Games Get Better When We Can Smooch Our Allies

Author

Stephanie Liu
March 14, 2025

It’s once again time for Siliconera Speaks Up, and let’s check in on everything that happened this week that you should care about! It’s been a busy one! Between our growing list of games you should check out and other titles, it’s such a busy time of year!

Speak Up Sesh

We’ve seen so many virtual folks who are warm for our avatars’ forms lately! Avowed had Kai. Fields of Mistria just got Caldarus as a new love interest. The Despera Drops otome game showed up at the beginning of March, and Battlefield Waltz is out at the start of April. There are Heart-to-Heart moments with allies in Xenoblade Chronicles X. Even the Atelier games tease relationships or even romances in them. And frankly, it’s fantastic.

Listen, we’re spending hours with these characters. If its a JRPG, it could end up being a minimum 40 hour investment! When the developers put a lot of care into it, we can end up adventuring or working alongside people who can start to feel real to us. There’s a level of trust, even though they’re fake. We watch them grow. We might even watch them falter and fall apart. But we’re always by their sides, and they’re by our sides too.

It’s a cathartic sort of thing. We play games as escapism. Things get rough out there. But hey, even if it’s just a fake ally rooting for us, maybe that message still carries through somehow? Maybe we still feel that encouragement. The words that some developer wrote was intended to bring a little joy to our lives and make us feel things. So when games embrace that and allow us to connect even further, it helps enhance the experience and reward our efforts.

Not to mention that it can frankly be really hilarious. Like Wanderstop is a game that doesn’t have any relationship system. Your choices often don’t matter much, because you’ll get certain results regardless. But it’s fun to see Alta interact with folks and feel like there’s a certain connection with people like Boro. Like they matter to Alta and she matters to them.

I mean, I just think it’s fun. Like it makes the experience better for me if the game I’m playing with some awesome characters also acknowledge that I’m pretty great too!

Top 10 Stories From the Past Week

  1. Should You Accept the DLC Pack in Suikoden I and II HD Remaster? - If you’re interested in a head start, it might help…but will it make it too easy?

  2. Cinnamoroll’s Friends Mocha and Milk Appear at Build-a-Bear - Milk is a precious baby who must be protected at all costs.

  3. Cinnamoroll Becomes Sushi in New Merchandise - Somehow, I always thought Cinnamoroll would be more sweet than savory!

  4. Dragon Quest Liquid Metal Slime Sensor Figure Ready to Run Again - How much EXP do you think we’ll get if we catch it?

  5. New Metaphor: ReFantazio The Exhibition Details Shared - Did you see the cool merchandise and displays that will be there?

  6. Konami Shared Plans for Suikoden Series Future - Getting the Stars of Destiny via a gacha will be brutal.

  7. Square Enix Selling FFXIV Regulator and Warrior of Light Bag - Beware of Dawntrail spoilers!

  8. It’s Time to Revive the Persona 3 Anime Movie Series - I thought the third one was great!

  9. Japanese Pokemon Center Online Undergoing Indefinite Maintenance - I always hope there’ll be new merch after one of these.

  10. Rajang Is In the Next Monster Hunter Zoids Crossover Toy - These models are so cool!

  1. Review: The Sims 1 & 2 Legacy Collection Harks Back to a Simpler Time - Which Sims game did you like best? Was it 1 or 2?

  2. Review: Wanderstop’s Strongest Feature Is Its Story - It’s so buggy on PS5, but can be neat sometimes.

  3. Interview: Hololive VTuber Mori Calliope Talks About her Music and Streams - Calliope’s been living her best life lately.

  4. Petit Holo Village Will Be an Animal Crossing-Like Hololive Game - Imagine living in a small town with your favorite VTubers as your neighbors.

  5. Hatsune Miku Gundam Crossover Figures Teased - I can’t wait for these figures!

Upcoming Releases

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows (PS5, XSX, PC) - March 20, 2025

  • Atelier Yumia (Switch, PS4, PS5, X1, XSX, PC) - March 21, 2025

  • Bleach Rebirth of Souls (PS5, XSX, PC) - March 21, 2025

  • Xenoblade Chronicles X (Switch) - March 21, 2025

  • Dark Deity 2 (PC) - March 24, 2025