Obsidian Entertainment has never forgotten its own "Pillars of Eternity", so it made a new RPG "Oath". However, the mechanism of falling in love with a partner that was once added in "Pillars of Eternity 2" was returned by "Oath". According to Obsidian Entertainment's official disclosure, the protagonist in "The Oath" cannot fall in love with his companions, and there are no romantic elements. The game is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2024 on XSX|S with PC platform.
The Oath's Creative Director, Carrie Patel, reiterated that while many players love to be in love with characters in the game, The Oath doesn't contain romance. If the development team adds a romantic relationship story to the game, there must be a corresponding non-romantic relationship story. The development team put a lot of effort into the game's protagonist companions, characters who are closely tied to the game's story, and these have never been seen in obsidian games in the past. So if you add romance, then the development team needs to make sure that they are really doing it right, or they just don't do it.
As a Western-style fantasy RPG, the lack of romantic elements does make players regret. But for Obsidian Entertainment, it's more focused. Carrie Patel said that the most important thing for them was to make sure that the game had a truly solid campaign that met what players would expect from an obsidian RPG: a well-developed story, meaningful choices and consequences, and the ability to be an agent of change in the world.