We Know the Devil

released on Sep 12, 2015

We Know the Devil is a visual novel about teens reluctantly fighting the devil at summer camp. Follow meangirl Neptune, tomboy Jupiter, and shy shy Venus as they get to know each other--but one always gets left out.


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This review contains spoilers

La adolescencia es una etapa turbulenta en la que nos enfrentamos a problemas como lo es la búsqueda de la identidad. Nos pasamos años intentando averiguar quiénes somos. A veces me cuesta recordarlo, y eso que esa etapa acabó hace un tiempo para mi. Toda esa búsqueda se nubla cuando tu entorno invisibiliza tu realidad y la etiqueta como incorrecta. We know the devil se siente tremendamente personal, una forma para las creadoras de externalizar sus sentimientos en relación a ser una persona queer en un entorno cristiano. Atajar los problemas de esa época de una forma metafórica y preciosa a partes iguales.

Esta obra nos presenta a tres chicas adolescentes que pasan su verano en un campamento católico. Deben pasar la noche en un cobertizo intentando evitar que el demonio las alcance. No sabes que es “el demonio” en un principio, pero el juego sabe transmitir terror en torno a su figura, gracias a su banda sonora. Es como si lo sintieras desde la perspectiva de ellas, de esos pensamientos que les han inculcado. Pero el diablo es algo totalmente metafórico. Son esas ideas rechazadas por la sociedad más tradicionalista, que demonizan como algo horrible y les impide encontrar su verdadera identidad. Por eso cuando les alcanza a las tres, deciden abrazarlo para ser capaces de descubrir quienes son realmente, dando paso a un final hermoso en que aceptan su sexualidad y género.

Tampoco quiero desmerecer a los finales “malos”. Creo que todos reflexionan sobre algo tan importante como la amistad. La conversación con el capitán nos habla de las amistades de tres integrantes, y como muchas veces alguien se acaba quedando desplazado. El juego nos pasa el testigo y en nuestras manos queda involucrar a todas en la experiencia. Este concepto gana fuerza cuando nos presentan las decisiones sin que sepamos el porqué ni las consecuencias. Eliges según te parece, para darte cuenta al final que te has olvidado de alguien. El capitán tenía razón desgraciadamente, pero tú puedes cambiarlo e intentar encontrar un final en el que todas se sientan felices. Es un paralelismo con la realidad de esa situación.

Por otro lado, creo que We know the devil crea una atmósfera genial. Su banda sonora está a caballo entre dos sensaciones completamente opuestas. A veces genera tranquilidad sí, pero sobre todo crea tensión y angustia. Hay partes de la banda sonora que son desagradables, pero en ello creo que se encuentra la genialidad de esta BSO. Ayuda a construir esa atmósfera tan desconcertante y hostil, que se siente acompañada de forma sublime por esas fotos hechas con cámara digital que se utilizan como fondos. Esos fondos promueven la misma sensación de la banda sonora y solo te deja esperanza en los dibujos hechos a mano de las protagonistas.

En definitiva, We know the devil me ha parecido una novela visual espectacular, que trata temas que se echan de menos en los videojuegos. Una obra cortita con un presupuesto reducido, pero con mucho amor por lo que querían lograr contar con ella.

I love religious trauma and being gay

It's really cool; the characters are super well written, and the dynamic between them is a blast. I just wish it was longer because 40 minutes feels way too short for such an interpersonal story about religious trauma.

This review contains spoilers

poly rep if the creators were brave enough to make it more obvious

If you're a millenial or an early zoomer, there's a chance that Christianity and religion was part of your life at some point, wether you wanted it or not. With the sudden uprise of the LGBTQ+ movement and rights, people are less and less afraid of being queer to the point "gay" is not an insult anymore. We Know the Devil is a story released at a moment in life where acceptance wasn't as present as it is today (online, at least) but christianity and religion was still quite present.

One of the things you'll notice very early on is how unsettling and distant the soundtrack is. Almost as if it always stalking, waiting for the moment to catch you off guard. It doesn't really has much calm moments where you can actually relax. It's a soundtrack that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of trying to hide something, of a danger that is lurking but hasn't striken. It sometimes manifests itself like a broken disc, with static and scratches.
I am unaware if this is intentional or not, but at one point where the game is using the second "messiest" song, they are talking about radio static being described as "God is already warning us".

The writing respects the reader with a storytelling that skips over details and lets you fill in the blanks based on the information you receive with the interaction of each character.
Every time details are given, it's to plant a seed on the reader. A seed of doubt. A seed of curiosity. A seed of inquisivity.
To give a non spoilery example, at one moment the player asks themselves what even is this camp. What are the intentions behind it aside of religious, which is when the game does this clever thing of [i]telling[/i] it's hand rather than showing it by saying it's a camp for "bad kids", which ponders the question of what is considered bad based upon the entire religious context. It is a line delivered fairly early into the game which really helps the reader to start analyzing more and more the possible reasons why these kids were sent here. Although they're ultimately revealed, it has never felt as if the writing is mad at you for not figuring things out earlier.

We Know the Devil might be short, but it takes a lot of care in it's writing , which is something I truly admire.

--

On a personal note, aside of the review and more of a vent than anything, I want to mention that I knew I was trans since a very early age. Religion never truly sticked with me thanks to my brother that really fucking hated going to church (just like me) because of how boring it was. We stopped going at an early age and one of the arguments we gave was that the church is nothing but humans who read the bible and interpreted a specific way. We got out of religion with the excuse that we wanted ot have our own interpretation of the bible and follow our own path with our own beliefs. It is important to note that my brother is 4 years older than I and my brain was too small to formulate these kinds of thoughts yet so all I did was nod to whatever he said for.. some years.
Seeking my own interpretation of the bible, I finally felt at peace. It was the moment where being queer stopped being shameful. Where I started to question myself and how I was feeling -- hell, at one moment I even had the interpretation that we're all our own god, which is the opposite conclusion the game gives in each arc lol --, yet it took me more than 10 years to finally come out of the closet to my family.
I'll never forget how my mom, who volunteers at the church, grabbed me by the arms and told me "please, never be gay. I see them suffer so much". At that moment my young self understood that as "it's not safe to be gay" and therefore.. hid it. I never repressed it, I hid it.
I blocked my family from all social media, I prohibited from entering my room and slowly but surely cut contact with them as much as I could.
I isolated myself from my family out of fear.
As the years went by, my parents and family kept saying they missed me, that they wish I was more present, but every time I tried they all mocked me and pushed me deeper into isolation until I felt like trying wasn't worth it.
After coming out of the closet, my dad did not talk to me for a while. My mom was overwhelmed at basically having her daughter tell her she has to help her rewire her, and my brother had other things to worry about, specially after those years of extreme isolation on my end.
Fast forward to today, I am living in another country with my wife in a family that accepts me and accompanies me as a whole. I'm still in contact with my parents. My dad talks to me but by my deadname and refuses to call me by my now legal name, so I avoid him if possible. My mom wishes she could be closer to me but realizes not even herself knows how to be a woman, and therefore doesn't know how to be a mother. She feels more like a friend that worries about me but doesn't have the words nor means to support me. I'm sorry mom.
My brother on the other hand, I want to call him a cunt but he has all the reasons and rights to be one. It's not like I have been the best sister to him.

I am having a good life where I'm free, loved and don't have to hide myself anymore, but sometimes I have to get reminded of the two decades I spent in the closet to not go there again.

Cool style. Good writing, but be warned that it's very short.