>>56979553It sure feels like the devs wanted SV to have romance mechanics, but weren't allowed to do that or something.
You can form "close bonds" with the teachers, and all the friend/rival characters seem downright thirsty for you. The romantic undertones are seriously blatant, like Arven's extreme jealousy or going to the Mask Festival with Kieran (who totally doesn't have a crush on you lol). Then there's also the fact that there's romance drama between the NPCs in the League Club.
So I dunno, it definitely feels like the writers were aware of the implications, but didn't want to commit to anything. I think they just don't dare to to avoid controversy, but maybe the next gen will go a little step further. I don't think there will ever be actual "dating", not even handholding. It will always be ambiguous "good friends" bullshit.
