Why Are Video Game Sex Scenes So Bad?
So I was inspired to make this topic by this very comprehensive video on the failures of sex in video games. Surely. I thought to myself, there will be good stuff out there if we just look hard enough.right?
So off you go. Any good video game sex that you can think off. Visual novels, FMV titles, EVERYTHING is included
Honestly, the only two that I am honestly positive about are the two sex scenes in Wolfenstein : The New Order. How crazy is that, right?! But honestly, they’re great. They are appropriate both thematically and character-wise, well acted and well directed, there isn’t really any nudity involved which may be a benefit or a detriment depending on you outlook but overall, top notch.
Otherwise, I think I can stand to include the scenes from the latter two Witcher and Mass Effect games - If I squint really hard.
That’s all Iv’e got, folks
Ladykiller in a Bind (obviously getting the advantage of not having to animate 3D models) is the clear recent winner to me.
Also shameless plug for the new Pixel Squirt podcast by (friends of the site?) Laura Kate Dale, Mari, & Stacy. If you want discussion of video game (machinima) sex scenes then it’s a must-listen. Funny and a considered criticism.
Can we talk about most unexpected and bad? That’d be the PS2/Xbox game Darkwatch. It comes out of no where, and had high school me diving for the remote.
I agree about Wolfenstein: The New Order, actually. I thought the sex scenes were animated well, and as you noted, made sense for the characters and the story.
Going to have to disagree with Mass Effect, though. I’ve always felt BioWare’s sex scenes are really stilted and weird (or maybe that’s just the partners I end up with). And, with the exception of a few options (e.g. Garrus) in ME 3 I felt like it was just out of character for Shepard, even as a renegade, to go banging recently-met crewmates in the middle of a crisis.
Out-of-place and poorly done sex scenes typically remind me of Highlander, which has a weird, gauzily shot, totally 80s kind of sex scene, immediately preceded by a very unsexy stabbing, and it is definitely not what I came to this movie about immortal swordsmen beheading each other to see. Games typically do not do better than this. Wolfenstein and Witcher 3, among games that are not specifically about banging, are probably the only ones that do a better job with their sex scenes than Highlander did.
Of course, in certain cases being weird and upsetting is the point, in which case maybe Pyramid Head’s scene in Silent Hill 2 should get a nod.
I quite like the Sera sex scene in DA: Inquisition, it just seems like they’re having fun and not being all serious, which really helps it feel intimate.
Somebody may argue with my choice here but I believe Dragon Age: Origins handled it’s romantic scenes very well. Felt like they were done very tactfully and you really got to know the character you were romancing before they got intimate.
On the other hand I think Saints Row IV has a very interesting take on “romance” and believe it satirizes these moments as well.
