Trivia / Devotion

• Banned in China: Literally so. Infamously, a placeholder asset that compared the chairman of mainland China, Xi Jinping, to Winnie the Pooh (a comparison he famously resents) sneaked into the game's final release and the game was review-bombed on Steam by more nationalistic Chinese reviewers. While it was quickly patched out, the game vanished off Steam shortly after that — supposedly only for a short time to fix it up — leading some to question if that wasn't the real reason.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: In July 2019, Red Candle Games stated they have no plans to re-release the game in the future, likely due to the immense controversy of the placeholder asset that resulted in their publishing rights being revoked in China, leaving very few ways to get the game legally anymore. On December 16th, 2020, they announced that the game would be re-released on Dec 18th via GOG, an announcement that was retracted merely hours later. On March 15th, 2021, they finally cut out the middle man and launched their own storefront to sell the game on.
• No Export for You: After having dealt with so much controversy from China due to the aforementioned placeholder asset in Banned in China above, the game's re-release from Red Candle Games' own storefront is completely region-locked from China, and if a Chinese user tries to play the game, it will only prompt a warning message◊ that the game is prohibited by law.
• Reality Subtext: The game is a critique of several aspects of Taiwanese (and, by extension, Chinese) culture.
  • The way mental illness is stigmatized, with Feng Yu being furious when Mei Shin is referred to a psychiatrist for her symptoms, and assuming she's possessed by an evil spirit, as psychological disorders are associated with a severe social stigma.
  • The religious cults and "spiritualists" who prey on people to make money through dubious spiritual practices. Oftentimes, more traditional families will take a child to such a "mentor" rather than a real doctor. While some are harmless, many practices are actively malevolent, as was the case in 2013, where a student was starved to death by a religious ritual, much like Mei Shin died, either from malnutrition or alcohol poisoning, due to mentor Heuh's ritual.
  • The relationship between Li Fang and Feng Yu, where Feng Yu insists that his wife Stay in the Kitchen, even when it becomes apparent that she was the breadwinner between the two, criticizes the way women were (and, often, still are) expected to leave their career upon starting a family, even beyond Taiwan.
  • The obsession over public image, with Feng Yu buying expensive items to appear rich, and Li Fang's mother advising her to remain despite his abusive nature to avoid gossip.

---