How video games can help you cope with grief
It is natural to imagine the end of everything. Everything has a limit, and that’s okay. Video games can be very comforting when dealing with grief and death. There are many ways to deal with death in virtual reality, and how a game handles it can be a great support in real life.
According to Kubler-Ross’ model of grief, there are five stages: anger, denial, bargaining and depression. Although we might not experience them in this order, it is believed that most people feel all of these emotions when they are experiencing a significant loss. This is how we will look at grief through the lens of games.
Denialism
Neglecting bad news is a normal first reaction. How many times has the phrase “Are You kidding?” been used after bad news is announced? When we don’t want something to be true, it’s normal to have difficulty accepting it.
Is one example. This indie game is a great example of how to play the role of a deceased soul. They are asked to tell their story before a god judges them. The beginning of what seems like a pleasant story soon becomes a disturbing revelation. The protagonist’s story of life is not honest.
We learn from their conversations about how successful they have been that they were lying about having survived a serious illness as children. They didn’t make it past the sickness, and all the wonderful events that would have made their adulthood so happy never happened. Our hero is in denial about what happened to them and us.
This epiphany can be devastating. It’s true for many young people. But it’s also a great example of why we should deny it. When faced with overwhelming sadness, it’s natural to desire something else.
It is amazing how Before your Eyes validates grief’s denial stage. It reassures us that we are not abnormally feeling the way we feel and that we can always count on it for comfort when we grieve.
Anger
Video gaming and anger go hand in hand. It’s not something that I can overlook, but it is easy to lose my composure when you are eliminated from an online FPS game. The Dark Souls is the one that gets me most excited.
Dark Soulsknows exactly what it is doing. The creeping fade-in text ‘You Died’ on the death screen can drive anyone mad when any in-game enemies brutally beat you down. It makes you want to do it again.
Sometimes, a death in a videogame is a chance for you to reflect and regroup. You might decide to give up and call it quits. Dark Souls is a challenging game. It’s genius because of the way it encourages you to jump back in after each death.
This is a clear demonstration of anger’s usefulness. It’s natural to feel angry when confronted with an unacceptable situation. By the way, I am not saying that a small death in a videogame is equivalent to a real-life loss.
Dark Soul is an example of how it’s possible to feel this way. Although it may not affect the situation’s outcome, anger and venting aggression can benefit the Soul. In an otherwise hopeless situation, it gives us a sense of agency.
It is possible to use anger in Dark Souls to avoid our death, but that’s not what’s important. It tells us that we should accept anger as normal.
Bargaining
This is where the guilt kicks in. For example, we may promise to do things differently to get back to the way they were. We know that we can’t change the situation, but we may feel guilty for not being able to.
Resident Evil Village briefly explains this phenomenon. The player assumes control of Resi Series veteran Chris Redfield after Ethan Winters is thought to have died at Mother Miranda’s hands after destroying Heisenberg.
Chris was approached by one of his colleagues during our time together. He claims that Chris should have told Ethan the truth from the beginning. Chris claims that there wasn’t enough time to go over the details. However, this idea is quickly dismissed, and Chris must accept it.
Chris is unable to accept Ethan’s death at the end. Ethan tells our heroes that he cannot continue as he tries to escape. Chris refuses to accept this and encourages Ethan to continue, but it’s not good.
Chris returns to his team to deliver Rose, Ethan’s little girl, to Mia. He then asks where Ethan is. Angrily, he breaks down and confesses that Ethan is gone. The turmoil in his eyes can be seen clearly. He says he tried but that Ethan was too busy to leave, but this does not change that he is feeling like this.
It’s a great moment for Resident Evil and a reminder of the normality of this behaviour. This is a very realistic depiction of how we feel when we lose someone. Even if we wish we could have said something, it represents what we experience.
Depression
Depression is the most common emotion that we associate with loss. Because we are acutely aware of what has gone, it’s natural to feel empty inside. We are woven into our lives and woven into our hearts. So when someone leaves us, we feel empty and unfulfilled, even for a brief time. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a game that captures the feeling of depression.
Peter Quill, the player character of Star-Lord Quill, is not a stranger to losing. He witnessed his mother’s murder when he was just 13 years old. His teammate Drax, the Destroyer, also lost his wife and daughter. The two share a common understanding of loss, which is reflected in an emotional scene.
Drax and Peter sit at the edge of the universe and share their stories about their loved ones who “died without cause”. They also discuss their spiritual and philosophical beliefs as well as their current families. Drax believes there is no hope for his loved ones in the afterlife. Peter prefers to keep a positive outlook.
This is a great moment in the game because Peter and Drax both reveal that their losses continue to be affected. Both heroes reveal that their hearts are still heavy and that depression is normal, even after many years.
Acceptance
I was playing earlier this year, and the way it handles grief is one of its most striking aspects. It all starts with an NPC losing their animal companion. Soon, it becomes the loss of family members and partners. Nier even deals with the end of the human race.
The most striking thing about Nier Replicant’shandling grief is their constant drive to move forward. The protagonist never gives up, even when tragedy strikes. He may have moments when it becomes too much, but he never gives up. There is always a desire, a need to rage against the darkness.
Initial thoughts were that the answer to grief in Nuer Replicant was denial. There’s more to it. The protagonist does not keep going simply because he doesn’t accept reality, but because he’s hyper-aware that the truth is that we must make the most of what we have.
