Pentiment Reviews
A brilliant narrative adventure that is filled with intelligence and heart.
As an engrossing 15 to 20-hour adventure game, a chronicle of a small town and its people in turbulent times, a reverent celebration of the finer details of Late Medieval history, and a clever detective story in which straight answers are hard to come by – Pentiment is a clear champion. My gripes about it are all relatively minor, and I look forward to playing it at least once or twice more to explore roads not taken. It never suffers for its simplicity, lacking in combat or traditional puzzles, because of how effectively it tangled me up in the complexities of its gorgeously-realized world and made me want to learn all I could about its people and its past. There isn't much more to say about Pentiment, other than I can hardly recommend it highly enough.
Pentimento is an Italian word for a visible trace of earlier painting beneath a layer or layers of paint on a canvas. Just like the meaning behind this beautiful word, Obsidian's Pentiment is a multi-layered masterpiece full of endearing characters, compelling stories, and disturbing secrets that await you at every corner of this carefully crafted world.
Pentiment tells an engrossing story by allowing you to talk with countless characters who are all deeply rooted in the town. Their plights and frustrations, their sorrow and disappoints, and their joy and happiness are all explored, and they help to tell a much greater tale of a town oppressed by the Abbey. By making some tough choices along the way, you’ll potentially regret decisions or think twice before trusting, and it is this facet of the game that made me fall in love with it. When the artwork is so sublime, and the score hits in all the right places, there are few titles out there quite like this.
Pentiment is not going to be popular. I do think however that it will become a cult classic. I can’t think of another game from a 1st party publisher to tackle a subject like this. Nothing about it feels forced to try and earn the most money, instead, it is a labor of devotion to telling a brilliant story at a specific period and place in our past. Life may rarely go the way we want, but there is power in our choices and I’m glad that Xbox allowed this game to be made. It’s a unique, dazzling work of art that will stand the test of time for as long as we remember it.
From its humble development and gameplay characteristics to its excellent narrative and stunningly beautiful ending, Pentiment is a game we can all relate to in one way or another. For that reason, I’m very thankful Josh Sawyer was finally able to realize his vision for it with the team at Obsidian. I can only hope that we see more major studios encourage projects like it in the future. For now, I’m off to break bread with the residents on a new journey through Tassing.
A lumbering historical murder mystery with little regard for tension or pacing, but one that packs in such dense detail you can't help but respect it. Pentiment immerses you in 1500s Bavaria and that's the main event.
Pentiment too often limits its most enjoyable pieces to reach an ending that makes sense but is still unfulfilling.
It's a magnificent thing, and this story will be lingering in my thoughts for quite some time. Pentiment takes Obsidian's expertise in branching narratives, role-playing, and building evocative worlds, then packages it all up in an exciting and unique way. I was devastated when it was over, and I'm still not over that ending. But now I'm looking forward to playing it all over again, this time with another Andreas. Maybe one who speaks Latin, studied law, and spent his wandering years in Switzerland. There are some bad choices and disastrous consequences I'd like to avoid this time too. That's the beauty of being an artist: you can always scrape the parchment clean and start again.
Pentiment is about that phenomenon, and also a manifestation of it. It's one of the most engaging and accessible works of living history ever commissioned, and the fact that it exists at all - let alone as a major platform holder's first-party RPG heading into the Christmas season - is a miracle worthy of the saints.
Pentiment's gameplay — or lack thereof — may deter some would-be players, but those who become invested in its lovingly crafted world set in distant past, emotional and human narrative, and gripping murder conspiracy are guaranteed to fall in love.
When the final scene finished, and the credits rolled, I sat there staring at my screen with many emotions. I was sad to be leaving Tassing, happy that I could make residents’ lives better, sad about the outcomes of others, and wondered how things could have turned out differently. Even if I weren’t planning on playing through Pentiment again for this review and guides, I would have done so without hesitation. Pentiment will make you want to play through the game multiple times to see the story unfold differently based on the actions you wished you could have done.
Pentiment is an outstanding tale of monks, mystery and murder.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 14 November 2022
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