Ever thought about what therapy with an AI might actually feel like? In 2025, it’s not that wild an idea, but when the game Eliza dropped back in 2019, it probably was pretty futuristic. Here’s the twist: instead of chatting to a computer screen, you sit across from a real person, a proxy, who reads the AI’s responses to you.
Eliza, the AI therapist, goes beyond small talk. It checks parameters such as your heart rate, reads your body temperature, analyzes the stress in your voice, and runs some sentiment analysis on top of that. It’s kind of wild how much it picks up on, and you start to wonder: are these digital “observations” actually sharper than what a human therapist could notice, just because a machine can measure so much detail while juggling so many tasks at once?
The name Eliza got me pondering too (classic overthinker move). It’s usually a female name, right? So, were there any male proxies in the game? Maybe I missed that path, but I only ran into women.
Anyhow, you play the game as the main character, Evelyn, the proxy who also developed the therapy bot, Eliza.
The game does not give you much agency in your choices and makes you think about issues such as privacy, ethics, and consciousness.
If those questions get your gears turning and you haven’t studied psychology or cognitive science, Eliza is well worth a playthrough. But if you have a background in those fields, don’t expect groundbreaking depth. It might feel a bit basic (Full disclosure, there were multiple moments where my attention drifted). Furthermore, Evelyn herself is written as deeply indecisive and weighed down by sadness and the art style leans into that mood: dark. That’s not really my thing, but hey, totally subjective.
One huge highlight: the voice acting. I played in English and the actors absolutely nailed the intonations and pauses; super professional and made the experience feel all the more authentic.
Overall, I recommend this game, though it is not my favorite visual novel.
Note: I came across a recently published study titled: When ELIZA meets therapists: A Turing test for the heart and mind, here is the link if you are interested.