As someone who is mentally unstable. I love horror, thriller, games. Especially psychological ones. I love seeing mental health being portrayed in media. Even in media like this. It adds to the conversation that really needs to be heard
I 100% agree with you. I’ve suffered from various mental illnesses my whole life; autism, adhd, depression, anxiety, BPD, you name it. Just flip to a random page in the dsm-5 and I can probably say ‘yea.’ Jokes aside, I do love seeing this sort of thing discussed. That’s why the Senua games in my opinion are absolutely S+ games.
@@TheJpiscool same here and I absolutely agree! Our world kinda is a horror story some days. I think this fantastic interactive media is a wonderful way to open and share a very important dialogue
@@shillmatic3746 There’s nothing worth researching. We have objective proof that flat earthers are deluding themselves, which has been presented time and time again
As someone who has/had depression, but hasn't been depressed to the point of psychosis, I do not want to ever experience what its like being in Simon's head
When I was younger and had reached that stage on two occasions, let me tell you, playing this game years later was a stop and go experience of emotions and a deep discomfort in seeing many parts of myself in what I wanted to be past me.
The best thing about Silent Hill 2 is that even after I finished it three times, it still leaves me with more questions than answers. The way everything is shrouded in ambiguity makes people's understanding of the story different from one player to another. Who are the real characters? What do they exactly represent? Are they connected to each other? All these questions are not directly answered, and it's basically your job as a player to fill those voids in your mind. That's why Silent Hill theories are among the most popular on the internet.
I'm curious about Angela. I understand what the little girl and Pyramid Head represent to James, but I don't know what Angela - with all her background - represents in Jame's mind.
All of the people that James meets in Silent Hill 2 are real people, aside from Maria. I'm not sure why people assume anyone in the game is fake. The story tells us that Mary is dead right from the get-go. Maria being the doppelganger of Mary is the tip-off that she's not genuine; she's a tulpa- a physical manifestation created by Silent Hill to test James. So she's physically there, but not a genuine person. Laura is real, but in order to explain Laura, I have to first explain how the realm of SH works. You have to understand that there are layers to the place. There's the "normal" level, which is a normal, sleepy seaside town in New England. This is the SH in the real world. Then There's the "fog world," which is interstitial, and where only some monsters start to slip through. Then there's the "other world," which is covered in blood and rust. This is actually tailored to individuals. There are more enemies in this level (and they are stronger, higher-tiered enemies at that). When we see Angela at the end, we see her "otherworld," and everything is on fire. When we see Eddie's, it's chilled and frozen. But Laura is an innocent child. She's committed no great sins and feels no deep regrets, so SH doesn't do anything to her. This is why we only ever see Laura in the "fog world." The fog world is a kind of liminal boundary between reality and everyones' personal hell. This is also why she never reacts to the fact that there are monsters around- they are never sent after her, and she can't even see them. Eddie is someone who was bullied for his weight, most likely by a football player. In the real world, Eddie first retaliated by killing his bullies dog, and later by shooting his bully in the leg. His dialogue during his boss fight indicates as much. Strangely, he doesn't seem to feel even a little guilty over this, but he does seem to slowly lose his mind after a while, almost as if the opportunity to engage in violence against monsters has given him an outlet for his aggression, and he relishes the opportunity to do so. Angela hasn't actually done anything wrong- she was sexually abused. SH was most likely giving her a chance to fight back and give her a sense to find her own sense of agency. But it's all for naught in the end- the last scene we see of her, she ascends a staircase, and we never see her again. An interview revealed that she died afterwards. Death was her peace, I guess. Also, while I'm on the subject, James isn't the monster he's portrayed to be in this video either, because it conveniently leaves out the conversation where Mary actually absolves him of his guilt. He also omits the heartwrenching letter that Mary wrote to James, where she acknowledged how hard she was on him, and how hard she was to be around. Tl;dr- there IS ambiguity in the SH games, but not the kind you guys have stated. And James kinda sucks, but he's not some monster.
@@herofromthedark your explanation makes more sense than the theory that characters of SH2 are representations for James. As I said, I have no idea about what Angela would represent for James - which shows how flaw that theory was. P.S.: Angela didn't commit any sin, but victyms of sexual abuse tend to feel guilty, as if it was their fault. That would explain why Angela is in one the SH's layers.
