billion. The constellation of factors driving people to look for ways to stay grounded or “come to center,” is not hard to fathom. Over the last several years the national conversation has been stirred by reports of economic uncertainty, environmental catastrophe, fractious politics, and global disputes. A New Yorker cartoon from last year pithily summed up our collective malaise: at a physician’s office a man sitting on an examination table listens attentively as his doctor says, “Here’s your problem — it looks like you’re paying attention to what’s going on.” ROMSLAB.COM Best Switch Games

“Eliza” is an emotionally astute visual novel that imagines what the self-care industry might look like in the future. Similar to “Neo Cab” — one of this year’s finest games — it focuses on characters whose lives are altered by big data. Players assume the role of Evelyn Ishino-Aubrey, a thirty-four-year-old woman who begins working part-time as a human conduit for Eliza, an AI program. Developed by a small team at a big tech company, Skandha, Eliza is designed as a counseling service. The program listens and asks questions that are meant to help people recognize their problems and articulate what they want.

A thought-provoking story told in the form of a visual novel from an award-winning indie team.

At the close of most sessions it recommends programs (like breathing exercises or VR experiences) and medications, then steers people to a Skandha Wellness app. As a “proxy” for Eliza it’s Evelyn’s job to sit in a room with a client — as a therapist would — and read Eliza’s responses from a virtual overlay which the client doesn’t see. According to company wisdom, many people relate better to advice from a person than a screen. Clients understand the proxies’ roles as Eliza’s mouthpieces. Before their first session they must agree to the company’s Terms and Conditions which stipulate, “Eliza is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Flynn: Son of Crimson Switch

Diagnosis or treatment” and that Skandha retains the right to retain data from the counseling sessions. Evelyn’s interests in becoming an Eliza proxy are not income-related. Early in the story we learn that Evelyn used to work at Skandha, where she helped develop the technology that underpins Eliza. She left the company after a tragic incident and spent three years in her own personal limbo, isolated and adrift. Although she doesn’t go to great lengths to conceal her identity as a former Skandha employee, she doesn’t advertise her past either. So, for a time, Evelyn is able to pass beneath the radar of those who previously knew her while she conducts her own research.

Follow Evelyn’s journey through a present-day Seattle brought to life with beautiful hand-painted art.

That research is focused on how the AI she helped create operates in the wild. What she finds leaves her quite ambivalent. Eliza’s algorithms, besides analyzing clients’ responses, also measure things like heart rate and facial movements. Eliza is good at figuring out people’s mental states and okay at asking simple questions to draw people out of themselves. The limitations of its approach are obvious to Evelyn. During one session, Eliza recommends an expensive drug to a client in financial straits. What makes “Eliza” particularly exceptional is that it takes seriously the novel aspects of the visual novel equation. Fly Together Switch NSP

Players are treated to a range of divergent viewpoints delivered by a cast of compelling characters, all of whom have a different take on Eliza.Naturally there are skeptics like Evelyn’s old friend Nora, that are reasonably worried about what Skandha might do with a trove of data built on people’s intimate disclosures, and others, such as a chief engineer at Skandha, concerned with how such information might be used by unauthorized parties in the event of a data breach. Then there are the true believers. Evelyn’s kindhearted supervisor Rae recognizes Elza’s limitations but makes the case that it’s easy for privileged people to castigate the technology when other mental health services are available to them.

Story

And there are people with viewpoints that fall outside of a good or bad dichotomy. For one of Evelyn’s older clients, Eliza is a nice substitute for human interaction simply because it listens to her. Then there’s Rae, your supervisor, who I mistook for a stone-cold true believer until we talked about why she does the job. And Erlend, the young one who’s far too good for the industry he’s in. My only real regret at the end of the game was that I had to leave someone behind. And then, of course, there are the people who engage in the counselling sessions, who you know so little about, and can do so little for. Flåklypa Grand Prix Switch NSP

I could talk about every character in this game all night. They’re incredibly well written, well thought out, and — with one minor exception — acted wonderfully. And woven through them all, there’s the inescapable point of it all, the social context that’s ultimately what has driven you here: the suffering. The endless, terrible pain and trauma and fear and sorrow suffered by countless millions, everywhere. It’s overwhelming. It’s invisible. It’s inextricable from your choices about your life. Caring about people hurts.

Add-ons (DLC): Eliza Switch NSP

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