Batman: Shadow of Arkham may be the newest installment in a long-running series game franchise, however, offers something refreshingly unique.

The game was recently released exclusively for virtual reality. Meta Mission 3/3Sis serious about exploring the minds of its characters responsibly. Terms like psychotic, for example, aren’t thrown around when characters resort to violence.

And when Batman enters Blackgate Penitentiary under an alias on a mission to find the villain Rat King before he strikes, he becomes conflicted about his understanding of what motivates the criminals he encounters. Apparently, when Batman attends a meeting group therapy session Dr. This team is led by Harleen Frances Quinzel (later known as Harley Quinn), who has as much to say about her childhood trauma as the other inmates.

These and other choices, he says, were intentional Shadow of Arkham Directed by Ryan Payton. He discovered something in 2023 series GQ videos Psychiatrist Dr. H. Eric Bender details mental health scenes in popular movies and television; Joker.

Bender notes that the film “exaggerates the idea that violence and mental illness are linked.” People actually living with mental illness The likelihood of becoming a victim is much higher rather than committing violence.

Bender has played the game before Batman: Arkham Asylum, He labeled the Joker as psychotic, while according to Bender the character is a psychopath. This difference may seem trivial to some, but Bender argues that mislabeling and diagnoses can affect how people view those with serious mental illness and how those living with such disorders view themselves.

Last fall, Payton asked Bender to advise on: Shadow of Arkham thus, the play authentically portrayed the characters’ different emotional struggles without resorting to dangerous tropes or stereotypes about mental illness.

The shadow in the game’s title has more than one meaning; While it alludes to threatening themes, it also evokes the concept of the Jungian shadow, or unconscious negative beliefs about ourselves that we project onto others. Payton says if there’s any superhero who can take on such treatment, it’s Batman.

“You eventually come face to face with your own shadow from many different perspectives in the game.”

“You end up coming face to face with your own shadow in the game from many different perspectives,” says Payton.

But before Payton and Bender met, they both had strong experiences that shaped their thinking on this subject. sanity in popular entertainment.

Payton remembers playing Final Fantasy VI as a teenager portraying a character experiencing mental health issues.

“The emotions I felt weren’t things I would normally feel when playing a lot of other video games that I might just take off the shelf,” Payton says. He says he has since prioritized accurate portrayals of mental health and other sensitive topics in video games.

One of Bender’s greatest moments was when he was giving a presentation at Comic-Con about media portrayals of mental health when someone in the audience asked: “When am I ever going to see a character with a mental illness who doesn’t make me feel like you’re going to turn into a villain?”

For Shadow of ArkhamBender provided Payton with feedback on numerous plot and character traits. Written to illustrate the strengths and limitations of different types of therapeutic approaches, Dr. Quinzel and Dr. It featured tense, argumentative exchanges between Jonathan Crane.

Bender also explained in detail why it can be extremely damaging for a character to hear that they should suppress their anger and be good as a child, as shown in the game’s flashbacks.

In total, the game features a half-hour recorded conversation between various characters about mental health and wellbeing. There were even “tender moments,” Payton says.

Still, Shadow of Arkham remains an action game and stays true to reality Batman universe. Blackgate Prison doesn’t suddenly become a safe, high-quality mental health institution, upending decades-old stereotypes about treatment facilities. Nor does Batman suddenly turn into a pacifist willing to practice conflict resolution with his enemies.

But within those limits, Bender and Payton think they’ve accomplished something meaningful.

“I’d like to think after people play Batman: Shadow of Arkham Payton says they have a different perspective.