Not a huge fan of the third act, but was still great for the most part.
I appreciate the dedication to historical accuracy and telling an interesting story, but I'm going to refrain from rating this one since this game is very, very aggressively not for me.
I simply don't care about medieval european history, and the every animation is way too agonizingly slow to keep my interest in seeing how the different paths you can take work out.
I simply don't care about medieval european history, and the every animation is way too agonizingly slow to keep my interest in seeing how the different paths you can take work out.
I love Andreas Maler's goofy little art adventures
É de cair o queixo o quão bem ambientado é esse jogo. Foi a primeira e única vez que vi o período medieval ser retratado tão bem, e não só isso, a maneira como os personagens se comportam passa uma verossimilhança absurda. O ponto negativo do game é que senti o final extremamente rushado, além do plot final ser bem decepcionante. Ademais, é um puta game de suspense que vale muito a pena
This review contains spoilers
The sixteenth century was a busy time. While talented guys like Da Vinci and Michelangelo were working on the Mona Lisa or the sistine frescoes or whatever, rich people, the Valois and Habsburg dynasts, the members of the venetian senate and heads of christendom, are trying to convince poorer people that there might be something worthy in serving as a reisläufer/landsknecht/condottiere/aventurier and spilling blood for them. Meanwhile, an angry ex-augustinian friar with a piece of parchment, a hammer and some nails managed to end Catholicism's virtual monopoly on religion in Europe, a spark in the European bag of powder that would result in a bunch of people meeting their end at the sword or the stake (and some of the rich dynast guys getting richer by figuring out you can just rob the slightly less powerful clergy of their states).
Meanwhile, the Iberians (soon to be followed by the Dutch, English and French) just figured out you can sidestep the whole venetian-muslim monopoly on precious spices by getting your ships across Africa. Oh, and there's an entire previously unknown continent. This sets off a domino effect that would result in the sociocultural decline/genocide of practically all amerindian cultures, from the Yahgan to the Nahua to the Inuit; the mass deportation of African peoples as forced labour to (mostly) west and (also) east; what I like to call the end of the "golden age of the steppe" (the era when some people in the eurasian steppes could just team up and conquer the biggest empires of their day (Ottoman/Mughal/Qing) instead of being subjected to sinicization/russification by nation-states) and the creation of /pol/ (the 4chan board).
Throughout it all it is difficult to remind oneself of the life of the average man or woman, simple peasants who bothered mostly with gathering enough produce of wheat, rice, maize, yam or millet to last the entire year: the rule of life before the green revolution. We have great simulators for the history of institutions and wars (EUIV, Pike and Shot Campaigns) in this era, but not so much for what it was like to be an average human being. It's as if history in video games has stayed mostly stuck in the nineteenth century, without the insights of Febvre/Bloch/Thompson/Ginzburg.
Pentiment answers this by setting you up (initially) as an average person in Tassing, a small bavarian village/town in the (not) Holy (not) Roman (technically not an) Empire.
Your character is a guy named Andrew, the Painter, who (unsurprisingly) works as an artist in the neighbouring abbey. After the introduction, the game becomes a murder mystery, where you must figure out who murdered the local noble jerk and be swiftly and publicly subjected to lex talionis.
But the game is much more than just a detective game (though it does handle the detective bits very well). Actually, it is bold enough to have you never figure out who committed the the main murders of the first two acts. It does offer you a pool of possible prepetrators, but the focus of the narrative lies not in solving the mystery, but in the social backlash of capital punishment: how a community reacts to having one of its own members forcibly cut off in a violent display of power.
At its core, it seeks to explore how communities are formed and how history is made, reminisced or manipulated. It achieves this by having the main characters explore the local communities (Tassing + Kiersau, the secular and ecclesiastical worlds) throughly, by fleshing out each of the local actors and by being structured in three acts, each of which is separated by a timespan made of decades, which lets the player experience the long term consequences of their actions.
The main "antagonist", the perpetrator of the crimes, ties perfectly with the game's themes on history and memory. In the climax of the third act the main characters learn that Tassing's foundation myth was built atop of "pagan" roman/celtic/paleo-european mythology (much like the town is set above strata of many previous settlements). To cover up this fact, the local priest, a guy named Thomas, planned the murders of whoever got (conscious or unconsciouslly) close to the truth.
I was very satisfied with Father Thomas as an antagonist. He's a plausible perpetrator of the crimes, so the reveal does not hurt the plot's internal consistency. But what I found most compelling was his reasoning. Medieval(esque) media has been overdone with the tropes of the cynical/fanatical priest (e.g. Hugo's Frollo/Eco's Jorge) for quite some time. And though the trope can be charismatic or evocative, it has ran out of most of its creative fuel. What I found compelling in Thomas was the willingness to commit (or more appropriately in his case, to incite) murders without religion as a façade for sadism, to orchestrate a murder while regarding it as a sinful act. As a learned man in an era where religious myth is slowly beginning to lose sway over humanity, Thomas has to choose between preserving the comfort of myth or unleashing the harsh confusion of historical truth, he chose the former, whether due to his own ideological cowardice or unwillingness to place the souls of the faithful in Pascal's wager.
