Devotion: The Most Disturbing Game You Cannot Play

[@xxcrysad3000xx]

"We would rather kill 99 innocent people than miss a guilty one." That quote sent shivers down my spine.

[@punchydonut2798]

The only reaction i had was rage. The fucking arrogance and cowardice. Monsters like that arent people, they're fucking dirt.

[@raginbakin1430]

@@punchydonut2798 "Monsters like that arent people, they're fucking dirt." They are still people. Morally reprehensible, disgusting people, but people nonetheless. Denying that brings us down closer to their level.

[@punchydonut2798]

@@raginbakin1430 i disagree. The reality of this unfair universe if you have to fight fire with fire. Trying to be the bigger person in every situation is nice in theroy, but you will inevitably come across someone who will exploit that as a weakness and destory everything you value. If you have something worth proecting, fight for it or you will eventually lose it. Innocent people die when you cant match the power of the oppressor. Yes technically they are of the human species, but i think that once you have crossed certain lines you cant be looked at that way anymore. But i understand morality is subjective, what dehumanized a person to someone will be different for different people. But at the end of the day all you can do is believe in your morals and fight for them. And my morals say "people" like this should be eliminated and their graves pissed on lol

[@sadpee7710]

idk why it was so shocking tbh that's still the current mindset and standard a lot of countries (western ones included, most predominantly america but also nations like the UK etc) operate on. i mean you don't have to go all the way to china and rewind history to find this kind of thing. it's happening right now with the borderline genocide in yemen with the US and Saudis using the same motivations. basically every modern drone program is incarnate of that quote as well. plus obviously isreali military if you want to count that as western for whatever reason (not that being western matters. it was just an arbitrary distinction to show that this kinda thing is closer than you think). they bombed schools and hospitals but more precisely civilian shelters for people *fleeing the bombs just in case a terrorist might be seeking shelter among them* i guess it's pretty depressing that this quote didn't affect me. when first i heard it i was like "oh? that's it?". it's like daily life smh. wish i could be more shocked by that cuz then the world would be a better place.

[@rafaelvalle6971]

punchy donut I agree but we must be very careful how and when we decide to play dirty too and when they cross that line they cast away their humanity

[@jodielee6253]

10:43 when the tv starts skipping, it starts repeating the number 8 over and over again, making it sound like the tv is saying "papa (baba)", as if it's his daughter calling for him to save her

[@angelojeremiah8thb679]

*damn, that's deep*

[@explodingtomahawks7589]

Holy shit, bro, I'm scared enough as it is!

[@giornogiovanna5020]

Okay.. now i'm scared af.

[@Stigmatix666]

Oh.. That's what it means..

[@princessloveheartglitter]

Oh yeah cause eight in Chinese is Ba right? I keep on confusing it with 5 (Bu)

[@sebastianholst9778]

A chilling detail about the scene where we see the daughter lose by one point, and the announcer reads out the results: The mandarin word for "88" sounds a lot like the mandarin word for "father", therefore when we hear the word "88" being repeated over and over it can be interpreted as the daughter calling out for her father. Got me shitting my pants

[@ae1103]

Ooh

[@giornogiovanna5020]

That is creeping me out

[@Rosa-kf2ik]

88 can also sound very close to “bye-bye” like a childish way of saying goodbye

[@fievelovy]

For the ones who didn't pay attention to what the announcer said and wants to know more: "88" is ba ba. While "father" is "pa pa".

[@olive4200]

@@fievelovy father in chinese is pronounced “ba ba”

[@DolanOk]

Please read, On the part about mental illnesses it's extremely common in Asia for parents to deny that their children have any. It's a sense of pure shame for them and they are too proud to acknowledge their own children's desperate cries for help. I've dealt with this in my life and it can absolutely destroy a child.

[@anjaymemi8urytyt]

DolanOk same here, i have regular panic attacks where i would scream and hyperventilate, but my parents would just hit me while it happened. I want help but they wont bring me to a therapist because mental illness is looked down upon in my family.

[@denji5426]

experienced that first hand. panic attacks, anxiety attacks were commonplace for me before and now while i don't have those anymore, i still have a lot of mental illnesses that i can't get treatment for because my parents refuse to acknowledge that it's an issue. it's absolutely abhorrent and i hope that the coming generation can change this strange stigma about needing a helping hand.

[@anjaymemi8urytyt]

prod suga i hope the best for you.

[@denji5426]

@@anjaymemi8urytyt me too. hope everything gets better for you

[@cauvangquaygame8524]

Hope you guys can recover from that, and hey, have a nice day and all. Best wishes to you

[@slurmpa7246]

one thing I would like to note is that I don't think the mannequins are following you. I believe the mannequins are actually looking at the doll. Not only does this show how much pressure/attention is put on the child, but it makes sense as to why those moments are so disturbing. It's because you are not meant to be in that scene. You are not part of the scene where the mannequins/parents stare lovingly at their doll/child. You feel as if you're an intruder, despite being the father. You no longer deserve to have that chance to look at your daughter in the same way that you once had.

[@jamie1602]

I never thought of it this way and now that you say this, it makes a lot of sense given the way you're nearly forced out of the rooms by these mannequins. They're all dolls in the end and this is their happy family. And we, as the father, screwed up our happy family. Why should we screw up theirs?

[@pepessz32]

Not too long ago in Indonesia, a parent and their "spiritual teacher" were arrested for murder. They were caught killing their 6-7 yr old girl by submerging her in the tub because she was very troublesome, and the spiritual teacher believed that the girl was possessed by evil spirit. The parent couldn't believe that they'd killed their own child. So in denial, they put her corpse in the bed, cleaned and changed her clothes everyday as if she was just sleeping, hoping that she'd come back alive. Neighbors found out about it weeks later, while the body is already in the late stage of decomposing. This is the reality that we live in. This took place in the real life. I pray for her soul. RIP.

[@windshitter2092]

Bruh

[@thefrustratedsciencestuden3941]

Wtf ?

[@jexxisahuman9073]

How i did not know this but danm interesting

[@migongaming]

☕

[@tokio6332]

what the hell

[@lyndiss.2017]

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS* --- This game personally relates to me a lot because I went through the same ordeal as Little Meixin here (except for being dead). I was suffering from a serious case of OCD (the washing variety; I started using bleach on myself) when I was in an elite boarding school and though I didn't know that it was a mental illness, I sure knew I most likely needed mental help. However, everyone-my peers, my distant relatives, my parents-believed I was possessed by a belligerent spirit. At school, no one dared talked to me and everyone called me 鬼上身 ("possessed") or "疯婆子" ("madwoman") in school forums and gossips. It was actually widely spread to every student at school, including seniors. OCD was driving me to a constant edge of germ paranoia already, but people isolating you and treating you like you were legit being possessed was even more excruciating. When I pled to my parents that I wanted to change my school, and that I feel like I'm advancing to some kind of mental breakdown or personality warping, and that I *needed* help, all they saw was a child's excuse for her own weakness and "snowflake traits". In the end, I had no choice but to seize the "possessed" narrative and pretended to lose control to leave the school and start over somewhere else, but the unwanted result was that I was forced to undergo two exorcisms as well as "confirming" everyone's stupid ass idea that I was indeed possessed by a ghost. I was only 13 back then. I only knew that I was actually suffering from OCD when I was 15. Mental illness is simply not something traditional Chinese families would discuss about. "Only insane people have them" is the implication.

[@GrubKiller436]

I hope you're doing better now.

[@vilvero]

It’s really interesting to hear about how different thing are there. Hope that doesn’t sound heartless. Hope you’re doing fine today.

[@GrubKiller436]

Yup. They still do rituals and exorcisms. I know it cause my traditional family does it too. Western psychiatric treatment is its own crap. But asian people need to graduate from their major ignorance of mental illness. It's the 21st century and they are still on about their superstition. Now everytime they do their rituals, I think "this is a waste of time." These people are not able to effectively tend to mental conditions at all. And that's an unfortunate case for kids who live in these households. They just think you're crazy or possessed by spirits!

[@MS-de7bb]

I'm sorry you had to go through that

[@scummybabyelephant6094]

Omg!! That's so sad man, and I know this is such a mediocre response but idk...I was wanting to write down what I've went through but what you've went through is terrible..2 EXORCISMS!!!! Honey , I hope your okay *give you a hug so that this day and all your days don't go good (because that's impossible) but you have the strength to voice your opinions and fight *

[@WillcraftAnimations]

How ironic that a game about cults would be review-bombed by people who are angry about them offending their great leader...

[@DarynLuna]

yeah no shit

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

lol

[@Lee-wr2ts]

@conan263 is vinnie the poo also a mainlander?

