Trophies for Mental Health (Event)

[Beyondthegrave07]

33 minutes ago, Dav9834 said:

Oh ya now that you mention it! FFVI(not that we have a platinum :'( ) , FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX(If explained properly), Idk about FFXII.

FFXIII yup! 

FFXV yup that I can think of something 

 

The golden age FFs are all good for sure

FFX is tricky, but I think you could look at Tidus's childhood and those flashbacks of living in the shadow of his father and the specific issues with their relationship and how Tidus was able to overcome all of it. You could also go other directions with Tidus and others in the party as well, but I don't want to get too spoiler-ish.

 

I couldn't really think of anything for XII except maybe the griefing from the deaths from the war, but it's not really the best example and doesn't really do it justice.

[Dav9834]

13 minutes ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

FFX is tricky, but I think you could look at Tidus's childhood and those flashbacks of living in the shadow of his father and the specific issues with their relationship and how Tidus was able to overcome all of it. You could also go other directions with Tidus and others in the party as well, but I don't want to get too spoiler-ish.

 

I couldn't really think of anything for XII except maybe the griefing from the deaths from the war, but it's not really the best example and doesn't really do it justice.

God I wish we had a FFVI remaster/platinum

 

Ya FFX without getting spoilerish would need a good explanation, which if it's a first playthrough for someone may be tough. 

[cocoeggs]

I'm 25 years old and I've had Autism since I was diagnosed at age 3. While the severity of it ranges among individuals, I look and act completely normal on the out, but on the inside I still have my issues. I've also known numerous people who struggle with their disabilities, which includes Cerebral Palsy, Bi-Polar II, Autism, PTSD and more. This inspired me to pursue and to receive a degree in Psychology. 

 

For the event, I'm in. 

[Beyondthegrave07]

2 hours ago, Dav9834 said:

God I wish we had a FFVI remaster/platinum

 

Ya FFX without getting spoilerish would need a good explanation, which if it's a first playthrough for someone may be tough. 

It's funny. I know quite a bit about FFVI, but never played it. Probably going to pick it up on PS3 at some point and play it, but I'm honestly hoping for a port to the PS4 or Nintendo switch so I can have it on a more modern console.

[Dav9834]

14 minutes ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

It's funny. I know quite a bit about FFVI, but never played it. Probably going to pick it up on PS3 at some point and play it, but I'm honestly hoping for a port to the PS4 or Nintendo switch so I can have it on a more modern console.

Oh God yes you should play it, it's more like ff4 and ff5 but better. 

As long as they don't do that weird sprite upscaling that plagued chrono trigger before they fixed it, any port would do. 

I say get it off ps3/vita and just start playing! 

[Beyondthegrave07]

I forgot to say, but if you plan on participating, please actually post so I can properly track the event and keep this organized. I have a strong feeling I'm going to get some stragglers who just start doing badge 1 without telling me, haha.

[Dr_Mayus]

7 hours ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

It's funny. I know quite a bit about FFVI, but never played it. Probably going to pick it up on PS3 at some point and play it, but I'm honestly hoping for a port to the PS4 or Nintendo switch so I can have it on a more modern console.

Best FF of all time

 

Must be played ?

[Briste]

10 hours ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

It's funny. I know quite a bit about FFVI, but never played it. Probably going to pick it up on PS3 at some point and play it, but I'm honestly hoping for a port to the PS4 or Nintendo switch so I can have it on a more modern console.

 

2 hours ago, Dr_Mayus said:

Best FF of all time

 

Must be played ?

I think you can play it on your phone as well, however I'd recommend the port. I think there was some dialogue and some mechanics with Gau that got screwed up with the port, which is why I still have my SNES copy. I play that one every once in a while and still have my original save from the first time I did the Opera house scene. FFVI has several of my favorite characters from the whole series in Locke, Celes and Shadow. It's definitely worth playing, even 30 years later lol

 

12 hours ago, Dav9834 said:

God I wish we had a FFVI remaster/platinum

This is my biggest wish in all of video games....that and a remaster of Warsong lol I bet maybe ten people on PSNP have ever played that one

[Dr_Mayus]

7 minutes ago, Briste said:

 

