Pentiment’s existence is an astounding one. This is not because it’s a game developed by Obsidian, as they have been celebrated for nearly twenty years as one of the premiere WRPG devs, nor it is because it’s the passion project of Josh Sawyer, who was one of the lead devs for Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity 2, which are among Obsidian’s best games. This game is astounding in that such a clear labor of love that goes so hard against the grain of the mainstream game industry would have not existed if not for the support of the largest AAA publisher, Microsoft.
Pentiment isn’t a traditional RPG, even more so than fellow detective RPG Disco Elysium, as it’s more of an adventure game as it has no stats. I would still consider it a RPG though as the background and skills you choose for the protagonist, Andreas Maler, shapes what he can do and his relationships with the characters around him and the choices you make. Pentiment is also not a traditional detective game either for reasons that are bit spoilery, but one of them is that Andreas is not actually a detective. Andreas is not Sherlock Holmes, Harry DuBois, or Lady Love Dies; he is merely an artist completely out of his depth dragged into the rural Bavarian town of Tassing’s turmoil and forced to try and maintain the peace between the town and Kiersau, the Benedictine abbey who governs them. Andreas can’t Columbo his way to the truth, his and your choices are tinged with uncertainty as you try to uncover the culprits. Ultimately, the murders are a backdrop to the main theme of the game, history.
Pentiment is foremost a game about history, a rumination of the past and how society is built on the foundations of older ones, how they evolve and change over time, and how the past and its truths can be obfuscated through multiple means. The game take place in the Holy Roman Empire in the early 1500’s at the dawn of the great societal upheavals of the Early Modern period in Europe. Martin Luther has published his 95 Theses only a few years prior to the start of the game’s narrative, which will eventually lead to the greatest schism in Christianity, The Protestant Reformation, and more than a century of bloodshed and strife across the continent. Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press has revolutionized society as now the proliferation of books and the ability to read them are no longer only in the realm of the aristocracy and clergy. The growing education of the peasantry leads to class conflicts with their noble and clerical lords who desire to keep the underclasses under heel. The old traditions of the medieval era are dying away, this is initially illustrated with Keirsau and its monks, who are the very few still writing and illustrating books by hand. All of these events tie into the events of the game’s narrative and its setting and characters, and what a fantastic job the game does bringing them to life.
Pentiment’s attention to detail both to its historical time period, setting, and art design is wondrous. The game drops references left and right to historical people, places, and concepts of the era which deftly manages to give the uninitiated player a trove of information in the in-game glossary for clarification, an expansion of the similar systems that previous Obsidian RPGs, Tyranny and PoE2 had. As a lover of history and games that immerse themselves into the subject, Pentiment is one of the very finest, it not the most. The game is mostly a slow burn, letting you get to really learn about the daily lives of the townsfolk and the monks and nuns, before shit starts hitting the fan. This works so well for the game because you really get a sense of place with Tassing and its people. The writing is fantastic as its fleshes out its cast and setting splendidly. The game also manages to balance having its light-hearted moments with serious drama and the narrative ends up being a powerful journey.
The game’s art design is absolutely beautiful, crafted akin to the style of the manuscript illustrations of the era. The characters have just so much lively detail to them and the backgrounds are so scenic. The UI is also so creative as well. Characters’ dialogue boxes are expressed through the writing of a quill complete with sound effects and typos in the dialogue that get corrected like someone was actually writing them by hand. There’s even another facet of this UI where the town printer, Klaus’, dialogue boxes are instead expressed in the style of printing press block prints complete with printing press sound effects. All of this sheer attention to detail are testament to how much love was clearly poured into this game. The soundtrack is also beautiful, though the game uses it more sparingly than most games. Just one of the most aesthetically beautiful and creative games I’ve played.
Pentiment is a masterpiece of the medium and hopefully will stand as inspiration for other game developers in the years to come. If you have an interest in it, I highly recommend it, it’s fast become my GOTY and one of my absolute favorite games of all time. It truly is an amazing joy that this game exists.
Pentiment isn’t a traditional RPG, even more so than fellow detective RPG Disco Elysium, as it’s more of an adventure game as it has no stats. I would still consider it a RPG though as the background and skills you choose for the protagonist, Andreas Maler, shapes what he can do and his relationships with the characters around him and the choices you make. Pentiment is also not a traditional detective game either for reasons that are bit spoilery, but one of them is that Andreas is not actually a detective. Andreas is not Sherlock Holmes, Harry DuBois, or Lady Love Dies; he is merely an artist completely out of his depth dragged into the rural Bavarian town of Tassing’s turmoil and forced to try and maintain the peace between the town and Kiersau, the Benedictine abbey who governs them. Andreas can’t Columbo his way to the truth, his and your choices are tinged with uncertainty as you try to uncover the culprits. Ultimately, the murders are a backdrop to the main theme of the game, history.
Pentiment is foremost a game about history, a rumination of the past and how society is built on the foundations of older ones, how they evolve and change over time, and how the past and its truths can be obfuscated through multiple means. The game take place in the Holy Roman Empire in the early 1500’s at the dawn of the great societal upheavals of the Early Modern period in Europe. Martin Luther has published his 95 Theses only a few years prior to the start of the game’s narrative, which will eventually lead to the greatest schism in Christianity, The Protestant Reformation, and more than a century of bloodshed and strife across the continent. Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press has revolutionized society as now the proliferation of books and the ability to read them are no longer only in the realm of the aristocracy and clergy. The growing education of the peasantry leads to class conflicts with their noble and clerical lords who desire to keep the underclasses under heel. The old traditions of the medieval era are dying away, this is initially illustrated with Keirsau and its monks, who are the very few still writing and illustrating books by hand. All of these events tie into the events of the game’s narrative and its setting and characters, and what a fantastic job the game does bringing them to life.
Pentiment’s attention to detail both to its historical time period, setting, and art design is wondrous. The game drops references left and right to historical people, places, and concepts of the era which deftly manages to give the uninitiated player a trove of information in the in-game glossary for clarification, an expansion of the similar systems that previous Obsidian RPGs, Tyranny and PoE2 had. As a lover of history and games that immerse themselves into the subject, Pentiment is one of the very finest, it not the most. The game is mostly a slow burn, letting you get to really learn about the daily lives of the townsfolk and the monks and nuns, before shit starts hitting the fan. This works so well for the game because you really get a sense of place with Tassing and its people. The writing is fantastic as its fleshes out its cast and setting splendidly. The game also manages to balance having its light-hearted moments with serious drama and the narrative ends up being a powerful journey.
The game’s art design is absolutely beautiful, crafted akin to the style of the manuscript illustrations of the era. The characters have just so much lively detail to them and the backgrounds are so scenic. The UI is also so creative as well. Characters’ dialogue boxes are expressed through the writing of a quill complete with sound effects and typos in the dialogue that get corrected like someone was actually writing them by hand. There’s even another facet of this UI where the town printer, Klaus’, dialogue boxes are instead expressed in the style of printing press block prints complete with printing press sound effects. All of this sheer attention to detail are testament to how much love was clearly poured into this game. The soundtrack is also beautiful, though the game uses it more sparingly than most games. Just one of the most aesthetically beautiful and creative games I’ve played.
Pentiment is a masterpiece of the medium and hopefully will stand as inspiration for other game developers in the years to come. If you have an interest in it, I highly recommend it, it’s fast become my GOTY and one of my absolute favorite games of all time. It truly is an amazing joy that this game exists.