Discussion Suicide In Games

[AttachedSweets]

I've been playing this game called "Honkai Star Rail" ever since it launched. It's a pretty cute PG game with a few adult jokes sprinkled around, making it just a silly and kinda funny game.

The game gives you quests and one of the mini quests was something I wasn't expecting to be emotional about.

You must help this woman named 'Cocona' by mending her broken heart. Her story is pretty depressing, and somewhere in the end, the player will determine whether they'd like to save her or let her fall off the edge of a building.

When you get to that part, the game will repeatedly give you the choices

"Grab Cocona's hand."

"Let go."

Gave me immediate flashbacks to where I'd play games with similar scenarios like one popular game, "Life Is Strange", where depending on your choices, will determine the outcome on whether or not the character, Kate, will kill herself.

Honestly, I was starting to freak out since I had no idea if I was making the right choice on holding on to her since the question was kept getting thrown at me, and because I wasn't in the right headspace to see something like that lol.

My main question would be, what do you usually pick when you get the chance to save a characters life? Even if it's unrealistic, do you still give the fictional character a happy ending? What are your feelings when coming by a situation like this in games? Is it unnecessary to add a suicide scene or any implication of suicide in games?

And if you actually played through the quest in the game I was talking about, what were your thoughts about the end?

Me personally, I couldn't help but save her knowing that she does get a happy ending, even when it felt there was a slight chance she'll continue to suffer like she said.

 

[Suicidebydeath]

If it's in a game, I'll always try to save. Because games are scripted.

Kate in LiS died for me because I didn't snoop around her bedroom using time cheat. I didn't want to invade her privacy. Iirc the only way to snoop her bedroom was to do it right in front of her and piss her off really badly, then time rewind. So I didn't even think about doing it. Then it got to the roof and there was no way to go that far back and she died. I might've been playing it on stream, so I wasn't going to go back on my decisions in any case. I forget which ending I got at the end, but I think I saved the town and let the love interest go, it made sense since the alternative seems to indicate everything gets destroyed otherwise. I think we still kissed etc, can't remember now. I took a screenshot. LiS was a great game.

I saved Cocona. I'd been spoiled in advance about the quest. It is freaky for sure the way they make you keep repeating the choice to take her hand, and the game sending you the messages back let go, you're hurting her, etc. I don't have any particular thoughts about the quest, I just wasn't interested in what would probably be another mainstream view on suicide.

Suicide scenes in games generally reinforce mainstream views imo. e.g. If you don't save them, it's a bad end, if you do, it's a good ending. I can't think of any games off the top of my head where you save someone from suicide specifically and they go on to have a horrible ending later. You can save people from death, but not from suicide.

If it's not in a game, it's someone's ctb attempt, I've always chosen "let go", because I put myself in their place and how difficult it is. IRL isn't scripted, except it's hard for everyone. I've lost a lot of close people, it's not easy. I don't always know if that's always the right decision.

 

[26mmmm]

I've been playing this game called "Honkai Star Rail" ever since it launched. It's a pretty cute PG game with a few adult jokes sprinkled around, making it just a silly and kinda funny game.

The game gives you quests and one of the mini quests was something I wasn't expecting to be emotional about.

You must help this woman named 'Cocona' by mending her broken heart. Her story is pretty depressing, and somewhere in the end, the player will determine whether they'd like to save her or let her fall off the edge of a building.

When you get to that part, the game will repeatedly give you the choices

"Grab Cocona's hand."

"Let go."

Gave me immediate flashbacks to where I'd play games with similar scenarios like one popular game, "Life Is Strange", where depending on your choices, will determine the outcome on whether or not the character, Kate, will kill herself.

Honestly, I was starting to freak out since I had no idea if I was making the right choice on holding on to her since the question was kept getting thrown at me, and because I wasn't in the right headspace to see something like that lol.

My main question would be, what do you usually pick when you get the chance to save a characters life? Even if it's unrealistic, do you still give the fictional character a happy ending? What are your feelings when coming by a situation like this in games? Is it unnecessary to add a suicide scene or any implication of suicide in games?

And if you actually played through the quest in the game I was talking about, what were your thoughts about the end?

Me personally, I couldn't help but save her knowing that she does get a happy ending, even when it felt there was a slight chance she'll continue to suffer like she said.

View attachment 130180

I don't know about games but in real life you should probably save the person since you would be seen as a killer if you don't. If the person didn't want to survive its their fault for putting you in that situation.

 

[starless]

This quest has been on and off of my mind ever since I finished it a few days ago!

I think that while in real life, I often tend to extend a hand and offer hope, in games I don't have a default answer/it depends. Hell, that might even be the case IRL: I've just never known anyone that's managed to convince me that ctb is something that they're choosing to do. Some characters in media have managed to convince me.

In Cocona's case, after hearing her out... I let her go. The decision definitely did come from my own feelings, too, looking back. I didn't quite expect the game to make a moment of it and show how life goes on, though: it made it memorable, but also gave me a lot to think about.

When faced with someone who wants to leave as a person who knows what that feels like, being uncertain as to whether or not reaching one's hand and holding on will hurt or help is only natural. The game's a bit on the nose about it for sure, but that doubt can be very real.

My thoughts about the end of the quest are favorable. It's written from a grounded, realistic perspective - as realistic as you can get in a game with a space train. The handling of the different outcomes doesn't demonize or uplift either one: it just shows you the outcome of your chosen decision.

Of course it's unnecessary to mention suicide in games. It's the same for movies, for books, for communities... Still, just because it's unnecessary doesn't mean it's verboten. It is a possibility of life, a painful and unfortunate one, yet one that remains even as we avert our eyes.

 

[conflagration]

In Cat lady trilogy (Cat Lady, Downfall, Devil Came Through Here) there are themes of suicide, self harm, mental illness. Games were created by psychiatric nurse.