@@TawJev aw, thanks! And yeah, Angela definitely felt guilty and ashamed of herself. You can see it in the ways she speaks and acts. At first, she's quiet and nervous around James, but then later, she says things that indicate she doesn't trust men. This is definitely due to her abuse. By the end of her plot thread, she seems to have come to her own revelations.
I think not enough people played Among The Sleep to appreciate the psychological aspect of the world as seen from a toddler's perspective. The story deals with some deep topics as well and starts off on the baby's birthday. One of the possibly most charming aspects is that the pause screen is the baby covering their eyes. (Also its never revealed if the baby is a boy or a girl) so it's possible to really project onto the character which feels like the point. It's really relatable for people who experienced trauma through parents fighting, and also a POV of how much more twisted things look from the mind of a child who doesn't understand whats happening.
As someone who’s been struggling with mental health all my life, i see beauty in horror games. Observing someone’s mental torment and seeing if they overcome it or let it consume them is alluring. These struggles make us human and it’s beautiful.
Well, it's called casting out the evil curses and spells. Remember, doctor: "What you say, is what you hear. What you hear, is what you see. What you see, is what you believe." "If you can't fix your mind, who the fuck is going to help you?" -A. Tate
I agree entirely and I've struggled with mental health issues all my life, mostly stemming from mental and physical disabilities that have only made my life continually worse as I've aged and experienced them.
As someone who has been diagnosed with clinical depression, having gone through similar phases, Cry of Fear often made me cry a tear because Simon and his situation was so relatable.
Nah dude PTSD is no joke. I was diagnosed with it a couple months ago. Initially, I didn't realize what was going on. I thought a TBI I had was starting to take more of a toll on me. The last straw (that made me get help) was when I damn near suffocated my wife while sleeping. I didn't choke her, but I was sleeping with my arm around her and I was having a nightmare that apparently was so vivid that my body was acting on its own. The worst part is that I had nightmares every night. These nightmares always involved death. Whether I'd die, someone else would die (but I'd see it through their eyes), I would kill someone, or someone would kill me. The cherry on top was that one of two things would happen: either I would wake at night and be in fight or flight (which meant sleep was out of the question), or I would wake in the morning feeling pain (physical despite it was most likely all in my head) in the same part of my body where whoever died received the death blow. If the death happened by a stab to the abdomen, my entire abdomen would hurt for majority of the day. If the death happened like a gunshot to the head, I would wake up with a horrible headache which again, would last a majority of the day.
I finished SOMA yesterday just because whenever i played it it triggered the thought of "what happens when you die" and i experience existential dread, so i had to play it as much as possible so i could finish it as soon as possible and not get these thoughts ever again....
@Evilhunter-di9sg I've actually wanted to turn to buddhist beliefs about reincarnation (although I'm christian agnostic) but then the thought of what if atheists are right about the soul being material therefore it dies with you and conciousness ceases? It's an everending question that always made me wonder.
I'm very surprised Spec Ops: The Line isn't on this list. That is a terrifying journey through psychological hell. Also, the first F.E.A.R game comes to mind for a few spine-chilling sequences.
Games that confront depression, and show the spirals of self neglect, and even stories of just overcoming very specific traumas can either be very therapeutic or even more traumatizing for those who're unstable, without a support structure. I'm not recovered from my crash a month ago, right now I feel like a ghost walking the earth, and a lot of nights recently I've drank and smoked myself to sleep to cope with the horrible dreams I have where I have no control over the person barreling down the road with me in the passenger seat. I have a support structure and I know it's enough, but my mind will still terrify me on the best days, at the worst moments.
Like so many, I suffer a cocktail of OCD, PTSD, anxiety and depression, among potential others. Horror games, survival horror specifically, are my favorite genre. This was a great video.👍
As somebody who has been depressed, mentally unstable, and has been depressed to the point of psychosis and self harm, I still do not think anybody should have to suffer what I, Simon, or other people who struggle with my issues or similiar.
SH2 will always be held dear in my heart- dealing with chronic depression and anxiety, that overwhelming sense of constant guilt always lingers over the heads of anyone with my disorders. I appreciate it when games or media in general find such beautiful tact in confronting mental illness and such. From overwhelming anger, grief, sadness or apathy- it's somewhat cathartic to see it represented in such gorgeous or even macabre ways.
