La destrucción de una familia como producto de las normas sociales, el control de la religión y una ignorancia absoluta de la importancia de la salud mental.
Me duele todo, nadie se merece esto, pero es un reflejo muy acertado de cosas muy reales.
Me duele todo, nadie se merece esto, pero es un reflejo muy acertado de cosas muy reales.
There are multiple reasons why this game shouldn’t have been enjoyable to me. While I respect detention I don’t love it, the only horror game series I really like is silent hill and I don’t really like first person horror either. This game defies all of that and is incredible in just about every way. The atmosphere and plot are stunningly executed and the game has striking visuals. I have a lot of respect for red candle and their defiance of imperial China. I hope the Taiwanese people know true peace and safety someday.
AI PORRA
This review contains spoilers
An excellent short, heartbreaking horror story about the impact cults have on a family. No time wasted, no moon logic for the puzzles, and an absolutely perfect understanding of how and when to use certain horror tricks.
Bom, depois de um youtuber fazer um essay sobre os simbolismos presentes nesse jogo tive que jogar. E, nossa, não me arrependo, que jogo com estilo.
Devo confessar que sou péssimo com jogos de terror, mal consegui terminar Outlast e Resident Evil VII, mas esse de longe é mais assustador que os dois combinados. O gameplay é bem simples, é simplesmente uma exploração estilo Silent Hills (PT), com diversas variações do mesmo quarto.
Admito, também, que achei a estética de certas cenas fraca, mas não interferiu muito negativamente na minha experiência.
Ah, e sobre a controvérsia polícia que fez com que se banissem o jogo da Steam: nada a ver, absolutamente desnê.
Devo confessar que sou péssimo com jogos de terror, mal consegui terminar Outlast e Resident Evil VII, mas esse de longe é mais assustador que os dois combinados. O gameplay é bem simples, é simplesmente uma exploração estilo Silent Hills (PT), com diversas variações do mesmo quarto.
Admito, também, que achei a estética de certas cenas fraca, mas não interferiu muito negativamente na minha experiência.
Ah, e sobre a controvérsia polícia que fez com que se banissem o jogo da Steam: nada a ver, absolutamente desnê.
What a ride. My least favorite thing about games like this is when they're too cryptic or have really obtuse puzzles that ruin the mood. This game never has that though. As the game goes on you can catch on to the things going on around you, and it slowly allows you to piece together what it all means. The horror aspects are super cool, and there's only a few jumpscares, which every horror game deserves a few. Probably one of my top horror games now. Shame it didn't get a proper chance on the main storefronts.
This was a really great experience. The scares were decent and the story it told was heart-wrenching. There's some fantastic music and the game is pretty good-looking, and there are some especially gorgeous sequences scattered throughout the game.
It's awful that this game was removed and almost completely erased from the internet, all because of a hidden joke about Xi Jingping.
Piracy is the only way to play this now. Anyone who can get their hands on this to play it most definitely should.
It's awful that this game was removed and almost completely erased from the internet, all because of a hidden joke about Xi Jingping.
Piracy is the only way to play this now. Anyone who can get their hands on this to play it most definitely should.
For such a short game, the developers went above and beyond to make every location as detailed as possible. So much playtime was spent just looking at every little detail in every room. A perfect example of quality over quantity right here.
Não tem como, é talvez o melhor jogo de horror que já joguei
Not bad.
Very good in fact. Love me some cozy horror goodness.
For the French - https://lacritiquedumoment.wordpress.com/2023/09/28/devotion/
Very good in fact. Love me some cozy horror goodness.
For the French - https://lacritiquedumoment.wordpress.com/2023/09/28/devotion/
this game is the only thing that has ever made me actually gag and have to look away from my screen and take my headphones off, and the story is incredible.
This review contains spoilers
After playing and loving Detention I knew that I was in for an incredible experience with Devotion but nothing could have fully prepared me for the journey I was about to endure.
This game shook me to my core and left me sobbing by the end. The story is beautifully crafted and gut-wrenching to go through. Every aspect of Detention is expanded perfectly, from the puzzles to the visuals to the sounds of the game.