I think you can play it on your phone as well, however I'd recommend the port. I think there was some dialogue and some mechanics with Gau that got screwed up with the port, which is why I still have my SNES copy. I play that one every once in a while and still have my original save from the first time I did the Opera house scene. FFVI has several of my favorite characters from the whole series in Locke, Celes and Shadow. It's definitely worth playing, even 30 years later lol

 

This is my biggest wish in all of video games....that and a remaster of Warsong lol I bet maybe ten people on PSNP have ever played that one

Sabin, Edgar, Setzer, Strago....team of champions

 

[ddracarys]

Mental health is an incredibly important topic to me, so when @Beyondthegrave07 messaged me earlier today about this community event that he was setting up here on PSNP, I was pleasantly surprised. I immediately knew that I needed to check it out, despite the fact that I do not typically participate in community events on PSNP. Thank you for setting this up and bringing more awareness to the topic of mental illness, friend.

 

Mental health is a tricksy thing in the way it convinces you that you only have one option, when in actuality, you have multiple. It can be difficult to notice those different options when your feelings and thought processes are clouded with the very thoughts of antagonising oneself. Too often it occurs when those suffering with a mental illness never notice those different options and end up harming themselves as a result. I, too, was once somebody who was clouded by the same detrimental thoughts and was led to considering suicide on multiple occasions. The last time I considered suicide was during 2019, when everything in my life seemed to fall apart and I could never understand why. It wasn't the first time I had experienced suicidal thoughts, but it was the first time these thoughts were as overwhelming as they were. Everything in my mind convinced me this was the only option that made sense. Shortly after this horrible experience, I happened to meet the one person who would change it all for me. It seems almost like a fairy tale that this person came into the lowest point of my life and changed it all around for the better. 2019 ended up being the best year of my life because of this person. I was lucky. Not many of us are. I can guarantee that, had this person not showed up and cared for me when they did, I would be dead by now. This is a narrative we're all far too familiar with, because it is a narrative that plagues almost all who carry the burden of a mental illness. And truth be told, you never really overcome these feelings. You just learn to tame them. The important thing to remember is that your mental illness does not define you. Those scars that are imprinted on your body, they only serve as proof that you got back up every single time you were knocked down. As the great Tyrion Lannister once said, "Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”

 

I would like to join this event with a game selection that may sound strange at first, but is a selection that I believe I can rightfully justify in the context of mental illness. That selection is Resident Evil 8, which releases in several days. You might be asking how this selection is relevant to mental illness, and how I could possibly know that given the game is yet to release. Well, from what we have seen of the game so far, it seems evident to me that the protagonist of Resident Evil 8, Ethan Winters, is suffering some form of PTSD due to the brutal events that he experienced during Resident Evil 7. I am basing this off his nervous tone and sporadic explanations in this teaser, the traumatic event that he witnesses in the conclusion of this trailer, as well as Ethan's frustration present during the final moments of this demo. Ethan is trying to move on from his past and grieving the loss of a loved one, all while keeping these feelings bottled up to remain focused on his objective. This is why I believe Ethan Winters and Resident Evil 8 at large is worth observing from a mental health perspective. This all being said, my schedule with gaming can be rather inconsistent and I cannot guarantee the completion of this event. Therefore, so that I may still contribute in some way to this cause, I will also be joining several others in donating to my local mental health association. For each badge earned from those participating in this event, I will be donating $10.00 NZD to my local association.

 

As this event progresses through Mental Health Awareness Month, I will be sure to share my game progress via this thread, share what these donations mean to me, and provide proof of donations as well. Good luck to everybody participating and thank you again to the organisers of this event for addressing an important topic that simply isn't talked about enough. I have a bit of a disadvantage to everybody else, as I need to wait a little while longer before I can begin my selected game. However, I am aware that most others will be beginning their games today, in which I hope this proceeds well for you all.

[You]

Ok, so it's already 1st May in Japan and I just completed the game "The Suicide of Rachel Foster"

 

So erm, genuinely not sure how I can describe this game in too much detail without giving away major plot spoilers as I think the best part of the game is the story and describing details. Well I am sure anyone who has finished this game already knows exactly what I mean.