[@Waltzhybrid92]

It would be interesting to have a breakdown on the demographics of chinese players who down voted out of A) coercion, B) genuine rage, or C) for the sake of preserving steam or D) ordering that people create accounts and just write a negative comments. Xi Jinping has maintained a reputation for being easy to goad and has more than sufficient means as well as the history for it to appear as though the chinese genuinely dislike Devotion. Maybe I'm wrong. Would love the honest opinion of you feel about this issue if you're chinese.

[@Megapixel8063]

Woah, it’s you!

[@Castlevaniac1]

Just in case you haven't seen already: You now CAN buy the game on their own store! Maybe a little shoutout would be cool? These devs deserve it...

[@isortofyoutube]

Want to bump this as I'm watching this in 2021 and super glad both games are available directly from them!

[@thawedantarctican2171]

Fuck yeah! PC only? What platforms?

[@KyleGalindoAdvanced]

Came back to leave this comment, +1 to you bastion of epicness

[@deathshadowpr741]

At the end he said he would update the description if it became available. Which it clearly has linked in the description.

[@bookbook9495]

Please give us more info on this. Can we have a link?

[@brikaro1]

This game is a good reason why the review bombing issue is addressed by steam. If a majority of negative reviews are useless fluff, they should be discluded from the overall score.

[@kevind3974]

this game was doomed anyway. they accidentally insulted the president. the government wanted them dead

[@justalostlocal]

@@kevind3974 the president is really easy to offend tho. Winnie the bastard takes himself waaayy too serious.

[@ideitbawxproductions1880]

if Steam doesn't even care enough about quality control to prevent garbage games & asset flips from getting on the platform, then they're really not gonna care about review bombing. they seem to be happy running a shitshow

[@orderofdusk2382]

How would this be determined? The number of characters used in the review? Wouldn't that punish people for making detailed reviews? Or do you propose that Valve have actual people read every single review posted on games? Wouldn't that be impractical and take an extremely long time due to the sheer volume of content to sift through? How is Valve going to determine if the reviews are actually helpful? Also why only negative reviews? Wouldn't review botting or other such underhanded practices be just as harmful?

[@TotallyNotJoe_]

@@orderofdusk2382 Dude, they don’t need to make some special bot for it. It’s widely known that this game was review bombed for dumb reasons, so why shouldn’t the rating come with a disclaimer or even be included at all?

[@isadoracostahamsi163]

It sounds a lot like what happened in Brazil during the military dictatorship. People say lights would suddenly go out in the school and when it came back a teacher or school friend was just gone. Never seen again. My own grandfather was imprisoned for “unapproved books”. My uncles are all still mentally traumatised...

[@st4rozemira]

That's the exact same story in Detention.....

[@lucasmacielptu]

Im from Brazil too, and it scares me how similar was Detention to what people suffered in the past here...

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

Happens a lot with socialist and communist countries too

[@naironluiz8126]

Pensei a mesma coisa. E não vou mentir... a ideia de que o terror da minha família desaparecer por conta de um governo totalitário me assusta mais do que terror cósmico ou outro tipo de terror. Só a descrição dele do Terror Branco já me deixou... perturbado.

[@kelvinspencer9265]

And we have the EXACT same cult discribed in the video, it's literally the exact same thing. Valdemiro Santiago, Edir Macedo, etc, etc...

[@Northflowo]

I'm kind of shocked that Chinese cencorship can extend outside of China as well...

[@redhydra2871]

so am i

[@tomtom3592]

true xD

[@a.alfiandi9871]

"we all live under Chinese censorship" it's sad but it's true, especially since they are basically a labor power house in the world

[@tobiaskadachi]

Well.. every MCU movie is washed out to be released in China..

[@tomtom3592]

@@tobiaskadachi true? xD

[@Holacalaca]

huh "...never knowing when a classmate or teacher might just dissapear" that strikes uncomfortably home for an argentinian whose parents went through the same thing during our last de facto government.

[@arthurdossantos6826]

Same here in Brazil. And our government now makes fun of the victims of such regime and praise the torturers. It's really scary.

[@princeblackelf4265]

Damn, i've heard of the infamous " dissapeared" but it's all the more chilling to see some one real talk about having lived through it

[@danariola9169]

The same exact thing of "never knowing when a classmate of teacher might just disappear" also happened here in the Philippines for almost 10 years back in the 70s. What's scary is with the current president and his administration, it's not too far-fetched for it to happen again

[@LostArchivist]

Without learning from history, humanity is doomed to repeat it. The world reached for the heavens, but let its base decay, and the pillars are beginning to break one by one.

[@brunoandrespadillanavarro8923]

Yeah let's remind the condor plan *looks angrily at american anti communism policies*

[@alexrider1105]

I'm a fluent Chinese speaker, but I can't even come close to deciphering the message on the wall as "Xi Jinping Winnie the Pooh Moron". There is a famous Chinese saying that applies here: "言者無心，聽者有意", which translates roughly as, "the speaker has no intentions, but the listener does". Whenever I think of Chinese censorship, this quote comes to mind.

[@fluffynator6222]

This reminds me of a joke: A secretary is standing outside the Kremlin as Marshal Zhukov leaves a meeting with Stalin, and she hears him muttering under his breath, "Murderous moustache!". She runs in to see Stalin and breathlessly reports, "I just heard Zhukov say 'Murderous moustache'!" Stalin dismisses the secretary and sends for Zhukov, who comes back in. "Who did you have in mind with 'Murderous moustache'?" asks Stalin. "Why, Josef Vissarionovich, Hitler, of course!" Stalin thanks him, dismisses him, and calls the secretary back. "And who did you think he was talking about?"

[@alexrider1105]

@@fluffynator6222 Maybe that's why Chinese leaders shave off their mustaches

[@Prinzessin-s6b]

Same. Malaysian Chinese here and I can't see how it says 'Xi jinping winnie the pooh moron'.

[@TheSoultanidis]

Fuck CCP.

[@temporaneo617]

Now I'm curious, what do you think it says??

[@Snowfoxie1]

I'm an ESL tutor for kids in China. Pooh used to be a huge reward/motivation system in classes because he's a huge deal in China, almost more so than in the west. Kids looooove him. But we had to stop using Pooh stuff in lessons completely after the meme went viral. Now the kids can't even say his name. It's so weird.

[@naizamabao4681]

CHINA IS BACK TO ITS 1980'S ROOTS

[@cherrypopscile3385]

@Charlie Waterlow it's technically not. It's more a bloated mixture of the US Senate if they were unelected, corporate aristocracy (it's not capitalism or communism, or even corporatism it's really more like a weird state company symbiotic relationship) and a weird strong man dictator on top. I honestly think it's kind of a kingdom without a king in a way.

[@sivvinod3187]

@@cherrypopscile3385 China is the abomination you get when you try to mix capitalism, communism, socialism, dictatorship and monarchy all together

[@Hiihtopipa]

Lol imagine being so insecure you make a meme illegal

[@liberpolo5540]

@@Hiihtopipa LMAO!

[@83j049733rfe4]

I'm going to take this moment to say that asian cultures have traditionally been unable to accept or address mental illness. This extends far beyond the West's inability to reconcile developmental disorders like fetal alcohol or other observable birth defects. Even something as "acceptable" here as depression is so taboo within many asian communities that even within the family unit, it is rarely given attention. It's ignored to the best of everyone's ability. This is the cultural reason behind the father in Devotion trying to pin his daughter's illness as physical rather than mental. It's also played a part in some real life incidents of which are better left unnamed. But it's fair to say that this cultural inability to deal with insanity or retardation has cost lives and brought shame on surviving family.

[@redneckscumbags4422]

it's not much better in the west. If you tell ppl you have any type of mental disorder, you're still seen as a messed up problematic person. The difference is seeking help from a psychiatrist is a more common concept in the west, but still not that common, it's not like the average person in the west would ever see a psychiatrist unless they completely breakdown and alot of ppl here don't believe in psychiatry. The human race still has a long way to go when it comes to matters of the mind.

[@83j049733rfe4]

@@redneckscumbags4422 Oh trust me... Trust me I'm familiar. Because yeah, it is Better but by a very thin margin and even then, there's the Socially Acceptable forms of Mental Issues but only up to a certain point and then it does get worse. With it all ultimately coming toward that thin line between "At least you're still technically a person" and "You're not even human anymore" But depending on how Bad You Are, the western answer is still to Confront What's Wrong. That has it's own problems. Makes things worse, and due to the climate that Confronting What's Wrong, there's still a lot of issues you cannot afford to come forward with. Because the reaction still comes down to saving everyone by throwing the baby out with the bath water. Including the baby. But whereas Western Answers are confrontational, in a lot of eastern communities (I'm finding out this includes Muslim, Pakistani in particular at least) ignore it. That real life incident was Virginia Tech, by the way.