All of which plays into one of the games main themes: the conflict between myth and history. The meaningful mirages we conjure against a reality composed of the continuous reshuffling of atoms. And although ideologians struggle to cover up that great panorama of reality, its details still remain. One only has to look closely enough with the right tools to perceive what once was, now as palimpsests or pentimenti.
Notes:
- this game reminded me of mrbtongue's (old youtuber) criticism on violence in video games. The problem lying not in mediatic violence being seen as inherently taboo (the old conservative view before young people tried to make being conservative rad and cool), but in violence being banalized. In pentiment, violence is never taken for granted, most of the game is set in a (relatively) comfortable environment with (mostly) agreeable people. When violence comes (from above or below the social strata) it is sudden, brutal and therefore memorable. Even when death happens off-screen, its consequences lingers in the minds of the witnesses.
- Pentiment is also a lesson on how historically accurate fiction can combat racism. Although the goal is commendable, some media often mess up in their attempts by introducing anachronisms or inaccuracies with the goal to create an anti-racist myth (e.g. Netflix's Cleopatra). Josh Sawyer is more experienced than that though, by being familiarized with the history of sixteenth century Europe, a place that was not far away from North Africa geographically and whose inhabitants' worldview was not affected by the byproducts of "scientific" racism (thanks, Linnaeus). So Sawyer knows just what kind of historically accurate/plausible (history more often works with gaps) data can be reasonably employed to upset a white supremacist. As such Tassing's patron saint is a legendary African soldier (Saint Maurice), one of the most interesting NPCs is Sebhat, a Christian Ethiopian priest (drawn in Ethiopian style!), Andreas' idealized symbol of royalty is the African version (contra Marco Polo) of Prester John and a few other side characters are not lacking in melanin (Vácslav).
- this is a game deeply in love with medieval art. From the marginalia to the employment of handwriting (or the use of print!) as characterization to the transition of canonical hours to mechanical clocks (humanized vs ahuman time), it all comes across perfectly
- Andreas had a wonderful arc of being wildly passionate about the world and art, until reality kicks him in the balls which leds to disillusioment and escapism until he can grapple with his inner demons in his mindscape. In a way I feel it corroborates with his possible relantionship with Lorenz, a well learned man who knows much about the interesting ideas being debated in the Renaissance and how exciting the times are, later revealed to be an absolutely despisable human being (this also goes for the Renaissance/Early Modern era in general, wondrous and cruel at the same time). Magdalene's arc was cool, a nice change of perspective from the usually patiarchal perspective of the era, but it didn't really take the spotlight quite as much due to the limits in time and scope.
- Unlike some reviewers, I did not really find the third act weak for a number of reasons: it initially desemphasizes Andreas to clearly establish Tassing as a community as the game's focus; it emphasizes the transition of time with Magdalene, whom we saw as a child in the second act, acting as a protagonist, and as such we get to play and witness the next generation of Tassing; it further develops the mystery of the murders; it shows the consequences of the peasant revolt; it shows the struggles women faced to establish themselves independently in a patriarchal society through Magdalene, offering a feminine perspective to a male dominated genre; it finishes Andreas' arc very well; it ties perfectly with the game's themes on history/memory.
- I loved the choice of having Illuminata being adamant on destroying Porete's Miroir manuscript. On one hand, Illuminata clearly spouses protofeminist (à la Christine de Pizan) views on patriarchy. On the other, she's a devout Catholic who is willing to censor heterodoxy in the name of her church. This results in the apparently contradictory scenario where a "feminist" woman is willing to help a (mostly) patriarchal institution to censor another woman (whose harsh condemnation might as well be due to her being a female heretic). It's a nuanced take on how our present criteria can be misleading for different cultures.
- the entire game was a masterclass in social storytelling, from discrepancies in cuisine, topography and literacy, the game shows how power structures affect and denigrate the lives of those set in the bottom of the social order. It takes a special kind of heartless individual to not empathize with the peasants' plight
Meanwhile, the Iberians (soon to be followed by the Dutch, English and French) just figured out you can sidestep the whole venetian-muslim monopoly on precious spices by getting your ships across Africa. Oh, and there's an entire previously unknown continent. This sets off a domino effect that would result in the sociocultural decline/genocide of practically all amerindian cultures, from the Yahgan to the Nahua to the Inuit; the mass deportation of African peoples as forced labour to (mostly) west and (also) east; what I like to call the end of the "golden age of the steppe" (the era when some people in the eurasian steppes could just team up and conquer the biggest empires of their day (Ottoman/Mughal/Qing) instead of being subjected to sinicization/russification by nation-states) and the creation of /pol/ (the 4chan board).
Throughout it all it is difficult to remind oneself of the life of the average man or woman, simple peasants who bothered mostly with gathering enough produce of wheat, rice, maize, yam or millet to last the entire year: the rule of life before the green revolution. We have great simulators for the history of institutions and wars (EUIV, Pike and Shot Campaigns) in this era, but not so much for what it was like to be an average human being. It's as if history in video games has stayed mostly stuck in the nineteenth century, without the insights of Febvre/Bloch/Thompson/Ginzburg.