The game is a cross between Gone Home and Firewatch, Gone Home in that you're exploring a hotel (instead of a house like in Gone Home) and like Firewatch you spend most of the game talking with someone on the phone that you never meet (like you did in Firewatch)

Without really wanting to spoil the story, most of the deep distressing stuff happens right near the end and it is very brief, and there's even a few jump scares and supernatural stuff that I wasn't expecting. I honestly wish I could go into more detail without spoiling it.

 

I can say, though that the suicidal stuff is not really covered in the game much at all and ends up becoming more of a plot device more than anything, and just something that happens to be part of the story, so the first 90% of just normal exploration and stuff. There are two endings but they are practically identical and don't change the final outcome barely at all.

 

Unfortunately I had to play in multiple sessions taking frequent breaks because you can't turn off head bobbing in the options and I started to suffer with motion sickness quite a few times.

It's a decent game though and well worth playing, I got lost a fair few times and had to use the guide but I highly suggest you just use the non spoiler guide on this site. A lot of easily missed trophies and due to having to listen to a lot of dialogue, I would not want to play through this whole game twice. Well, I think you'll definitely thank me later if you do decide to try and do this all in one run.

 

[edit] OK, for anyone interested, the story is spoiled Don't read unless you DON'T plan on playing the game!!!!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! lol

 

 

 

Last chance to turn back, spoilers incoming. Haha.

 

Ok so the interesting plot twist is the actual name of the game. As you look around the house you'll discover various clues that will make you think Rachel is alive, through a bit of paranormal and also evidence to support the idea.

 

You are trapped in the house for several days due to snow, you are there to sell the place and the guy helping you on the phone claims to be in an office many miles away from you. In the end however you discover he is actually in the abandoned area of the house with you. He finally gets you to jog your memory, and eventually you remember as a young child that it was your mother who killed Rachel and that she didn't kill herself and as part of some sort of religious cult, everyone was witness to it, including some children, including you and also the guy on the phone albeit as young children who probably didn't quite understand what was going on at the time. The guy on the phone is vindicated that he finally found out how she died as it was his sister, and he has apparently has not been outside for 10 years since the incident, while on the phone he runs outside in the snow and freezes to death while talking to you. You try to convince him but crackling starts and he is gone. The game is like Firewatch/Gone To The Rapture and you never meet the other person.

 

So yes, the game is actually

"The Murder Of Rachel Foster"
 It's a good game, despite it making me motion sick a fair few times.
At the end of the game you go a bit crazy with sadness as you're the only person left out of this situation, you get to either kill yourself with gas fumes in your car or turn off the car fumes and live, the ending is mostly the same though and you decide not to sell the hotel.

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by enaysoft

[Beyondthegrave07]

31 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

Ok, so it's already 1st May in Japan and I just completed the game "The Suicide of Rachel Foster"

 

So erm, genuinely not sure how I can describe this game in too much detail without giving away major plot spoilers as I think the best part of the game is the story and describing details. Well I am sure anyone who has finished this game already knows exactly what I mean.

The game is a cross between Gone Home and Firewatch, Gone Home in that you're exploring a hotel (instead of a house like in Gone Home) and like Firewatch you spend most of the game talking with someone on the phone that you never meet (like you did in Firewatch)

Without really wanting to spoil the story, most of the deep distressing stuff happens right near the end and it is very brief, and there's even a few jump scares and supernatural stuff that I wasn't expecting. I honestly wish I could go into more detail without spoiling it.

 

I can say, though that the suicidal stuff is not really covered in the game much at all and ends up becoming more of a plot device more than anything, and just something that happens to be part of the story, so the first 90% of just normal exploration and stuff. There are two endings but they are practically identical and don't change the final outcome barely at all.

 

Unfortunately I had to play in multiple sessions taking frequent breaks because you can't turn off head bobbing in the options and I started to suffer with motion sickness quite a few times.

It's a decent game though and well worth playing, I got lost a fair few times and had to use the guide but I highly suggest you just use the non spoiler guide on this site. A lot of easily missed trophies and due to having to listen to a lot of dialogue, I would not want to play through this whole game twice. Well, I think you'll definitely thank me later if you do decide to try and do this all in one run.

You can post spoilers, it's expected and can use a spoiler tag if you're really afraid someone else is playing the same game.

