility allows young, queer game devs the opportunity to start making their own queer stories - and in an industry where people are starving for queer characters, they're bound to find an audience!

Visual novels are also cheaper for queer gamers to buy. Even a game like Dream Daddy, produced by the incredibly popular Game Grumps, went up for only 14.99. And Butterfly Soup is still free. This is worlds cheaper than most AAA games that include very basic forms of queer representation. So, there's a level of financial accessibility available for these types of games that don't exist in other places in the market.

In the end, visual novels make queer characters more accessible to a starving audience by being cheap - and they can empower their audience by giving them an escape from the misrepresentation they receive from mainstream media. These games are about queer characters, and made for queer people - and I only hope that the rest of the industry can follow suit. Until they do though, I'm just going to go and replay Dream Daddy for millionth time and cry about how beautiful Robert is.

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