Devotion is a Taiwanese game that came out sometime in late February, but was removed from Steam recently. Before the game was removed, it sold around 1,120,000 copies worldwide. The game is a psychological horror that follows a man named Du Feng Yu as he recollects on what happened to his family and how their lives went in a downwards spiral.
The gameplay is very similar to P.T. and Layers of Fear, but still holds a unique experience, with the story’s use of symbolism and different customs within Taiwanese culture. Since most popular horror games usually are either Japanese or American/Western centric, it’s quite refreshing seeing a different culture in a horror game. However, the culture and its symbolism is incorporated into the game, those who aren’t well versed in Taiwanese culture may not fully understand the plot.
Some factors of the game are a bit more open-ended and are up to player interpretation, so they might interpret the ending differently than developers intended.
Spoilers ahead. In the first few minutes of the game, it seems the family’s lives take a turn for the worse due to some supernatural element. It turns out that the real reason this family is now broken is because of Feng Yu’s stubbornness and extreme religious beliefs. He refuses to let his wife work to earn more money or let his daughter receive treatment from the hospital, believing that a god will heal her illness. This twist was quite unexpected, many horror games rely on something supernatural to scare its players, so it’s refreshing to have the horror come from a possible real life situation.
Though its story is admirable, the pacing and some of the execution is a problematic. There are parts of the game where the pacing is either too slow or too fast, like when you have to collect all of Feng Yu’s memories in order to advance to the next area. Another problem is when the point of view switches. Throughout the game, you play as Feng Yu, but occasionally switch over to play as his daughter, Mei Shin. There’s no indication that the point of view has switched, which makes for confusing gameplay.
Overall, the game arguably brings something new to the table with its cultural symbolism and use of a potential real life situation. It’s quite a shame that the controversy surrounding it caused its removal from Steam.
The gameplay is very similar to P.T. and Layers of Fear, but still holds a unique experience, with the story’s use of symbolism and different customs within Taiwanese culture. Since most popular horror games usually are either Japanese or American/Western centric, it’s quite refreshing seeing a different culture in a horror game. However, the culture and its symbolism is incorporated into the game, those who aren’t well versed in Taiwanese culture may not fully understand the plot.
Some factors of the game are a bit more open-ended and are up to player interpretation, so they might interpret the ending differently than developers intended.
Spoilers ahead. In the first few minutes of the game, it seems the family’s lives take a turn for the worse due to some supernatural element. It turns out that the real reason this family is now broken is because of Feng Yu’s stubbornness and extreme religious beliefs. He refuses to let his wife work to earn more money or let his daughter receive treatment from the hospital, believing that a god will heal her illness. This twist was quite unexpected, many horror games rely on something supernatural to scare its players, so it’s refreshing to have the horror come from a possible real life situation.
Though its story is admirable, the pacing and some of the execution is a problematic. There are parts of the game where the pacing is either too slow or too fast, like when you have to collect all of Feng Yu’s memories in order to advance to the next area. Another problem is when the point of view switches. Throughout the game, you play as Feng Yu, but occasionally switch over to play as his daughter, Mei Shin. There’s no indication that the point of view has switched, which makes for confusing gameplay.
Overall, the game arguably brings something new to the table with its cultural symbolism and use of a potential real life situation. It’s quite a shame that the controversy surrounding it caused its removal from Steam.