Pentiment answers this by setting you up (initially) as an average person in Tassing, a small bavarian village/town in the (not) Holy (not) Roman (technically not an) Empire.
Your character is a guy named Andrew, the Painter, who (unsurprisingly) works as an artist in the neighbouring abbey. After the introduction, the game becomes a murder mystery, where you must figure out who murdered the local noble jerk and be swiftly and publicly subjected to lex talionis.
But the game is much more than just a detective game (though it does handle the detective bits very well). Actually, it is bold enough to have you never figure out who committed the the main murders of the first two acts. It does offer you a pool of possible prepetrators, but the focus of the narrative lies not in solving the mystery, but in the social backlash of capital punishment: how a community reacts to having one of its own members forcibly cut off in a violent display of power.
At its core, it seeks to explore how communities are formed and how history is made, reminisced or manipulated. It achieves this by having the main characters explore the local communities (Tassing + Kiersau, the secular and ecclesiastical worlds) throughly, by fleshing out each of the local actors and by being structured in three acts, each of which is separated by a timespan made of decades, which lets the player experience the long term consequences of their actions.
The main "antagonist", the perpetrator of the crimes, ties perfectly with the game's themes on history and memory. In the climax of the third act the main characters learn that Tassing's foundation myth was built atop of "pagan" roman/celtic/paleo-european mythology (much like the town is set above strata of many previous settlements). To cover up this fact, the local priest, a guy named Thomas, planned the murders of whoever got (conscious or unconsciouslly) close to the truth.
I was very satisfied with Father Thomas as an antagonist. He's a plausible perpetrator of the crimes, so the reveal does not hurt the plot's internal consistency. But what I found most compelling was his reasoning. Medieval(esque) media has been overdone with the tropes of the cynical/fanatical priest (e.g. Hugo's Frollo/Eco's Jorge) for quite some time. And though the trope can be charismatic or evocative, it has ran out of most of its creative fuel. What I found compelling in Thomas was the willingness to commit (or more appropriately in his case, to incite) murders without religion as a façade for sadism, to orchestrate a murder while regarding it as a sinful act. As a learned man in an era where religious myth is slowly beginning to lose sway over humanity, Thomas has to choose between preserving the comfort of myth or unleashing the harsh confusion of historical truth, he chose the former, whether due to his own ideological cowardice or unwillingness to place the souls of the faithful in Pascal's wager.
All of which plays into one of the games main themes: the conflict between myth and history. The meaningful mirages we conjure against a reality composed of the continuous reshuffling of atoms. And although ideologians struggle to cover up that great panorama of reality, its details still remain. One only has to look closely enough with the right tools to perceive what once was, now as palimpsests or pentimenti.
Notes:
- this game reminded me of mrbtongue's (old youtuber) criticism on violence in video games. The problem lying not in mediatic violence being seen as inherently taboo (the old conservative view before young people tried to make being conservative rad and cool), but in violence being banalized. In pentiment, violence is never taken for granted, most of the game is set in a (relatively) comfortable environment with (mostly) agreeable people. When violence comes (from above or below the social strata) it is sudden, brutal and therefore memorable. Even when death happens off-screen, its consequences lingers in the minds of the witnesses.
- Pentiment is also a lesson on how historically accurate fiction can combat racism. Although the goal is commendable, some media often mess up in their attempts by introducing anachronisms or inaccuracies with the goal to create an anti-racist myth (e.g. Netflix's Cleopatra). Josh Sawyer is more experienced than that though, by being familiarized with the history of sixteenth century Europe, a place that was not far away from North Africa geographically and whose inhabitants' worldview was not affected by the byproducts of "scientific" racism (thanks, Linnaeus). So Sawyer knows just what kind of historically accurate/plausible (history more often works with gaps) data can be reasonably employed to upset a white supremacist. As such Tassing's patron saint is a legendary African soldier (Saint Maurice), one of the most interesting NPCs is Sebhat, a Christian Ethiopian priest (drawn in Ethiopian style!), Andreas' idealized symbol of royalty is the African version (contra Marco Polo) of Prester John and a few other side characters are not lacking in melanin (Vácslav).
- this is a game deeply in love with medieval art. From the marginalia to the employment of handwriting (or the use of print!) as characterization to the transition of canonical hours to mechanical clocks (humanized vs ahuman time), it all comes across perfectly
- Andreas had a wonderful arc of being wildly passionate about the world and art, until reality kicks him in the balls which leds to disillusioment and escapism until he can grapple with his inner demons in his mindscape. In a way I feel it corroborates with his possible relantionship with Lorenz, a well learned man who knows much about the interesting ideas being debated in the Renaissance and how exciting the times are, later revealed to be an absolutely despisable human being (this also goes for the Renaissance/Early Modern era in general, wondrous and cruel at the same time). Magdalene's arc was cool, a nice change of perspective from the usually patiarchal perspective of the era, but it didn't really take the spotlight quite as much due to the limits in time and scope.