Playing in first person along with the design of the apartment and rooms themselves creates an overwhelmingly claustrophobic feeling. This game made me feel as though I was living in an anxiety attack.
The cutscenes were visually wonderful and added a whole new layer to this piece of work, the representation and understanding of anxiety were perfect, especially the scene with the marbles.
I cannot begin to describe how visually gorgeous this game is. Every aspect and room are thought out and detailed, keeping you completely enveloped in the narrative. Three scenes that stuck out to me are the storybook, the flower room and the ending cutscene.
Devotion is the best game I have ever had the joy of playing and I am sure it will follow its predecessor in sticking with me long after today. Red Candle continue to prove they are making some of, if not THE, best games currently out there.
Thank you for sharing these stories, as a European I am far from educated on the horrors that took place in Taiwan and these games have opened my eyes and encouraged me to learn further and research myself. This is a period of time and a people who should not be forgotten.
I cannot wait to see what Red Candle does next and I can only say that everyone should play this incredible game, its sister, and all games Red Candle put out in the future
This game shook me to my core and left me sobbing by the end. The story is beautifully crafted and gut-wrenching to go through. Every aspect of Detention is expanded perfectly, from the puzzles to the visuals to the sounds of the game.
Playing in first person along with the design of the apartment and rooms themselves creates an overwhelmingly claustrophobic feeling. This game made me feel as though I was living in an anxiety attack.
The cutscenes were visually wonderful and added a whole new layer to this piece of work, the representation and understanding of anxiety were perfect, especially the scene with the marbles.
I cannot begin to describe how visually gorgeous this game is. Every aspect and room are thought out and detailed, keeping you completely enveloped in the narrative. Three scenes that stuck out to me are the storybook, the flower room and the ending cutscene.
Devotion is the best game I have ever had the joy of playing and I am sure it will follow its predecessor in sticking with me long after today. Red Candle continue to prove they are making some of, if not THE, best games currently out there.
Thank you for sharing these stories, as a European I am far from educated on the horrors that took place in Taiwan and these games have opened my eyes and encouraged me to learn further and research myself. This is a period of time and a people who should not be forgotten.
I cannot wait to see what Red Candle does next and I can only say that everyone should play this incredible game, its sister, and all games Red Candle put out in the future
This review contains spoilers
i threw up and cried again
such a devastatingly beautiful ending for one of the most tragic stories ive come upon
and the way the story is weaved and how it shows the player all these puzzle pieces to put together through the years of this family's lives is so amazing
the environment, the art design, the little bits and bobs and letters and belongings of the family, it does such a good job putting you in their home, in this era, in this country
i love the many little files as well, the screenplay excerpts and the ones about cigu guanyin and the snake
not to mention the absolutely amazing live action parts with the commercials and the singing contest, along with all of the cutscenes through mei shin's eyes and the part where mentor heuh guides you through the underworld
every section is just fucking amazing. everyone knows and loves the beautiful storybook section but it is so so good. a small moment of respite from the grimy dimly lit claustrophobic home, with all of its bright watercolors and cute and happy resolutions
i do think some jumpscares and especially the chase sequence are a bit much, but theyre easily overlooked
the soundtrack and vocal songs are incredible, and lady of the pier is an excellent song between mei shin and li fang and showing their differences and the crushing pressure on mei shin from what her family expects of her
devotion by no party for cao dong is especially fantastic to me
i never fail to cry while it plays out with the scene of mei shin running, it could be seen as a little out of place but i think it wraps it up perfectly and gorgeously
the lyrics are so fitting and i think reading them gets me the most
i cant emphasize how much this story just hits me. it hurts so fucking much, its so real. mei shin's anxiety is portrayed so well, along with her family completely misunderstanding it. and the way the father falls deep into religion, into this occult worship, emptying his pockets and doing prayers and rituals and unintentionally killing his own daughter at the behest of a false mentor because he wants her to be better, he knows she can achieve stardom
the mother, who helps as much as she can and goes back to work, promising to take her family somewhere better but it was just a little too late
both just making it worse on mei shin
it is just utterly and completely devastating, and being able to figure those things out for yourself as you play through is so special.
