Beyondthegrave07 Posted May 11, 2022 Author Share Posted May 11, 2022 1 hour ago, Sylvanticore said: Wait really? That's awesome! I was just looking through what games I have on my account and I saw that and thought I wonder if that could be done but wasn't sure. I just got done doing Celeste for my mental health game (posted already earlier today) and now I know that I'll get started right away Newspaper is also a source of mass media. Not sure if the remake has it, but the original had newpapers covering your story for each area. Worth looking into regardless. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Platinum_Vice Posted May 11, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted May 11, 2022 6 hours ago, BCWrites said: i often wonder what life would be like for those around me if I was gone so i just made a psychiatric appointment to help with my troubles. plus, my anxiety is so bad it gives me migraines that send me to the hospital, and I can't sleep for shit. idk maybe it's Dark Souls' fault. probably dark souls 2's fault haha. happy to see people bringing awareness to all of this and gaming in it's honor. best of luck and wishes to all participating No one seems to have replied to this but I wanted to extend a "good idea" to you for booking that appointment and "thank you" for sharing. I've seen some extreme devastation that suicides leave behind and hope you continue to seek help to prevent that potential future from coming about. If it helps, cutting coffee reduced my anxiety by 80%+, and regular exercise and psychological & mindfulness strategies reduced most of the remaining symptoms, so maybe consider those things for yourself if you haven't yet done so. Regardless, please continue putting yourself out there to help manage your issues. ?? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkjjda Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 i think home could also fit in this category still i would like to know but dont have or know of games that could tackle that issue 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjamonkee9900 Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 22 hours ago, Alantor32 said: Gotta say, as someone who has autism, I don’t know if I have any games for mental health, but I am glad I found this thread. Glad you are here! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesar Clown Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 I just platinumed Immortals Fenyx Rising on the PS5. I accidentally took a bit longer because for some reason, I thought I had to collect all the armor and weapons. This will be spoiler heavy.. Spoiler While I'm sure we all know the various Greek mythologies, Immortals Fenyx Rising does a good job at humanizing the Greek gods featured in it, giving them various reasons as to why they behaved the way they do. The heart of all the problems is of course Zeus, whom, as the story progresses, comes to accept the fact that he was a terrible father and person. Towards the end, he's lost the will to live and accepts Prometheus' prophecy that Fenyx will kill him. Fenyx doesn't want to do that and instead tries to convince him to improve on himself, since she's spent all her time helping the other gods get over the various psychological problems Zeus had caused. In the end, while the day is saved and destruction and death is averted, Zeus admits he has to work at becoming a better father, with Fenyx helping. That's just the main story, but each god featured in the main story (Ares, Aphrodite, Athena, and Hephaistos) all have sub-stories dealing with the emotional damage Zeus caused during their lives and how Fenyx needs to help them overcome it. Each one has been changed into another form by the villain Typhon, and the four of them really don't want to change back since it means they have to confront the pain their father caused them. I think the one that stood out the most to me was Hephaistos, who said he preferred being a robot so he wouldn't have to feel any pain. Fenyx had a bit of a self-confidence problem, starting out the game wondering why she was spared being turned to stone when others were more worthy. She keeps doubting herself and thinking she'll never be able to really help, until she's told by the gods she's definitely hero material. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starrk_01 Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 (edited) Finished my first game Ikenfell. 47.93% rarity at this time which would be worth $3.04. I'll keep this short and spoiler free in case people want to play the game (good indie game that honesty is a bit underplayed in my opinion, surprised trophy hunters aren't jumping on this one since there is literally an auto-victory button if you only care for trophies). While there are a few characters that exhibit mental health, I'm going to focus on a character named Pertisia. She clearly exhibited a form of PTSD in Ikenfell. She had a traumatic before the game happens that will be reveal in the game, but you can tell there are issues earlier than that point. This includes feelings of anger when she was with the other characters, avoidance on certain subject matters, and anxiety when confronting the environment that cause the PTSD. At one point in the game the group is in this environment and Pertisia literally stops moving and has to be carried out by the main character to leave the environment. She was frozen in fear of what is about to confront her and bad memories at the time came back to her to make her just stop. This ultimately does get revealed to the group and Pertisia does overcome her PTSD. This is done through dialogue and ultimately confronting the environment again with her friends. Edit: Have talked to Grave and got the ok for my