Devotion - Domestically Surreal (Game Review)
You've turned my deepest misery into a comforting flower
Am not a fan of horror games, in some cases I am like Dead Space or Resident Evil. Since both aforementioned are mostly action-horror games. Devotion falls into the whole "P.T inspired" walking simulator. Yes, this is mostly an exploration game where you solve puzzles, search items and interact with objects on a story basis. Devotion unlike any of similar games in the genre, takes something like that to serious heights. Like, shaking the foundation while offering the best of what's already familiar. This short yet deeply disturbing game is stuck deep past my cranium for years to come.
Taking some inspirations like Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch and Layers of Cake, the cake imbues deep themes of family distress, death, cult, murder, social pressure, among other things related to the history of 80s Taiwan. There's a lot of disturbing details to uncover within notes containing limericks, doctor inscriptions, transcriptions of both wife, daughter and husband, screenplay notes, etc. The creep factor in this game is really persistent. Just when you think you're done dealing with one section, the entities that creep around you provide no clemency, will keep you constantly on your toes.
Your mental constitution is tested time after time, with little room to breathe. Playing the protagonist as the father of your daughter Mei Shin; you trek through the shattered memories and twisted realities of your home life before its fallout.
You play as Du Feng Yu, a troubled screenwriter who explores his dilapidated Taipei home apartment, where he gets shifted to one form of his home in different forms. With the main intention of the paranormal beings overseeing that you're punished with horrible, visceral and haunting images of your own, wrongdoings. Among all that, there's a lot of social commentary thrown in about Taiwan society during the 80s. Feng Yu is dealing with writer's block and the fact that his inferiority complex and inability to provide for his family affecting his behavior and moral judgement before leading to his family's demise.
The first 20 minutes you play this game, it's clear that this game will only give you an abundance of breathing room before terrorizing you with crazy jumpscares, not misplaced, not poorly done, jumpscares that truly does raise hair with real tension. In ways you least expect it even. It's just cleverly done with good build-ups.
In the first chapter, you're just picking up items like notes and household items that you have to interact with from the menu. While the game just has you following it linearly through the narrative, it eventually puts you in a junction point where fulfilling parts of the game that acts as sub-narrative. Parts where you have to solve specific puzzles, find lock combinations and certain items to resolve them. The game isn't long, however, it makes you feel like multiple playthroughs would be necessary to get different endings of it which this game does have.
You'll have to explore so many levels, some looking different because they're affected by the choices you make and so on. Interacting with objects require you finding their missing pieces before putting them together for use.
Some part of the game are wholesome, timid experiences like you reading a bedtime story to your doctor while playing a mini-game of it completely different and devoid of any horror elements. But it's what makes it more tragic when you find out what happens later on.
The writing in this game is brilliant, even with added levity towards the daughter interaction sections. The game makes it oh-so insane when you read the cryptic poems and the interactions with other people filled with some of the darkest things any human beings could say within normal society. Devotion only pulls very little punch while giving some for solid effect.
To fully uncover everything, you have to read through the notes, news clippings, and such. These details add a lot of subplot elements
The visceral visual storytelling is complimented with great visual presentation, added that with a haunting score and unnerving sound design, as if you're stuck forever in a haunted house where anything could happen and the inhabitants will contort themselves to their content. Doing so requires smooth animated transitions, and it seems this game is really well-made. Everything done using the Unity engine.
The audio has barely music playing, with their ambition was of course to build a very subdued atmosphere. The screeching noises, hauling screams, the dense noise pollution as you trek through the apartment complex multiple times and just anything demonic messing with your head. It doesn't overdo itself as they all maintain good consistency all throughout.
I did enjoy a lot, playing this game while being sucked into the atmosphere and narrative. The game only released for the PC and there's a catch. Due to a controversy relating to the Chinese president Shi Xinpeng, the game was banned from Steam stores. GOG almost published it but they pulled it out at the last minute. The game wasn't available to play till now, since Red Candle Games have decided to publish it on their own webpage instead. Price can a little steep but this game isn't something you play at one go. Even after 2-3hrs of it being done, it requires multiple playthroughs to get different experiences and different endings. Also, uh good luck with the bladder control.
A few pros and cons if you will -
Pros:
- Rich atmosphere, thick enough to pull you right into the whirlpool of its surreal world.
- Enriched storytelling with great writing and voice cast.
- Good mini-games that often provides some respite from the cruel and despondent.
- Jumpscares and sheer terror from almost every corner.
- Multiple playthroughs for different choice results and endings.
- This is a terrifying game to play.
Cons:
- There are times using objects, inputs don't register. Though this isn't frequent and isn't around when drastic actions are needed.
- Game is really short.