I'm a huge fan of the horror genre, honestly until two years ago I didn't play horror games, I just watched movies, and by some chance I installed a horror game and that's when it all started, I became a big fan of horror games💯
Cry of Fear and Silent Hill 2 hit me really hard someone suffering from deep depression and anxiety for almost a decade now, amazing games overall. The Visage section of this video really got me wanting to play it due to the metion of Scopophobia, which i didn't knew that was a thing until now. Another game that would be perfect for the topic of mental illnesses in video games would be OMORI, im even suprised it wasn't mentioned!
As a person with severe depression and anxiety, I actually love horror games. Especially Cry Of Fear. I love CoF sm bc I identify with Simon a lot, and I genuinely think it’s one of the best portrayals of depression in media. It’s also just a good game too
Silent Hill 2 was a poignant experience in my life. It's hard to convey in words, most think 'it's just a game, so?'. No. It was an experience, I was about 14, 15? I'm 38 now, and me and my friend spent hours, handing the controller back and forth when it got too creepy. The levels (real and metaphorically) that you go through are deep, I've never been so invested in a game story since then, and I will never forget it. Perfection
I mean James’ wife asked him to end her suffering. He didn’t just decide to kill her so he could go find a girlfriend. A lot of caretakers go through guilt and I also wonder exactly how much James actually did wrong and how much is him blaming himself for her illness when he couldn’t stop it. The one thing he did to help her was to end her suffering when she asked him to, tbh. There was no getting better for her. Also Angela, Eddie and Laura I 100% believe are real. Silent Hill calls for people with unfinished business and it shows them what they need to see, punishment or otherwise. It’s why Laura we see happy chalk graffiti when we get a peek at Laura’s Silent Hill, Eddie’s is a frozen meat locker and Angela’s is always on fire. Silent Hill changes to prey on the mind of whoever is inside of it.
None of this games make me question my own mind. They are really fun games of psychological horrors, I don't possess any issues, but I do enjoy to see the troubles and effects of mental illness in games. I am quite surprised Fear and Hunger is not in this list, that makes you question way more than any of these
I believe it is because people like us who have experienced or continue to experience these feelings or something similar can understand them much better and get more out of a game (or any media) that knows how to use them to their strengths to tell a god story. What we each take away from something like this is varied. Some is positive, some negative. For the more cerebral games the player would probably have to have been around the block a time or two to not let it make you spiral, as some subjects can hit real close to home if dealing with mental problems. Getting a different playable perspective of something so familiar that only exists in our minds is educational at the least and entraining at best when done with care. For me, that's why I like them. All that to say, I agree.
@@SickSensei223 So I’ve played the OG but not the sequel. But now that I’ve got a PS5 I’m going to rectify that. And YES I’m in agreement that Hellblade is MOST definitely a fine work of pure art
@@SickSensei223 Also, there’s this indie horror game on Steam called “Panic” that has a very similar theme of mental illness on Steam that is very much on par with the schizophrenia realism in it.
Feedback will be much appreciated! Good morning/evening! I'm looking for something. And I will be your main supporter/sponsor if you help me find it! About three years ago, I came across a game footage on the Internet that made a deep impression on me. The game/draft (by the time it was only a project at its initial stage) was set in a dark, beautiful environment. I have been looking for the mentioned video for a few months already but all in vain. It seems it has been deleted. I'm providing you with further details: 1. I think it was a Sci-Fi or RPG with the first person view (a space station, military base or something like that). 2. The color palette resembled the one presented in Cyberpunk and Phantaruk. 3. At the beginning of the footage you could see a transparent cylindrical object (a generator or mini reactor) and hear an alarm! 4. Approximate time the game footage leaked on the Internet: February-March, 2021. 5. Duration: about 1-2 mins. 6. Code name of the project: "Monarch". (?) I will be very, very grateful if you help me find out more about the afore-mentioned game. Best regards, George Begiashvili
listing some games I know: Never-ending Nightmares, Omori, Among the Sleep, Resident Evil Village (the part with Donna Beneviento and the hallucinations of the baby and Ethan's wife Mia Winters)
Just a nitpicky detail. In SH2, Angela, Eddie and Laura ARE real. That's not an interpretation, they literally are. Only Maria was made by the town to taunt James. Eddie and Angela are like James, people who made the decision to kill (regardless of the reason) and are being confronted by the town just like James. They see their own version of Silent Hill. Laura is innocent, she just sees a normal town. No monsters. No otherworlds.