- Unlike some reviewers, I did not really find the third act weak for a number of reasons: it initially desemphasizes Andreas to clearly establish Tassing as a community as the game's focus; it emphasizes the transition of time with Magdalene, whom we saw as a child in the second act, acting as a protagonist, and as such we get to play and witness the next generation of Tassing; it further develops the mystery of the murders; it shows the consequences of the peasant revolt; it shows the struggles women faced to establish themselves independently in a patriarchal society through Magdalene, offering a feminine perspective to a male dominated genre; it finishes Andreas' arc very well; it ties perfectly with the game's themes on history/memory.
- I loved the choice of having Illuminata being adamant on destroying Porete's Miroir manuscript. On one hand, Illuminata clearly spouses protofeminist (à la Christine de Pizan) views on patriarchy. On the other, she's a devout Catholic who is willing to censor heterodoxy in the name of her church. This results in the apparently contradictory scenario where a "feminist" woman is willing to help a (mostly) patriarchal institution to censor another woman (whose harsh condemnation might as well be due to her being a female heretic). It's a nuanced take on how our present criteria can be misleading for different cultures.
- the entire game was a masterclass in social storytelling, from discrepancies in cuisine, topography and literacy, the game shows how power structures affect and denigrate the lives of those set in the bottom of the social order. It takes a special kind of heartless individual to not empathize with the peasants' plight
This might honestly be Obsidians best game and that’s coming from the guy that thinks New Vegas is a masterpiece
one of the most stylish and unique games i've ever played. i absolutely loved the attention to detail and historical research here! SUCH a rewarding game for anyone that loves to read every tidbit of information. i love how immersive it feels when it comes to defining terminology you might not be familiar with. very keen to do another play through of it later, would absolutely love this on a steamdeck as i only have a desktop pc!
Eu não estava esperando muito, nunca tinha ouvido falar desse jogo nem nada. Mas, ainda bem, eu encontrei ele enquanto estava com meu Game Pass e consegui terminá-lo rapidinho.
Esse é um dos jogos mais completos e complexos que já vi. Não complexo em questão de jogabilidade, mas sim de história e cultura. O medievalismo presente aqui é palpável, bem como o fato da narrativa do jogo se passar bastante através de objetos e memórias e, para alguém que estuda e faz pesquisas sobre esse assunto, me deixou bastante intrigada.
O fato da pequena vila (que agora eu esqueci o nome) ter tanta história e memória em cada canto da ambientação do jogo é sensacional.
Muito bem, agora passando para a trama do jogo.
Certamente me deixou muito intrigada e com suspeitas de todos os moradores da vila, ao mesmo tempo que eu não queria acreditar que alguém tivesse feito algo. Provavelmente não consegui acertar nenhum suspeito (enfim), mas gostei bastante da experiência de procurar pistas e ser a turma do Scooby Doo.
O Andreas é muito apaixonante, eu gostei muito dele. Sei que a Illuminata e Amelie são minhas personagens preferidas, junto com a Úrsula e o Fumaça.
O final foi muito rápido, mas muito interessante e surpreendente. Sinceramente, fazia muito tempo que eu não me interessava TANTO por um jogo.
E a arte, MEU DEUS, a arte. Que coisa mais linda! A animação também é muito linda, mas a pintura do jogo é SEN-SA-CIO-NAL! Eu fiquei babando com as ilustrações praticamente durante todo o jogo.
Ele é basicamente um livro-jogo, tanto que as cenas de troca de ambientação são uma passada de página de livro, e eu amei isso.
No mais, recomendo para todos que gostam de uma boa história, suspense e personagens carismáticos (e chatos) e com muita personalidade. Espero que lancem mais jogos desse tipo, pois eu certamente irei comprar e jogar.
Esse é um dos jogos mais completos e complexos que já vi. Não complexo em questão de jogabilidade, mas sim de história e cultura. O medievalismo presente aqui é palpável, bem como o fato da narrativa do jogo se passar bastante através de objetos e memórias e, para alguém que estuda e faz pesquisas sobre esse assunto, me deixou bastante intrigada.
O fato da pequena vila (que agora eu esqueci o nome) ter tanta história e memória em cada canto da ambientação do jogo é sensacional.
Muito bem, agora passando para a trama do jogo.
Certamente me deixou muito intrigada e com suspeitas de todos os moradores da vila, ao mesmo tempo que eu não queria acreditar que alguém tivesse feito algo. Provavelmente não consegui acertar nenhum suspeito (enfim), mas gostei bastante da experiência de procurar pistas e ser a turma do Scooby Doo.
O Andreas é muito apaixonante, eu gostei muito dele. Sei que a Illuminata e Amelie são minhas personagens preferidas, junto com a Úrsula e o Fumaça.
O final foi muito rápido, mas muito interessante e surpreendente. Sinceramente, fazia muito tempo que eu não me interessava TANTO por um jogo.
E a arte, MEU DEUS, a arte. Que coisa mais linda! A animação também é muito linda, mas a pintura do jogo é SEN-SA-CIO-NAL! Eu fiquei babando com as ilustrações praticamente durante todo o jogo.
Ele é basicamente um livro-jogo, tanto que as cenas de troca de ambientação são uma passada de página de livro, e eu amei isso.
