One of the things that got me most interested in Metro Exodus was Artyom's relationship with his wife, Anna. It's one of my favorite video game love stories.

One of the things that got me most interested in Metro Exodus was Artyom's relationship with his wife, Anna. It's one of my favorite video game love stories. The problem is that I made the mistake of starting with the third game, thinking it was the first. I jumped right into the middle of a love story without seeing how they got there. Then, when I went back and played the first two, they paled in comparison for me. Exodus had already made such a huge impression that it was hard going back. They're already married when Exodus begins, and you get to spend time with them as a couple. Anna has her own place in the group. She's a sniper, she goes out on missions, and she can cover Artyom when he's the one in danger. You get to see them relying on each other. I love the little moments between them. The teasing, her comments while they're on missions, the way she talks to him. Even when they're apart, she has this presence throughout the journey. She's nearby, she's on the radio, or she's back on the Aurora. You get used to having her there. So when she goes missing or something happens to her, it really adds tension. Artyom keeps going back to the surface looking for a signal because he believes there's a future outside the Metro. But every time he goes out, Anna could lose her husband. You can understand why that would be difficult for both of them. He wants a life beyond the tunnels, and she wants him to survive long enough for them to have it. Then there are those scenes on the train where you're just sitting together. She's resting against you, you're stroking her hair or her arm, and she's talking. You can stay there and listen instead of running off to the next thing. As I remember it, there's thirty or forty minutes' worth of dialogue where she's just talking to you while you're sitting there. There are two or three moments like that in the game, and they're a huge part of what makes it so good for me. You spend all this time fighting and trying to survive, and then you get to have these quiet moments with your wife. It makes the relationship feel like something you're actually spending time in. By the time you leave the train again, you care about getting back to her. And then I got the bad ending the first time I played it, and I was pissed. After everything that happened, and how attached I'd gotten to the two of them, that was rough. That's why I wanted to put together a walkthrough for getting the good ending too. Metro Exodus was the most amazing of the three for me, and their relationship is a big part of that. With everything going on around them, the game still gives them room to love each other and think about the life they want to have together. Those little moments made a huge impression on me.