Lets be honest here, neither Mass Effect nor Star Wars would win any awards for best love story, but when it comes to romance, the Mass Effect series maintains a more consistent quality throughout than the six Star Wars films. Both Star Wars trilogies have one love story at their centre. The original trilogy had Han and Leia, and it felt believable. Who can forget Hans classic response to Leias confession of love for him? The prequel trilogy had the tragic romance between Anakin and Padme and it still remains one of the most awkward and uncomfortable romances ever put on film. Its debatable whether any of the romantic relationships in Mass Effect come close to Han and Leias, but at least the series never veered into the utterly unwatchable. Regardless of which character the player romantically pursues, all of them have at least some emotional hook. Garrus is hilariously awkward. Thane is fueled with inner turmoil. Jack is really a scared little girl. And so on and so forth. All of the characters in Mass Effect have quirks and issues that form the basis for which the romance blossoms. Depending on the characters involved, they can be sweet, sexy, tragic, or funny. At their worst they are incredibly bland (see Jacob or Kaidan) but none of them ever feel like two people being forced into a relationship because the writer insists they do against their will. And as evident by the emphasis that so many fans place on these romantic plots, it's obvious that they connect with players. So while the love stories in Mass Effect can admittedly be a bit melodramatic and cheesy, the fans can't get enough of them, something that can't be said about Star Wars.