I always wondered what was Laura doing there, she is just an innocent child right? I also read that Angela died because she wanted her suffering to stop, and Silent Hill decided to be merciful. Not sure if this is true though.
@@Lalairu Not necessarily merciful just not malevolent. shes there for a reason, silent hill is an ambiguous place and her hell does not need monsters her fear and loneliness and her being taunted by those things is for her they are her test, fate and punishment.
Honestly, from the darkness is a great game, it really had me scarred most of the way through. The thing about the game though is that once I figured out I wasn’t really in danger and that the sounds were actually useful, the game wasn’t scary anymore, at least to me.
a game what was truely insane too was downfall for me ,right at the beginning what happenes to his brother and later what happens to sophie and so on ... jesus crist ,all 4 games was crazy what are 1 catlady 2 downfall 3 lorelay and 4 burnhouse lane ,i played all of them, in that order and at some ends i just sat here crying ,don´t get me wrong i loved them ! but damn so damn dark that it hits hard and i have to mention that i suffer under depression myself ! to example ,burnhouse lane goes about a woman who will soon die cause of cancer and who lost her beloved partner to cancer too and so she found a way to a place where just the dying people can be and there she have to fight against much many horrors ... i will never forgett that game O___O
It's this reason that I'm a horror fan...But many of the games, while it may be scary or hard to understand other people's mental illness, my side of mental illness was the lack of knowledge of the world around me, and blaming someone for fudging up my family. However, once ten/twenty years past since those issues passed on....well, there's no purpose for me to feel fear, except jumpscares or things that come attack or try to kill you. Psychological horror, while it may be hard to understand sometimes, it gives me tension through the use of audio, weird visuals, and unexplained things that occurs in the video game itself.
James didn't imagine what was in Silent Hill. The town itself is cursed. Yes, the monsters materialize from his subconscious, but they are real. Abstract Daddy, one of the monsters, isn't even from James' subconscious but from Angela's. James leaves such a profound mark in the town that Pyramid Head becomes his own entity inside the city and appears in future games too (which I find tacky, but contributes to the idea that the city itself is magical and it isn't just James hallucinating).
Some things you said about Silent Hill 2 do not match the story man. Apart from Maria, all people Jame encounters are trully there, just strugling with their own mental states. And if you think Angela feels cherfull in the first encounter, man... But great video man, congrats!
If someone wondered what the Swedish text above him said at 9:30 Stockholm's Addict(something) Because sometimes - "you just have to take those pills."
I think there are a lot of people that could help themselves with their mental health. If they arent eating right and exercising regularly, then its no wonder the brain will suffer eventually.
I wonder if you ever talked about the lovely psychological horror game called Doki Doki Literature Club. It’s a great subject to talk about the horrors of what goes on in that game.
I can relate in many ways to Simon from Cry of Fear. I was born with Tourettes Syndrome and OCD which has also caused me to experience torment and rejection from others and lead me to suffer from depression as well all my life. I also suffer from incurable and constant pain from the neck down that has recently put me in a wheelchair and my last relationship with the woman I thought I was going to marry ended because she hated that I was in a wheelchair. Ever since then I've had the added difficulty of finding someone who will accept me for who I am and the situation I'm in and while I keep going in the hopes of a better tomorrow nothing comes. I've only ever lost everything in my life that mattered to me and some days I just want to fall asleep and never wake up, but I'm also very resilient and refuse to give in to suicidal thoughts and feelings because for better or worse this is the only life I'm going to get and I guess you could say I want to see my story through to the end and try to make the best of what I've got. I admit though, it gets harder and harder to keep going when you have nothing and no one on top of being in constant physical and emotional pain.
@@jack8843 it really is, I frequently go back to it and recommend it to others to at least watch a playthrough. Even watching it is fascinating enough. Such a unique art style too
Bro... you started with Cry of Fear... you instantly get a like and subscribe from me. Loved that game! edit 1: why do you say silent HELL, and mental Ellness? edit 2: Visage is my other favorite game!
I've had severe mental health for so many years that it's become part of me Secere social anxiety and depression both of which have been openly mocked by everyone and belittled for their iwn twisted amusement I've sought professional help only to receive endless sheets of paper detailing different ways to control my breathing If I unalived myself nobody would notice for days
I used to suffer from extreme depression, to the point of suicidal tendencies. I fully believe the only reason I am alive is because my mother took me to see a therapist after I scared her with something I said one day. To someone who as not experienced the black pit of extreme depression, not "Oh I feel sad today" I mean true extreme depression, it is nearly indescribable. The shear amount of loneliness, pathetic apathy, and helplessness you experience is truly one of the worst things on the planet. It's crippling and paralyzing, destroys your life and sanity...And ignorant people seem to think you can just "get over it" as if it's like shutting down a laptop and sticking it in the closet.