this game is so excellent and i will always be sad at the fact that a small, almost insignificantly placed political easter egg made people unable to play this special game for quite some time. but its getting out there more and more thanks to red candle making it available on their own site, and im glad to have experienced it
such a devastatingly beautiful ending for one of the most tragic stories ive come upon
and the way the story is weaved and how it shows the player all these puzzle pieces to put together through the years of this family's lives is so amazing
the environment, the art design, the little bits and bobs and letters and belongings of the family, it does such a good job putting you in their home, in this era, in this country
i love the many little files as well, the screenplay excerpts and the ones about cigu guanyin and the snake
not to mention the absolutely amazing live action parts with the commercials and the singing contest, along with all of the cutscenes through mei shin's eyes and the part where mentor heuh guides you through the underworld
every section is just fucking amazing. everyone knows and loves the beautiful storybook section but it is so so good. a small moment of respite from the grimy dimly lit claustrophobic home, with all of its bright watercolors and cute and happy resolutions
i do think some jumpscares and especially the chase sequence are a bit much, but theyre easily overlooked
the soundtrack and vocal songs are incredible, and lady of the pier is an excellent song between mei shin and li fang and showing their differences and the crushing pressure on mei shin from what her family expects of her
devotion by no party for cao dong is especially fantastic to me
i never fail to cry while it plays out with the scene of mei shin running, it could be seen as a little out of place but i think it wraps it up perfectly and gorgeously
the lyrics are so fitting and i think reading them gets me the most
i cant emphasize how much this story just hits me. it hurts so fucking much, its so real. mei shin's anxiety is portrayed so well, along with her family completely misunderstanding it. and the way the father falls deep into religion, into this occult worship, emptying his pockets and doing prayers and rituals and unintentionally killing his own daughter at the behest of a false mentor because he wants her to be better, he knows she can achieve stardom
the mother, who helps as much as she can and goes back to work, promising to take her family somewhere better but it was just a little too late
both just making it worse on mei shin
it is just utterly and completely devastating, and being able to figure those things out for yourself as you play through is so special.
this game is so excellent and i will always be sad at the fact that a small, almost insignificantly placed political easter egg made people unable to play this special game for quite some time. but its getting out there more and more thanks to red candle making it available on their own site, and im glad to have experienced it
Cheap scares are aplenty at the start, and it's no different from the many P.T. clones on the market with how limited the interactions you can perform. Despite this, there's very few games, or pieces of media, that does domestic horror as well as this.
Highly recommend it for the fantastic final hour, or to piss off Xi Jinping. Runs about 2-3 hours, so it's best to wait for a sale if you're feeling frugal.
Highly recommend it for the fantastic final hour, or to piss off Xi Jinping. Runs about 2-3 hours, so it's best to wait for a sale if you're feeling frugal.
Made me feel feelings, which is arguably scarier than horror
I think that Devotion is a brilliant game. A horror title that is scary without feeling like a cheap carnival ride, thought provoking without sounding like a lecture, and upsetting without being regrettable. While I feel that games like this don't land as well if you aren't behind the controls, the basic effect would still be pretty powerful if you simply watch a playthrough. It is frustrating that an experience of this quality is so unknown among horror fans, and my hope is that my playthrough and this blog entry will convince at least one other person to seek it out.
Full essay here: https://www.guilded.gg/backlog/blog/Chris-Vs-Blog/Fatherly-Phantasmagoria
Full essay here: https://www.guilded.gg/backlog/blog/Chris-Vs-Blog/Fatherly-Phantasmagoria
Being largely unaware of the real-life basis of the game, I was left in ambiguity right up through the ending. The game takes place in a Taiwanese apartment block in the 1980s and tells the story of a family with a sick daughter. When medicine doesn’t seem to improve her condition, the father (who is the player character) turns to a cult-like interpretation of Buddhism. The story unfolds as you re-arrange symbolically significant puzzles that have downstream effects on different manifestations of the apartment. Throughout, I kept going back and forth on if the mother and wife was as monstrous as her in-game portrayal, or if that was a projection by the father and husband. By the end, it’s fairly clear who has been involved in which kinds of desperate and heinous acts. Yet there’s still room for interpretation at the end – there’s closure of a kind, but no definite answers. The game is all the better for it.
