3.5/5 ★ – Tye_Boy's review of Detention.

I had been meaning to play Detention for a long while. It spent so long at the bottom of my Switch wishlist, before a sudden discount compelled me to finally nab it. A haunting experience surrounded with horrific historical context, Detention is a short yet solid game. Developed by independent studio Red Lantern Games, the game encompasses strong imagery, with its use of clashing art-styles and different colour palettes, plus the overall 2D look and playstyle of it. It’s been a long time since I encountered visuals that amplify the narrative and themes of a game so poignantly. I took note of quite a few instances of strong writing. Mainly during these parts of self-reflection within the protagonist. Although there can be some spelling or grammar errors (which are forgivable mistakes), the dialogue and inner-thoughts of this protagonist are executed very well. The game’s historical subject matter is implemented extremely well. It provides the player with strong insight into these harrowing events and how they affected the characters here. It works incredibly well along with the Silent Hill-esque gameplay of exploring buildings and solving puzzles. Albeit some far more simply. But that’s not a bad thing. Detention is a few hours long, yet never loses its unnerving momentum. What starts as a paranormal night at a school devolves into something far more disturbing. Such a descent impacted me fairly hard as I continued to wrap my head around the direction where the game headed in. Its puzzles are well-designed and made me think a decent amount throughout the game. Sometimes they were too easy, or barely lasted any time at all, but still ended up being pretty good. The scares here stem from not only the frightening imagery on display, but also specific moments of being started out of nowhere. Some of these instances can be classified as jump-scares, but a good amount of the time, they weren’t that obnoxious. At least, that’s how I saw and reacted to them. The sound here is put together effectively. Between the disturbing ambiance in the background, usage of much older music, and key original tracks heavily featuring the piano, the music does a great job invoking feelings of desolation, loneliness, and unease.