Essay 3
One of my many journeys over the semester regarding my topic of interest involved the culmination of everything I had experienced in order to answer a meaningful question to me, how did the metroidvania genre impact the development of mental health in teens? While personal experiences and external sources prove their merit in my stance, in order to truly answer this question, I had to seek data on my own via my own means.
Going back towards the motivation of my topic, I had experienced many relative detriments to my well being, some that had stuck with me even to this day. During the pandemic especially was when everything was deteriorating around me. In moments of genuine turmoil I had sought the comfort of video games to shut off my brain and enclose myself from the outside world. This was, of course, my only means of coping with the circumstances. Through my experience of hollow knight and it’s beautiful world, intricate story, and memorable characters, I just slightly started to feel better, and more forgiving of myself. So I began to pose this question not as a means of argumentation that metroidvanias can reverse mental trauma, but rather as a topic of interest that metroidvanias may be able to heal some deeply rooted scars that many across the world had experienced.
One example for the possibility of metroidvanias yielding positive impact includes a quote cited in essay 2 which mentioned how “True discovery is only possible if you can find things that you may not have, and have experiences within a game that you may not have” (Nutt 2015). The concept of “discovery” that metroidvanias emphasize can be easily associated with reality. We as humans, seek discovery, we seek a means to venture further, not just to find new things about the world, but seek hidden things about ourselves. And oftentimes in metroidvanias, the story culminates in a message regarding the player character. For the example of hollow knight, you, as a soulless being, finally release the bonds and strains of the existence you were condemned to live. You find yourself and find emotion and meaning in defeating the manifestation of a century’s worth of a suffering kingdom. Of course this relates to me because years worth of self loathing and pessimism culminates in a particular year where I confront these feelings. The fact that I am still motivated to pursue my dreams is the result of me winning that faceoff with myself. Of course, to know more, I knew that my opinion wasn’t enough, so I sought the viewpoints of a good friend since my middle school days (although virtually) to lend me his perspective on this viewpoint (along with an accompanying observation).
For the sake of anonymity, his username is the only thing to be relayed. His name is Enixmy. When I had inquired about metroidvanias to him, Enixmy had mentioned that one notable game he had played was hollow knight as well. This was of course, no surprise to me, as hollow knight is by far the most well known and celebrated metroidvania in recent times. When I had inquired about two games, one being a metroidvania and one not, that had considerable impact on him, he told me about God of War 2018 (GOW). So in order to ascertain more info, I asked him relatively more personal questions regarding his perception of himself. For the most part, he is relatively happy mentally and only mentions that when he encounters problems, he rarely tells them to many people unless it’s close friends. I then asked which game he felt left a more memorable impression on him, to which he said that it was hollow knight. He said that the difficulty of the game and the look of the world captivated him more than GOW, mostly because Hollow Knight was unique in its genre while GOW, while he admits is a great game, didn’t affect him as much, even saying that Hollow Knight left an impression on certain life lessons he got from the game. When I had asked him about if he thinks metroidvanias would be beneficial to mental health, he mentioned that “It depends on the person and the metroidvania. The metroidvania can be positive or negative depending on the story of it, and the person’s mental state” (Enixmy, personal interview 2022).
Accompanying Enximy’s interview was an observation within the hollow knight discord server. The observation I made was one of two types of people within the call. One group were people who were experienced in hollow knight, feeling less impact on the story and more on the bosses, which led to more frustration during setbacks in the game. The other part was of people who are new to the game, straying from any spoilers as best as possible, feeling anger when losing, but feeling immense awe for winning, and for getting that splice of lore that was tucked away in a secret area. Every adventure to them was a marvel and every character left a memorable impression on this person. It also seemed that the people who watched the newer players felt that level of awe because of the newer player’s reaction. It seemed to take them back to when they first played the game, which made the experience all the more enjoyable, myself included. I had actually asked one of them after their session was finished about their thoughts on the game from an emotional perspective. They told me that at first, it was hard to be invested, the game doesn’t tell you where to go and at times, he felt unmotivated, but after you get past the first part, you start to gain a greater appreciation for the world around you. He felt interested in every nook and cranny in the game, every bit of story, every new character, and every small bit of dialogue made him even more invested.
Based on my observations, I do feel like there is potential for the metroidvania genre to help with mental health. But I believe it has just as much ability as any other story game. It needs to resonate with the player and make them feel less like someone controlling the character, and more like the character itself. Through the choices made in the game and the various amounts of trials and tribulations that they face, they gain a new perspective about the world they are immersed in. I saw metroidvanias are the ideal means of improving mental health and to me, that is true, but I think in general, via metroidvanias or not, it is STORY games that have the potential to inspire hope even in the bleakest of tragedies.
