Mental health is an important game mechanic in Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy.
Function[]
Lucas Kane's mental health increasing by 5. Status: anxious
Over the course of the game, the three protagonists—Lucas Kane, Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles—will face actions or events that impact their mental health. Changes in mental health can be determined by the player's choices, conversations with other characters, or in some cases may happen automatically.
Mental health is represented by a bar in the lower right corner of the screen and is calculated in percentage points ranging from 0 to 100. Each character has their own individual mental health bar. There is a black icon in the middle of the bar that represents the characters' current mental state; it stands upright if the bar is full, and slumps as the bar decreases. Percentage changes are typically limited to a minimum of 5 or by certain multiples of 5 (10, 20, 30). Despite this, Lucas may experience a 60% decrease in "Danger and Ubiquity" if Markus Kane is killed by the Oracle.
Certain percentages are also given defined statuses to the left of the mental health bar. A 100% mental health bar indicates the Neutral state, 90% indicates the Tense state, 60% indicates the Anxious state, 40% indicates the Depressed state, 30% indicates the Overwrought state, and 0% indicates the Wrecked state. Reaching the Wrecked state with any character will result in a game over, with different outcomes depending on the character. For example, Carla may choose to resign from the force, while Lucas may commit suicide or be sent to Bellevue Asylum. Rarely, it is possible to reach a dead end by decreasing the mental health bar to Overwrought at a point where mandatory events will further decrease it without the player's input, making it impossible to progress without being reduced to the Wrecked state.
Mental health does not affect the aesthetic appearance of the characters, nor does it result in different choices or outcomes (with the exception of the game over sequences). Even if the player reaches the Overwrought state, all three characters behave normally. Hallucinations or emotional delirium do not come into play if mental health is low. The mental health bar is simply a "how much you're close to game over" counter.
Trivia[]
- Lucas is the only character with multiple game over endings.
- Even though Markus is a playable character in "Danger and Ubiquity," he does not have a mental health bar.