 

It's a shame though that the suicide was more of a plot device than anything. Sounds like the devs had an opportunity to really address the topic more, but decided to back off or was just using the word "suicide" as a buzz word.

[Kishnabe]

I'll join. Most likely play Stein Gate.

 

 

[Inuty]

Okay i finished Fractured Minds for the Event. Since i am Not a native english speaker i Hope my thoughts are Not to confusing or badly explained.

 

The Game was Developed by a 17 year old girl (Emily Mitchell) to explain some mental illnesses she was already facing. The Game took me only 20 Minutes to complete and has a Price of 2 Euro in the PSN Store. I read about it and wanted to see what this game is about. I need to say the first round was hard to understand for me since I have no real expierience with mental illness and have to do a second playthrough to think about more of what she tries to say with the different chapters. Did I understand every chapter? Not really.. but I has my own interpretation on some of the chapters I want to share here. (Not for all chapter because I am not sure how to interprete them). The Game is Not following any specific storytelling and Every chapter stands for its own like an art project.
 

If you want to play the Game yourself please stop reading here (I write with my iPad and I am not sure why I am not able to use a spoiler tag for my text so sorry for that )

 

Chapter 1: The Mudane

You wake up in your room after a nightmare of some strange creature which will follow you through the whole game. The task is simple. You need your key to leave your room. Simple task but in your whole room are different keys. Only one is correct and for every wrong key picked up you will see the words „Wrong Key“. This multiplies depending on how many wrong keys you are picking up.
 

For me the whole chapter shows me that some people can have problems with the easiest task and get really stressed out because of it. I can also understand that this is something someone don’t want to talk about because how would other people react if you try to explain them you are not able to take care of the easiest task in your life which is normal for everyone else? Can they understand or do they make fun of you? It shows me if a task is easy for me because it is just an every day task, it doesn’t mean other people don’t have problems with it to solve the task.

 

Chapter 3: Comfort Zone

You are in a really comfy fireplace room with a nice armchair with a table and a snow globe on the table. On the armchair is a magnifying glass to look deeper in the snow globe. You will get into the snow globe which has snowman in it and a house. The room of the house Seems like the fireplace room from the start of the chapter. You find a key on the armchair to leave the chapter. Taking the key there will be some text below „don’t leave. You will not like it out there“

 

who don’t know this feeling sometimes? The world outside can look frightening cause you don’t know what will happen today or on a specific place you need to go. I saw myself a bit in this chapter because I have surly my own ticks like hating to drive with my car to a place I don’t know about. Is it easy to park there, is there enough parking slots. It is no place were I know what I can expect. As stupid as this sound, something like this is really stressing me out. I like to drive to places I feel familiar with and know were to park my car. This chapter shows me that everyone has a comfort zone but for some people it can be hard to even leave the own house because they are just to scared of what can happen and what could go wrong.

 

Chapter 6: Monster

You are in a big room like a heating room and in the next room is a big heart in chains. The creature from the beginning will show up and will close the door with the hard with some black stuff that you can’t reach it anymore. You fight the creature and reach the heart again were the creature is standing. The creature does something with the heart and it goes black. It will lift you up and shows you in a mirror that you look the same as the creature.

 

I think it is hard to explain what such people feel. I think for people with mental illness the biggest enemy are themselves. First of, the hardest part is to acknowledge that they have a problem and want to fight it and that no one can help them if they don’t See that they are the „Monster“ they Need to fight first. It’s like with an alcohol problem, if you yourself are not willing to accept you are drinking to much, no one can help you with the problem resulting from drinking to much.

 

I’m not sure if my thoughts on that are enough for the badge, feel free to give me feedback on that if you are missing something, maybe I can try again then  

 

[Beyondthegrave07]

51 minutes ago, Inuty said:

Okay i finished Fractured Minds for the Event. Since i am Not a native english speaker i Hope my thoughts are Not to confusing or badly explained.

 

The Game was Developed by a 17 year old girl (Emily Mitchell) to explain some mental illnesses she was already facing. The Game took me only 20 Minutes to complete and has a Price of 2 Euro in the PSN Store. I read about it and wanted to see what this game is about. I need to say the first round was hard to understand for me since I have no real expierience with mental illness and have to do a second playthrough to think about more of what she tries to say with the different chapters. Did I understand every chapter? Not really.. but I has my own interpretation on some of the chapters I want to share here. (Not for all chapter because I am not sure how to interprete them). The Game is Not following any specific storytelling and Every chapter stands for its own like an art project.
 

