Review/Critique: Detention

Detention

Red Candle Games

Review/Critique: As far as horror goes, few people I know get scared as easily as myself. Ever since I watched Freddy vs Jason when I was young and couldn't go to the bathroom myself, I've been completely unable to handle anything horror related. That means when it came to playing a horror game for Year of Critique, I was really at a loss for what to do. It's a very popular genre, so to ignore it altogether would be an issue. Unlike a film though, a game does not simply play itself. If you put it on you can't just stop playing when it gets to the scary part. As you can see this led to me putting it off and putting it off until I could put it off no longer. The thought of playing it was a nightmarish one, but I knew eventually I would have to face it head on and just get it over with. I've done that, I've played and beaten the game, and horror wise it wasn't even that scary (for the most part). I'm glad I played it too, since the game is a fantastic experience.

         Now although it is September and July was indeed quite a while ago, this was my game of choice for my Foreign themed month and I will be honest in saying I don't know if I could have picked a better game. The story of Detention takes place during the 1960s White Terror Period in Taiwan, and attempts to illustrate to the viewer the terror felt among the people who had to live through this horrible time in history. It revolves around the characters Wei Chung Ting and Fang Ray Shin who become trapped alone at school while a Typhoon slowly approaches. An unexpected event occurs and Ray is left alone to wander the hallways, trying to find a way out of the hellish landscape the school has become. It's a rather linear story driven experience that barely clocks over five hours when you're done with it, but what it leaves you with in that time is truly haunting in a way only a video game can be. Like I said before, the game is only five hours long so to say much else and spoil the experience would be silly. Just know that the insight it gives into this important historical event that really isn't talked about at all in western society is to me invaluable. It makes me happy too, since this is exactly what I was looking for in a piece for Year of Critique.

         I did say a lot of positive things above, and it is true that I really did enjoy this game, but I definitely think there are a lot of things that would have made it better (and I assume were improved upon in Red Candle Game's next title Devotion). For starters, this game... is hardly a game. I know that I said before this is an experience that is greatly improved by being a video game, and I absolutely still hold to that notion. It's just that, aside from being in control of your character and being forced to act to progress the story, there is really not that much gameplay. It's undeniably a point and click adventure game and there certainly are some puzzles in that vein, but I would have really liked for them to have been a bit more "puzzly". What I mean by that is that most puzzles in the game are solved simply by following the clues the game gives you of where to go. Each story event is followed by some hint on where you need to go next, there you get an item that allows you to get to the next story event. There are a couple exceptions to this, but they are few and far between. I also think five hours is too short for this game. You all know I love story driven, linear games, but a game like this could've really benefited from some extra optional content. When you realize the game is just taking you straight through a narrative with no other options, it really does take away from some of the panic it tries to instill. To close off there are two different endings for this game, both very important. It makes me sad to say though that you really should just look up how to get both endings. To my knowledge there's no way to know how to get the different endings, and they are really both important to experiencing the whole narrative. This is an aspect that could've been greatly improved on (perhaps with more optional content instead of a generic question and answer section) and is one thing that really brings down my overall opinion of the game.

Recommendation: Detention is a really unique and insightful title. If what I've said above intrigues you, I definitely think you should check it out. If you can handle horror and like dark narratives that help give you insight into really important and impactful cultural events then this is a title you shouldn't miss. It's not the most terrifying game out there, and is a game you will absolutely adore if you like linear more story driven games. If you don't like horror in any way, are relatively indifferent to the historical element, or can't stand linear games, I suggest you try something else.

        Side note, I do plan on eventually playing Devotion (Red Candle Game's second title) and I've heard it's a lot scarier than this title so look forward to that... maybe I'll stream it.

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And that's my review/critique on Detention! I'm making progress in getting caught up, my picks for September should be out tomorrow.

Until then!