No mais, recomendo para todos que gostam de uma boa história, suspense e personagens carismáticos (e chatos) e com muita personalidade. Espero que lancem mais jogos desse tipo, pois eu certamente irei comprar e jogar.
I played this because it was Obsidian. That was the only reason. Coming into this I thought it looked cool but not really my thing due to my lack of interest in art history and the time period. I had tried before to enjoy this stuff but overall I thought it was boring. Pentiment made me care, it made me want to know more, it sparked an interest in me I never knew was there. This game is so unique and so special. It only furthers my love for Obsidian
pentimento (noun): a reappearance in a painting of an original drawn or painted element which was eventually painted over by the artist
In Pentiment, the story takes center stage while gameplay takes a secondary role. While there are a few RPG elements, they are not the main focus. The gameplay mainly consists of walking with a few background choices for the characters and the dialogue options. The dialogue options can be quite significant as they have notable impact on the world of Pentiment and its characters. The characters are well-written and the game has a richly developed world - heavily influenced by actual history. The story takes place during the time period religion was a significant part of everyone's life, and the game explores its effects intricately. Andreas, the protagonist of the story, is beautifully written and his themes seamlessly intertwine with the plot's central theme. The story overall is impeccable, and the direction of the story seems clear from the start. While it begins with the premise of a murder mystery, it evolves into something greater - it becomes a reflection on history itself, its importance, and about its alteration over the years. The game poses the question of whether these alterations render history worthless, inviting players on a beautiful journey to find the answers. Pentiment tries to answer this and it goes above and beyond in this endeavour, with its beautifully composed soundtracks adding to the experience. Despite its minor issues, I enjoyed this thoroughly.
In Pentiment, the story takes center stage while gameplay takes a secondary role. While there are a few RPG elements, they are not the main focus. The gameplay mainly consists of walking with a few background choices for the characters and the dialogue options. The dialogue options can be quite significant as they have notable impact on the world of Pentiment and its characters. The characters are well-written and the game has a richly developed world - heavily influenced by actual history. The story takes place during the time period religion was a significant part of everyone's life, and the game explores its effects intricately. Andreas, the protagonist of the story, is beautifully written and his themes seamlessly intertwine with the plot's central theme. The story overall is impeccable, and the direction of the story seems clear from the start. While it begins with the premise of a murder mystery, it evolves into something greater - it becomes a reflection on history itself, its importance, and about its alteration over the years. The game poses the question of whether these alterations render history worthless, inviting players on a beautiful journey to find the answers. Pentiment tries to answer this and it goes above and beyond in this endeavour, with its beautifully composed soundtracks adding to the experience. Despite its minor issues, I enjoyed this thoroughly.
Came for the art style, stayed for the storytelling
Characters:Probably the strongest point of the game,is really interesting how this community handles the tragedies that happen in the game and how this affects eveyone including the protagonist,even though i think that are definetly some characters better than other i think tha they all work best togheter instead of individually,individually you have a lot of mid with some characters shining,but togheter it covers most the characters lack of develoment and screen time since we are seeing a community not a specific characer,but if i have to choose one t will be the protagonist andreas,i think he is just the one that is the most interesting,has the most develoment and has the most screentime
Character tier list:https://tiermaker.com/list/video-games/pentiment-characters-1409554/3041229
The story,even though there is some nonsense on the ending of the final act i still think is a decent ending,and the story itself is really entertaining and we see a little of everything,but is mostly about beliefs,relationships and legacy,every person is religious and since is a little town everybody knows everybody,for this even the small things become big,and most of things are about religion since the town is mostly based in religion,and even in the badtimes we are to set a legacy for the future to folow and gain advice on what and to what not to do,and in this story even in this little ass town there is a fair amont of adventure and mistery,something about this place seems magical you go there and it changes your life,but overall i think that the story is really good
The graphics/aesthetics are amazing in this book like story its really unique and it all makes sense in the end
i dont have a lot of negatives other than the pacing in some places,lack of content and character develoment and some plot holes
Overall,really interesting story about a fictional place that shows how it affects its characters,and even its not perfect its still really good
Decent 8
Character tier list:https://tiermaker.com/list/video-games/pentiment-characters-1409554/3041229
The story,even though there is some nonsense on the ending of the final act i still think is a decent ending,and the story itself is really entertaining and we see a little of everything,but is mostly about beliefs,relationships and legacy,every person is religious and since is a little town everybody knows everybody,for this even the small things become big,and most of things are about religion since the town is mostly based in religion,and even in the badtimes we are to set a legacy for the future to folow and gain advice on what and to what not to do,and in this story even in this little ass town there is a fair amont of adventure and mistery,something about this place seems magical you go there and it changes your life,but overall i think that the story is really good
The graphics/aesthetics are amazing in this book like story its really unique and it all makes sense in the end
i dont have a lot of negatives other than the pacing in some places,lack of content and character develoment and some plot holes
Overall,really interesting story about a fictional place that shows how it affects its characters,and even its not perfect its still really good
Decent 8
What a great game. The writing is fantastic! All the characters have personality, the graphics are pretty good...the story is top notch. one of the best games that I played in a long time.
