I have done it. I have 100%ed Wylde Flowers (Studio Drydock), and I’m ready to move on. The minute the last achievement popped, I stopped playing the game and closed it in relief. I did not have to do the grind any longer. I was freeeeeee!
It sounds as if I was really down on the game, but that’s not the case at all. It’s just that it falls into the trap that other cozy indie games do, and I had my frustrations with certain aspects of the game. I’ve talked about that ad nauseam, so I won’t get into it again.
What I want to do now is talk about romance in the game. Please be aware that I’ll be spoiling a lot, including a character who arrives to the town after the main storyline ends. So, we’re talking the second year in the game. Google tells me summer of the second year, which is the second season of the second year.
The minute I met this character, they shot up to instant favorite. Well, ok, not first favorite, but second for sure. Unlike with the other characters, I never got tired of talking to this one. Then again, I spent much less time with them because they came into the game so late, so I did not see as much repeat dialogue.
Now, I will be spoiling all the dating possibilities as I rate them last to first. There are eight.
8. Cameron. By a wiiiiiiide margin. He’s the leader of the alternative religion in town, and I was gritting my teeth from start to finish whenever I talked to him. I have a very bad history with religion, and he reminded me of the worst parts of it. Plus, he was just so boring. He even acknowledges that his tastes are basic. I disagree slightly, though, that pumpkin-based whatever is basic. Pumpkin flavor is delicious! Even when it’s really cardamom.
When I was dating him, I mashed through the dialogue as fast as I could. Each dateable calls you a term of endearment once you’re together, and his was ‘darling’. Which, from his lips, made me do a full-body shudder. It was both condescending and creepy, and I could not get awy from him fast enough.
It was hilarious when I married him, though. With everyone else, the other characters were happy for me and saying what a great match we were. They gushed about certain characteristics of my partner, and in general, everyone was really pleased for us. With Cameron, though, only his followers were happy. Everyone else either threw shade, wished me luck (implying I would need it), and in the case of one character (head witch), I think she did not show up to the wedding. Or at least, I did not see her at the ceremony.
7. (tie) Damon. There’s nothing really wrong with him, and I liked him as a friend (and fellow witch). He’s totally not my type as the class clown bar owner, though. Plus, he calls me ‘kkitten’ when we’re dating–which is not on. He’s the only one who is crushed when I break up with him, though. He begs me to think about it and to take some space. When I do break up with him, he’s really sad. I did not expect that because everyone else is so chill about it to the point of almost being insulting. I just didn’t feel anything for him as a partnerr, but that could be in part because he was one in the spate of several I married and divorce in a row (and as quickly as possible) just to get the achievements.
6. (tie) Kai. He’s the surfer dude, and his nickname for me was ‘sunshine’. Which, whatever. He’s all ‘ride the waves, brah’, and ‘yo, you totally have to hit the beach at sunrise, dawg’. So completely not my type at all. He would hit me with something thoughtful and insightful once in a long while, but in general, he was too surfer for me.
5. Giva. She’s the meteorologists who arrives in summer. She’s very much into weather, which is a threat to the coven (as we are controlling the changing of the seasons. And, sometimes, the weather). I really like talking to her, and she has some trauma that I can relate to. She’s Indian, and they were trying to push her to get matchmade. She gave them excuse after excuse until she finally just told them she was gay and was never going to marry a man. They disowned her, and now, they were reaching out again. She was struggling to come to terms with this and if she would answer her mother’s calls. I felt that so hard. She’s also quirky, which I can appreciate. A great deal. She calls me ‘dear one’ when we’re together, which is not my jam.
Unfortunately, as a partner, she wasn’t very interesting. I think you can see a trend here. One of the issues with this game was that there wasn’t really a deepening of the relationship once you became committed. I’m not looking for something complex like a novel, but I was expecting just a bit more once I became engaged. Oh! She was heartbroken when I broke up with her, too, but not nearly as much as Damon was.
This is where it gets interesting. Of the last four, one of them was my clear favorite until the last character came into town. Then, she captured my heart and became a very close second. The other two were my first and my last spouses. And, they’re the two who will hook up if you’re not with one of them by the end of the first year. I would have said my first spouse was my third favorite–until my last spouse.