[@asri1361]

@@83j049733rfe4 you can say that about domestic abuse, its normalized and seen as a way to discipline a child or wife and its passed through generations, my dad talked about growing up in his country where he constantly lived in fear of his parents and older siblings if he spoke out of turn he'd get a beating, he couldnt ask for seconds or leave food crumbs in his plate etc but it was normal and a way of respect, respect and fear were the same thing in this mind. The kids and younger siblings need to have that that fear/respect for the parents. I had depression but my parents thought that it was because my faith was weak and I needed to pray i was told that my heart was black and rotten.but they tried to understand it and even took me to therapy they really do care tho.

[@Th3Raz96]

Meanwhile in the US we have 14 year olds crying wolf about mental illness just to get attention and special treatment, right alongside people who have genuine serious issues and suffer in silence because they won't acknowledge their condition, either out of stubborness or to avoid the stigma. I'd say that the most common conditions are pretty normalized here now, which is good for the people willing and able to find the help they need, but also results in over-diagnosing and false claims. And then us Men are expected to keep everything inside us because emotions would make us seem week so we bottle it all up until it becomes an even *worse* illness

[@icvip9753]

Th3Raz96 people suffer in silence because of viewports like yours telling them they are faking 🤦‍♀️ men are really burdened unfortunately but we are now slowl starting to address such issues

[@Kinoksis]

Should this game be available on Steam again, I'll buy it in a heartbeat just to spite that petty Winnie bastard.

[@muskie2543]

Kinoksis Same for me bro, if the developers aren’t dead by that time ;p

[@bosunbill9059]

The game is definitely available bruh, the Game is criticizing the Chiang`s KMT, not the CCP. So why would the CCP ban this game, in fact this game can serve as good propaganda for the CCP.

[@hiway19891]

I'm from Taiwan, so I bought this game the first week, and sadly the game was pulled off the second week because they found the mockery.

[@aussieboy4090]

Comrade Bill Naiive. You think China hasn’t made propaganda on 228 Incident? Mind you the incident happened before you were born.

[@thehalf-dane4907]

can't you still buy it from thier website?

[@joseystrife8780]

I think the most tragic part of Devotion is that Li Fong had planned to come back after filming and was planning to take her family away to someplace peaceful which is why we see her just before getting on the elevator because she came back for her family

[@strawbvcandy]

this is breaking my heart

[@ArkayeCh]

People arguing whether the father loved the family are missing the forest for the trees. The real horror is that the father did love them but chose to do those horrific things anyways. The worst thing to learn in life is that 'Love' is not sacred. It can be compromised with delusions, pride and abuse. It's terrifying to understand the father maimed himself and his family with those feelings in his mind. That's how the video described domestic horror. Scares the shit out of me. Also, Red Candle just released Nine Sols. Demo looks solid.

[@NIHIL_EGO]

I cannot agree with you any more. We tend to make love much more sacred than it should be, unaware that while it is indeed a powerful force, it is neither good or bad, it just is. You _can_ do horrible stuff in the name of love, whether it's romantic, friendship, patriotic, religious or any other form of love. A good and well-known exemple in pop culture would be Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vador from Star Wars; his love for his son Luke is what redeem and lead him to fight back Palpatine, but it's also his love toward Padme that led him to become Vador in the first place.

[@X-SPONGED]

Yeah, my parents used to physically beat me "for my own good" The worst part is they genuinely believe that and they say it comes from a place of love. It's sick.

[@cancanjaker1620]

You said it perfectly well. There are many horrible things/crimes done in the name of love. There is an over-romantized ideal about Love. And some delusional people are using it as the excuse to do horrible things.

[@ToastyNoneofyourbusiness]

They whole concept of "praying your problems away reminds me if a comic I saw once. It depicted a man who's house was destroyed by a storm, the streets were flooded and his life was in danger. But he didn't do anything to save himself because he believed God would save him. Strangers appproached to rescue him, and he turned them down, claiming God would save him. Then police turn up, and offer to save them. He turns them down because "God will save him." Then a helicopter with paramedics shows up. He turns them down too, for the same reason as before. He then drowns, and when he goes to heaven, he asks God "why didn't you save me?" And God says "I tried to save you. I sent you a boat, police, and a helicopter." I'm not a religious person, but that story really speaks to me, and it's a lesson that needs to be told more.

[@hairclipwatanabe2838]

It's because he treated God as a genie to do his whims and save him the way he wants God to.

[@FrenkTheJoy]

As a sort of religious person, that's what drives me crazy - those people who do that, just think that prayers will solve everything while denying actual help. Like it doesn't occur to people with cancer that God IS helping them by providing them with a doctor with steady hands to cut the tumor out. It also doesn't make ANY sense to cling to the whole "all I need to solve all of my problems is prayer and literally no physical help from anybody" if you actually *read the Bible* but it's obvious that many religious people have in fact not read the Bible.

[@matthewglenguir7204]

What's the title of the comic? I wanna read this for myself

[@themedia1271]

Funnily enough I remember first hearing that exact story in Bible school.

[@grimkahn3775]

If I recall, this was actually a real event.

[@parnaz1623]

What a badass team. Making a beautiful game with an important message AND pissing off a tyrant leader? I'm not a horror fan but I would buy this game if I get the chance just to give them my money.

[@jacobfredman9442]

edit: well that was a stupid thing to say

[@yozha92]

@@jacobfredman9442 bruh... Op want to give the dev money not stealing the game zz

[@jacobfredman9442]

@@yozha92 oh

[@trequor]

It's available on their website

[@froshtea]

I wouldn't call them badass but rather radical to do so as we all know taiwan and china never got along over half a century now. But do keep in mind, to fight a tyrant or bad government it takes wits, smart choices and risk evaluation. The guy will die some day and to prevent the power hungry insane side of ccp from doing any controlling, play with loop holes and not riot as it could lead to warfare and give authorization for marshall law again. We all live in this same stupid spectrum but don't blindly hate a faction.

[@gardenhead92]

"Mid-tier anime youtuber." Don't sell yourself short, you're definitely S-tier

[@catlady4858]

Smokin' Sexy Style

[@NihongoWakannai]

Pretty sure he's just talking about subscriber count. Which he is mid-tier in that regard.

[@AngelofbrokenHalo]

He is good, but he's no Vito or MauLer.

[@afterpasthours7504]

He’s at least worth a few primo loot boxes.

[@lolitaku7229]

I love how his voice and script is so comforting and organized. ;-; so nice

[@hithere5553]

“We would rather kill innocent 99 good people by mistake than miss a guilty one” that could be a quote from war hammer 40k Jesus Christ

[@hentaiconnoisseur2413]

innocent prove nothing

[@Jill4ChrisRedfeild]

or something Stalin would say.

[@Psycul]

Your comment is written in the most mind-boggling way

[@mainao3443]

​@@Jill4ChrisRedfeild Stalin based

[@ulragi]

One death is a tragedy a million is just a statistic

[@infjelphabasupporter8416]

Devotion actually reminds me of the death of a little girl in America. She also suffered from mental illness, and was choked to death by a "therapist", covering her in blankets for hours, in a sick "birthing ceremony".

[@ThatOneFur]

What was the incident called again? It rings a loud bell in me

[@highlyquestionable9802]

@@ThatOneFur reminds me of the story of Candice Newmaker, if you're still wondering

[@thrpotatoasfgfejfidieiidkr7071]

Reminds me of petscop

[@painslut]

That's the Candice Newmaker case, isn't it ? The therapist and the adoptive mother were the most involved in it, I think. If you can even call them by these titles. Not sure of what I'm saying since my only exposure to this case have been through petscop theories ahah...

[@kitsunekintsugi]

// severe child abuse, child death that was the death of candace newmaker, a young girl about 5-4 if my memory holds correct. she was removed from her home alongside her siblings during the early 2000s due to child abuse and neglect. she alone was adopted by an older woman i forget the name of. however, when candace did not immediately take to the woman as her new mother, the woman believes something was wrong with her, and sought out a therapist to make candace accept her as her new mother. the “therapist” decided that she’d make candace accept the woman by wrapping her in blankets and having multiple people press down on her, surrounding her with pillows as well. the “therapist” then asked her if she’d like to be reborn, to which candace replied no. the adoptive mother was allowed to leave the room after that because she was hurt, and after that candace was verbally abused and shouted at by the “therapist” as she suffocated, making fun of her when the lack of oxygen caused her to vomit and shit, until she died. the adopter (i believed she also abused candace too in order to make her accept her) and the killer didn’t even get life in prison.

