Devotion takes the first person horror experience of something like P.T. and crafts a haunting and disturbing tale of a family wrecked by illness and religious manipulation.

The game is heavily story based, viewed mainly through the experiences of a troubled screenwriter, his wife (a retired singer), and his daughter (an aspiring child singer) - as their financial situation deteriorates and a strange illness grips his daughter, the screenwriter turns to a very troubling and desperate option.

Spoilers aside, the player will move through versions of a dingy apartment room, exploring documents and solving small inventory puzzles to move further and activate terrifying moments. Handwashing will turn to blood. A fish's life takes on a new perspective. A mental realm leads to gruesome sacrifice. There is a LOT of shocking and disturbing content in this game that balances good jumps and horrifying imagery. As for the gameplay itself, the player shouldn't have too tough of a time with it, and has enough complexity for puzzles like traversing different time periods.

The graphics and sound design are the standout parts of this game (other than the story) - the apartment is crafted with a ton of detail to make this setting feel as genuine as possible and communicate a ton about 1980s Taiwanese culture. The audio design is supremely unsettling and there are a few bangers in the soundtrack., with a few traditional instruments thrown in.

Devotion is a short game but excellently crafted, not lingering too much on a specific gameplay element and giving a full horror adventure package.

As an opening note, one of the biggest controversies regarding this game is that it received backlash after an asset was found in the game referencing a derogatory meme of a prominent Chinese politician—which likened him to Winnie the Pooh, thus the title of this review—leading to its removal from essentially all major game marketplaces. It's a somewhat long story, but the end result is that you can't buy this game globally from Steam, GoG, Epic, or any major video game marketplace I'm aware of. I heard even some piracy sites removed it. While often the phrase "censorship" is thrown around by people throwing a fit that things like panty shots and "vagina bones" have been edited out to "stifle artistic expression" or something like that, I think this is an instance of censorship most rational people can identify as ridiculous and insidious, especially if you read the whole story which I won't repeat here since this review will be long enough. The good news is, you can still purchase the game directly from the developer on their website. It really sucks that there's no telling the loss of sales suffered from the removal from Steam and the like, especially for a game that is telling a very dark—but weirdly touching—human story. You can buy the game here: Red Candle Games Shop. While I had a few qualms with the game, I'd recommend that you do!

Devotion is an exceptionally sad tale. Playing it after the studio's earlier 2D game, Detention, which I thoroughly enjoyed, this is unsurprising. In fact, 15 minutes or so into the game, I had a good idea of how it would end—even if I lacked knowledge of the causal chain that would lead us there—and was pretty much right. But that need not be a bad thing. In fact, I think if you're considering playing either of these games, it's best to go in knowing you're in for a dark story as this of all games is not one to approach unprepared for the consequent heavy heart that's still with me as I write this review.

Unfortunately, like with Detention, I don't feel I can really explain the best things about this game in this review. This is because it's very much a game that is best experienced first-hand and even if I wanted to spoiler tag a bunch of things, the experience itself is part of why it's good, beyond what a mechanical description of the story's events and themes could really achieve. The story is revealed mostly by exploring various re-creations of the same apartment over and over with the appearance, puzzles, and scares shifting with each instantiation. There isn't a ton of dialogue, but everything is couched as a sort of flashback with brief scenes and notes portraying something that happened at some point in the family's history. There are almost no on-screen characters with the other family members often being portrayed through symbolic representation. The whole game is thoroughly symbolic and while there are plenty of clear narrative cues, much of the game is revealed through symbolism.

While that may sound pretentious and abstract, like with Detention, I think some of the greatest genius of this game is the fact that it features a fairly subtle and multi-layered story that is surprisingly not hard to follow at all. There are certainly elements I expect most players will miss on their first playthrough, but the story is rather easy to follow, despite having the appearance of an abstract art film at times. You will note that I've said almost nothing about the story given that, as I said, I think it's best experienced yourself, but the basic gist is that you play as Du Feng-yu, patriarch of a family of three, including his wife and daughter, living in Taipei in the 1980s. I'd rather not give a ton more details, but I will say that despite being perhaps equally as dark, I think there is a bit less of the typical triggering content than in Detention, even if some of that stuff is still there. I will say that while I didn't find the story as engaging in the first half as I did Detention, the game still ends up hitting like a hammer when it all comes together, resulting in a story that is weirdly beautiful and touching above its deeply disturbing events. I will also say that while it's at first a bit confusing (and ambiguous) in meaning, the ending cutscene is a really spectacular climactic sequence that in retrospect ties together some of the game's ambivalent tragedy rather beautifully. Which is another thing I'll say for it: despite most of the game being easy to follow, it was one of those endings that didn't quite come together for me until several minutes after the credits rolled.

