Press release:
Oceanside, Calif. – August 4, 2020 –
V Publishing and Crowned Daemon Studios are today very thrilled and proud to announce that their The visual novel adventure game “Syntherapy” is coming to PC via Steam in October, 2020!
And that’s just the half of it, because V Publishing and Crowned Daemon Studios has also announced that they have just released a brand-new video for “Syntherapy” as well.
Can an AI develop mental health issues? Can conventional psychotherapy help a possibly sentient AI? In Syntherapy, players are tasked with discovering how to save an artificial lifeform going through a psychological crisis.
In this visual novel, players take on the role of Dr. Melissa Park, a psychotherapist called to Petrichor University by a research student named Tara Northrop. Tara has created an experimental therapy AI, named Willow. Willow is so advanced that its creators become concerned when it starts exhibiting signs of declining mental health and Dr. Park is sought out to assess and potentially treat the experimental AI.
Dr. Harold Freeman, the President of the university, is worried that Willow’s possible sentience could have wider ethical ramifications for the University. He’s in a heated battle with the University Ethics committee, and he reluctantly agrees to Dr. Park’s help.
With more than 30 endings and outcomes for players to experience, Syntherapy sensitively looks at the ethics surrounding advanced AI and explores a variety of topics related to mental health. The game asks wider questions of its audience and the moral behavior of humans, as they design and construct artificially intelligent beings.
Syntherapy is not recommended for children, or those who may be affected by such subject matter.
A full list of features include:
Challenging and thought-provoking dialogue choices.
A complex loyalty management system that takes player choices, play style, and chosen topics into account.
A variety of in-game music to select during session planning.
Over 30 possible endings!
Explore a variety of topics related to mental health while uncovering the mysterious backstories of all the main characters.
Full voiceover with an amazing cast of voice talent.
More information on Syntherapy can be found on Steam. Syntherapy will be coming to Steam later in 2020.
About Crowned Daemon Studios
Crowned Daemon Studios was founded by four friends in 2013 who met while making machinima videos (movies out of video games). We believe that games are the next great avenue for storytelling and are drawn to make games that tell compelling stories that would only work in gaming!
About V Publishing
V Publishing is a publishing label for high-quality games that seek to tell stories and provide memorable experiences. V Publishing is a division of Vicarious Holdings, the company behind international award-winning video game PR agency Vicarious PR. For more information visit www.publishvicarious.com.
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Jonas “O.J” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround
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Tags: Adventure games, Crowned Daemon Studios, Indie games, PC games, Steam, Syntherapy, V Publishing, Visual novel