Heartbreaking story told very well. I mainly got it to support Red Candle, but it ended up being a great experience in its own right. Excited to see what this team does next.
A remarkably atmospheric horror experience finally been released from the shackles of censorship that kept it hidden away for two years. Red Candle's Detention was a stylistic and memorable game but Devotion is a step-up to me in almost every way. This is a tight, terrifying parable drawing off the best of Asian horror cinema and Silent Hill-esque psychological torment, mining an isolated situation for every anxiety and woe it possesses. Visually stunning with riveting storytelling, Devotion is one of the finest horror titles I've played, possibly my favourite since playing Silent Hill 2 a year ago. I'm elated more people can finally experience it too.
Before anything, the fact I'm able to play this alone makes me happy, I played Detention the year that this came out, and because of its circumstances, I never knew when I'd get the chance to give this one a go after all the hype surrounding it. Suffice to say, I'd say it lived up to it.
I think the game does an excellent job exposing a traditional family at its core, and how easy it is for everything to fall apart, whether its from the stress of illness, unfulfilled relationships and dreams, or the dangers of extreme religious devotion. It has a lot to say, and for how short it is, it does it all with such great visual depth. Think this one is a must play for any modern day horror fans, not only because its great, but because Red Candle are providing some of the most unique offerings that the genre has seen. And after the two years of it essentially being lost media for many, and all that had to happen for it to be available again, it deserves your time, and it will surely be time well devoted.
I think the game does an excellent job exposing a traditional family at its core, and how easy it is for everything to fall apart, whether its from the stress of illness, unfulfilled relationships and dreams, or the dangers of extreme religious devotion. It has a lot to say, and for how short it is, it does it all with such great visual depth. Think this one is a must play for any modern day horror fans, not only because its great, but because Red Candle are providing some of the most unique offerings that the genre has seen. And after the two years of it essentially being lost media for many, and all that had to happen for it to be available again, it deserves your time, and it will surely be time well devoted.
My IRL walking simulator is more terrifying.
GOTY 2019 (?!)
One of the best portrayals of the complexities of Asian Parent-Child relationships I have ever seen in any media, let alone games. Horror, emotional, beautiful, had me thinking about it for weeks afterwards. One of the best games I have ever played.
One of the best portrayals of the complexities of Asian Parent-Child relationships I have ever seen in any media, let alone games. Horror, emotional, beautiful, had me thinking about it for weeks afterwards. One of the best games I have ever played.
Una prueba más de que no es que el terror moderno sea una mierda, solo hay que saber buscar un poco.
Where's Mei-Shin?
vi o cabra jogando ja é o suficiente
The best Silent hill game not called Silent hill.
I'm not too keen on corridor-core games, but this one has some charm to it. There are genuinely good scenes in here, specially towards the end. Sadly, it has a lot of problems that this type of games have, a criptic, not that good of a story, repetitive gameplay and scenarios and a lot of style but little substance.
This review contains spoilers
POV of a failed screenwriter who forces his successful singer wife to quit her career so she can become a full time housewife instead + was easily manipulated into a cult to follow some jank ritual to save his daughter
-very spooky, well written + super sad ending :(
-one or two jumpscares got me but it was more of a slow burn kind of game
-got banned from steam b/c of winnie the pooh mention comparison of chinese communist Xi lol
- i literally wanted the father to fail + to be killed by his wife idc, he fckd up his whole family
-very spooky, well written + super sad ending :(
-one or two jumpscares got me but it was more of a slow burn kind of game
-got banned from steam b/c of winnie the pooh mention comparison of chinese communist Xi lol
- i literally wanted the father to fail + to be killed by his wife idc, he fckd up his whole family
still so beautiful and made me cry again the second time. heartbreaking story presented so well, and all of the live action additions are excellent worldbuilding
A deeply unnerving psychological horror culminating in a chilling yet heartbreaking climax.