As time goes by, it becomes more difficult to make an impressive horror game. It’s one of those genres that heavily relies on a select number of tropes and cliches but Devotion manages to make a modern horror game that will stick in the minds of those who play it.

Developed by Taiwanese studio Red Candle Games, Devotion tells the tragic story of a family falling apart due to illness, financial struggles, and also some unnatural causes. Characters and plotlines unravel as you explore environments and interact with objects of significance.

Through and through, the game is a walking simulator. It entirely depends on its atmosphere and few but efficient jump scares to maintain interest. Thankfully, it’s one of those games you’d want to write a 1000-word essay on how good the atmosphere is done.

Your character’s slow walking speed and the combination of eerily beautiful environments and unnerving music work very well in maintaining a consistent sense of dread. Make no mistake, Devotion is scary as heck and it rarely depends on jump scares to frighten you.

As much as we’d want for more people to play Devotion, that’s pretty much impossible now. The Chinese government has permanently removed the game from all online stores and only those who downloaded it while it was still being sold are able to keep the game. There are always other dubious ways to experience this; it’s just a shame that we won’t be able to reward the developers for this new take on atmospheric gaming horror.