I see some people asking about romantic subplots in the upcoming Millennium games. So I ask, does a good story necessarily need a romantic subplot and/or characters coupling off? Sometimes it seems cliche, especially since every Japanese RPG seems to have characters coupling off, and many times poorly written. Like one reason why the Avril-Dean-Rebecca trio in Wild Arms 5 was annoying versus the Vyse-Aika-Fina one in Skies of Arcadia is because Skies didn't impose a corny love triangle. In WA5, the silly imposed love triangle made Avril seem even more clueless and Rebecca even more catty. So many Japanese RPGs have badly written romances that I'd actually like to see one without.
The relationship that I'd like to see most developed is the familial cousin one between Marine and Benoit, that's becoming more like a brother-sister bond. This is obviously a very important one since in MM2, Marine
just lost both her parents, and now her only surviving family is Benoit and Merline. Okay, there's the senile grandfather too, but he's not long for this world.
I could take or leave romance, but the family bond is a vital theme in Millennium, I think, and I'd like to see that relationship explored deeper. And like a lot of you, more political stuff would be cool too. Some of my favorite RPGs had a lot of political intrigue, like Tactics Ogre, even Suikoden to an extent.