Gameplay is where I think Devotion suffers most. If I had ignored the story and just played it as a spooky puzzle game, I'd probably have given it 2 stars. The visuals are decent, but frankly, the "horror" of the game I found rather lackluster. This is in part because I have the unpopular opinion that P.T. was at the very least way overrated, and never really that great of an idea. I'm further getting tired of all the games imitating it, which this game is definitely guilty of. I found the more blatant "horror" pieces of the game kind of eh beyond the psychological side of the narrative. The puzzles are mostly overly-simplistic and bland as well. They're easy, perhaps a little easier than in Detention, but in that game, I found the puzzles more unique and interesting, which is less the case here where it's almost entirely item puzzles: find the thing and bring it to the right place. In some ways however, this criticism is rather unfair given I opened the paragraph saying that my impression would be rather negative if I just viewed the horror and puzzle aspects in their own right. However, doing so ultimately misses the point rather drastically. Nearly every jumpscare or spooky moment—and even the mechanics of the otherwise-bland puzzles—parallels, relates, or symbolizes in gruesome detail the progression of the narrative. While I still knock the game a bit for the gameplay since I did find it made some parts of the game feel dull and unengaging, I don't feel nearly so harshly since these are all elements that contribute to the work's focus: its haunting narrative. That's simply not to say it couldn't have done the same thing and made the gameplay and puzzles stronger.

I've seen Red Candle's sort of duology of standalone-but-similar games described as "Cultural Horror." That's especially true of Detention. However, I found that description both more and less apt here in different ways. For one, Detention felt much more tied to broader social events of its time and place, whereas Devotion, from my understanding, is mostly only tied to the general feel and collective consciousness of its time and place other being partially based on a true story coming from that same setting. Cultural norms are essential to the causal rabbit hole leading to the game's tragedies, but they're not quite so visceral and center stage as in Detention. That said, considering Red Candle's aims in making these games are in part to introduce people to Taiwanese culture, the story and settings are still rife with cultural symbols and aesthetics. But further, I think this story feels a bit more universalizable: you could swap out the elements for parallels in other cultures and periods and reach similar conclusions. That's in no way a bad thing, of course. In fact, relatability is a powerful element to any dark story, but it is a more notable difference from Detention's narrative which is far more rooted in its setting. On the other hand, with my own (very) passing familiarity with the cultural and spiritual backgrounds the games are pulling from, I was able to follow pretty much all of Detention, missing only a few of the deeper references in the background. Devotion on the other hand I definitely missed some rather key symbolism that really reinforced the narrative when I read about it online. That said, the game is still plenty playable with just the clues and explanations given to you by the narrative. You may miss some symbolic themes, but likely still follow the whole story, aside from its ambiguous ending that you can't ever be too sure about.

In the end, I found myself pretty happy—okay, not happy, but "satisfied"—with Devotion. Like Detention, it's a story that if you follow it to its conclusion, is going to hit you hard. Both are tragic tales. But I do appreciate that both stories do something I really like in the darker character studies I do consume: the narrative evolves by tracing the descent of a character that diminishes the "nature" of the character and instead illustrates the path that led them to be who they are. I find this is a far more realistic view of human nature and tragedy than the more individualist "good" and "bad" narrative we often see, especially in the West. As my rating indicates, on balance, I liked Detention more, but the more I think about it, that's mostly because I felt like that game was more clever in its gameplay and progression. The stories are fairly different but I think equally effective and top-notch, with Devotion's being a bit more visually impactful. If I weren't a little bored with the earlier parts of the game, I'd probably give this 5 stars as I did its predecessor. I definitely think both games are worth playing, especially to stick it to actual censorship.

A massive stride forward for psychological indie horror. Falls back on one too many genre expectations, but atmosphere and mature story elevate it to something emotionally impactful. Highly recommend!

I knew newspapers were good for something.

