Depression Quest is an interactive fiction game where you play as someone living with depression. You are given a series of everyday life events and have to attempt to manage your illness, relationships, job, and possible treatment. This game aims to show other sufferers of depression that they are not alone in their feelings, and to illustrate to people who may not understand the illness the depths of what it can do to people.
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inside of you are three gamers
I played this before, back at the height of its controversy, and going back to it now it's impossible to imagine a game this mundane and small lead to...well, Gamergate and all the harassment and bullshit and awfulness that came with it. Just completely bonkers that somebody played a small, personal visual novel about depression and went "FEMINISTS MUST DIE!!!!" I don't really wanna examine all that, others have done it better, but it feels impossible to review this game without at least mentioning it.
Depression Quest succeeds at what it aims to do, which is how I typically judge a game. The writing gets a little hokey at times, but it's rarely BAD and is, at its best, really good. And it was fun coming back to it now, where I'm in a leagues better place mentally than I was when I initially played it, and seeing how my answers and choices changed. Being able to trace my own story, with finding the guts to see a therapist and growing brave enough to truly depend on my support system, and see it mirrored in the protagonist felt sort of warm and nostalgic, and it inspired in me a lot of affection and tenderness for the younger me who couldn't imagine ever feeling this good.
It's nothing mind-blowing now, and I've played better text-based games. But when it came out, it really and truly was something different. It's easy to brush that off now, when this sort of game — and games revolving around mental illness more broadly — are more commonplace, but it really did do something new. Something with — as we'd all see in the months and years that followed — real and genuine risks. I really enjoyed coming back to it.
Depression Quest succeeds at what it aims to do, which is how I typically judge a game. The writing gets a little hokey at times, but it's rarely BAD and is, at its best, really good. And it was fun coming back to it now, where I'm in a leagues better place mentally than I was when I initially played it, and seeing how my answers and choices changed. Being able to trace my own story, with finding the guts to see a therapist and growing brave enough to truly depend on my support system, and see it mirrored in the protagonist felt sort of warm and nostalgic, and it inspired in me a lot of affection and tenderness for the younger me who couldn't imagine ever feeling this good.
It's nothing mind-blowing now, and I've played better text-based games. But when it came out, it really and truly was something different. It's easy to brush that off now, when this sort of game — and games revolving around mental illness more broadly — are more commonplace, but it really did do something new. Something with — as we'd all see in the months and years that followed — real and genuine risks. I really enjoyed coming back to it.
The thing this game and its legacy proves is that the right doesn't and never did care about mental health. This is one of the most accurate and soul-crushing depictions of the condition I have played. I got about 20 questions in and broke down sobbing.
This review contains spoilers
I don't really want to have a conversation on this game. At the same time, I have a set of criteria for the games I talk about on Backloggd, and Depression Quest meets them: it's a game I've completed, I know when I completed it, and I am confident of my opinions on it. Actually, while I wouldn't call it a favorite by any means, I did find I ultimately connected with it, enough so that I still catch myself thinking about it now and again. Because of that, it's important to me that I somehow preserve those opinions.
After thinking about it for a while, I've decided I'm just going to present my opinions as isolated bullet points. No further summation, no point I want to drive at, just my naked opinions.
- It was very polite to release this game for free following Robin Williams' suicide
- Presenting choices, then striking them out and blocking the player from selecting them, is an effective analogy for experiencing crippling depression
- The moment where the player character is able to notice his hands shaking as a consequence of his bottled up tension, and that awareness of physical response to mental stimuli, is a familiar turning point for... a lot of things, in my experience
- I appreciate that the player can choose whether to address depression through drugs or therapy. I appreciate as well that neither is more correct, and each respective approach has its own ramifications.
- Adopting a kitten - and thus having another life to care for, as a means of combatting depression - is also familiar.
- I have no desire whatsoever to revisit this game to explore less-than-best endings and see what commentary the game holds there. Having said that...
- I am given to understand that the worst ending explains that the player character has given up on life but is too unmotivated to commit suicide; regardless, no happy ending is possible for him. I don't know if this is the text of the game. This is just what I have read elsewhere. Assuming this is true, I have mixed feelings on this. I do not want anything in this world to contribute to suicide rates, and I respect an artist trying to steer clear of that. At the same time, it would represent the lone pulled punch in a game that otherwise has an extremely frank conversation about depression.
After thinking about it for a while, I've decided I'm just going to present my opinions as isolated bullet points. No further summation, no point I want to drive at, just my naked opinions.
- It was very polite to release this game for free following Robin Williams' suicide
- Presenting choices, then striking them out and blocking the player from selecting them, is an effective analogy for experiencing crippling depression
- The moment where the player character is able to notice his hands shaking as a consequence of his bottled up tension, and that awareness of physical response to mental stimuli, is a familiar turning point for... a lot of things, in my experience
- I appreciate that the player can choose whether to address depression through drugs or therapy. I appreciate as well that neither is more correct, and each respective approach has its own ramifications.
- Adopting a kitten - and thus having another life to care for, as a means of combatting depression - is also familiar.
- I have no desire whatsoever to revisit this game to explore less-than-best endings and see what commentary the game holds there. Having said that...