If you want to play the Game yourself please stop reading here (I write with my iPad and I am not sure why I am not able to use a spoiler tag for my text so sorry for that )

 

Chapter 1: The Mudane

You wake up in your room after a nightmare of some strange creature which will follow you through the whole game. The task is simple. You need your key to leave your room. Simple task but in your whole room are different keys. Only one is correct and for every wrong key picked up you will see the words „Wrong Key“. This multiplies depending on how many wrong keys you are picking up.
 

For me the whole chapter shows me that some people can have problems with the easiest task and get really stressed out because of it. I can also understand that this is something someone don’t want to talk about because how would other people react if you try to explain them you are not able to take care of the easiest task in your life which is normal for everyone else? Can they understand or do they make fun of you? It shows me if a task is easy for me because it is just an every day task, it doesn’t mean other people don’t have problems with it to solve the task.

 

Chapter 3: Comfort Zone

You are in a really comfy fireplace room with a nice armchair with a table and a snow globe on the table. On the armchair is a magnifying glass to look deeper in the snow globe. You will get into the snow globe which has snowman in it and a house. The room of the house Seems like the fireplace room from the start of the chapter. You find a key on the armchair to leave the chapter. Taking the key there will be some text below „don’t leave. You will not like it out there“

 

who don’t know this feeling sometimes? The world outside can look frightening cause you don’t know what will happen today or on a specific place you need to go. I saw myself a bit in this chapter because I have surly my own ticks like hating to drive with my car to a place I don’t know about. Is it easy to park there, is there enough parking slots. It is no place were I know what I can expect. As stupid as this sound, something like this is really stressing me out. I like to drive to places I feel familiar with and know were to park my car. This chapter shows me that everyone has a comfort zone but for some people it can be hard to even leave the own house because they are just to scared of what can happen and what could go wrong.

 

Chapter 6: Monster

You are in a big room like a heating room and in the next room is a big heart in chains. The creature from the beginning will show up and will close the door with the hard with some black stuff that you can’t reach it anymore. You fight the creature and reach the heart again were the creature is standing. The creature does something with the heart and it goes black. It will lift you up and shows you in a mirror that you look the same as the creature.

 

I think it is hard to explain what such people feel. I think for people with mental illness the biggest enemy are themselves. First of, the hardest part is to acknowledge that they have a problem and want to fight it and that no one can help them if they don’t See that they are the „Monster“ they Need to fight first. It’s like with an alcohol problem, if you yourself are not willing to accept you are drinking to much, no one can help you with the problem resulting from drinking to much.

 

I’m not sure if my thoughts on that are enough for the badge, feel free to give me feedback on that if you are missing something, maybe I can try again then  

 

You're all good. I'm really impressed with the effort. The whole point of having you do this part is to do more than just play a game and really think about the subject. I'll try to put check marks next to people's names when they complete a badge.

[You]

10 hours ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

It's a shame though that the suicide was more of a plot device than anything. Sounds like the devs had an opportunity to really address the topic more, but decided to back off or was just using the word "suicide" as a buzz word.

 

Hey man, ok I added a spoiler tag to my post. Actually the game does not use suicide as a buzz word. You will kinda see what I mean if you read my spoiler. Which if anyone wants to play the game first. DO NOT read the spoiler.

[Beyondthegrave07]

5 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

 

Hey man, ok I added a spoiler tag to my post. Actually the game does not use suicide as a buzz word. You will kinda see what I mean if you read my spoiler. Which if anyone wants to play the game first. DO NOT read the spoiler.

OHHHHHH, that is a lot different! Interesting choice there at the end too. You can definitely see the mental health aspects there... Anyways, I have you marked down.

 

Thanks for explaining. Makes a lot more sense now.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Beyondthegrave07

[pinkrobot_pb]

I completed Heavy Rain today. I only had to finish up Perfect Crime and All Endings, picking up Trial Master along the way.

