"The human heart is no small thing. It can hold so much."

In the second act of Pentiment, Andreas, lost in a labyrinth of grief following the death of his young son from the plague, returns to Tassing with his young assistant Caspar. As the act progresses you are presented with several opportunities to define their relationship: you can be cold and borderline cruel, or neutral and indifferent, or you can be kind. You can care. His relationship with Caspar can provide you with an echo of the father that Andreas could have, should have been. Kindness, even at its most difficult, is always an option.

The Abbey burns. Andreas dies, and then he lives. And then, in the third act, you learn the consequences of your actions: if Andreas treated Caspar with kindness, he died trying to save him. If you were cruel to him, Caspar leaves Andreas to burn - he abandons you, but he lives.

I knew what would happen. I knew the consequences. I knew that if I wanted to save him from his fate, I would have to break his heart. Crush his spirit. I was determined. And even still, while replaying Pentiment for the first time since its release...I couldn't bring myself to do it. With every encouraging word, every smile, every act of compassion, I doomed him to his fate. It hurt, but it in the most bittersweet, beautiful way. Kindness, even at its most difficult, is always, always, an option.

I love this game. I loved it the first time I played it, and I loved it even more on the second go. Pentiment isn’t a perfect game, but it is the sort that sticks with you long after the credits roll. A gift, from beginning to end.