Detention frustrates me to think about because a good, or even great game exists in here but it suffers from a few things, most jarringly a sense that the developers changed their mind about what kind of game they wanted to make halfway through.

1960s Taiwan during its period of martial law (aka White Terror) is the perfect setting for a horror game. At the start, the game uses this setting effectively, along with its more fantastical horror elements to instill a real sense of hopelessness and oppression. The puzzles themselves are serviceable, but mainly aim to bring the player from one story beat to the next with monsters in between that kept me paranoid as I walked between points. However, halfway through this all kind of falls away and we're left with a poorly told story about rebellion, betrayal, and regret that's tonally inconsistent with the first half and loses all of its tension.

The most consistent aspect of this game is its striking visuals, music and sound design. Although these aspects are a highlight, the visuals in particular are betrayed by the storytelling. There are so many times where the imagery was enough to let me get a sense for what was going on, but the game can't help itself and spells almost everything out for the player, and this is where most of my frustration comes from. The game seems to want to use metaphor and imagery to convey its messaging and story, but completely abandons it by the end.

Just as a final note that doesn't fit nicely into the rest of the review, the final scene with the counselor character is genuinely baffling and disgusting, what were they thinking???