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Mental illness has never been an easy topic to cover. No matter if it´s movies, books, real life or video games. As most of us have suffered from mental illness in one shape or another (depression is probably something that we all have experienced). Personally, I can relate to that. As I’ve been through a lot (I almost died in a car accident back in 2008, I have also been bullied because I was over weight during High School and college). So I had some mixed feelings about Eclipse JP´s “Healing Process: Tokyo“, (for Windows, MAC, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U and iPad) as the game covers depression (the main character of the game has lost his wife, and his life is falling apart because of this). Let´s just say that I was somewhat concerned that I might get flashbacks of my past from playing the game. However, sometimes that´s actually the best way to tackle your inner demons (you can run away from your problems, but you can´t hide from them forever). Besides, whether we like it or not. We all have to deal with depressions, setbacks, failures and let downs in our lives (on one level or another).

Always try to help those in need (no matter if it´s a game or the real world).

So while I was playing thegame I came to the conclusion that “Healing Process” might actually be able to help people who suffers from depression. As the whole idea behind the game is to help Charles (the main protagonist) to recover from the loss of his wife (in short, help Charles to get his life together again). That´s of course extra crucial as you just happen to be a skilled surgeon. Well, okay, Charles used to be an ace surgeon. However, since his wife died (they were a team), Charles haven´t been able to perform one single successful operation (as his mind and thoughts are elsewhere). So it´s your job (the player) to help Charles fight his inner demons, and to make him into a great surgeon once more.

And that´s of course easier said then done, as you have to solve a lot of tasks and put your life together again (piece by piece). And I got a little taste of what’s to come in the early alpha demo of Healing Proccess (the PC-version of the game is controlled via your keyboard). So my thoughts on the demo would be the following. “Healing Process: Tokyo” offers some truly beautiful retro graphics, the plot and game concept is really interesting. And Sam L.Jones soundtrack has done wonders to the game’s emotional parts with no doubt.

In the matter of fact, Healing Proccess made me think about games such as “Silent Hill” (the twisted monsters),”Sanitarium” (mental illness meets nightmares and horrors) and “Shenmue” (the time schedule, tasks to do, everyday life routines, etc.). However, the Healing Process demo was rather slow, in my opinion (it takes quite sometime before things start to happen). So Healing Process might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Nevertheless, I still hope that the game will be fully founded on Kickstarter, as i´m rather curious to find out what the final production of the game will be like (I would also like to know how Charles life will turn out in the end).

So I wish Eclipse JP the best of luck with that.