[@TotallyNotMark]

I find myself coming back to this video more often than I expected. It's exceptionally well made and produced obviously but there's a feeling I get from this, I wish I could bottle in some shape or form. It's such an interesting video and easily one of your best for me! Exceptional work examining and breaking down an exceptional game.

[@emiliianoportillo1311]

Damn 3 months and no comments

[@FM-cp6kc]

oh hey its that guy who does the one piece

[@jameslee-mf4mf]

never thought I'd see you here

[@user-yu6go4yk4p]

Hey quick question? Are you mark? If not any clue where i can find him

[@mazbt544]

Didn’t expect to see u here mark lol

[@pedrogazarini7992]

This on VR would be traumatic

[@n0kt0h45]

They made Devotion VR.

[@TinyPple45]

Isaac Koh oh shit

[@anonym0sender]

Watching it on stream is painful enough.

[@ags122]

Omygod

[@foureyes840]

FYI: That creepy doll like mannequin that resemble father and mother is actually made from joss paper craft or Zhizha (taoist paper art) that usually burnt as an offering to the deceased so that they might have that objects or person in form of that papercrafts (I.e money, car, airplane, a servant, a driver, a children) in afterlife. This already an indication that the daughter is already dead.

[@natashachongpaoshan6485]

THIS! that's what spooked me the most, that they weren't just ordinary "puppets". I think the game's so much scarier when you're familiar with the culture it derived from.

[@PhantomGato-v-]

Paper puppets. One of my personal favourites. Burn em. They don't help, but they do help you cope a lot better. Oh yeah, they *may* reach a god. Unlikely, and mostly it'll reach something else because no postal code. Terrifying Shit If you want to use it solely As a cure, though.

[@manishbhat8570]

As an Indian I can relate to this game on a very personal level. Parents putting undue pressure on their children, the stigma against mental illness, people falling into traps laid by cults are all things I've seen happen with my own eyes and I think these are some things that are not uncommon in Asian cultures.

[@lambda-m1676]

@Hecantonchire s wtf

[@bimgus5808]

@Levi Athan wtf

[@diegorojas2049]

This reminds me of a story my dad told me. It was the late 80's, during Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile. My dad and his friends were driving a car, and accidentally bumped into a bus full of military soldiers, who took my dad and friends out of the car, and pointed guns at them. The bus driver got out of the bus, checked the bus, and seeing that there was no damage to the bus, he said "You're safe for now, you brats", and then he and the soldiers left, my dad and friends just stared each other in silence for a while.

[@legendaryhero6695]

Wow just 1 small damage in the bus and they could've shot... glad nothing bad happened

[@diegorojas2049]

@@legendaryhero6695 I know right?

[@jblazerndrowzy]

@@diegorojas2049 Dude that sounds fucking scary what the hell

[@diegorojas2049]

@@jblazerndrowzy That's what happens when your country is under a dictatorship

[@2ms2]

Same thing in Argentina. It's sad that we are slowly forgetting the terrible and recent tragedy our countries went through.

[@Chellekathryn]

You got it wrong. The mom went back to acting because the father is spending all their money on the mentor. It’s all very clearly laid out in the game. When she’s finished with that film, she’ll take the daughter away. The mom was never greedy about the high life at all. She did what she had to it. It’s in the game. I don’t know how people miss this important detail

[@gtx1650max-q]

another detail that adds to mei mother's being selfless is the password of her wardrobe lock is on her favourite picture. Certainly none of her photos on the wall have the password, then which one ? It's her daughter's picture with piano playing. I kept looking for password on mother's pictures then it suddenly struck my mind and bam lock's open.

[@miracon000fez]

It's sad to know that when she comes back her daughter won't be there

[@BraveLilToasty]

People really like to sympathize with characters to the point that they paint villians as misunderstood and heroes as morally grey.

[@cancanjaker1620]

On youtube, you can see many male influencers doing these stories summarization type videos just paint female characters as gold diggers. Even though it makes it easier to sterotyped complicated characters/situations for simplified story telling. It re-enforced a lot of one dimensional characters because many viewers don't actually watch the original material.

[@ming2479]

People say he did all that out of genuine love. I really can't see it that way. He stopped his wife to return to work out of pride, while his own career was failing. They then wanted the daughter to become a singer, basically wanting a little girl to support the whole family, without noticing they were causing her a lot of stress. He became superstitious and wanted to fix his daughter because he wanted her to MAKE MONEY, not because he loved her.

[@n0kt0h45]

As for the wife, women were previously always pressured into leaving their work upon starting families.

[@kaptenlemper]

Yeah, it's a deadbeat dad unable to accept reality that married life and fatherhood didn't turn out to be the ideal he dreamt.

[@APHxVOCALOID12lover]

He did love her, otherwise he wouldn't be willing to blindly offer his eye, tongue and blood. He WAS a loving father because evidently his family loved him. During financial problem time he bought a record machine to play only one song that belongs to his wife. He devoted all of his being for his daughter's health in the most WRONG way. He's a loving father but he's a product of his time; his pride was too big to admit that he's in the wrong. Plus, mental health was (and still is) taboo in Asian countries so he didn't want to accept his daughter had mental problems.

[@CT_Phipps]

@@APHxVOCALOID12lover He loved her but deluded himself into believing all of his selfish and abusive decisions were for their own good versus his.

[@cankcutcute8544]

@@APHxVOCALOID12lover im asean can confirm he love her just that his action is very very wrong

[@dxcSOUL]

This is “Confucian Horror.” It’s not a thing but it should be cuz this is a great example of it. Asian family values turned horror is an amazing concept.

[@liberpolo5540]

Damn, it sure is!

[@matthewjkelton658]

We heard it here!

[@LKTori]

I think cause most ethnic families can relate to those values, it scares us all

[@bapsbaby6441]

This is so true! I’m not Asian, I’m African American and a lot of Africa American families or African families will deny that mental health exists and chalk it up to it you not following God and being led astray. Don’t get me wrong I love God but I also believe that mental health is a real problem and should not be ignored. I suffer from many panic and anxiety attacks and my mom tells me that I’m overreacting. My brother has Asperger’s syndrome which many doctors have diagnosed Him to have and she still refuses to believe it. Recently I’ve been slowly starting to get her to believe that mental health is a serious issue but it’s a slow process. My dad understands mental disorders because has anxiety and PTSD from being a soldier but a lot of African American families will deny Mental health as real and just tell you something about follow God more. I love God but still.

[@NeonKat]

As a African American i agree

[@NeonKat]

I had to be taken out of my home by my Godmother because i got suicidal and mom kept denying it and downplaying it

[@fefiedmond1920]

As an African Latin American, I couldn't agree more to this. Mental illness importance it's a new thing right now, and I believe we are living in the transition state between ignoring mental health and accepting it to be as important as other aspects of life.

[@KettleBlacktheBat]

It's some slave ideals that carried over to this day. A really terrifying reminder that it was only about 4 generations back that my family were on plantations, denied their right to cope with the trauma as they weren't seen as people.

[@TheCrusaders13]

Same. I basically begged my dad to kill mr at one point and my mom said ‘we need to get her help before she does’. I even took about 8 different pills to kill myself. I’m ok now since I went to therapy and was on meds. But yeah most definitely.

[@Hiya8partyz]

I think what’s more chilling about the Mentor Hu cassette tapes (from a person who hasn’t played the game) aren’t the fact that the pains the Du’s felt was because of a lowlife con artist, but the fact that even more families have suffered from it and how much of a monster Mentor Hu is. It’s genuinely terrifying knowing that con artists like these actually exist in this world.

[@taemanai5887]

It's a good vid but the problem isn't that he poured himself into his faith. The problem is that someone got him into a system designed to exploit his desperation and then turn his desperation back on him as being a lack of faith, thus firing up the old vicious cycle. What you believe is just as important as whether or not you believe. And that's not me making things up, that's what I learned the hard way from my cult experience. Keep doing what you do, SEW. It's good stuff.

[@taemanai5887]

@Shitu 『Boi』 In one. Not the highlight of my life.

[@DoomerDarling]

The part of the girl succumbing to pressure is one people in Asian culture can relate to easily. You have to be the best. If you want people to notice you, you have to be the best. Anything less isn’t really acknowledged, no matter how important it is to you...

[@Akira-kd6us]

Unfortunately, yeah... I have decent achievements here and there but I don't have any memory of me being praised by my Japanese father for my work. I devoted my time in honing my skills in music, mainly guitar. Reached the point where I can pretty much play anything, also developed tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome on my arm/wrist along the way because of how much I overdid my practice in order to get better. I always expressed my love for music, barely got any support. Had to give up my path in music at age 21 because he deemed it unrealistic and my time would be better spent working under him. I was forced to learn how to draw in CAD by myself(I learn things pretty quick and I'm a tech nerd so I guess that's why he thought I should be able to do it) and get to know how to revise complicated machine designs for his company ASAP, only to then receive a very low salary that doesn't cut it at all because I didn't graduate as an engineer. As the son of the president of the company, I'm expected to do pretty much everything perfectly so the pressure is pretty insane.

