When comparing Detention vs Overcooked 2, the Slant community recommends Overcooked 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best games for the Nintendo Switch?” Overcooked 2 is ranked 36th while Detention is ranked 53rd. The most important reason people chose Overcooked 2 is:
Whether you played the first Overcooked or not, Overcooked 2 is easy to figure out right from the get-go. The recipes for each dish are familiar even if you're not much of a chef, so you can remember which raw ingredients you need as you make your way around the kitchen and work with your co-op partner(s). Once you play a few rounds, you should have a good handle on things, helping you focus on getting everything done as quickly as possible from there on out.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro An altogether tense horror experience
Detention does a great job of ensuring a tense horror experience from start to finish. The entire atmosphere is just downright creepy, often washed in dark with very few light sources. The ghosts look absolutely horrific. Having to sneak by them can create some of the most tense moments in the game. The story intertwines pieces of Taiwan's tragic real life history with the in-game narrative which gives it a historically accurate, but disturbing feel. On top of all this, the screaming and otherworldly sound effects which play in the background give you a constant sense of unease.
Pro Tense gameplay
There is no combat or weapons in this game, making an encounter with the many ghosts a tense and frightening experience. Since you have no way of fighting directly or defending yourself, your only survival options are to use stealth and trickery.
In order to sneak past a ghost, you will have to hold your breath and slowly creep by. You can't be detected when holding your breath, but managing your air supply while sneaking can be pretty suspenseful when a ghost is right next to you and starts to give chase.
If you absolutely can't get past despite your best sneaking efforts, you can lure a ghost away from it's spot with a food offering placed on the ground. But, even in this case, you'll have to be very careful you're not seen when the ghost comes looking for the treat.
Pro Horror elements incorporate Taiwan's real life history to disturbing effect
Detention takes place in 1960s, a time period in which Taiwan was under martial law. The story focuses heavily on the social struggles of the time. Much of the game's horror elements are heavily inspired by the atrocities committed during this time. The creepy and disturbing factor is amplified due to the fact many of the notes and items scattered throughout the game are based on real historical events. The hopelessness and despair is felt throughout, especially when experienced through the eyes of the young and innocent protagonist, Wei.
Pro Dread-inducing sound design
The soundtrack isn't a typical soundtrack. Rather, it is purely environmental ambience and effects. There are no gentle melodies or soothing tracks at all. Rather, the audio itself involves a lot of screaming, scratching, moaning, humming, and strange otherwordly tones. Forgoing music for strange ambience was an interesting design choice, but it definitely pays off here as it makes you feel entirely uncomfortable, and the sense of dread is captured incredibly well.
Pro Creepy horror atmosphere
Jump scares are few and far between. Detention focuses more on atmospheric horror through it's rather oppressive and bleak environment. To emphasize the dread, most of the game's artwork consists only of dark shades and washed out textures. Almost everything is depressing and bleak - the story, artwork, and sound design - resulting in a real horrific atmosphere. Roaming through the dark halls of a deserted school and its flooded grounds while being hunted by disturbing looking ghosts results in some downright terrifying moments.
Pro Balanced and intuitive puzzles
The puzzles are pretty straightforward and intuitive. Most items will serve practical purpose, rather than relying on the absurd logic that some other adventure games suffer from. For example, wire cutters are used to cut gates, paint thinner is used to dissolve paint, etc. Most puzzle items are used in the general area of where you pick them up, so there's not a whole lot of running around. While most of the early puzzles are fairly easy, some of the later puzzles can be quite tricky. However, they are still perfectly solvable with a little brain power. All in all, from an adventure gaming standpoint, it's certainly balanced.
Pro Simple to pick up and learn
Whether you played the first Overcooked or not, Overcooked 2 is easy to figure out right from the get-go. The recipes for each dish are familiar even if you're not much of a chef, so you can remember which raw ingredients you need as you make your way around the kitchen and work with your co-op partner(s). Once you play a few rounds, you should have a good handle on things, helping you focus on getting everything done as quickly as possible from there on out.
Pro Hilariously fun couch and online co-op for up to four players
Playing Overcooked 2 with friends is the best. There's so much going on at once in the kitchen, with barriers moving in your way, hazards popping up like cars in the middle of the road separating the two halves of your area, and ingredients, dishes, and half-prepared dishes to move from one place to another. Working together and communicating with your friends through couch co-op or online play is a constant stream of laughter and excited shouting as you mess up, learn, and hopefully get things done. If you don't have anyone to play with, then you can hop online for matchmaking instead.
Pro Fast and frantic cooking action
Overcooked 2 is really fast-paced and keeps you on your toes. You play as a chef in a crazy kitchen with a ton of things going on all at once, with you mixing, preparing, and cooking in between the chaos of moving platforms and environmental obstacles. There's a time limit constantly ticking down at the bottom of the screen; finishing your tasks on time or ahead of schedule earns you a better score in the end. Tossing ingredients to your teammates across the kitchen, or across the moving platforms or obstacles like bodies of water, is a fresh new addition in this game that wasn't in the first Overcooked, making things even faster this time around. It's such a manic yet well-done mix of many different genres and ideas that all come together in the best ways.
Cons
Con Very short
The whole game can be played in about 3-5 hours.
Con Some minor pixel hunting
Some items are hard to find, resulting in a bit of pixel hunting from time to time. While this is the norm for seasoned adventure gamers, some may be frustrated by having to repeatedly backtrack and search areas for missed items.
Con No auto saving can result in frustration
Saving can only be done at specified save points. Forgetting to manually save is quite common when you're wrapped up in the creepy atmosphere and story. When you die, it's rather frustrating to have to replay large sections of content.
Con Can be incredibly frustrating
Trying to work at such a fast pace with so many obstacles and general mayhem going on at once can wear on you after a while. There's a lot to keep track of at once, and it's easy for things to spiral out of control as your mistakes pile up. If your group isn't doing well and you're running out of time, you might find yourself losing your patience with your team and yelling at them. This might not be the game for you if you don't have a team that's willing to be patient and cooperative with each other, even when you're not doing so well during a particular round.
Con Single-player isn't as fun as co-op
If you only want to play alone, then Overcooked 2 might not be the best game to pick. All the fast-paced fun from co-op mostly comes from communicating with your team and trying to pull off your task together before the time runs out. You control two characters at once while playing alone, but this still lacks the team-based chaos that makes the game so addicting. You could instead go online for matchmaking, though you might get paired with people who don't want to talk or work as an actual team.
Con The controls are a bit sluggish
There's something about the controls that feels heavy and deliberate, and not necessarily in a good way. The feeling goes against the fast-paced nature of the gameplay that demands you in one place and then the next. If you played the first Overcooked, you may notice the difference right away. This change shouldn't be too much of a hassle, though it's still noticeable.