TL;DR - I give Empathy Games a 6/10. On the one hand, Leela is fantastic, the imagery is excellent, and the concepts are intriguing. On the other, I rate it down for how little it resolves some aspects of the society as a whole and some of the plot choices. Overall, it is an enjoyable story but I can see how the plot may not be for some.

To start, nothing has tugged at my heart so greatly in a long while as Leela did in this opening. Getting the confirmation Leela literally spit into the face of her captor to spread the infection was awesome enough... but then having it turn out that this directly led to all the tortured prisoners being trapped and sustained by the machines indefinitely was heart-breaking! Even while she aches for death, she attempts to comfort another prisoner by telling her the story of the Empathy Games. Putting aside her pain to help another soul who simply cries throughout the entirety of the story because of how bleak the situation is! It's soul-crushing, despicable writing and I loved it!

As for the main part of the story, there's some really interesting, and surreal, exploration of how one approaches 'negative' emotions in Empathy Games. The rodents reflecting various characters, the irony of such a cruel, dystopian tournament in what should be a totally peaceful society, Leela hoisting the one rodent along even though it hurt her, etc. So much good stuff one may infer! And what's great about it also is how it links back to the prison scenes and Leela reminiscing about her mother.

Despite this, I take some issues with Empathy Games. Firstly, I dislike how the system of emotions is revealed so near to the end of the story, and how it felt like an infodump after the Doctor had been inserted back into the story. In my opinion, I think the decision to reveal it so late makes it difficult to engage with the exploration for 'how one approaches 'negative' emotions'. At least in a first listening, perhaps.

Secondly, the destruction of the system didn't feel very nuanced. Surely there should've been a greater back and forth about accepting 'negative' emotions and the impact they have, or certainly will have, on society? Perhaps that was because the focus of the Doctor's vitriol was on Angell as opposed to the encompassing philosophy; nevertheless, it still felt incomplete to me.

Thirdly, the resolutions to the dystopian aspects of Synchronis felt far too short. Angell is left in-charge, the Cathartics are simply predicted to rise up from their status as second-class citizens, the Synchronians are simply assured to become stronger by their 'negative' emotions. I think it is best put into picture by how Leela's tale ends with the dazzling illustration of water flowing into the ocean, yet the deaths of so many rodents and Cathartics are hardly commemorated. The injustice was hardly resolved, and that's not even mentioning how Angell had lied about the 'desert' beyond the ocean. I suppose a case could be made for how Leela is trying to comfort her fellow prisoner, not explain how she and the Doctor fixed a society - even so, it didn't make for a great ending to Synchronis as it's all left open-ended.

(Although I have ranted quite a bit, I still really enjoyed this story! I thoroughly recommend any Leela fans to have a listen :D!)