second game which will be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered since some of the loading screens has TV/newspaper information. Should increase my contribution to more than 3.50 assuming I finish before month end. Edited May 14, 2022 by Starrk_01 2nd game named 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violino Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Concrete Genie is my first game for the event this year. Pleasantly surprised by it too. First off what a great little exclusive it was. I love the big Uncharted's, God of War and Horizon games but we need more of these little gems. I was mostly surprised by how relatable it is and how much I thought back while playing it. The days of coming back from school to escape with hobbies and the way, at times at least, they felt more real and comfortable than real life. The idea and metaphors behind the darkness and the idea that it represents depression and / or loneliness slowly covering everything (at least that's what I got from it) had my interest peaked and wished they went into that more or gave a little more in regards to what it could be a metaphor to. Also, I quite enjoyed the way the game shows you what was going on with the bullies themselves. They each had their own issue and demons that played a part in making them act how they acted. Don't really get that chance in the real world. You get bullied. Leave school and that's that. It would be nice to know if there was anything going on that wasn't known to make them act that way but sometimes real life doesn't work like that, but it made me happy for Ash as wasn't lonely anymore, which I felt played a part in him being so down, which I felt was why he had such an attachment to his art work and the genies, that gave his respite from that feeling. Then by the end of the game there's the fact he wasn't suffering from loneliness anymore because of the thing he used to escape reality for a little while. Apologises for the very poor piece, I hope it's enough. It's been a few days since I got the platinum and I've struggled to understand what I got from this (even though I really enjoyed it) as it bought back some of stuff personally. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvanticore Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 So after completing Celeste for the first part of this event I decided I was going to do Destroy All Humans for the second part, that didn't happen because my brain is like a blast from a shotgun in video games and scattered, so remembering one of the choices that was put up for this part of the event I went with the first Borderlands game. As was stated the second part of this event was for: #TogetherforMentalHealth which is supposed be for encouraging others and to spread the word via social media, TV, internet, etc. So for this year, to earn this badge, you must play a game that prominently uses social media, radio, TV, or the internet in the game. In Borderlands you are a vault hunter and you have of course come to look for, you guessed it, a vault, but how did you find out about the vault, through television or radio in the Borderlands universe? it's unclear, but what is clear is that during the events of Borderlands you are always contacted through the ECHOnet, which as the Borderlands Wiki states: The ECHOnet is a system of communication across the greater plain of Pandora. It is mainly wireless, requiring only a personal HUD unit, provided to new arrivals by the Dahl Corporation. Thanks to this ECHOnet your characters deeds are known well throughout the planet of Pandora, people hear about you and ask for your assistance and even the villians of the game use it to taunt you as you progress. In closing I'm happy to have taken part in this event, hopefully this will count for it and thanks for doing this event @Beyondthegrave07 Mental health is something that a lot of people I know suffer from, some days are a lot tougher than others and even when you think you have control of the situation there is always that feeling in the back of your mind, you can have a good day only for something to hit you like Brick hits bandits with his ability and you're in a horrible place for a long time. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanreo Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 So I didn't notice this before now, but I'd love to join this event again this time! So have a late signup x3 Now to look through my backlog/unplayed games to see if I have anything that fits... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyondthegrave07 Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 55 minutes ago, Sylvanticore said: So after completing Celeste for the first part of this event I decided I was going to do Destroy All Humans for the second part, that didn't happen because my brain is like a blast from a shotgun in video games and scattered, so remembering one of the choices that was put up for this part of the event I went with the first Borderlands game. As was stated the second part of this event was for: #TogetherforMentalHealth which is supposed be for encouraging others and to spread the word via social media, TV, internet, etc. So for this year, to earn this badge, you must play a game that prominently uses social media, radio, TV, or the internet in the game. In Borderlands you are a vault hunter and you have of course come to look for, you guessed it, a vault, but how did you find out about the vault, through television or radio in the Borderlands universe? it's unclear, but what is clear is that during the events of Borderlands you are always contacted through the ECHOnet, which as the Borderlands Wiki states: The ECHOnet is a system of communication across the greater plain of Pandora. It