You might not call me a devotee of this genre exactly. I'm just never going to entirely accept these psychological puzzle-lite horror walking sims' usage of metaphor and abstraction. I swear you could break a fingernail in these games and next thing you know it you're in a hellscape with giant fingernails closing in on you like a Death Star trash compactor and being chased down hallways by a sharp fingernail-wielding edition of Good Fingernails Monthly. Unendingly creative, though these can be, the marriage of normal hardships and events to standard horror tropes and justification as some dreamlike, nightmare interpretation can feel the worst of both worlds. The embellishment is transparent and the story can't raise the horror beyond feeling like it's apropos of nothing.

My response is usually one of going through the motions. 'Oh, that means this... this means that.' What is attempting to bridge the emotional gap between observer and in-game characters in terms of how the highs and lows actually feel, just falls flat.

Lax fishkeeping is the true horror in all media.

Except, with Devotion, perhaps an hour in, the spell finally worked. Just the right amount of real-world grounding dovetailing with some of the most outstanding visual and sound design I've seen let these bugbear moments impact like they were supposed to. It's still not perfect. Jump scares and antagonists err too much into 'because it's a horror game' territory, but it works better than I ever dared hope.

Devotion, 3D first steps as they may be after the critically acclaimed Detention, wears a lot of its inspirations on its sleeve. Some of the usual suspects in Layers of Fear, Observer's dream eater sections and PT especially see nods. One of the sections is pleasantly reminiscent of the multi-year visiting antics of the recent Transference The Walter Test Case and Get Even. Inspired by some, though it may be, I think it ends up beating them at their own game.

Went a bit overboard for Valentine's.

Like Detention, the immersion into a different culture and time period is beyond fascinating. It's all-pervading too, from the absolutely meticulously designed domestic setting, the use of Taiwanese instruments and 80s music, real-life reality television singing competition playing on the TV and the customs, lifestyle, religious beliefs and hopes and fears illuminated in dialogue and notes. This apartment complex and its characters exist. Don't tell me they don't! I'm not usually a note reader in games, but I read through everything the game threw at me and was enthralled.

The game falls on the shorter side, but it's just as well it's an absolute emotional trip for it. The game holds many surprises that just shouldn't be spoilt and it successfully mixes things up both mechanically, visually and thematically that it staves off feeling like a dread-fest or a stuck-in-its-ways walking sim. Even its main system of matching inventory items with the environment feels considered with a welcome extra step to it over what could have been a more passive process. It ensures you have to be switched on and making connections.

You see what happens when you make me do homework?

I'm not going to pretend for a minute that I wasn't at all swept up by the game's outstanding presentation. Unlike, say, the one-note psychological horror of Layers of Fear or Observer's dream eater sections, Red Candle are surely the new experts at environment manipulation, evoking feeling through atmosphere, lighting and colour, and out-of-this-world creative setpieces. Beyond sheer fidelity (which they nail for their first 3D engine foray) it's the sheer love paid to most every detail and around every corner that truly won me over. Rather than throw scary imagery at you with non-impactful metaphorical vagaries, the game feels laser-focused on hitting the right emotional note. Rather than be deliberately obtuse, Devotion has a story to tell.

Devotion feels like a massive stride forward for psychological indie horror. Whilst still playing by the rules of its contemporaries and falling back on one too many horror genre expectations, it manages to carve out an identity all of its own by exercising its exceptional sense of place and atmosphere and mature, grounded story to make its horror excesses work to an emotional end. I can only leave the experience feeling, myself, a devotee of Red Candle. Surely one of the best devs in the business.

This is PT meets Gone Home. It's like PT in how you repeatedly go through the same apartment over and over again with little or big changes each time. The apartment even changes while you're still in it sometimes. It's like Gone Home in that you are working to uncover what happened to this family through flyers, tv broadcasts, discarded notes, rejected script pages, diary entries, etc.

The player is the father of this family of three with a mother and daughter. He is also a struggling screenwriter. Early on, it is revealed that the daughter has a severe illness preventing her from attending school, and the mother used to be a famous singer before giving that up to start a family. This is my big issue with the game, and it's the same issue I have with Gone Home: the story isn't strong enough to support the game. I have no reason to care about this family or to want to dig any deeper. I was bored through most of my playthrough. It isn't scary and the puzzles are pretty simple.

The game does manage to end strong. There are twists on what I thought the story was about, and the game breaks from its PT-structure to go to a new, more interesting location. The ending is surprisingly dark. It's still too little too late, but it didn't improve my opinion of the game.