As for Rivalry and Romance I don't really see the contradiction. Human interaction doesn't function on a binary like many games reduce it to, moreover I've been waiting for a relationship system in a game that entertains the possibility that people can have asymmetrical relationships or dissonant views of a single person.
Not same plz. In DA2, you had to literally hate each other to start a relationship, not just "slightly disagree". Without the right amount of "rivalry" points, you literally didn't have enough hatred for each other. It's still was two sides, just opposite. To make it the way you want, you need to remove the "approval system". But for people who want to know for sure that they will have this ‘romance’, it makes all more difficult. The approval system gives you a guarantee, not a vague hope. That's why it's easier and more convenient.
Know for sure they will have this 'romance'? I think you're looking at this the wrong way, it shouldn't be something you expect it should be a consequence of roleplaying, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by guarantee, but it seems to be a lot like what I'm talking about with the 'gamification' character relationships
...This causes a problem, because your companions can like or dislike you, a whole system of min-max approval/disapproval gains take over from the role playing. Are you saying that because you believe it or because you want them to like you...
What I can agree with you is the situations in games where you are inconsistent with either your disapproval and your approval, few games think that point gains should contribute to the totality of the relationship they're part of, instead of a tug of war between two extremes,
i.e. a scenario where you are fully in favor of an altruistic apostate mage, your approval goes way up, then you learn he's also a maleficarum and host to a demon, your approval goes way down, in lesser games your relationship with that person will end up in the middle, near where you started, in a better game, these two states don't detract from the other.