is mainly wireless, requiring only a personal HUD unit, provided to new arrivals by the Dahl Corporation. Thanks to this ECHOnet your characters deeds are known well throughout the planet of Pandora, people hear about you and ask for your assistance and even the villians of the game use it to taunt you as you progress. In closing I'm happy to have taken part in this event, hopefully this will count for it and thanks for doing this event @Beyondthegrave07 Mental health is something that a lot of people I know suffer from, some days are a lot tougher than others and even when you think you have control of the situation there is always that feeling in the back of your mind, you can have a good day only for something to hit you like Brick hits bandits with his ability and you're in a horrible place for a long time. It counts! Definitely! I'll update the OP later after work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han_the_Dragon Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 (edited) I finely finished my entry for this, although it didn't hit me in almost any way... but that's likely because I'm still to tired and my work is a mess, making me less empathetic than usual... Anyway, the funny thing is that this time I'm entering with Detroit: Become Human, making it a repeat with the Robots with emotions theme from last year game (Nier Automata) too... Now, since I have to write something about this... let's see... I think that I will just touch the Hank problem in the story, since 1 of the possible outcomes is positive, and even the worst outcome has "positive" indications along the way, only the resolution isn't positive.. but I guess that's better that I put stuff into a spoiler tag for the game.. Well, for context, Hank is an old Cop that is known for hating Androids, and he gets assigned to all Android related cases, as well as gets an Android partner (Conner). Now, Hank's hate towards androids is where his psychological struggle resides. Hank lost his son, because his son had a bad accident and ended up dying in the operation room when being submitted to a surgery performed by an Android. And the loss of his son essentially eats him away all the time, to a drunken suicidal tendency. Eventually, Hank opens to Conner and tells him that he doesn't blame the Android for his son's death, but actually the human that was to high on drugs to be ableto perform the surgery.. Hank also looks like he starts to develop some liking towards Conner and other Androids, starting to react shocked or displeased when Conner dies or when Conner decides to kill some Adroids. While the good option just results in "Case closed" and the bad option in "Hank's suicide", I decidedto bring him as my text because of how he evolves during the game, always struggling with his past and with Conner, and at the same time being able to get to terms with his hate towards Androids (even on the bad option, since along the way to the bad option, Hank always gets distressed each time Conner does the Automated action instead of the moral one as well as when Conner dies). Edited May 18, 2022 by Han_the_Dragon 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jens Posted May 20, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted May 20, 2022 Finished Danganronpa 2 on Wednesday, which lets us pick characters from this game and the first Danganronpa for this event. And there's a lot of options, because both games are pretty much filled to the brim with all sorts of mental instabilities (I wouldn't necessarily call all of them mental illnesses, but a few of them for sure). For this event I'll focus on the character Mikan Tsumiki, which the game's Wiki describes as "an extremely meek, paranoid and fragile individual who suffers from hazardously low self-esteem as a result of severe abuse and bullying". It continues explaining that "She constantly worries about annoying, boring or offending others", which reminded me to some extent of... myself. For very different and way sillier reasons, thankfully!, but let me take way too much time to elaborate. I'll try keeping it short, I promise! Definitely won't look that way though. I've been friends with two girls from my class for years, we were actually very, very close. They were closer to being my sisters #4 and #5 than "just" being friends. But after a few years I noticed that I felt like our friendship is slowly dwindling and I felt like there's nothing I could do about it. Conversations didn't stick around, they focused more and more on other people, things like that. At some point I just couldn't take it anymore and did something... very silly, to end it in one fell swoop instead of watching my friendships slowly die. I was young (15 or so, I think), and therefore I was stupid. Instead of talking about things and trying to fix them, which would've helped for sure, I chose the nuclear option and never really stopped regretting it. Little did I know that this would lead to me carrying actual fear of loss around, and that for more than a decade. Whenever a similar situation happened - me finding a new friendship I enjoy greatly and start putting a lot of faith and hope into - those worries always came back. When the growth of the friendship slowed down or just "stagnated" at the same spot for a while, I always started getting... nervous, in a way. I saw - or rather imagined those patterns from the past and started worrying about things yet again. I never understood where those negative feelings came from and why they made me stop enjoying friendships, so much so that some of them died in a similar fashion. But then I found a certain person on this very site, a person that turned out to be the help I didn't know I actually needed. We started talking a lot! to each other and