Alongside Red Candle Game's debut title, Detention, Devotion is probably my favorite horror game of the 2010s.

It is such a shame that this game will mostly be known for the controversy surrounding it, rather than for how well crafted of a horror experience it actually is.

I am firmly in the camp that we no longer need Silent Hill as a franchise any more, because there are so many new games out now that explore similar themes in more unique ways and through more novel lenses that any future Silent Hill game will only be held back by it's franchise's own baggage.

I think one of the few developers that has taken cues from the Silent Hill games while doing something fresh instead of just solely aping SH's gameplay, visual aesthetic or vibes is Red Candle Games. The two games they have released so far are two genuinely fantastic pieces of media, and are some of the few video games that feel truly "mature" in a way most aren't. Less in terms of graphic violence or any explicit content presented, but more so in the level of understanding and tact Red Candle Games employs when broaching the subject matters they wish to address in their games.

Despite being blacklisted off of major storefronts like Steam and GOG, Devotion is available to purchase on Red Candle's own website for under $20. If you have even a slight interest in this game or Detention, I implore you to play them!

checked this game out after hearing about the delisting shitshow and also the fact that the devs made detention (another game I enjoyed)

And man. This one got me all sorts of fucked up. I cried like a fucking baby at the ending. I still think about Li Fang and Mei Shin's last words to Du Feng Yu...

Fuuuuuuuuuck man

Devotion is quite a ways off from what I expected it to be. Since I like to go in blind to most games beyond their short description, especially if it’s a horror or narrative heavy game, this often means that I have little expectations beyond what it says on the tin. For Devotion that means all I knew was that it would be a 1980s Taiwan horror game, presumedly about… Devotion. And call it stereotyping but I was very much anticipating a by-the-books but by no mean unwelcome ghost game. It goes a bit deeper than that though.

Similar to Transference, this is more a game about family than the underlying creep and dread of a boogeyman stalking you. Information you learn about yourself, your daughter, and your wife is told primarily through artistic vignettes, souvenirs, and notes, told over the snapshot duration of many years. Luckily unlike Transference, I think this game did a great job in not only defying my expectations, but in making me happy that it did. It did the unthinkable, it made me care to learn more about it’s titular family. As the name suggests, the game is a tale about how desperate devotion on the part of the player character, the father, can lead a man down a dark path to save his family. It’s a sad ballad that I could dissect set piece by set piece, but for the sake of brevity and the small possibility that I can get someone else to play this game, I won’t elaborate on any more spoilers here. I’ll just add as a last note on the story front that the passage of time is portrayed fantastically in the design and wear of the apartment complex your family lives in as you explore your past, creating a wonderful narrative and aesthetic harmony.

While I said this wasn’t a traditional haunted house, don’t think that means there won’t be any scares or legitimately horrific events. In a surprise twist this game has some of the best toe-curling body horror I’ve seen, realism be damned. And before you think this is just another PT walking simulator clone with a little fluff added on, I’m glad to say there’s some super creative gameplay segments beyond walking nondescript room to nondescript room that kept me properly engaged. Some are cute, some are ethereal, and some are quite unnerving, either by nature of the story or with the help of some masterly crafted ambience. It even has a half-decent chase sequence, with the caveat that it would have been vastly improved if our player character moved faster than a light jog. Regardless, it was short and gave the player some visceral, horror-fueled urgency that the rest of the game doesn’t quite touch on.

It’s weird how in many ways I find Devotion to be similar to Layers of Fear - another walking simulator where you uncover the dark pieces of your past - and yet I enjoyed it so much more. I think the depth of story, a clear creative throughline, and genuinely well-crafted sections beyond JUST notes made it so much more intriguing throughout, even if it wasn’t what I was initially hoping for. Devotion also has this remarkable, almost claylike look to everything that weirdly takes me back to games of the PS3 era. I’m not sure why, but I love it. Inscryption is kind of similar, it has an indescribably fuzzy art style to it that makes it oddly endearing. Whatever it is, keep ‘em coming I say.

Pep's Season of Spooks - Game 17
I've played many PT-like games over the years and most of them were bad. This is not one of them.

Funnily enough, Devotion has some parallels with the last game I played for this season, Martha Is Dead. Both are psychological horror tales in period settings that reflect their protagonist's mental deterioration. But personally I think that this is a much better experience overall. There's even one particular scene in this game that manages to be more disturbing than anything in Martha with zero gore.

Set in 1980's Taiwan, the game has you exploring an ever-changing apartment figuring out what happened to the protagonist's wife and child (spoiler alert: it ain't good). The atmosphere in the first hour or so is unbearably tense, and there are a few well-placed jumpscares peppered in. The story is told through voiceover and documents that you pick up, and with some simple puzzles the game's progression isn't too challenging. There are no doubt some people that will dismiss this as a "walking sim" (a term I don't really consider to be an insult) but the story, writing and voice acting are all strong enough to keep you interested.

There are a couple of small issues I have with Devotion. There is a sequence towards the end that felt way way too drawn out and desperately needed cutting down. There is also one "chase" sequence that felt out-of-place for this kind of game. I guess Red Candle Games felt they needed at least one scene with some sort of stakes? Otherwise you're never in any danger.

Given the game's tumultuous release history (it's only available from the developer's own website after Chinese harassment led to it's removal from Steam) it's a miracle I got to play this at all. But in the end I'm very glad I did. A dark tale of religious fanaticism, family breakdown and one very unfortunate little girl.

Scary Rating 6/10 - Overall Rating 8/10

WIKTOBER LOG #0027 - DEVOTION

As soon as I heard the language I was scared. Turns out it got even scarier.

Yes it's a *annoying pc gamer voice* "walking simulator" - it's good, it has nice pacing and good visuals, and it's hard to keep a gamer engaged while stuck in like 3 rooms. It's effective in its simplicity. There isn't much more to it than being that, though.

I just saw a review on here calling it a survival horror and I'm gonna remove half a star just for that (just kidding (maybe))

Not bad.

Very good in fact. Love me some cozy horror goodness.

For the French - https://lacritiquedumoment.wordpress.com/2023/09/28/devotion/