I’ve always looked at video games as a sort of therapy. I’ve got a therapist and strongly suggest that if you feel you need to talk to someone, that you seek one as well. It’s done wonders for me. But I’ll always lean on gaming as a way to decompress, escape and just feel better overall. I can point to two specific games that have been the most helpful at different periods of my life.
Assassin’s creed II- A GAME THAT ONLY EXISTS IN ONE MEMORY
This was the game I was playing when I lost my grandmother. Talked about that at length so we’ll keep going. But this game was instrumental in holding me together during that time. It was less a pick of knowing it would and more “I just bought this and need to do something”. I was already playing it, but I immersed myself into the world even more. I played every bit of this game.
And I hold it in high regard, as most do. But more from a personal standpoint. I’ve never gone back and played it past that period in my life. But I do have every intention of revisiting it. I want to see if it holds up and actually play it without the ghost of grief hanging over my head. Because right now, Black Flag sits at the top of my Assassin’s Creed list. I need to see if that’s actually the case or if memories are blocking the correct answer for me.
DESTINY 2
Yes, I talk all the time about how my relationship with this game has changed. The fact remains that for a significant part of my time locked in grocery store hell, this was the game that kept me sane. Coming home at midnight after closing the store, plopping down on my chair and getting in the fireteam was the only thing that separated me from going full Half Baked.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t notice how much of a time sink it actually was. Because I absolutely need it. There were nights that I would come home and not go to bed until four or five in the morning. I’d be the last one up, go to bed and do it all over again the next day. That was in the middle of a job search that seemed like it was going absolutely nowhere. Thinking I was going to be stuck managing grocery stores my whole life had me on edge. Destiny 2 kept me away from it.
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