- I am given to understand that the worst ending explains that the player character has given up on life but is too unmotivated to commit suicide; regardless, no happy ending is possible for him. I don't know if this is the text of the game. This is just what I have read elsewhere. Assuming this is true, I have mixed feelings on this. I do not want anything in this world to contribute to suicide rates, and I respect an artist trying to steer clear of that. At the same time, it would represent the lone pulled punch in a game that otherwise has an extremely frank conversation about depression.
This review is purely based on the game itself, the incident this game is widely known for is not relevant to any discussion of my opinions on this game.
I should also preface I am not somebody who, to my own knowledge, experiences depression. If this game is accurate to the lived experience of others is not my place to comment. I can only speak for my feelings and experiences. With two prefaces out the way, I feel comfortable saying this game really polarises me.
There are moments where I stared at the screen in silence realising other people in my life or I myself have done some of the behaviour shown in this game, and that mirror reflecting back at me chilled me a lot. Knowing that it is a experience that isn't just isolated to just me and the people I know felt almost revealing in a way. Knowing that other people are out there to share in experiences as sad as these is a reason for art to exist, to share in emotion and experiences that are uniquely human.
That being said, for every moment I felt like my own life experience was seen, a lot of others felt very ham-fisted, there was a lot of moments I thought could have been handled better, and the major issue I have is the game part of this game.
This having multiple endings, there being a "True" ending, feels wrong. No matter what, I feel the experience is cheapened knowing there is a "right way" to be playing it. You can ignore this fact and only play it once, the experience you got, and I think if I did that I would of been more positive towards the game However, knowing that there is other, better endings, it becomes a active effort to ignore that information when privy to it. It was my fault I went through the effort of getting these endings to see how they're handled.
I am not a fan at all with how the "correct" options to get to some of these endings feel really wrong. Lying to please people being one that stuck out as really strange to me. It feels like what you yourself might view as healthier or more productive choices aren't the ones the game thinks are correct, and that just doesn't sit right with me. But this is heavily subjective, you might think all the choices made to reaching this "True" ending are sound and entirely logical. I will still have issue with the fact it exists at all.
While this game will stick with me really personally in regards to moments that struck at my core and made me consider myself and others more, I can't say it was a flawless execution.
I'm happy this game exists for those it helped, and if it helped you, that is a testament to the power of games and art.
I should also preface I am not somebody who, to my own knowledge, experiences depression. If this game is accurate to the lived experience of others is not my place to comment. I can only speak for my feelings and experiences. With two prefaces out the way, I feel comfortable saying this game really polarises me.
There are moments where I stared at the screen in silence realising other people in my life or I myself have done some of the behaviour shown in this game, and that mirror reflecting back at me chilled me a lot. Knowing that it is a experience that isn't just isolated to just me and the people I know felt almost revealing in a way. Knowing that other people are out there to share in experiences as sad as these is a reason for art to exist, to share in emotion and experiences that are uniquely human.
That being said, for every moment I felt like my own life experience was seen, a lot of others felt very ham-fisted, there was a lot of moments I thought could have been handled better, and the major issue I have is the game part of this game.
This having multiple endings, there being a "True" ending, feels wrong. No matter what, I feel the experience is cheapened knowing there is a "right way" to be playing it. You can ignore this fact and only play it once, the experience you got, and I think if I did that I would of been more positive towards the game However, knowing that there is other, better endings, it becomes a active effort to ignore that information when privy to it. It was my fault I went through the effort of getting these endings to see how they're handled.
I am not a fan at all with how the "correct" options to get to some of these endings feel really wrong. Lying to please people being one that stuck out as really strange to me. It feels like what you yourself might view as healthier or more productive choices aren't the ones the game thinks are correct, and that just doesn't sit right with me. But this is heavily subjective, you might think all the choices made to reaching this "True" ending are sound and entirely logical. I will still have issue with the fact it exists at all.
While this game will stick with me really personally in regards to moments that struck at my core and made me consider myself and others more, I can't say it was a flawless execution.
I'm happy this game exists for those it helped, and if it helped you, that is a testament to the power of games and art.
It's almost impossible to separate developer Zoë Quinn from the legacy of Gamergate, but if I am being completely honest I know very little about the specific details of Gamergate and am more aware of it as an abstract cultural event rather than something concrete. For this reason I'm not really going to comment on any of the cultural stuff surrounding the game, and just focus on it as an experience I had about 10 years too late.
It's pretty good! The game is pretty much akin to a visual novel with very few visuals, so basically its entire value hinges on its writing, which is "pretty good!"
It's nothing mind-blowing or life-changing, but the experiences written about and the way they're described effectively gets across the tone that the game tries to convey. I can't speak with authority on the actual issue of depression, but I found some parts of this game pretty touching and relatable. Play it if you want :)
It's pretty good! The game is pretty much akin to a visual novel with very few visuals, so basically its entire value hinges on its writing, which is "pretty good!"
It's nothing mind-blowing or life-changing, but the experiences written about and the way they're described effectively gets across the tone that the game tries to convey. I can't speak with authority on the actual issue of depression, but I found some parts of this game pretty touching and relatable. Play it if you want :)