4. (almost tie) Kim. They are counterculture with a soft heart. They are voiced by Erika Ishii, who is one of my celebrity crushes. They are Japanese, which means I can relate to them on an Asian level as well. They are the town’s butcher, which makes for some interesting issues with other town members. They are grumpy and terse, like me, but also have a soft heart. I forgot what they called me while we were together. It’s ‘babe’. I’m fine with that, but obviously, it didn’t stick. Probably because it’s the one I would use for a partner, so I didn’t think twice about it.
Again, I really dig them as a friend, but as a partner? They’re ok, but not great. And, this is not against them in specific, but I don’t like it that once you marry someone, they are lurking around/outside your house whenever they aren’t at work.
I think the romancing in the game is not great in general. I would have liked being able to date more than one person at a time, maybe be polygamous, and for people to actually acknowledge when you’re coupled up with someone. For a town that is so into the hot goss, no one pays any attention to who you’re married to. Or not.
3 (almost tie) Amira. She is a strong personality and that carries over into our dating relationship. She knows what she wants (me), and she is not afraid to go after it (me). The weird thing, though, is that even when you are dating one or the other of them (Kim or Amira), they comment on each other in a ‘I would like to know them/her’ better way. I don’t have a problem with it, but it just seems weird for a game that doesn’t allow you to date more than one person at a time.
It’s as if they have coded certain dialogues to play at certain times, regardless of your relationship status. Most of the time, it’s fine. Sometimes, it’s really jarring. It happens in other situations, too, such as dialogue happening at the end of the game that clearly was from the first season. She and Kim are the two who end up together if one of them is not with you by the end of year one, by the way. And you cannot split them up no matter what. Lord knows I tried when I wanted to get the plat, to no avail.
2. Eury. She’s the one who comes late in the game–during season two (summer) of the second year. She has a hairstyling salon, so I can get my hair did. I love that aspect, by the way, even though it took a lot to get it upgraded. Even with all the resources I had, I still had to grind a bit for what she specifically needed. It wasn’t too bad, though.
There’s a mystery involving her, and I am quite proud that I figured it out before it was revealed. I really like her. She’s sweet and sassy, and we just vibed on a different level. She made such an impression on me, I would have stayed married to her if it weren’t for the fact that I was trying to get through them all, and I wanted to end with my all-time favorite.
She holds a very special place in my heart, and if I could have been poly, she would have been one of my partners. I like that she doesn’t seem to live with Tara. I wonder if that’s because she was added so late, and there was a glitch (apparently) with where she lived before one of the characters married another, too. I like it, though. If I were to ever marry, I would not want to live with my spouse. She calls me a variety of things including sugar, sha, and other terms of endearment. Even before we dated, she did that. I really like that–and her. She’s only a hair behind my number one. Speaking of whom….
1. Westley. Was there any doubt that he would be first on my list? The first time I meet him is at my grandmother’s funeral. He’s quite mysterious and coy, but, boy, is he easy on the eyes. Dark, floppy hair, clear hazel eyes, and an engaging grin. The best thing is that he has a warm, deep voice that does things to me every time he talks. He says he’s a bookseller from the nearby city, but as Tara noted in-game, once he left the graveyard, he goes a way that is not to the ferry.
It’s revealed fairly early soon after that he is a werewolf. He has not accepted that, and he’s spent the rest of his life after being bit trying to find a way to undo it. He lives in the fae world, but he’s able to travel to Fairhaven (the town in which Tara lives) as long as he’s careful about it.
I just love everything about him. He’s a bookseller of rare, vintage books. He is sensitive, compassionate, and very lonely. He has one foot in the fae world and one foot in the human world–which is one reason he’s drawn to Tara. One of the cute things he does after we’re married (which is when you can do cute gestures to each other) is lift me off the ground and crush me in a hug.
I had it spoiled that he was a werewolf, but it’s not much of a spoiler. His teeth make it quite clear as does his, ah, meat-buying habit. I loved talking to him the whole game, and even when I got frustrated because I could not advance our relationship (while I was married to someone else, which should not matter), I enjoyed talking to him. Yes, most of the dialogue was repeated, but I still loved hearing his voice.
He calls me sweetheart and my heart (I think on the latter), which I find really endearing. He is my favorite, and that’s all there is to it. I will say that it was a lot closer than I thought it be once Eury came into the pic, but in the end, Westley won by a whiskker.