As someone who was mentally unstable please avoid cry of fear if you’re not feeling well seek help from real doctors if needed that brought me tears sadness plenty of cutting and bruises so I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody.
Huh; never played Hellblade (Hell Blade?) As a horror fan & Soulsborne vet…looks like a great combo (Anyone that’s played it reading this; suggestions? Is it pretty good? Skipped this part cause it looked interesting) Visage is maybe one of my favorite horror experiences. The damn house itself, don’t even want to walk around (Love the ties to MK Ultra too; clever horror game w/what, 2 main devs? Great game)
My heart broke for you very much when you mentioned that you struggled with scopophobia, I hope you're continuing to manage well! Also, as someone with Bipolar 1 and Borderline, (both can cause paranoia) I very much appreciate you speaking up about your struggles, I know it's not easy, especially with lesser known or understood conditions, but it opens SO many doors for more empathy and less stigma as people learn more about them. you guys have truly become one of my favorite RU-vid channels, and this was an absolutely fascinating breakdown to watch, especially with a these topics hitting so close to home for a lot of us🖤
Never really been mentally stable, lately worse than ever with recurring depression But horror games are always enjoyable I don't even question my mental sanity anymore since years ago🤣
I just played Visage in VR and the Dolores chapter was quite the experience, if you can play it in VR don't lol. Looking forward to the new Silent Hill remake. It will be my first Silent Hill game. I am trying to remain spoiler free.
does anyone know any games based on anxiety? i'd really like to see it. i suffer from severe anxiety (specifically gad, hypochondria, thanatophobia and emetophobia, and most likely avpd) and it's really damaged me both mentally and physically, causing depression and chronic stress. im planning on getting help soon, but i just really wanna see a game i can at least somewhat relate to. any recommendations are appreciated :)
Scary jump scare and horror? absolutely, no questions asked. But the term terror, absolute terror best describes the intense moments of this game, because unlike RE, YOU CANT FIGHT.
I like horror games, but considering that my mind is a bit unstable at times, I am not playing these horror games whatsoever. Like I like horror games but this is a type of horror game that I'm going to see in a few years. I am not going to play it.
I don't have a mental problem but every morning i wake up with a nightmare (no not sleep paralysis) , no game ever can compete with that, it took away the joy of sleeping for me
Well, its about damn time this channel acknowledged Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. It's become one of my all time favorite games. It's more disturbing than most traditional horror games I've played. Guys, we get it. You love Silent Hill. Now move on, please. I'm tired of the fixation on this game.
i hate to be the one to tell you this, but sometimes things that are popular...are popular because they're good also the original 4 Silent Hill games were definitely not "traditional" horror to a western audience at the time imo- i think the reason they might've resonated with so many of us in the west at least is because a lot of us who are into horror gaming now played them when we were very young and it was our first exposure to japanese horror, which can be very different stylistically from western horror, making it a particularly unique and memorable experience. not that they don't still hold up outside of that
@hunterv9259 But sometimes, too much is too much. Even for the good games. That's why I dig this channel. They spotlight the more obscure stuff everyone else ignores. Because I believe observant people find those hidden gems that are just as worthy of attention. Everyone knows about Silent Hill. I don't dislike Silent Hill at all. I actually have the remake on order because I missed out on it the first time around. But I don't want to hate the game before I get the chance to play it.
Hellblade imo would have probably been more well received if Ninja Theory wasn't pretentious and soured their rep with the DMC reboot before Hellblade.
I’ve been depressed for so long I’m pretty sure it’s apart of my chemical makeup by now. I mean, I don’t even notice it anymore. I think it’s honestly just a character trait of mine.
I too have a hidden workd in my mind that is very unpleasant and partially nightmarish as simon has his own hellish world. I wonder if this world will follow me to my death
Its the opposite... People with the headache is drawn to the macbre and the grotesque... Its the weak minded ones that shouldnt indulge on the occult and the mystiqe... If they cant handle horror, they shouldnt mix with the crowd... We are broken, and with the shards, cut ourself into completing the mosaic...
