Episode 133 - Mental Health and Animal Protagonists

Ben has TOO MANY game codes, so Aunt Norah is here to help! This back to back episodes… episode contains two conversations themed around the games Ben has been playing for review purposes. In the top half, they talk about the representations of the mental ailments in the games Next of Kin and RATSHAKER™. In the latter half, they talk about the handling of the animal protagonist in Spirit of the North 2. 

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PART 1 - The portrayal of mental fitness topics in and opinions about Next of Kin and RATSHAKER™ 00:00:20 - Going global-ish and an explanation of the next batch of Norah episodes

Next of Kin by Spelkväll Games - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmMrdlVPC4M

00:02:23 - Story description and the trailer, and Norah’s thoughts on the trailer…text box speed  00:05:27 - Her interest was piqued, solving the mystery, in-game trigger warnings, and not light  00:07:40 - Mental disorders, differences between dementia and schizophrenia, and trivializing 00:10:00 - Excellent mental health focused games, and generational perspectives on sharing 00:15:27 - Life experiences with schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, and the garden hose

RATSHAKER™ by Sunscorched Studios - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIrYRaWOdt8

00:18:07 - A horror experiences, trademarked, and trying to be clever with the description 00:20:25 - The controls and game mechanics, a schizophrenia simulation, and the trailer  00:23:38 - Effective scares, cracking the rat for a light source, and it’s normal for horror 

00:26:47 - Final thoughts on the importance of mental health awareness and empathy 

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PART 2 - Telling a story with a silent animal protagonist and opinions on Spirit of the North 2  00:30:43 - Welcome, figuring out the topic, and an appetizer for the word folklore

Spirit of the North 2 by Infuse Studio - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK3x3bmaWQA

00:31:34 - Being a fox in Iceland, similarities to Stray, and Norah’s thoughts on the game trailer 00:33:37 - The technical trailer, a disagreement on feedback, and complaining in social media 00:37:15 - Finnish folklore, Icelandic settings, a fox’s mental faculties, and game description  00:40:11 - Customizing your fox, and Ben gets excited about… VIKING HELMETS ON CATS?! 00:43:00 - Boss fights, waiting for the giant bird in the coliseum, and lots of running around 00:45:42 - Not an observant animal, a silent protagonist, and no connection to other foxes 00:49:14 - Zen and the art of being a fox, from a previous generation, and total playtime hours 00:51:21 - No detectable side-quests, de rigueur, the perspective, and some camera problems  00:53:58 - The delicate balance of game design, thoughts on adding a narrator, and beauty 00:56:00 - The internal monologue of animals, cozy camping does not exist, and show closing 

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References, Links, and Tags For more information about Next of Kin from Spelkväll Games… https://store.steampowered.com/app/3027980/Next_of_Kin/

For more information about RATSHAKER™ from Sunscorched Studios… https://sunscorchedstudios.co.uk/ratshaker https://sunscorchedstudios.co.uk/

For more Information about Spirit of the North 2 from Infuse Studio… https://www.playspiritofthenorth.com/ https://infusedstudio.com/

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