Josh Sawyer is the guy
Josh Sawyer is the guy
Medieval thriller where an artist tries to solve a series of mysteries. It's not bad, it hasn't given me all the freedom I wanted, but it usually happens with RPGs. The story is not bad, certainly typical of the setting. In general, I would say that it is made with a good hand, knowledge and respect. The art is quite nice too.
Faltariam palavras para descrever essa obra...
5/10
Pentiment is an eloquent love letter to Bavarian Renaissance history, written in ornate purple calligraphy. The dedication to accuracy of the time period is immediately evident with one glance at the art style. The entire game looks ripped out of a medieval manuscript, and all text is displayed as if being written in by pen real-time. The game centers around a series of murders in a town and nearby abbey, and, with every clue, the main character gets tangled tighter into a web of lies and overwritten history. Pentiment pulls no punches; when someone gets murdered, someone else must be held responsible and have their life forfeit. Every dialogue choice can have a substantial impact on the town, and change it–for better or worse.
There is also an achievement titled “Among Us,” with the description “Discover the Imposter,” so it’s obviously an instant masterpiece.
There is also an achievement titled “Among Us,” with the description “Discover the Imposter,” so it’s obviously an instant masterpiece.
An incredible historical murder mystery narrative set in a 16th century abbey. Phenomenal lettering work, which feels like a strange thing to fixate on in a video game, but the way different characters' dialogue is presented in different scripts or print based on their occupation or background (or more accurately, your character's perception of them—there's at least one instance where the font changes when you learn that a character is more educated than previously thought) is some fantastic attention to detail, as are the occasional appearance of typos that are then crossed out and corrected, and references to Jesus/God that are filled in after the rest of the sentence as the writer switches to red ink. That attention to detail extends to the narrative as well, which does a great job laying out the rich social fabric of the abbey, from the monks to the peasants, and the slowly brewing class tensions between the different factions, and the story goes to some surprising and genuinely heartbreaking places.
Also, slight spoilers here, but I loved how the game refuses to let you off easy when it comes to solving the murders and accusing a suspect. This ain't Ace Attorney; the evidence is never decisive and the suspects don't break down and confess when confronted, so there's this awful lingering feeling of "what if I got it wrong?" that you just have to sit with and live with as your meddling costs people their lives, and I think that rules.
Also, slight spoilers here, but I loved how the game refuses to let you off easy when it comes to solving the murders and accusing a suspect. This ain't Ace Attorney; the evidence is never decisive and the suspects don't break down and confess when confronted, so there's this awful lingering feeling of "what if I got it wrong?" that you just have to sit with and live with as your meddling costs people their lives, and I think that rules.
замечательная игра, но в конце уже было тяжко. Нужно такие игры проходить запоем. антураж и погружение просто отвал всего. сюжет тоже шикарный. игра замечательная, но на мой взгляд затянута. вопрос реиграбильности хз, сравню на ютабе.
extremely buggy but rly stylish and cool. experienced a death in the family while playing this and i think it definitely helped me deal with the grief. anyone who criticizes this with the usual "your choices don't matter" has fuckin lost the plot and has no clue what they're talking about
I think this game is singular achievement in asking the player to respect and pay close attention to a culture that they might not know anything about - and you are deeply rewarded for your attention with a story that is engaging and crushing, and will sit with me for a long time.
God Bless you, Andreas Maler.
‘This was the only earthly love of my life, and I could not, then or ever after, call that love by name.’
– Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa, 1980.
Capturing the contours of a sixteenth-century society in the Holy Roman Empire is a difficult task. Central Europe was undergoing complex transitions as a result of demographic recovery, religious innovation and the administrative mosaic of Germanic territories. Recent historiography emphasises the interlocking and overlapping of forces that shaped regions and societies: it is difficult to generalise local observations to the rest of the Empire, but it is also unwise to paint the portrait of a village on the basis of generalities alone. For example, the forms of feudalism differed on either side of the Elbe. A theoretical simplification is to consider the regions south and west of the Elbe as being under the rule of Grundherrschaft [1]. This form of feudalism developed from the 14th century onwards with the decline of the traditional smaller lords and the demographic collapse caused by the Black Death. This situation allowed the surviving peasants to expand their farms and establish stronger hereditary rights over the land. Although still subject to the authority of their local lord, they had greater freedom of action.
History, fiction and myth: the Umbertian gaze
Towards the end of the fifteenth century, friction between the nobility and the peasantry increased as the former sought to assert their authority over land that seemed to have been de facto freed from serfdom. Another factor in the social crisis was undoubtedly the demographic upturn from 1470 onwards, which swelled the cohort of landless peasants, while small landowners were no longer able to take advantage of the economic opportunities of the previous century. In some southern regions of the Holy Roman Empire, agricultural production was no longer profitable, so it became mainly subsistence farming. These factors led to a widening gap between the peasants and the lords. The lords, sometimes nobility, sometimes clergy, were in latent conflict for other economic and political reasons.