 

When talking about mental health and Heavy Rain, it always seems to be mainly about Ethan. Of course he suffers from depression, he feels rightfully responsible for the death of his son. On the other hand, I really see no way anyone could deal with that in a 'good' way. There are some things that you can do (or fail to prevent) that you will never be able to get over for as long as you live.

Everything that happens in the rest of the game puts even more stress onto him and to be honest he deals with that pretty well. Anyone who can still function completely normal under all that stress is probably a psychopath.

 

So I would rather make this about the antagonist. He has been scarred for life by the events in his childhood, which were very much not his own doing. He fails to value the feelings of other people and acts in a meticulously thought out and very selfish way, only so he can deal with a small part of his own emotions.

 

Anyway that was the game, back to real life. I have suffered from a quite severe depression for about 10 years of my life. I normally do not really talk about it with anyone to be honest and I will not be making an exception here. I will just say that it's good that there is more attention for mental health issues nowadays. I do not think the stigma will ever completely go away, but every bit helps.

 

So thanks for this event! I might return for the co-op game. That would be Killzone 3 if it counts (it has co-op mode I think).

Edited May 2, 2021 by pinkrobot_pb

[AJ_Radio]

This is more of an off question topic than anything. Regarding mental health, I have noticed that far more people who are in the 15 - 34 age bracket admit to having mental thoughts than those who came before us. My generation (Millennials) is at the forefront when it comes to mental health awareness and finding solutions to help solve our problems. Until the last 20 years or so, there was little, if any, real help offered to those who needed medical guidance.

 

Now keep in mind I'm 32 years old. I'm about average here on PSNP, with a few people over a decade older, a good number of people younger than me, but a good majority within my age range, so I can definitely speak for my peers. I spent a lot of my life generally isolated and still do to an extent. But the amount of isolation not necessarily because of COVID-19 but because a number of us are afraid to go out in the open is saddening. There was a time when teachers and other kids regarded me as different, because I was diagnosed with Asperger's and Autism when I was around 5 - 6 years old. Back then in the early 1990s mental health awareness was practically unheard of, if there was any awareness it certainly didn't catch on to the masses.

 

Nowadays I find a lot of my peers are doing the same things I'm doing. Isolating themselves, keeping themselves locked on a computer screen, rarely talking to their friends, usually avoiding anything that involves interpersonal communication. Today's technology enables us to do things and livestream our favorite content when that didn't even exist just 15 - 20 years ago. And yet I feel more miserable. Perhaps this is where many of our mental health issues come from. Humans are social beings. We're supposed to interact with each other and when we don't, we're cut off. I watched the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks, where he is completely isolated on a island all by himself. After some time has passed, he has an imaginary friend to help keep him from going insane.

 

Everybody is different. I've met kids who were horribly abused growing up, and I imagine if I were to meet them today 20 years later they'd still experience many of the horrors from the past. I'm old enough now to see the flaws of society and the people within it. I very much think that the reason there is so much mental health awareness now is because we're more ingrained with technology. Food you buy at your grocery store, there was a time when ingredients and nutrition information wasn't even labeled on the food products. Today it's mandatory. We have safety regulations now that didn't even exist 20 years ago.

 

So what exactly is making so many of us, and so many kids half my age admitting to having mental health issues? Is it because we're more aware? Is it because isolation due to modern technology is making us scared of the outside world?

 

I don't know. I can't help but think my parents in contrast were more rugged, macho and able to handle a lot of the worlds problems. I'm not trying to say we can't be like they were but the amount of kids and young people I see these days coming up and admitting that they have mental health issues is of great concern to me.

Edited May 2, 2021 by AJ_Radio

[Beyondthegrave07]

2 hours ago, pinkrobot_pb said:

I completed Heavy Rain today. I only had to finish up Perfect Crime and All Endings, picking up Trial Master along the way.

 

When talking about mental health and Heavy Rain, it always seems to be mainly about Ethan. Of course he suffers from depression, he feels rightfully responsible for the death of his son. On the other hand, I really see no way anyone could deal with that in a 'good' way. There are some things that you can do (or fail to prevent) that you will never be able to get over for as long as you live.

Everything that happens in the rest of the game puts even more stress onto him and to be honest he deals with that pretty well. Anyone who can still function completely normal under all that stress is probably a psychopath.