[@DoomerDarling]

@Akira 27 I'm sorry you had to go through that. With music meaning so much to you... I can't imagine how much pressure you had/have on your shoulders but I do know that I see you and I understand. Saving face is oftentimes more important to our elders than anything else. If you ever wanna talk about it, I'm here for you.

[@Akira-kd6us]

@@DoomerDarling Thanks for your kind words, it genuinely means a lot to me :).

[@giraffe6856]

Also this is just a theory, but people say that at 10:16, if you listen carefully to the woman pronouncing "88", it sounds similar to "Papa" which means "Dad" in Taiwanese so this could mean while Du Feng Yu was tracing back his memories, his daughter was actually screaming from the bathroom at that time And after the game, the title screen changes into reality, and if you wait a bit longer, you'll hear a dog barking and someone knocking on the door This could be his wife returning from her work, she said she wants to take her family to a better place and start a new life.

[@aurora6256]

It could also be police dogs with the police outside, the wife probably with them because she's worried what her child and husband have been doing. I'm very saddened by the ending and it seems like The father kills himself in the end because he knows he'll go to prison and his life will be ruined because he killed his daughter "on accident"

[@hatohattington3919]

88 as a Chinese internet slang is bye bye, because of the sound similarity of 88 (baba) and bye bye.

[@SoulDuckling126]

"In taiwanese" lmao 🤣

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

@@SoulDuckling126 Probably wrote that "in American."

[@notstoday465]

@@SoulDuckling126 Taiwan do have their own language but not mandarin, so the comment is wrong about that. And in mandarin it's called taiyu which mean taiwan language or taiwanese. So taiwanese do exist and it's kinda like a dialect from mandarin because we use hanzi too and all the words have the same meaning and use same grammar, just most of the word pronounce different. But we also pronounce baba (father) the same, but not 8. In taiwanese 8 is not ba but bue

[@jewelsandcrystals]

i just discovered devotion through this video, and coming from a family almost paralleling the one depicted (asides from, you know, the bit where i would have died lmao) genuinely sends chills up my spine. this game's strong and complex themes of being blinded by desperation and the crippling burden of those receiving these often misguided acts of love are so prevalent in so many asian families (among many others mentioned by super eyepatch and red candle!) and has only recently started to be addressed in general western media. this story is so important and it pains me so much to hear that it was taken down. thank u super eyepatch for spreading the word of this beautiful game through such a passionate and introspective analysis!!

[@alaricblack9788]

"Oh no they're calling me repressive! Better repress their negative criticism, that will make them like me for sure!"

[@traior246]

I mean...they've been threatening to bleed the Island dry monthly They probably don't mind what TW thinks of them

[@kansailai5462]

Fun Fact: The studio's emblem is literally the character for "red" with candle flame added. Great video as always

[@tacocatt6808]

Sorry, I thought red was “红”? Is it due to differences between traditional and simplified Chinese?

[@cellfractionation]

@@tacocatt6808 赤is more literary, and 红is more commonly used nowadays

[@tacocatt6808]

@@cellfractionation thank you! I had no clue

[@greenhat7618]

@@tacocatt6808 it’s like scarlet and red. Red 紅 is more of a blanket term for all kinds of red where you can add descriptions in front like cherry red 桃紅, 赤 is a more specific shade of red.

[@killingblow528]

That tension build...Super Eyepatch Wolf has gotten GOOD, boy.

[@imagiwangywangy2006]

But he choose to be heels tho.

[@sniperbAit77777]

Maybe the folks in the comment section can learn something today: The Republic of China and The People’s Republic of China are very different. The Kuomintang were never socialist and they massacred tens of thousands of people during their occupation of Taiwan.

[@FFXfever]

Thanks for clearing that up, I was getting confused with the comment section kept talking about the Chinese government. What surprises me is how Kuomintang basically had their own cultural revolution despite being the routed opposition. I guess apples can't fall too far from the tree, and people defeated by Ghengis Khan will emulate him.

[@stupidpol]

yep, i also noted it. i wonder would people empathize with victims of the White Terror, if they realize that communists in this story are victims, not perpetrators?

[@a.s.1659]

@@KahruSuomiPerkele ah yes, communists aren't people

[@conveniencestorebanana9648]

You see, the media is a powerful tool. it can make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, even when evidence is provided, it will be futile, the masses has already believe that CCP is evil and the KMT is good, but both have their own atrocities, the masses will deny but what is imprinted in history will stay that way eternally.

[@niefanx]

@@stupidpol communists aren’t the victims during the white terror. Mainly the victims were Japanese sympathizers and pro Taiwan independence people. These people just happens to be labeled as communists from time to time as an excuse. In this case the Chinese: both communists and nationalists are occupiers and colonizers of Taiwan. The white terror were more of a Chinese oppression over local Taiwanese than it is nationalists over communists.

[@fatpandas01]

Expected a jump scare game but ended up crying for an hour from the ending. Such an amazing experience

[@yujiago]

Exactly same with me!

[@mayhewstorm1473]

Your passion for everything you speak on is amazing. This channel is beyond just a gem. It’s the whole god damn gold mine.

[@mattiismouse1086]

It's the planet entirely made of dimonds

[@thyavenger9517]

@Bobert Wiltshire They said _"beyond just a gem",_ did you even read the comment?

[@MS-de7bb]

@Bobert Wiltshire dude it's the sentiment

[@alexf8260]

Bobert Wiltshire There are such things as metaphorical statements. Why do you feel the need to “correct” it when it is clearly not supposed to be taken literally?

[@avynlie]

The art style of Detention reminds me a lot of The Cat Lady. It’s so surreal and somewhat visually jarring that a picture moves, and really hones strong emotions from it

[@hollownite6859]

Exactly ! Finally someone remembers that Gem

[@heathergladden3146]

Very nice. The same team who made The Cat Lady also created Downfall and Lorelai, if you aren't familiar with those already.

[@nanhty8321]

It reminds me of old Chinese paper puppets, the way it felt like paper with a back light lit and the way the limbs moved

[@SamuelBlack84]

I miss playing the Cat Lady

[@cheesecakelasagna]

I hope Filipino game designers will get inspired by this game and make own games with similar themes. But I'm guessing we'd still have to wait a decade or two since it's more recent (70's) than the Martial Law of Taiwan. Also, 17:20 that congregation is creepily familiar as well. It reminds me of a certain channel _devoted_ to just showcasing that.

[@JPTQJR]

*cough* And Dating Daan *cough* Iglesia ni Cristo *cough* Kingdom of Jesus Christ *cough* Et Cetera *cough*

[@paularawrs]

@@JPTQJR my aunt and her family are part of Dating Daan. I went to one of their meetings and I was freaking out because I realized I was in a cult. There were cameras watching us, symbols, colored windows that you kneel and pray toward???

[@vampirepriest03]

*cough*cough* Iglesia ni cristo is helping people through this pandemic There is no corruption..

[@cheesecakelasagna]

KCINE TV Even corrupt politicians donate to charities though. Your point is shoddy.

[@ileanabriannemari]

I remember there was a member in my church were they were dissociated and excluded from their family to the point that even they couldn't go to birthdays/funerals/etc. bec they aren't in the specific _religion_ almost all of their family was in. But it's been years and they're ok now :DDD (I think the father gave up his position to see them again)

[@ArynBacklogDragon]

I think Red Candle should attempt to release these games on consoles. I can see both working really well on the Switch.

[@hirokokueh3541]

but the problem is the publisher of this game didn't let them sell it, the publisher also invested some projects in China, so only if Redcandle buy the whole franchise themselves from the publisher

[@KeyBladeMaster-Dan]

I'm pretty sure Detention is available on Switch

[@AtlasCompleXtheProd]

@@KeyBladeMaster-Dan That's dope

[@twotrucks5263]

A side note, Detention was made into a film! It shows a group of Taiwanese students reading banned books, mostly novels by leftist or Anti-Imperialist thinkers, including Gandhi, and then the film turns into a struggle for their lives as they are hunted down by the supernatural.