It is difficult to summarise several thousand pages of social history in a few lines, so these few elements of context will suffice. Pentiment makes the bold choice of setting its action in this complex historical background, in a locality centred around the village of Tassing and Kiersau Abbey. The project explicitly borrows from Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose (1980). Although the historical context is different, the themes and structure are similar. Eco's readers will find themselves in familiar territory: Pentiment allows the player to assume the role of Andreas Maler, a Nuremberg artist commissioned by the Abbot of Kiersau to illustrate a Book of Hours as part of his certification as a master artist. During his stay in Tassing, Andreas gets to know the many members of the local society, until a murder takes place. For personal reasons, Andreas is thrust into the role of detective and must unravel the many secrets of the community.
Like The Name of the Rose, Pentiment multiplies points of view and semantic layers. The game is at once a general dissertation on the social history of the Holy Roman Empire, a detective story, a philosophical debate, a theological meditation and a discussion on the value of storytelling. It is through this literary device, borrowed from Eco, that the title manages to find a great deal of coherence in its storytelling [2]. The investigation – i.e. the criminal story – is interwoven with the socio-political narrative, so that the player is constantly confronted with both general and specific elements. Andreas Maler acts as a bridge between these two worlds. Firstly, because he finds himself at the crossroads of very different social universes: as a traveller, he is used to many cultures; as a young artist, he associates with the powerful without being fully part of their universe. Above all, he is a stranger to Tassing, and his gaze is that of a witness whose interest in local politics, however altruistic, is rather weak. In other words, his view is certainly subjective, but it is all-encompassing. These characteristics are very similar to those of William of Baskerville, who had a complex theological background.
Depicting the Middle Ages through the new social studies
In terms of narrative economy, such a protagonist captures the player's attention in a number of ways. For classically trained historians, Andreas provides access to the ancient and medieval literary world; for mystery fans, his role as a detective is crucial. The choice of Andreas' background means that, in addition to the interactive gameplay typical of CRPGs, players can personalise their experience around the themes that interest them most. As a Latinist, I was pleasantly surprised to see Pentiment commanding a very solid Latin, and to read the classical locutions quoted by Andreas. The title has a rare encyclopaedic quality, in tune with recent scholarly developments. There remain a few very minor approximations, such as certain onomastic choices (Else Mülleryn should rather be spelt Müllerin) and Kiersau's remarkable and exagerated interregionalism. On the latter point, the choice was certainly motivated by Umberto Eco's vision of a universalist abbey and a political response to Kingdom Come: Delivrance (2018): the figure of the Ethiopian priest Sebhat seems a rather explicit foil to Daniel Vávra's ultra-conservative claims about the absence of people of colour in fifteenth-century Bohemia.
Pentiment always uses its encyclopaedic knowledge wisely to illustrate medieval mentalities. Arrogantly imparting knowledge is the best way to undermine the friendship and support of the game's various characters. The game constantly seeks to highlight the limits of Andreas' knowledge and the subjectivity of the concept of truth. As such, Pentiment seeks to portray the situation of women in the Middle Ages with real nuance. The game's fictional micro-history project features women who are involved in their village's economy and are pillars of the community. Discussions with the Benedictine nuns also provide an opportunity to explore women in religion, and Pentiment clearly illustrates the prejudices of the time, as well as Andreas' very masculine perspective. In contrast to the Christian tradition, which leaves no place for women in its traditional hierarchy – women's religious offices generally disappeared in the central Middle Ages, which is exactly the situation described for Kiersau Abbey – and restricts them to religious life or marriage, Pentiment constantly emphasises their agency and the ways in which they can circumvent the restrictions. Amalie illustrates the extreme spiritual experiences that women can voluntarily inflict on themselves through her retreat and mystical visions. Illuminata embodies a mastery of the literary classics, while the other sisters stand out for their practical knowledge and integration into Tassing society.
To write, to read and to die in the universal library
Like Umberto Eco's library, that of Kiersau Abbey is intended to be universal. It seeks to circumscribe all known knowledge through the possession of rare volumes, be they erudite treatises or chivalric romances. Writing and rewriting are at the heart of Pentiment's project. The narrative is subjective and subject to numerous corrections: when the dialogue is presented, mistakes punctuate the text and are corrected in front of the player. Similarly, the choice of script depends on the impression the speaker makes on Andreas. He presents the discourse of the educated clergy in a Gothic style, while the villagers have a much less polished script. Above all, it is noteworthy that Andreas changes his representation according to the information he receives. For example, when he learns that the shepherd is actually an avid reader of Latin books, he updates the script used in the dialogue. These elements are linked to a concern for memory, and Pentiment sets out to question what deserves to be left to posterity, rejecting the idea of a monolithic history. The truth is in a constant state of flux and varies from different perspectives: it is this insight that guides Andreas' investigation into the various murders. The game is less about finding the culprit than about writing Tassing's story. The game forces the player to accuse one of the suspects for each murder, but it is remarkable that all the solutions seem unsatisfactory. Pentiment is not about solving murders, but about understanding how Tassing society reacts to events that upset its internal balance.