 

So I would rather make this about the antagonist. He has been scarred for life by the events in his childhood, which were very much not his own doing. He fails to value the feelings of other people and acts in a meticulously thought out and very selfish way, only so he can deal with a small part of his own emotions.

 

Anyway that was the game, back to real life. I have suffered from a quite severe depression for about 10 years of my life. I normally do not really talk about it with anyone to be honest and I will not be making an exception here. I will just say that it's good that there is more attention for mental health issues nowadays. I do not think the stigma will ever completely go away, but every bit helps.

 

So thanks for this event! I might return for the co-op game. That would be Killzone 3 if it counts (it has co-op mode I think).

Yeah, I agree. For as much stress that Ethan is under, it's amazing how he doesn't just fall apart completely (I guess he does if you get a bad ending, but that's beside the point). I would say it's probably his love for his son that allows him to get over his blackouts, claustrophobia, etc.

 

It's also a good point about the killer. He uses these trials as a way to cope with what his father would never do for him. In a way, I think the way Ethan and the killer handles their stress are good contrasts to each other and definitely shows how you can overcome it or let it consume you.

 

Anyways, thanks for sharing and I have you marked down!

[ddracarys]

7 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

So what exactly is making so many of us, and so many kids half my age admitting to having mental health issues? Is it because we're more aware? Is it because isolation due to modern technology is making us scared of the outside world?

 

Instant gratification is the world we live in today. The drive to “succeed” by society’s standards is overshadowed by the effort to even get to that level. Everybody’s looking for that magical shortcut that never existed. If that gratification isn’t met, it can send some into a spiral. It’s difficult to pinpoint where exactly these detrimental mental tendencies originate from, but eventually you start to feel them enough times that they become second nature for you to feed into. And that can be overwhelming. It takes a lot of courage to be in such a state and work away from those unhealthy habits mental illnesses can send us into. Being more aware, modern day technology, and the world’s currently stressful state (even with the pandemic aside) can all certainly be contributing points. Personally, a lot of that trauma for me comes from childhood and the way I was raised. But my individual problems aside, on a wider level, I’ve found that society has only ever disappointed as I’ve grown older. It’s easy to look at the world’s current state and feel powerless, even if you’re making as much healthy systematic changes in your life.

 

In terms of how age plays a part in all of this, I can only speak from experience here (not fact, just what I’ve been through), but the older people in my life can’t seem to even grasp the idea of a mental illness. When I had told my parents about my then reoccurring suicidal thoughts several years back, they simply brushed it off, called me ungrateful, mentioned that it “didn’t exist” in their time, and got incredibly defensive about how they’ve “raised me well” and that I shouldn’t be feeling this way. It’s a sense of selfishness I’ve observed from all of the older figures in my life, whenever I bring mental illnesses to the table. Again, I know that not all older folks are allergic to the topic, but I’ve yet to meet anybody over the age of 40 who actually has a welcomed perspective on mental health.

 

I don’t know if a single, concrete answer can be had to your question. What I do know, however, is that all of my difficulties have made me who I am today, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.

Edited May 2, 2021 by ddracarys

[Jeanolt]

7 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

So what exactly is making so many of us, and so many kids half my age admitting to having mental health issues? Is it because we're more aware? Is it because isolation due to modern technology is making us scared of the outside world?

We are more aware and everyone is sharing their experiences on the internet, so is easy to learn abouts different mental ilnesses even if you dont know anyone that is suffering from them. Schools are beginning to teach about these topics more often, and even other media like movies/series. Older people make the mistake of thinking that all this stuff "didnt exist" back then, but it is because no one really cared about mental health or even recognized it as something real not long ago. 

For example, some people believe that the LBGT community is just a trend, when in fact they always were in the society, just in the shadows to avoid being judged/hurted, or worse. 

[AJ_Radio]

2 minutes ago, ValenTris7 said:

 For example, some people believe that the LBGT community is just a trend, when in fact they always were in the society, just in the shadows to avoid being judged/hurted, or worse. 

It was the same with gay people. I knew a few of them in my life who were engaged long before gay marriage, but they had to hide that fact from the general public.

