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How do RPGs portray mental health, and what impact does it have on you?
Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2025 12:36 am
by 1stop
A couple of RPGs offer incredible stories about mental health issues. Mental health in RPGs is a very important subject we should talk about. This is a very important matter that touches the lives of so many. From Night in the Woods to Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, all have very interesting takes on mental health.
Re: How do RPGs portray mental health, and what impact does it have on you?
Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2025 9:24 pm
by Ravenfreak
It's always interesting to see the creators of our favorite RPGs integrating mental health into their stories. For example, I think Final Fantasy VII did a great job integrating ptsd into the story. For most of the story Cloud truly believes he's Zack, due to the stress of not only being experimented on but watching Zack die in front of him.
Re: How do RPGs portray mental health, and what impact does it have on you?
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2025 5:37 am
by Demonskeith
Hrmmm, I don't think many touch on mental health, FF 7 for sure did a lot on it, maybe 8? But we could use more of it.
Re: How do RPGs portray mental health, and what impact does it have on you?
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2025 8:34 pm
by Senkusha
I'll admit that I haven't played a whole lot of video games in my day, but Mental Health was typically non-existent. From a developer's stand point, it's a lot easier to focus on the more tangible, physical attributes of a character. And one of the points about a role playing game is that the mental health of your character is really an extension of your own mentality. If you're fairly well off, doing good within Society, your mental health should be pretty good, and therefore, as a result, your game play will be better. The opposite is true as well. Poor mental health, your game play will suffer.
Re: How do RPGs portray mental health, and what impact does it have on you?
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2025 6:17 am
by Demonskeith
Senkusha wrote: Fri Jul 04, 2025 8:34 pm
I'll admit that I haven't played a whole lot of video games in my day, but Mental Health was typically non-existent. From a developer's stand point, it's a lot easier to focus on the more tangible, physical attributes of a character. And one of the points about a role playing game is that the mental health of your character is really an extension of your own mentality. If you're fairly well off, doing good within Society, your mental health should be pretty good, and therefore, as a result, your game play will be better. The opposite is true as well. Poor mental health, your game play will suffer.
True, or the game affects you so badly it just makes your own mental health worse.
Re: How do RPGs portray mental health, and what impact does it have on you?
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 9:21 am
by 1stop
Demonskeith wrote: Thu Jun 12, 2025 5:37 am
Hrmmm, I don't think many touch on mental health, FF 7 for sure did a lot on it, maybe 8? But we could use more of it.
Some RPGs stories touched me hard in terms of self-reflection on real-world challenges. Some of the RPGs portrayed mental health well..