[@seamusdelaney197]

Cmon you are definitely not a mid-tier youtuber, the sheer effort in writing you put into your vids is amazing

[@rikkity7522]

I saw a comment about the tv scene and how 88 sounds like "papa" Well i looked into it for the pronunciation which is "baba," and i learned as well that 88 also means bye bye thus making that scene really upseting She loses, may be calling out to her father, and is saying good bye

[@shiningeditedmoon]

@@critiasdetested4749 it's slang man. It doesen't really have to be accurate

[@erinlummis7109]

"pouring all of who you are into one belief system or way of thinking will leave you with nothing" I love the way you put this. This one quote holds so much information and can be said to many different siduations.

[@TotallyNotMark]

fantastic video

[@34turtle]

@Charlie Waterlow totally

[@dad5draco]

@@34turtle Yup, we can ignore that checkmark.

[@radpicklemonster3836]

@Charlie Waterlow he is

[@radpicklemonster3836]

@Charlie Waterlow wtf

[@-kuro-]

@@radpicklemonster3836 it says he isnt mark, right there

[@afterpasthours7504]

I’m such a sucker for a Red Candle’s Silent Hill-esque exploration of a persons guilt and trauma through the surreal nightmare worlds, it makes the characters relatable to their suffering and how they refuse to confront or accept what happened due to their mistakes.

[@jack_rabbit]

god, i'd love to see a red candles silent hill game

[@JeyJey88-9]

The worst part about cults is the fact that they are extremely common and it's scary to realize that maybe even your parents are linked to one. Even though I'm quite late to this video let me tell you a story. My parents have been visiting and are still visiting a church that practices the belief of evangelic christiananity. For some reason though, as far back as I could remember I always felt that something is very wrong there. I never could point my finger towards it but something was off. They believe in the "God's tongue" which is a belief that some people are able to speak in a language that god channels to them. It mostly sounds like gibberish and it was very weird that there were around 10 minutes during church practice with people talking and praying with that language. They also believe in the practice of healing prayers. Not only did they practice those but the pastor always told storys about how he prayed for some people and then suddenly their broken bones or terminal ilnesses are gone, which is a straight up lie. Whenever someone would question why it didn't work on them they always would say that the presence of a non believer would negate the effect. In general they had a very strong hate against those "non believers". Sometimes the pastor insisted that someone who wouldn't believe in god and Jesus Christ would allow the devil into the church. And then there is the basement and the trapdoor to the attic. The basement had two doors at the bottom of the stairs, one to the left one to the right. On the one to the left was a long hallway leading to a cozy room, so as kids we loved to sneak into there. However the pastor, his wife and the older people absolutely HATED kids being in the basement. They also always insisted that the door to the right is a big taboo. Don't know whats there cause the door is always locked. Nobody knows what's in the attic but I remember that some of the members would become extremely paranoid once you were even near the staircase leading up to the room with the trapdoor. Are these obvious red flags or am I just too paranoid? Something just doesn't seem right here

[@JeyJey88-9]

@@KahruSuomiPerkele that’s absolutely crazy but I already heard that Japan had a very big cult problem. It’s so scary that there are people out there that can manipulate others to such a extend that they accept such violent and weird beliefs. But you said that cults from the US go to Taiwan. Could you give me my example please

[@F1n3-4rt]

@@JeyJey88-9 Often a good indicator of a cult is in how they handle the ex-communicated and those who don’t practice the faith. A typical setting will often explain quite neutrally the terms in which someone would leave- and allow you to speak to those who have left. “Person A left because they lost faith in Christ after their son died and felt too abandoned to believe.” If a group decides to make these people devils, claims that even speaking to them will cause you to become a monster.....it is often a Clever tactic to make sure you never talk to those who have been wronged by the group before. Ex-cult members will not talk kindly about cults. First-witness testimony is damning and it’s easier for me to make you afraid of my critics than to accept blame. As for the limited details you given me- sounds like a cult fam. The United States of America unfortunately has a long long history of cults that are often “unique branches” off Christianity.

[@JeyJey88-9]

@@F1n3-4rt even though I’m late on my reply; I have to agree with the things you said. Great to see that I’m not the only one that sees something wrong there

[@JeyJey88-9]

@@TheOcelotSlayer Amen Brother. There are a lot of Tricksters on this world and it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that the one my parents attend regularly is also occupied by those people. This begs a question tho, how do I tell them? It’s gonna be hard to tell them that the church they attended for years now could be more sinister than thought

[@nimagine]

the "god's tongue" you mentioned is also called "speaking in tongues," and it's a common accepted doctrine in evangelical/pentecostal christian denominations. so is supernatural healing. i was raised in an evangelical christian environment and as a child i spoke in tongues and once experienced something i considered (at the time) to be supernatural healing. i've since left that environment, and while growing up that way certainly hurt me, i'm not sure i would class it as a cult any more than any conservative religion. what you've described is most likely a typical evangelical church. I can't answer the weirdness about keeping you out of certain rooms, but likely it's where they kept important documents or fragile items.

[@pepsimilkhotel]

So it's like the PT Silent Hill game we never got, nice.

[@starstuff5324]

pizzahaeter and most of us might never get this one either :~(

[@tigertim620]

I guess "First-Person Haunted House" games are cursed somehow:p

[@ColtDG]

So I'm not a political expert by any means in particular, but I hate the line of thinking in this case of "you shouldn't shake the hornet nest". If political messages are being censored in art, you need to double down. If you back down, the corner you're fighting in loses. I understand that the company most likely had very little choice in this, but when random people think they should temper shit like this, that's people allowing the censorship of art.

[@valridagan]

It'd be removed on the basis of artistic consistency, if nothing else. That particular hidden message doesn't fit with the rest of the game's content; it's not something that relates to the themes or characters of the story. The phrase in that message wasn't coined until thirty years after the game's release, after all. XD

[@gothicbbmelvin]

Imagine being more concerned with not getting more videogames instead of not being able to express an opinion or view freely.

[@brhea90]

@James Connolly 1916 Now we know that's BS. They revoked the studio's business license.

[@Tamaki742]

@@brhea90 They're going to make a new game, so no that's false.

[@justalostlocal]

@James Connolly 1916 You're being fed full of shit. Developers just clarified that they won't be allowed to put the game back in store. There're hundreds of play through on KZbin of Devotion, aka the game is not broken. Explain to me why the publisher is now being charged with 'threatening national security'? Really, because of Winnie? Oh how dare them to criticize the government of China while being in Taiwan. Inciting violence? Bitch, where?!

[@ohohoho249]

Hearing someone who hasn't had any connection to Taiwan experience and explane both detention and devotion this indeth with passion really means a lot to me and my sis, it's truly a tragic for a game such lovely as devotion got forced to shut down just because of a joke. I heard that devotion is now back on steam but I'm not sure, I think that Red candles are making a new game as well, let's just hope the same thing won't happen again

[@Lakefront_Khan]

China: complains about the brutality inflicted upon them by the Japanese. * is given Taiwan China: CHOWABUGGA IT IS!

[@kalelvigil1510]

Genuinely fuck the Republic of China. KMT is the fucking worst. Glad it was banned from the PRC.

[@halfnhalf5038]

@@kalelvigil1510 tbh, both the CCP and the KMT are the worst.

[@kalelvigil1510]

@@halfnhalf5038 Not really.

[@glass-yuzu]

@@kalelvigil1510 kmt ccp both murderous criminal ganger regimes more concerned with power (and money) than anything else. open a textbook, the republic sun yat sen wanted to establish was nothing like the horror show Chiang and his cronies inflicted on taiwan. even now, members of the current KMT cant agree with the shit they did before. and the communist state the people believed in when mao was establishing it has never come to fruition because all the leaders have been corrupt and murderous. theyre not even a communist country anymore, the way they act spits in the face of communism

[@Lakefront_Khan]

@Lion We didn't "mess with Japan" we finished what they started.

[@bosco7391]

I missed out on PT, and now I missed out on Devotion.

[@21minute]

Same 😭

[@Invincible-Under-the-Sun]

You can buy p.t ps4 for 1200$

[@lockekappa500]

You can download the pirated version of Devotion pretty easily, and there's a PC remake of PT that's pretty spot on. Only a couple missing touches.

[@tommyblade8093]

wuts PT? is it the silent hill game?

[@chiomaejimofo4417]

@@tommyblade8093 yes :)

[@depressed-chan]

Growing up in an asian household I can really relate with Meixin. The pressures from society, the cult like devotion my parents had to their God and their treatments. When I was about 10yrs old I was taken to "priest" to cure me from my anger issues. They thought i had a spirit living in me. Not wanting to understand its just childish tanturms. After I got older I distanced myself from this practices and always warned them about the consequences. Devotion was a personal game to me. I cried so much when watching this. The life Meixin lived is still lived my many kids in asia.

