Romance is just an additional part of the game that lets you delve deeper into the character’s psyche. It doesn’t offer any gameplay advantage whatsoever. Nonetheless, getting involved in relationships with demons and cosmic creatures is one of the key attractions of the game, and this guide discusses how you can achieve such a feat.
We also have a beginner’s guide that discusses more of Mask of the Rose in detail, such as census taking, quests, and more. If you want to learn the basics, consider giving it a read.
Table of Contents
How does Romance work?
Romance options in Mask of the Rose don’t affect the ending or unlock personal quests. When it comes to Mask of the Rose Love interests, you can develop a relationship with EVERYONE (even the tentacle creature). It doesn’t affect your gameplay or the outcome.
But, during the process of getting to know them, you may discover nuggets of information that can foreshadow a different ending or even help you put together a case.
The romance options become available after you get to know the residents, and the only way to achieve them is by increasing your favorability via interactions.
Favorability – How to improve/build relationships and why
Romance is just flavor text. Favorability is different from romance because the former determines how a character responds to your queries and the number of choices. Let’s discuss it in detail.
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Why build favorable relationships?
The reason you’d want to build/improve your relationships is because you can. MoTR isn’t a game but a real-life simulation. Interacting with characters unlocks new dialogue that can lead to personal quests, information about others, and the option to talk to them when you need more information, especially about other individuals.
Characters won’t cooperate if you’re not on a friendly level. When solving the case, favorable characters give you 4-5 choices to ask questions, whereas others might give only 1 or 2. This makes it difficult to find the killer.
Also, if you’re good to them, the response pool will have favorable options, and vice versa. You’ll know who to prioritize once you’ve replayed the game a couple of times.
So keep asking questions, be nosy, and use your intuition to develop your relationship with the residents of London. A single response could change the entire outcome.
How to build favorable relationships?
There are three aspects to building a favorable relationship:
1. Background/Outfits (low Impact) – Characters respond differently based on your clothes and background (select at the beginning of the game). Some hate the ministry, and dressing in official attire or choosing the ministry’s marked responses will annoy them. You can change your attire before every encounter, so use the feature to gain an early advantage.
If you want to choose the most propitious Mask of the Rose outfits, then the best approach is to wear the Flower Brooch and Academic Gown to every encounter. That way, you’ll have the highest probability of making a good impression.
2. Choices – The dialogues you pick from the list of choices greatly affect favorability. Some dialogues may trigger them to open up and reveal more about themselves, while others make them uncomfortable. They’ll stop talking altogether, and in the case of some characters, you won’t be able to increase your favorability with them anymore.
For instance, the Devils (Virginia and Milton) and the Priest dislike the ministry. If you reveal that you’re conducting the census on behalf of the ministry or if you wear the badge, you’ll lose favorability and won’t be able to improve it anymore during that playthrough.
How to check favorability
Favorability lets you unlock more content, and here are a few ways to check if you’re doing a good enough job:
1. Happy expressions – If someone is smiling more often during a conversation, then you’re doing a good job. If their expression remains neutral or turns angry, then you need a different approach.
2. Relationship options – If you’re on the right path, then you’ll have the option to become a friend or a lover in the end. It’s the relationship menu, and every character has one (if you can unlock it).
Once you have high favorability, all the romance options will gradually open up. Pursue whichever one you like and have a good time.