[Starrk_01]

I'll join the event as well. At some point I'll plat/100% Concrete Genie, so I'll use that game for the first badge (still need to decide on the 2nd badge).

 

And you can put me down for donating $2 per every badge obtained @Beyondthegrave07.

[Phantochi]

Celeste was my choice for the event, and it end up being very short, i won't throw any spoilers here because i know i'm not the only one playing it for the event.

 

 

The cutest version of hell there is.

 

Celeste is a platformer, but it’s not really a platformer in the same way as Mario or Megaman for instance, which I actually thought it would be before i played it. This game consists mostly of individual “rooms” filled with tricky platforming segments that’ll usually take you a few attempts to succeed, but with no real penalty for death other than restarting the room.

 

At the start, i had a bad time with this game, because it's a platformer. I suck at platformers. I am not a bad player when it comes to video games in general, but i'm clearly not a great one either. To me, Celeste was mostly frustrating at the beginning, and the beautiful art and atmosphere only made it worse. I just could not get to enjoy this game no matter how genuinely great the world was, i was too busy dying all the time. The thing is, you don't progress through this game without dying dozens if not thousands of times until you actually perfect the tiniest of jumps. There is no real pacing in this. You will barely ever have the time to enjoy the beautiful graphics, music and surroundings. You will be too busy dying, cursing and restarting. And then, i found something that made this game very fun to me, and that's the Assist mode. I turned on the Assist mode, and not only beat the game and got the platinum, but had a good time doing so.

 

The story is decent, i also played Gris a few days ago, and i felt the same way about both games when it comes to the story, just another game tackling mental health, like all indie games from the past couple of years, it has that same story revolving around the same subject just because it's easy to create a story around it. I never experienced any sort of mental health issues, specially depression, but i'm a human being, so Madeline(Celeste girl) struggle is one made easy to empathize with, her low points are painful to watch, and her high are exhilarating to experience, and when it comes the time for farewell, you cry like a child. This is one of the best levels i've played in a platformer, the whole idea is that Madeline is looking for someone, no matter what it costs, flying with jellyfish, opening blocks, breaking open key doors, etc. As you play the level, some of the obstacles disappears, showing that you are carving the adventure, and removing the impossible obstacles in your way. Eventually you reach the final part, where all of it has to be done in one shot, showing that even though when you started, you struggled with the first level, you came far enough to be able to complete such a long and difficult section in one go, and that despite what you may think, you have gotten so much better. And when you finally finish the level, The feeling of emptiness that you get from completing that chapter is expected, and you can see in Madeline's face, that she feels that emptiness too.

 

When it comes to the level design, it has some stupid decisions, like there's a ton of point of no returns. That wouldn't be a problem if the game was linear, but there are a lot of branching paths that lead to optional areas to get some collectibles. So if you by accident took the wrong way and went through a point of no return (you don't see them coming), you can basically quit the level and start all over. Precision sequences are too long in many places, and by the end you just feel frustrated by how many times you died. Game inputs are rigid like a 8 bit nes game, there is no cancelling of moves, and most of the times it's set up more like an unprompted quick time event game, as there is usually only one set of actions for completing a level. Besides the Farewell level, whenever i beat a level, i never thought "Wow, that was fun!", but just "I'm glad i'll never have to do that again."

 

Overall i found the experience much more tedious than enjoyable, the whole game boils to: Memorize the unforgiving level design through trial and error, then complete the section by combining prior knowledge with frame perfect execution. 

 

Celeste ended up being a over hyped platformer about mountain depression, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game, but it's definitely not the 10/10 overwhelmingly masterpiece everyone claims it to be.
 

By the end of the month, i'll also be donating $20.00 PLN for each badge earned to the Humanity in Action Poland association i've been here only for a couple of months so i don't really know a mental health focused association, if there's any, mental health is a big issue here, having a mental disorder means stigmatisation, from society, employers, government, etc, those who suffer anxiety, panic, mental disorder or chemical imbalance are considered nuisances and ought to be locked up in a mental institution, people with mental health issues even need a court order to be able to marry, so having a mental disorder here makes it extremely hard to be part of society, pretty fucked up stuff, you would think that Poland of all countries would know how to treat it's people better, hopefully this changes soon.