[@PhantomGato-v-]

As a taoist/shintoist mix, I'm genuinely ashamed of those people. You're supposed to expel The spirit by finding an issue and take it out by fixing the issue. For example, You're depressed. This depression lets an evil spirit take you over. Youre now possessed, you don't even know it. There are no signs, except for bad luck and other non direct things. This, by the ways, does NOT affect how a person acts. You fix the problem by telling the person to get a therapist, they get therapy, they get better, the evil spirit no longer has a vantage point, it leaves. Im genuinely sick and tired of people thinking of it as "this kid is annoying, oh yeah, they must be possessed" like HOW DOES ONE GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B I DO NOT UNDERSTAND

[@OmegaJester09]

Dang I really hope this game gets reenlisted and gets a wider release, I thought Detention was great and I would buy this game in a heartbeat, such a unique and interesting settings for a horror game. Really hope the best for red candle.

[@leebings7443]

Great review! "Devotion" is crafted in the game as a parallel. On the surface it seems to be about the father's devotion towards a cult/religion destroying his family but really his "devotion" lies with his daughter, wanting to heal, wanting the best for her, ultimately done in a poor manner. That to me was the core message hitting home.

[@nwut]

Also he was greedy

[@kgreal8568]

Growing up as a kid from a Taiwan family in China. I gotta say a lot of people in rural and suburban area of china and Taiwan still believes in those “spiritual medicine”. It’s a thing here that people turn themselves to cult-like spiritual weirdo beliefs. Some are actually good and does kind help the situation, for example Feng Shui. But it’s more like a psychological effect giving people the sense of security they need. It’s weird but it’s rooted in our culture. But the beauty of this game is actually the process of how a desperate family slowly got lured into a trap. It is so authentic on how the cult-like beliefs sets their trap and wait for their prey. Especially the part that the so called mentor is introduced by the class teacher. Teacher usually have an image of righteous who can talk extremely persuasive words to parents. You have no idea how much influence that a teacher can have in our families. If it was a random guy on the street, I believe the Du s won’t even bother to listen.

[@neettuki]

I'm still mourning for this game, it is such a masterpiece. But at this point, I'm not sure if any publisher would want to publish their game, especially after the scandal.

[@SamuelBlack84]

Is everyone across the world afraid of the Chinese leader?

[@randomperson20]

Truly, reality is often the scariest part of what makes something terrifying...

[@Unit27]

Thank you for recommending Red Candle Games. I played Devotion as soon as I knew it was available again from their site, and had picked up Detention before when I first saw this video, but never got to play it until just now. Both are incredible, easily taking a place among my favorite games ever. If I could synthesize Devotion into a single phrase it would be "The story of how you can completely fail someone you love and who unconditionally loves you back". Detention feels a lot harder to pin down, and I'm still trying to sort all the thoughts it left me with. Don't want to spoil it, but weighing someone's reasons to justify their anger against using it to destroy so many lives is not an easy thing to deal with.

[@psionicsknight6651]

You know, having seen this again and hearing about the main theme, it really struck a cord with me, since I WAS part of a cult for a time and it did cost me a lot of damage. I lost a lot of money with them (I'm better now, but it's still hard currently) and I really did do some scummy stuff in it--even if, thankfully, I still walked away from it with my relationships intact. It's really scary just how accurate Devotion is in regards to its general portrayal of the cult and how blind/fanatic devotion to anything really ruins people...

[@AtrocityEquine01]

Super Eyepatch Wolf: I'mma spoil the game guys, you need to play it :)! Me: HOW CAN I STEAM REMOVED IT.

[@valridagan]

...Well, piracy is easier than ever these days.... and most everyone agrees that it's okay to pirate if there's no legal way to obtain something...

[@JMiN___]

You're either over 40 or under 12 if you don't know the answer to that question lol

[@CarrierOfChaos617]

Playthroughs duh kzbin.info/aero/PL4vF-TxbCczJdAVW62C9O3COs1yMyyL-A

[@CarrierOfChaos617]

@@user-gf5lq2pe3q yeah but it's not on steam, might as well just watch what you can't play, duh

[@rizwanasir6587]

You can buy from there website

[@lordcawdorofmordor2549]

By the way, the mannequin-like dolls are made in the style of Zhizha dolls, Taoist papercraft do, in this case effigies, that are burnt as offerings to gods or deceased ancestors to serve as servants, and are a standard fixture in Taoist funerals. Not only does the style go full uncanny valley while evoking the creepiness of funerals, they also might symbolise how the family's happiness was sacrificed and destroyed in the father's zealous devotion to superstition. Minor note: Cigu Guanyin is a real deity and is pronounced Tsi-gu Gwan-yin

[@benchii7867]

as a taiwanese it felt like I was at my grandparent's. This is really unsettling since they have a small shrine on the top floor, and is terrifying at night when no lights are on.

[@ilovecody7514]

So great to see another video from you, especially on horror.

[@WestrumVerus]

I know I'm late, but Jacksepticeye has a two part series on this game if anyone wants to watch it

[@viptaiga]

oh does he?! thought he only did detention?!

[@CarrierOfChaos617]

@@viptaiga apparantly he did both? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJ2ZXp-tpMZ_kNU

[@jakerudisaile8456]

"Domestic Horror" immediately, as soon as I heard this my mind immediately went to House of Leaves.

[@TorchickenNuggets]

Your voice does *so well* setting the mood for horror/somber themed subjects

[@realcharacter1454]

ITS BACK, RED CANDLE GAMES MADE AN E-SHOP DEVOTION IS BACK

[@rfij3268]

Super eyepatch, I would like to tell you how much I appreciate your videos, they are truly an inspiration of which I take note for my own story. so thank you very much for your work! greetings from Chile!

[@diegucci2881]

Heeey, another Chilean watching SEW, nice. Suerte con tu historia.

[@amberavalentine]

Great video! I know a lot of people are pointing out "You missed this element and you missed that element" but tbh this was obviously not a deep dive into Devotion, though it is clear from the comments people would love to watch a multi part series on Devotion, myself included! Detention is easily one of my favorite video games of all time and I was THRILLED when Devotion was released. I am so sad it is not available right now, so many more people deserve to see this game. I hope Red Candle keeps creating, they are such a unique voice in video games right now.

[@yihsiangkao]

Now I can finally, FINALLY buy the game and support this studio.

[@tomhsia4354]

I bought the game a few hours before it was taken down thanks to one of my friend's (who is from mainland China) strong recommendation (for the same reasons you presented in the video, that the horror presented is based on real events and feels real), as a person with Taiwanese family member. Man does this game screech Taiwanese in the best and worst way possible, period-correct too! It also exposed many of the problems with Chinese culture (which have mostly remained up to this day, unfortunately) like our ignorance of mental health, overbearing parents, ignorant parenting, and placing one's face over anything else. Heck, this is the only game I've ever played that made me cry because I could relate to the child. I still have this game installed, I even bought the OST. I even plan to show this to my family members in Taiwan and mainland China. Just to hear their opinion on this game.

[@liberpolo5540]

Tell us what they said!!! Super curious!

[@tomhsia4354]

@@liberpolo5540 The pandemic has put a hold to that plan. I will update here once I show them the game. Thanks for reminding me.

[@liberpolo5540]

@@tomhsia4354 Ah, no problemo! :D

[@thatoneguy9615]

I am deeply curious to read the result, so I'll just be leaving a comment to get a message when you do post it. I hope it goes well.

[@tomhsia4354]

@@thatoneguy9615 Might take a year or two (pandemic). I'll definitely show my parents and post an update here, though. I'll probably comment to every single comment in this thread to make sure those interested get a notification. Thanks for a reminder.

[@theprocrastinationartist]

I think that part of the problem is the cult. But i think your missing the main focal point of the story the unreachable expectations of what traditional asian parents put on you and mental disorders are percieved in asia. I feel that was what the game developers were trying to convey as their main focal point to really reflect on. Cause the father was awful, he refused his wife to work and let them live in awful conditions for the sake of his pride. I dont think it was just the cult that made their lives a living hell. It was mainly the dad that put them in that situation.

[@insignificantopinions3210]

As someone who is a child of a Chinese immigrant mother and Taiwanese immigrant father, it really shocked me just how deeply divided their countries of origin are when I saw the first few minutes of the video. I already knew a bit about the present day tensions and my dad told me a bit about the past, but I didn't really know how far it went until now. It's also a bit ironic that my parents don't get along, but my mother is the more empathetic one. edit: got to the 16:26 mark and had to take a break from the video because it got a bit too close to home lol

[@superelitejimi4165]

Remember that time he did a face reveal and we were all like "oh shit he's handsome"

[@THExRISER]

1:16 *'It is better that one hundred innocent fall before the wrath of the Emperor than one traitor kneels before the lords of darkness.'* This is a quote from the Warhammer universe,a Grimdark universe that's an exaggeration of our own,I honestly don't know how to think seeing this idea mirrored in reality.

