Take it from someone who's been living with dysthymia for the past 20 years or so... Nika is easily the most relatable MC I've seen in one of these games. From his sour and gruff demeanour, the way he doesn't emote, the recurring negative thoughts, behavior ranging from complete lack of energy to violent outbursts,
thinking about what you should be feeling but not actually feeling it... When playing SG, I felt more than once like I was inserted into the game. Only I never had someone like Nami in my life.
This screen perfectly captures the way you feel about everything:
It's such a breath of fresh air to play as a troubled, introverted character rather than the buff, outgoing or straight-up creepy dudes you normally see as protagonists.
I can understand why many might have trouble connecting to him; admittedly, people with this condition are difficult to deal with and SG shows this perfectly. In fact, I'll risk saying that the author couldn't have portrayed it so accurately if it wasn't born out of personal experience. If that's the case, I'm both sorry and happy for him: sorry that he had to go through it, and happy that he's doing well enough these days to be able to create such a high quality product.
So yeah, for me supporting SG is more than just supporting a game I like. I feel like it's investing in a broader effort to show that AVNs absolutely are a valid storytelling medium that can cover serious real-life subjects while the sexual stuff lurks in the background.
