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.
I knew newspapers were good for something.
Lax fishkeeping is the true horror in all media.
Went a bit overboard for Valentine's.
You see what happens when you make me do homework?