things were just very fun and awesome. But then it came back to me again, those weird and confusing worries (which is slightly embarrassing to talk about and explain with me having been 30!!! at that point, but... that's kind of the point of this thread, isn't it? ). We talked less to each other after a few months and my ape brain did it again. "Did I become too boring over time? Are other things just more important now? Is it time to say farewell to a friend yet again?". I started having so many negative thoughts, it made me think of bailing on yet another friendship yet again. I was worried about getting my feelings hurt, if I put too much hope into fixing things and potentially fail. It made me feel helpless and powerless, which was... taxing, to say the least. When something that's just meant and supposed to be positive and fun, a friendship, turns into a burden - even if it's an imaginary one - it really feels like it's dragging one down twice as hard. It was very confusing, too. I have the best fiance in the world, I will get married next year, so there clearly weren't any romantic feelings involved with my friend. I'm doing totally fine in my life, but I still felt this bad about "just" a friendship. I wasn't able to connect the dots and felt like I start digging myself such a deep hole again that I can't get out of it. But this time something else happened. Instead of drowning in these thoughts, becoming bitter and walking away from a friend yet again, I... kind of spat all of these negative thoughts right in her face. And let me tell you, that definitely was one of my best decisions ever! Talking to her about it immediately made me realize how silly my worries were in this case. It started feeling like "alien thoughts", which was very effective. She also turned out to be an infinite source of understanding and support, so much so that I actually figured out what my problem was. I always thought it's plain jealousy, which would've been super embarrassing and that made it difficult openly talking about it. But finally spitting those thoughts out, noticing that they actually are kind of silly and slowly working them down over time just... worked. Without talking about it I still wouldn't understand what's been wrong in my head. I still would've called it "jealousy", friends finding other friend and me just being jealous about it. I would've been ashamed of it, but still would've set myself back right back to square one by running away from my problem. But by talking about it (to the best person ever!), I had the surroundings I needed to think about this in a more critical fashion and figure out that "fear of loss" is a thing. Just reading what it is, how it affects you and so on made a giant bell ring in my head, that almost did 80% of the work by itself It actually made me chuckle seeing how much I recognized myself in the descriptions of this issue. It helped a lot and now I'm pretty sure that I can keep it under control. I'm not 100% immune to it today, sadly, I probably pushed it away for too long. But I always catch myself being close to becoming a weirdo again and stop myself. Therefore I only have one piece of advice for you: If you're worrying about something similar to this, just spit it out dude! That's the most effective way of dealing with it, believe me. There are only two things that could happen: - You might alienate the person you chose to talk to, but shit happens! To be honest with you... if someone doesn't accept you at your "worst", when you feel like you're down, that's what would happen at some point eventually. It still makes you learn things about yourself, which helps you with getting rid of your worries. Don't see it as misguided trust or anything and especially never let it stop you from trying again! There are people out there who will be ready to help you, so just buckle up and try again. - Or you're lucky like me and stumble upon a lighthouse of a friend first try, one that actively relates to your situation and gives you the time and "comfort zone" you need to sort your thoughts. The potential reward greatly outweighs the "risk", trust me! I won't @ you, you know exactly who you are. So I can grant you a bit of privacy, "Not Really Mystery Person" But yeah, this right here needs to happen or this text will be very incomplete: Thank you for everything in these last few years, my friend! I'll continue doing my best, turning your faith in me and the benefit of a doubt you provided into one of your best decisions ever! You rule! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im2Fast_4U Posted May 21, 2022 Share Posted May 21, 2022 Late sign up on my end, but so happy to see this event return! I'm thinking I will finally grab Celeste off the shelf, as well as use Alan Wake Remastered for the bonus badge. Thanks for putting this one together again!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted May 23, 2022 Share Posted May 23, 2022 I'm hoping it isn't too late to sign up! I've been meaning to join since the start of May, but then ironically (sadly) something awful reared its ugly head, and I had to actually take care of my own mental health for a little bit. I absolutely kicked myself last year for not having the confidence at the time to join in with this event. I even dedicated a load of reviews in the month of May last year in my checklist thread, for games I thought specifically tackled mental health, something I might do for the remainder of this month too actually. I instantly regretted not joining in though, because reading so many open and honest experiences and stories from people was so refreshing! These are all things we should be talking about, and I'm really happy this event offers a safe space to do so. I really am gutted that I didn't take part last year - and so this year I'd like to actually get my backside in gear and get involved. We've still got 8 days left in May, and I can hopefully crank out two games that fit the bill in that time. I'm not quite certain about a bonus game yet, but I think Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is the one I'm going to default too regarding mental health itself. It's one a friend recommended to me last year, as did a few others before that, so it looks like now is the time! Sorry to be a pain with the late sign up Grave! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Platinum_Vice Posted May 23, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted May 23, 2022 Hi all! I recently finished my first game: Neverending Nightmares. It was... unique. You are Thomas, an adult man who wakes up from a nightmare of horrific proportions only to discover more terrible experiences. You continue to suffer before discovering that you are still in another nightmare. You wake up to find yourself still dreaming and subject to further horrors until you wake up again and... et cetera, et cetera. The artstyle is a black and white hand-drawn aesthetic with crosshatching for shadows and darkness of more than just an environmental sense, and more of a symbolic sense, as I inferred that Thomas is not actually dreaming, but that the game is Thomas' train of thought which is itself a nightmare-scape of demonic proportions. The playable Thomas is an avatar for Thomas' suffering (and that suffering is highly disturbing). The gameplay is minimal. This goes beyond the limitations of the miniscule developer and into a symbol of Thomas' own physical limitations. He moves left and right and opens doors. That's pretty much it. Occasionally you may choose to make him run however he will only make it about seven or eight metres before having to come to a stop - complete with excessive wheezing - which often made me question why "Asthma Simulator" sounded like an appropriate game mechanic, however, the fact remains: Thomas' ability to overcome the nightmarish experiences is extremely limited. As he continues through long corridors of horrors he often reaches a dark corner that you continue around, which, of course, leads to another long corridor of horrors. By the end of a few corridors Thomas will reach a set of descending stairs to find more corridors, corners and descending stairs. This cycle continues throughout the 4 hour game as Thomas spirals downswards in his own despair. The developer is open about his past experiences with depression, and though Thomas' journey at first feels more in tune with what I diagnosed as schizophrenic madness, I eventually began to see more of an allegorical story of depression. Thomas is repeatedly hamstrung at every turn as he lives in constant fear of turning each corner and being confronted with a new roadblock that ends his journey and sends him back multiple steps to your last checkpoint/safe-point (your bed). The enemies that overpower you include a straight-jacketed character that seems to have been over-experimented on (which I interpreted as Thomas' fear of being confronted by himself as someone who has expired all modern clinical solutions to his mental illness) and various mutated versions of a female character that he is pursuing. The female character, Gabby, represents his wife, his sister and his therapist depending on which of the three endings that you uncover, and to me, Thomas sees her as his only remaining support in the house of horrors that is his mental state. Gabby's doom at the hands of malicious forces is a repeating motif in Neverending Nightmares, and I infer that to mean that Thomas is terrified of what will take place if she is taken from him. Significant gore and jumpscares are abound in this game including multiple iterations of Thomas dying and self-harming. I don't recommend it to people who are not in a mental state with appropriate fortitude to experience this game. Much like Thomas' experience, it is difficult to stomach the repeated jumpscares and minimalistic developer choices that at a first glance appear cheap, and only reveal themselves as containing substance upon truly seeing it for what it is: a cautionary tale of insight for those who have not experienced depression themselves. Thomas' greatest fear is that he will never escape his mental illness, and if I'm not mistaken, the 'meta' nature of anxiety of having anxiety, or of being depressed about having depression, is truly a horrible weapon that the psyche inflicts upon itself for those living with mental illness. I hope you are all hanging in there with whatever ails you currently, and I am always able to receive a private message if you need to talk. Stay safe out there homies. ?? 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyondthegrave07 Posted May 23, 2022 Author Share Posted May 23, 2022 About a week left before May ends. Not doing half bad, but hope everyone pushes to at least get their first badge. I finally found a game that I wanted to play for the second badge, but unfortunately, I'm going to run out of time (no way I can beat DMC 3 times before the end of the month), but it's the thought that counts. ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DrBloodmoney Posted May 24, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted May 24, 2022 (edited) So, I thought I was having real trouble with that Bonus Badge... ...I couldn't figure out a game to do, then figured it was getting to late to be able to find and complete one. But... continuing my long tradition of stumbling ass-backwards into the right answers, a game I was playing with no intention of fitting this event just happened to end up satisfying the requirements nicely, I think ? BONUS TIER: (Media and Influence) Road 96 (Rarity 54.36%) Summary: An unusual indie Narrative Adventure-Lite game from French studio DigixArt, Road 96 takes some inspiration from 70's Euro avant-garde cinema, blends it with a very 90's Linklater-style teenage sociopolitical worldview, and wraps it all in a more digestible, somewhat Life is Strange, (or more specifically, Life is Strange 2,) style of road trip gameplay, to sometimes mixed but often curiously winning effect. The narrative takes place in the fictional totalitarian state of Petria, in which a (seemingly rigged and purely for show,) election between the totalitarian ruler President Tyrek, and his revolutionary rival Florres is pending. The player takes the role of multiple teens across the game, each part of a nationwide epidemic of teen runaways, all trying to head for the border, to flee Petria ahead of the election. The outcome of each of these short journeys is fraught with danger, and the overall narrative continues, whatever the outcome of any individual teen is. Along the way, the player will encounter various recurring characters - among them a politically conflicted policewoman, a couple of revolutionary (and moronic) criminals, a fellow runaway (and daughter of the totalitarian regime's Minister of Oil,) a shady killer, a slightly crazy Trucker, a boy-genius tech-savvy runaway, the self-absorbed anchor of a governmental mouth-piece propaganda show and a few others, most of who's stories each teen will only see a small sliver of. An overall "Completion meter" for each main NPC is shown across the whole game, letting the player know how much there is still to uncover of each character, and this fills in based on these semi-random encounters. Media Elements: The media elements in the game are not necessarily the main narrative focus, however, they do run through the entire game like a thematic spine. The most prevalent is Sonya - hostess of The Sonya Show: a televised news show that is clearly on the payroll of the establishment dictatorship. At the end of each different Teen's "run", the player is shown a glimpse of the future election - (which is influenced by the player in a few ways - discussions with different characters about political action vs terrorism, though vandalism of party political propaganda, or even directly, as the player can choose to call one of the donation numbers for one of the candidates and pledge some of their cash)...and also shown a section of the latest episode of The Sonya Show. Sonya generally shows the current electoral standings, espouses political rhetoric whitewashing the crimes of the government, and smears the resistance and the political uprising with half-truths and falsehoods about what happened during the episode the player just played. As the player plays, and influences the election standings, that media influence becomes more and more interesting - and the sections where Sonya is seen not in-front of the camera is illuminating and kind of grotesque (it's clear what the game developers think of the hypocrisy of news-media!) but it is certainly used to show the negative consequences of disseminating false information via mass media, in the fact that in future runs, different NPCs' opinions are clearly shaped by what that media has been telling them, in contrast to the truth the player knows. There is actually a section of the game where Sonya is encountered on location, and for reasons best described as "Videogames, yo", the player controlled teen ends up operating her camera for her at a political rally. She is very pleased when you film the Oil Minister's lie-filled speech nicely, framing the political propaganda nicely in the background, and making sure she looks good, however, when things turn ugly, and police begin beating protesters that arrive, you can choose to film these - Sonya hates it, but it has a positive effect on Florres' political standing, and a negative one on the popularity of President Tyrek and his party. There is also the case of one of the recurring NPCs, Zoe. She is, it turns out, the daughter of a prominent Oil Minister, and has evidence that an atrocity committed by terrorists years ago - one which is still the dominant reason for most pro-government political leanings in the populace - was, in fact, committed by the government, to solidify contempt for the uprising. In one of the runs, the player controlled Teen meets with Zoe at the border, and they try to cross together - and her determination to escape the country so that she can reveal that information to the press leads to the player having to make a very tough choice during that sequence, with life-or-death consequences. I would argue that getting that information to the media - to spread it - is the sole reason why that decision is meaningful, and were it not for that catalyst, most players would likely chose a different outcome than they did... even if the actual outcome of that information getting to the media is dependent on other actions and narrative beats in the game. Certainly the media aspect of the game is not necessarily the focus (and at the beginning, I didn't even really see it coming,) but by the end, the wide dissemination of information via the media - and the ways the mass influence of the media can be used for either altruistic or corrupt means - ends up forming a pretty prominent part of the game thematically, so it feels like it fits nicely for this Bonus Badge! Edited May 24, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattbluePT Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 On 30/04/2022 at 5:10 AM, Beyondthegrave07 said: However, games that use mental health issues as satire (Psychonauts) or is portrayed in a negative light/don't actually tackle the issues themselves (Joker from Batman Arkham games or Dead by Daylight) will not count. I don't believe I only read this part, was playing Psychonauts exactly for this event *facepalm* Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the game so much, it's a shame I'm only playing this now, totally recommend the game Now I'll have to look for another game on my backlog that tackles mental health or mental illness. Let's see if I'm still on schedule for it and the bonus badge. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 (edited) 6 minutes ago, MattbluePT said: I don't believe I only read this part, was playing Psychonauts exactly for this event *facepalm* Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the game so much, it's a shame I'm only playing this now, totally recommend the game Now I'll have to look for another game on my backlog that tackles mental health or mental illness. Let's see if I'm still on schedule for it and the bonus badge. If it's any help - while I would agree with @Beyondthegrave07 about the original Psychonauts being ineligable due to using Mental Health elements as pure satire and for laughs... ... I don't know his take on it, but I would strongly argue that is not the case with Psychonauts 2. If you were planning on rolling onto the (excellent) sequel, I would argue it manages to take a much, much more considerate and interesting look at legitimate mental health concerns on a multitude of fronts, and actually treat them in a way that is pretty progressive, respectful, and well handled - even while still being a very funny game overall. Edited May 24, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattbluePT Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 39 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: If it's any help - while I would agree with @Beyondthegrave07 about the original Psychonauts being ineligable due to using Mental Health elements as pure satire and for laughs... ... I don't know his take on it, but I would strongly argue that is not the case with Psychonauts 2. If you were planning on rolling onto the (excellent) sequel, I would argue it manages to take a much, much more considerate and interesting look at legitimate mental health concerns on a multitude of fronts, and actually treat them in a way that is pretty progressive, respectful, and well handled - even while still being a very funny game overall. Will certainly play the sequel later, for sure! I'm considering going with The Walking Dead: The Final Season, if Clementine remains the same, I probably could refer PTSD, Survivor's guilt, depression. Would appreciate if anyone agreed I could go with it, as the only game I'm seeing now on my backlog that I can finish on time instead of this would be Flower or SOMA 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 (edited) 27 minutes ago, MattbluePT said: Will certainly play the sequel later, for sure! I'm considering going with The Walking Dead: The Final Season, if Clementine remains the same, I probably could refer PTSD, Survivor's guilt, depression. Would appreciate if anyone agreed I could go with it, as the only game I'm seeing now on my backlog that I can finish on time instead of this would be Flower or SOMA Flower might be a stretch, as there are no humans even hinted at, so it would need to be more of a "the emotional relationship the Player has with the game" kind of deal... but on the other two, I think there's definite meat there. (Haven't actually played the final season of The Walking Dead, but given all the previous games in the series, it'd be astounding if it failed to address some issues of mental health along the way, as that's been the bread and butter of the series up to that point!) Edited May 24, 2022 by DrBloodmoney 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyondthegrave07 Posted May 24, 2022 Author Share Posted May 24, 2022 8 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: Flower might be a stretch, as there are no humans even hinted at, so it would need to be more of a "the emotional relationship the Player has with the game" kind of deal... but on the other two, I think there's definite meat there. (Haven't actually played the final season of The Walking Dead, but given all the previous games in the series, it'd be astounding if it failed to address some issues of mental health along the way, as that's been the bread and butter of the series up to that point!) Flower does count as it's helpful for mental wellness. You just have to explain how it does it (relaxing nature with simple controls, sounds, music, etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 Just now, Beyondthegrave07 said: Flower does count as it's helpful for mental wellness. You just have to explain how it does it (relaxing nature with simple controls, sounds, music, etc). Ah, fair point - sorry, not trying to step on toes! ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyondthegrave07 Posted May 24, 2022 Author Share Posted May 24, 2022 Just now, DrBloodmoney said: Ah, fair point - sorry, not trying to step on toes! No, no no! I appreciate you trying to help someone else out! Great suggestion imo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattbluePT Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 48 minutes ago, Beyondthegrave07 said: Flower does count as it's helpful for mental wellness. You just have to explain how it does it (relaxing nature with simple controls, sounds, music, etc). Yeah, that was the approach I was thinking of with Flower. I'll have to decide yet, but I'll probably go with The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Thanks for the help @DrBloodmoney@Beyondthegrave07 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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