Replaying “Mass Effect” is good for my mental health

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in the past One year, mental health has Get hit.Lots of Coronavirus disease Death, depression, isolation, economic struggles, anxiety about the human condition-this is severe.Among all these, people have discovered many ways to cope, from violent watching to Peloton.Last week, mine was released Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.

To be clear, no matter when this trilogy is released, I will be excited about it, but after experiencing this year, I feel that I need to establish a direct connection between my body and the PlayStation 5 so that I can Can download the game directly into my brain.For me, back to the world Mass Effect Not just disconnect from the world; it’s about onConnect with old friends. The super-social relationship is real, and now my favorites are Garrus, Tali, Liara and Wrex.

Usually, this kind of party is not my bag. I am usually not a replay person.I can count on the number of story-driven games I have repeated-basically only a few Final fantasy title. Even if I say I want to replay the game before the sequel comes out (I plan to do so) Horizon zero dawn), I often never bypass it.but Mass Effect It attracted me in a way that there is no new game (or has existed for a long time), and I believe this is related to the difficulties of the past year. Things are difficult; I am seeking nostalgic comfort. This raises the question: Is this psychologically beneficial?can Mass Effect Does it seriously affect my mental health?

In short, yes. Tim Wulf, who studies the effects of video games at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, said, Nostalgia has three basic purposes: First, he said: “This is self-directed.” Basically, it means that it can help people “get closer to their true selves”, especially in this case, their pre-pandemic selves.Staying in touch with their people can help people stay in touch with their people can Yes, let them feel optimistic about the future. The second benefit of nostalgia is that it can help people see more meaning in their lives, and the last one is social meaning. It “reminds people of meaningful relationships between them, so it can resist feelings of loneliness and social exclusion.”

Although Wulf quickly noticed that media nostalgia has not been studied in the Covid-19 era, there must be people studying how people use entertainment to cope with epidemics. A recent study, For example, found that “media is closely related to happiness.” To put it another way: this is a coping mechanism for people to turn to many things recently. Recently, Wulf has been studying the relationship between nostalgic media use and certain stressors that are prevalent during the pandemic. His findings so far indicate that “people may be nostalgic and thus experience connections that they would not otherwise experience (due to the blockade)”.

Which brings us back to Mass Effect. This title has never been about gameplay to me. Rather, it’s my attachment to the characters, from Jennifer Hale’s FemShep to all the other partners who make the game valuable. What I play is not to win the game, but to go out and play. (under these circumstances, Yes About the friends I made along the way. ) When I was more isolated than ever, visiting this world was exactly the kind of reminiscence I needed.

However, not everyone is like this. It’s ok. Some people are using media and video games to get new experiences because the pandemic prevents them from doing so in real life. When everything is the same every day, why experience familiar things in entertainment? Well, because everyone’s brain is different. Some people find comfort in new things. Others, such as me, are eager to be familiar. Both are good. There is no absolute. The most important thing is that no matter which way of coping works best, don’t feel guilty.If you Want to play the same video game every day for months, You can and should. Do the right thing; try not to emphasize the effect.


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