[@theofficalchairmanrevoluti614]

"I would've never expected-" *KFC ad plays*

[@nwut]

Underrated af

[@mr.preston1632]

KFC ads are the definition of unexpected

[@lanoface6049]

@Hecantonchire s what does this have to do with anything

[@gctypo2838]

Sometimes ads can be funny by complete accident.

[@MrMars-sx3db]

It's a good day when Eyepatch uploads

[@Ocsttiac]

All I can say in response to the China's severe lack in a sense of humour is this: Thank god I'm originally from Hong Kong.

[@ex0duzz]

Ocsttiac you're Chinese, and HK is China, what's your point? This video is also talking about KMT and Taiwan, not the current ruling CCP or mainland China.

[@Exigentable]

@@ex0duzz HK is not china, lol. The culture is very different. HK before 1999 was very different than HK in 2019.

[@mijailmolinas7332]

@@ex0duzz Read a book

[@ex0duzz]

Exigentable yeah, culture is different in Tibet and Xinjiang, still china. Same as different in NYC and Bible Belt South. Still USA. What's your point? There are PLA in hk and it is part of china. That's fact no matter you try to deny it.

[@michaelskoomamacher5652]

@@ex0duzz HK is the REAL China since it's technically Qing China despite being Britonized for almost a century.

[@grimsladeleviathan3958]

As someone who's been through the "Asians not wanting to admit their child needs help" trope, I can't strain enough how important and serious mental and emotional health is. My parents convinced me that all the things I thought were wrong, all my problems were just "a phase" or just "an excuse" to the point that I believed them. I thought there is nothing wrong with me, I should be happy. Little did I know, from the age of 11, I started bottling up my feelings. And that bottle must've been made of steel or something, because for 10 years, I've stayed quiet. Silent, because what can I say? Nothing's wrong. My grades are totally not slipping. My friends are totally not getting more and more distanced. My mood was totally not unstable. I totally didn't drown myself in misery every night and cry myself to sleep, no. Because that would mean I have a problem. So no, I'm doing perfectly fine. Until I was on the roof of an apartment building that is. Totally fine. Totally wasn't contemplating suicide. And at that rooftop, for the first time in a long while, I was somewhere where no one can see me. Away from any eyes. I fucking bawled my eyes out. For probably a couple hours. For the first time in 10 years I cried, and my god did I cry. So much so that even the next day my eyes were still bloodshot and red. And they still wonder why I'm so cold and lifeless now.

[@kujibiki57]

SPOILERS: Something I found weird about your video was how early in the telling of the story you talked about Mei Shin's anxiety/panic attacks. I think it might be related to the kinda "open" mid-game structure, but when I was playing this game with my friends, that was one of the last pieces of the puzzle we discovered. We spent a long time trying to figure out what was happening to Mei Shin. Did she have some sort of illness like a cancer or something that was stopping her from singing? But then she also seemed to be fine a year later. One time she couldn't go to school because of something we assumed was her illness but then later we found out it was because her father wanted her to focus only on her singing. It was only near the end of the game when we finally got Mei Shin's flashbacks and we got it, she had severe anxiety/panic attacks. This realization, coupled with everything that happened right after, was way more striking to us than what it seemed to be for you, because our focus was much more at how cults and ignorance leads to the suffering of children all around the world. Mei Shin was in the center of everything for us. Also, I didn't see you talk about the gameplay much, but while I found the start of the game to be really good and scary, I felt like the mid-game kinda dropped the ball. The concept of going through different timelines and piecing the story together bit by bit was fantastic, but somehow the execution didn't work very well, because we were so focused on getting the stuff that we needed to complete the puzzles that the scares the game throws at you were more like just minor annoyances and didn't have that much of an effect (the environments, however, had a really strong impact all the time because of how much they told you just from existing around you)

[@MistarZtv]

Its was very sad to see that he demonized his wife and made her up as a monster especially when she left, when you see her clawing towards him you could see in her expression how saddened she was and how much she wanted to help her family get out of prison that the house had became for her daughter and how she just wants to make her family's life easier in that interview. But her husband's pride and ego couldn't take it that she would be the one that could help them get out of it, his fear his wife being successful in helping them is something he fears because to him it means he's failed as a patriarch.

[@jdprettynails]

I really can just sit and listen to you talk about literally ANYTHING. This is fascinating. I've had to pause the video at the spoiler warning, unsure whether to skip ahead or not. It's a horror game. I can't play horror games. So I should just listen to how the story pans out....but I really enjoy experiencing stories first hand! I REALLY wish I could stomach horror. I really feel like I'm missing out.

[@celestemcduff]

Coming back to this video after GoG announced today it will not be releasing Devotion (after saying they would) - this is still happening, and I am sad...

[@marbollsmb3116]

I really appreciate the spoiler warning👍, although I watched it anyway😂, it's always nice to see that you truly love the game and don't want to spoil other's experience 🤗 Thank You 😙🤗

[@huyduong8730]

Some can say Gong Li Fong is a careless mother when leaving Du Feng Yu and Mei Shin. But there are facts that she cared for her family more than she cared for herself. Considering it's the 1980's in Taiwan specifically, as well as Asia as a whole, women who dare to initiate a divorce towards their family were seen as nasty and unloyal. This was a very strong feminist move, she proved that her being a once-famous actress and shift to housewife all of a sudden is nothing difficult and she accepts that. It's her devotion towards her family. Another reason why she discontinued her family is the toxic "obedient wife, talented husband" viewpoint that indoctrinated Asia at the point. I live in Vietnam and my grandmother always tells my dad before marriage "Vợ nhu mì, chồng tài giỏi" which irks him so much. Men then didn't like their wives to outshine them as much as the husband's whole family. There was a scene in a game where a devil chasing towards Du Feng Yu when he was in an elevator. That was Gong Li Fong in his perspective! She was not threatening when chasing him but to stop him from descending into madness after all but he ignored it. Li Fong has my empathy and no woman should endure this living horror

[@alexistheweak6841]

Yeah but she should have taken the daughter with her, she left her all alone with him

[@cyncynshop]

@@alexistheweak6841 She is already being shunned by her family and parents for speaking out. If she took her daughter too, the culture she is in will condemn her more and prompt more intense reactions from her husband. (Who already demonized her at that point.) As a reminder, it literally took a rape victim forced into marrying her rapist chopping up her husband into pieces in a blind desperate rage after 5 years of abuse for Taiwan laws to consider domestic abuse laws. That was 1993. What you are saying is entirely unrealistic and putting the blame on the victim instead of the perpetrator.

[@Kevin-zz2vp]

There is one thing wrong in your comments. We are Taiwanese, not Chinese. The historical context behind these two countries are different, which is like you mix Ukraine and Russia together.

[@huyduong8730]

@@Kevin-zz2vp hey ive just checked the context of the game, the settings and pardon for my ignorance of mixing up Chinese and Taiwanese culture. Thank u

[@okeoi]

I love how you always throw in SH OST tracks in your vids. Reminds me of a time when horror games were popular.

[@nisiwilli]

SEW I love ur content and this is a wonderful video, I just hope you could make things more clear because I saw many people misunderstood the takedown situation in the comment section. Devotion wasn't gone due to government censorship, Red Candle Games is a Taiwanese studio, Taiwanese government didn't do anything. It's the outrage and review bombing coming from China that make Red Candle Games decided to take down the game themselves. Winnie the Pooh is banned in China, not in Taiwan, there's a huge difference.

[@CrazyTom736]

@@Generic8864 The point, I think, is it's not the Taiwanese government that's responsible, and said government is a separate entity to the Chinese government. This is a touchy subject in China.

[@JMiN___]

He made that pretty clear. That's exactly what I took away from it.

[@ThatReplyGuy]

I never played Detention, though I'd like to, but I played Devotion on my laptop hooked up to our TV so the whole family could watch. My wife is Taiwanese, which is one of the reasons I decided to play the game, and not only did she love it, she found it meaningful as well. I'd like to do the same thing with Detention some day.

[@mrprotagonist5869]

I love it when there's humors between his serious talks, it really caught me off guard 😂

[@JoaoPedroDamaso]

Hell Yeah! Ive been waiting for your video on this ever since you talked about it on the podcast!

[@thefiretailedweasel6206]

As a person with adhd that grew up in a religious family, Devotion kinda hit hard for me. Can't tell you how many times people have told me that praying would solve my ADHD 🙄

[@hiimsarahtt]

This. This hits. So fucking hard. I love you stranger on the internet.

[@Netherman14TheHellblazer]

IT'S BACK ON SALE!