A Light in the Dark review

Things aren’t quite as they initially seem in this visual novel with sleuthing elements. 

Hao-Chen Jiang’s likely finds solace in the predictability of his daily routine. Every weekday, he attends class while his afternoons are spent at buxiban, a Taiwanese term for “cram schools”. These extracurricular lessons provide pupils with an academic edge. But his consistent schedule and wealthy father have also made him a target. At the beginning of A Light in the Dark, Jiang gains consciousness in a dilapidated room, with his hands and legs forcefully tied.

The student awakens to find a kidnapper overflowing with disdain. Still groggy from whatever caused him to pass out, there’s sluggishness to Jiang’s actions. But his abductor demonstrates little mercy. She repeatedly hits and kicks the lead, threatening to kill Jiang should he try to run off. Yes, this is an escape room with a twist. This time, you’re locked inside with a pair of knife-wielding assailants who loathe your seemingly privileged upbringing. They’re hopeful for a ransom, but might also find some solace in seeing you perish.

An Exercise in Minimalism

Where most visual novels have large casts and change locations with the tempo of a feature film, A Light in the Dark is much closer to the simmering intimacy offered by a stage play. Essentially, there are a trio of characters: Jiang, his kidnapper, and the kidnapper’s younger sister. The story is set inside a single room. Dialog between the characters performs the bulk of the exposition, save for Jiang offering the reader his innermost thoughts.

Much of A Light in the Dark’s appeal is how immersive its depiction of kidnapping is. You’re given dialog choices that can express either defiance or obedience. But cleverly, the visual novel provides little indication of which stance you should adopt. At about two-and-a-half hours, Dark is a concise read, but for most of its length, I was torn between misleading my kidnappers and complying with them so I’d avoid injury or even death. Yes, if you let Jiang’s stamina deplete, the story will end.

Given the quality of the writing, the depiction of captivity was potent. Often, Light in the Dark illuminates the diminutive details that someone who is restrained against their will might notice. Just as importantly, it gnaws away at expectations. Jiang isn’t the carefree nepo-kid that he first appears to be. Likewise, the novel has some empathy for its kidnappers. Sure, Stockholm Syndrome has been repeatedly criticized over the years. But Light in the Dark felt like it was messing with my head, goading me into keeping my captors content. Or at least, I could feign submission in an attempt to gain their sympathies, potentially providing a way to flee.

A Passive or Active Approach?

To achieve the feeling of autonomy, Dark offers a few interactive elements. The aforementioned dialog selections have a time limit that ratchets up the intensity. At the end of every chapter, you’re given a limited number of turns to interact with your abductors, look around, or rest to regain your stamina. These sections aren’t perfect. If you opt to investigate the room, the available options can be misleading. I wanted to use the cell phone, but the game provided a description of the table the mobile was resting on.

A Light in the Dark’s other transgression is winding things up too quickly after the curtain has been lifted. For much of its duration, the novel provides a smothering sense of mystery. In-game notes track the scant observations you glean from your surroundings. But once the ambiguities are explained, the writers act like detainees, absconding as quickly as they can. Like Kurosawa’s masterful procedural, High and Low, I didn’t want the story to conclude once the kidnapping was over. I would have appreciated a bit more time to see how the kidnapping truly affected its characters. But wanting more from a visual novel is probably one of the forgivable offenses around.

A Light in the Dark was played on Switch
with review code provided by the publisher.