Interview with Enixmy
Time: 3:30pm on November 17th 2022
Place: during a call on discord
1.) Do you know what a metroidvania is?
- No, I do not know what a metroidvania is (“what is that?!)
2.) What metroidvanias have you played?
I’ve played hollow knight (I’ve played hollow knight and god of war, does that count?)
Note: The next following questions will ask on a yes to no basis on how you felt prior to playing
said game title
1.) I am often confused or puzzled about what I am feeling
Yes (“It’s not often but it’s not like a once in a while thing)
2.) I find it difficult to explain to a friend how I feel
No (“With a friend, it’s like most of the time I am comfortable with a person, so I’m able
to freely tell them certain things that I feel”)
3.) It is difficult to know whether I feel sad or angry or something else
Not really (“With most things, I sort of am intune with my emotions so i don’t need to
ask myself on something I am certain of”)
4.) When I am upset about something, I often keep it to myself
Yes (“If I am upset about something and I’m not close to that person, I won’t say
anything to the person so that I don’t weigh them down”)
5.) My feelings help me to understand what has happened
Yes (“If something happens even if I am conflicted about it, whatever I am feeling is how
I am going to take that answer”)
6.) When I am angry or upset, I try to hide this
Yes (So with anger, sometimes it shows based on my voice or attitude, but when I’m sad,
it’s easier to cover up”)
Note: After these questions, I will proceed to ask about your feelings during and after playing the
metroidvania
- After playing that metroidvania, did you feel a change in your feelings during the game
or after? If yes, please explain why and if no, please elaborate
- How much were you invested in the story of…
○ Hollow knight?
■ “10/10, the idea of the game to me was different and the art design and
lore about it was in depth and interesting
○ God of War
■ “9/10, I didn’t completely beat it and didn’t get far either but it was pretty
interesting
- What were some of the most memorable parts of…
○ Hollow Knight?
■ Beating hornet for the second time, it took me a while to get past that part
but when I did I was really happy
■ When I beat pure vessel and nightmare king grimm of radiant difficulty
○ God of War
■ The start when I fought Baldur
- How did the boss fights in both games affect you emotionally?
○ In GOW, when I fought Baldur, I was just like “who the hell was this guy why
was he rolling up on me, then he started roasting Kratos, then he’s throwing hands
and I was like oh for real? Then he kept coming back and it pissed me off but
once it’s over I was hyped but I would do it again 10/10
○ In Hollow Knight, when I fought hornet, I was getting really close to beating her
and I would get really aggravated, at the time when I beat her, I was the most
happy man alive, more so than a guy winning the lottery
■ For pure vessel and nightmare king grimm, I felt very proud to beat both
on radiant because they are the hardest bosses and they are fast paced
which I enjoy
- How did the atmosphere of both games impact you emotionally?
○ In GOW, the setting put me in awe and it looked really good
○ In Hollow knight it was the same but the 2d design made it looked really good
- Out of the two games that you’ve talked about during this interview, which game do you
feel has impacted you more?
○ Hollow knight most definitely, because it just opened up the metroidvania genre
for me and made me want to play similar genres like that
- From the six questions I asked you earlier, did these games change how you feel
emotionally in the real world?
○ GOW no, but hollow knight made me more of a positive person since it really got
me to appreciate digital design and made me push towards a goal since I had to
overcome goals in the game which helped me overcome them in real life
- What do you think about video games and mental health as a whole?
○ Video games and mental health can be both healthy and unhealthy. It really
depends on their personality and mental state, like people with a calm mentality
can really enjoy most video games and not have a problem, while some people
with an unstable or angry mentality can find certain games enraging and can
negatively affect their mental health
- Do you think metroidvanias have the potential to assist in mental health?
○ Yes I do think metroidvanias can assist in mental health, by fascinating people by
the story or actions taken and investing them within the game. Or cure their
boredom
- Would you recommend a metroidvania to someone who was mentally struggling?
○ It depends on the person and the metroidvania. the metroidvania can be positive
or negative depending on the story of it, and the person’s mental state
References
Nutt Christian. (2015, February 13). The undying allure of the Metroidvania. Game Developer. Retrieved October 18, 2022, from https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-undying-allure-of-the-metroidvania
Enixmy (2022, November 17th). Discussion if Metroidvanias are Beneficial to Mental Health. [Personal Interview]
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