We play video games for fun, obviously, and part of the fun is the emotional response a game can elicit. That response can be anything from the pain we feel at the death of Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII to the thrill of killing your first boss in Elden Ring. Historically, role-playing games in particular have relied on a potent blend of evolving stories and player agency to create a connection between us and what’s happening on screen. Increasingly, that connection has been strengthened by the most powerful human emotion of all, love.
