History VideoGame / Devotion

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/{{Detention}}''. They have similar names, revolve around the protagonist traversing a DarkWorld resembling a place in their lives (Ray's school, Feng Yu's apartment) to reveal the events of the past, eventually leading up to the present. [[spoiler:Both protagonists are also ultimately directly responsible for the events of their games, and both inadvertently killed someone (Mr. Chang was executed because of Ray's betrayal, and Feng Yu accidentally kills Mei Shin with a religious ritual) by putting their trust in the BigBad (Instructor Bai, Mentor Heuh) who took advantage of them, and the game is also about them coming to terms with their guilt.]]

* IllGirl: Mei Shin was sickly as a child, with an entire section of the game devoted to her stay in a hospital.

* AbusiveParents: As time goes in, it becomes readily apparent that [[spoiler:Feng Yu — that is, ''you'' —]] became more unhinged the as years went by and their career went nowhere, culminating in [[spoiler:locking his young daughter up in the bathroom for seven days to soak in snake wine as a religious ritual, which leads to her death]]. He was also shown to put a ''lot'' of pressure on his daughter to succeed.

** Spiritually, however, the ending remains ambiguous. At the end of the credits, after The Lady of the Pier plays one last time, Mei Shin says "Papa, let's go home." It's seemingly her answer to the final line of the song, "If there is an afterlife, would you still be willing (to be my father in the next life)?" This can symbolize Mei Shin forgiving Feng Yu and allowing him to move on from endlessly reliving his sins. However, the last we see of him, in a post-credit scene, he is sitting motionless in front of the TV watching static. Whether he's alive, deluding himself in the "flawless present" of madness or tormenting himself until the day he dies, or is already dead and refusing to move on with Mei Shin, is not made clear.

* AmbiguousEnding: Subverted. The game ends with [[spoiler:Feng Yu entering the bathroom where his daughter has been locked for the past week, only to be swallowed by light and a musical sequence involving Mei Shin playing outside to take place]]. However, the conversations and documents found right before then all but spell out what really happened: [[spoiler:he found his daughter dead in the bathtub]].

* AdultFear:
** Everything concerning Mei Shin, really, particularly the idea that [[spoiler:you might be pushing your child so hard, she develops anxiety and has severe panic attacks, and your attempts at help end up killing her]].
** Living with an abusive spouse.
** Being unable to support your family because your career is a failure.

* DemonicPossession: Near the end, [[spoiler:this is subverted. Feng Yu grew convinced that his daughter's mental illness is the result of evil taking hold of her soul, and believes that the same causes his wife to act out against him. His attempts to exorcise Mei Shin, ultimately killing her]].

* DemonicPossession: Near the end, [[spoiler:this is subverted. Feng Yu grew convinced that his daughter's mental illness is the result of evil taking hold of her soul, and believes that the same causes his wife to act out against him. His attempts to exorcise Mei Shin ultimately kill her]].

* ChurchOfHappyology: [[spoiler:The cult of Cigu Guanyin claims that prayer (and money) can resolve all issues, whether health- or life-related. It's a scam that its leader, Mentor Heuh, is running. The cult has caused several deaths both by encouraging its adherents to reject actual treatment, and through the rituals themselves (which is what happened to Mei Shin).]]

''Devotion'' is a Taiwanese independent horror game developed by Red Candle Games, who also made ''VideoGame/{{Detention}}''. It was initially released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} on February 13th, 2019, but was delisted a week and a half later following "[[https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18239937/taiwanese-horror-game-devotion-gone-steam-removed-winnie-the-pooh-meme-china technical issues]]". Red Candle Games eventually [[https://twitter.com/redcandlegames/status/1339148313032060929 announced on December 16th, 2020]] that the game would be rereleased on Website/GOGDotCom, although later that day [[https://twitter.com/GOGcom/status/1339227388438306817 GOG rescinded on selling it]].

*** The scene described above also happens while Feng Yu is about to drown in red liquid while stuck inside an enclosed bathroom, [[spoiler:which ends up being Mei Shin's fate, more or less. Becomes even more blatant with Feng Yu rising from a [[BloodBath bathtub filled with red liquid right afterwards.]]]]

* MedicalHorror: Downplayed since it's a very brief portion of the story and the hospital itself ain't guilty of anything wrong, but Mei Shin's experience with medical treatment was not a pleasant one since it involved some agonizing acupuncture. The hallway leading to the hospital section reflects this by showing several childish doodles of children getting stabbed with various needles.

** A minor one that's often overlooked is finding the Mei Shin doll hidden inside the wardrobe in the 1980 apartment.

** The game as a whole does not take place in reality [[spoiler:(save at the very end)]]. but in a corrupted version of it. Justified since [[spoiler:it's mostly all part of Feng Yu's mind, thus being closer to a MentalWorld.]]
** [[spoiler:The apartment during 1986 becomes really close to the traditional horror version of this, especially after playing the record. All the lights become red, giving the apartment a hellish appearance, the hallway is filled withdisturbing doodles from Mei Shin, some of the decoration turns into twitching eyes and portraits on the walls now weep a pinkish-red liquid]].

* HorrorHospital: Downplayed since it's a very brief portion of the story and the hospital itself ain'tguilty of anything, but Mei Shin's experience with medical treatment was not a pleasant one since it involved some agonizing acupuncture. The hallway leading to the hospital section reflects this by showing several childish doodles of children getting stabbed with various needles.