The latest announcedSilent Hilltitle,Silent Hill f,has been drawing comparisons to the ghost-camera series,Fatal Frame.Both feature a young female protagonist as well as ghosts and Yokai from Japanese folklore, and both are deliciously creepy.
The upcomingSilent Hillgame also looks like it willexplore complex and difficult themes through the lens of fear and mental health,asFatal Framegames tend to do. If you may’t wait untilSilent Hill freleases on September 24, you can get your fix from a different game that’s already been out for eight years.
Detentionby Red Candle Gamesmight not look likeSilent HillorFatal Frame,but it takes elements from both franchises for a fantastic atmospheric horror game from the point of view of an underrepresented culture in gaming.
Detention Is A Melancholy Game Rooted In History And Culture
Hide From Spirits In The School’s Haunted Hallways
Detentionis a 2D adventure gameset in 1960s Taiwan, during a period called the White Terror, when the nation was gripped by martial law. Players alternate between two high school students who find themselves stranded at their remote school, which was evacuated due to an approaching typhoon.
As the two characters make their way through the abandoned high school,shadowy figures emerge to prowl the halls.Players must navigate through the environment, solving environmental puzzles to progress through the school’s hallways to escape.
Little by little, the two students piece together the story,revealing the true nature of the evil that lurks in their school’s hallways. The haunting tale will remain with players long after they’ve reached its end, made all the more impressive by the fact that the game was developed by asmall team of just six people.
A Silent Hill-Like Atmosphere And Take On Fear
Ominous, Monochromatic, And Most Definitely Cursed
Detentionis not a long game; most players canget through it in about four hours. But the developers manage to pack the short playtime withall the best elements of bothSilent HillandFatal Frame.
LikeSilent Hill, the events inDetentionunfold in an ominous, monochromatic setting. The terrifying creatures that haunt the school can’t be fought, but appear toprey on the students' fears.
This creates anatmosphere of fear and uneasethat builds as players traverse the hauntingly empty hallways and rooms of the evacuated school. The cursed, isolated location seems to inhabit both the real world and a shadowy alternate reality, as though the town ofSilent Hillhas come to Taiwanto swallow the building whole.
A Fatal Frame-Esque Exploration Of Folklore And History
Taiwanese And Chinese Inspirations Abound
TheFatal Framecomparison—and one of the best parts ofDetention—comes in thecultural, mythological, and religious symbolismthat Red Candle Games imbues into the game.
Detentiondraws on Taiwanese and Chinese folklore and mythology,the way theFatal Frameseries does with Japanese culture. The title integrates elements from Taoism, Buddhism, Chinese mythology, and Taiwanese culture to tell its dark tale.
The creatures that stalk the halls are known as “The Lingered,” and are based on Wangliang from Chinese folklore. These are evil spirits often thought tolurk in abandoned places and locations of great pain,and represent unrest. There are different kinds of Lingered, just as the different ghosts inFatal Framecorrespond to different Yokai and legends.
Detentionhas spawned a few spin-off media projects, including a movie and a Taiwanese Netflix TV series.
Red Candle Games has also developed the first-person horrorDevotionand theSekiro-inspired platformerNine Sols,both of which also draw from Chinese and Taiwanese culture in different ways.
Detentionincludes many other nods to Taiwanese culture and history, especially tothe difficult period in historywhen the game takes place. For instance, a real song called “The Torment of a Flower” is played in the game, which was famously rewritten during the Second World War in praise of the Japanese.
But don’t worry if you’re not a history buff: the story and chilling atmosphere ofDetentioncan easily be enjoyed even if you don’t get all the references. Fans of both theSilent HillandFatal Framefranchises will findDetentionto exist at the intersection between the two.
Silent Hill fwon’t be out for another two months, but you canexperience the psychological horrorofDetentionright now while you wait.