Pentiment borrows its idea of humour from The Name of the Rose [3]: laughter is used to subvert the order of the world, because it reveals – through sarcasm or astonishment – the way in which the world turns. The comic scenes in the game anchor the narrative in a plausible reality, not just a cold, theoretical illustration of 16th-century Tassing. Pentiment's dialogue system is not so much a mechanic that supports 'choices' leading to different endings, but rather a sincere exploration of the world. Comedy is necessary because it is an instrument of freedom and truth, which all the characters seek in one way or another: to laugh is to break free from social bonds, hence Saint Grobian's irreverence. Conversely, silence allows the player to conform to the social mould, to maintain the status quo. Such a position is sometimes necessary to make progress in an investigation without alienating potential allies. The great strength of Pentiment is that it strikes the right balance between laughter, speech and silence. The characters, including Andreas, have to take a stand, and the question is how to do it.
There are no straightforward answers, and the game is never preachy or pretentious. The complexity of the world, of social relations and social transformations explain the hesitations. Uncertainty is part of the truth: Pentiment shines through its unique artistic direction, borrowed from manuscripts and engravings. In a stroke of genius, the game moves drawn characters on fixed backgrounds. There's something magical about seeing sketches move in this way, evoking a kind of collage. The practice of cutting out and reusing figures and backgrounds is well documented in the production of medieval manuscripts, underlining the plasticity of art in the representation of history [4]. In a fifteen-hour adventure, Pentiment creates such a vast universe. I find it difficult to write more, given the extraordinary richness so elegantly condensed into a game, from religious issues to economic innovations. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the welcome presence of an indicative bibliography in the game's credits. Umberto Eco concludes The Name of the Rose with a variation on a line by Bernard of Cluny: 'Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus', he writes. The original rose lives on in its name, we keep the names naked. To Bernard of Cluny's 'ubi sunt...?', Eco adds the persistence of memory. The memory of people who existed centuries ago should persist even more; Pentiment is a sublime fresco in their honour, coming as close as possible to the historical truth without ever being able to fully circumscribe it: 'Since I tell to its end my story, then joyful shall be my days.' [5]
___________
[1] Joachim Whaley, 'Economic Landscapes, Communities, and their Grievances', in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, vol. 1, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012, pp. 122-142.
[2] José-Marie Cortès, 'Itinéraires interprétatifs dans Le Nom de la Rose', in Synergies Inde, no. 2, 2007, pp. 289-306.
[3] Michel Perrin, 'Problématique du rire dans Le Nom de la Rose d'Umberto Eco (1980) : de la Bible au XXe siècle', in Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé, no. 58, 1999, pp. 463-477.
[4] Anna Dlabacová, ‘Medieval Photoshop’, on leidenmedievalistsblog.nl, 18th February 2022, consulted on 13th June 2023.
[5] Wolfram von Eschenback, Parzival, II, XVI, l. 676 (trans. Jessie L. Weston), c. 1210.
– Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa, 1980.
Capturing the contours of a sixteenth-century society in the Holy Roman Empire is a difficult task. Central Europe was undergoing complex transitions as a result of demographic recovery, religious innovation and the administrative mosaic of Germanic territories. Recent historiography emphasises the interlocking and overlapping of forces that shaped regions and societies: it is difficult to generalise local observations to the rest of the Empire, but it is also unwise to paint the portrait of a village on the basis of generalities alone. For example, the forms of feudalism differed on either side of the Elbe. A theoretical simplification is to consider the regions south and west of the Elbe as being under the rule of Grundherrschaft [1]. This form of feudalism developed from the 14th century onwards with the decline of the traditional smaller lords and the demographic collapse caused by the Black Death. This situation allowed the surviving peasants to expand their farms and establish stronger hereditary rights over the land. Although still subject to the authority of their local lord, they had greater freedom of action.
History, fiction and myth: the Umbertian gaze
Towards the end of the fifteenth century, friction between the nobility and the peasantry increased as the former sought to assert their authority over land that seemed to have been de facto freed from serfdom. Another factor in the social crisis was undoubtedly the demographic upturn from 1470 onwards, which swelled the cohort of landless peasants, while small landowners were no longer able to take advantage of the economic opportunities of the previous century. In some southern regions of the Holy Roman Empire, agricultural production was no longer profitable, so it became mainly subsistence farming. These factors led to a widening gap between the peasants and the lords. The lords, sometimes nobility, sometimes clergy, were in latent conflict for other economic and political reasons.
It is difficult to summarise several thousand pages of social history in a few lines, so these few elements of context will suffice. Pentiment makes the bold choice of setting its action in this complex historical background, in a locality centred around the village of Tassing and Kiersau Abbey. The project explicitly borrows from Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose (1980). Although the historical context is different, the themes and structure are similar. Eco's readers will find themselves in familiar territory: Pentiment allows the player to assume the role of Andreas Maler, a Nuremberg artist commissioned by the Abbot of Kiersau to illustrate a Book of Hours as part of his certification as a master artist. During his stay in Tassing, Andreas gets to know the many members of the local society, until a murder takes place. For personal reasons, Andreas is thrust into the role of detective and must unravel the many secrets of the community.
Like The Name of the Rose, Pentiment multiplies points of view and semantic layers. The game is at once a general dissertation on the social history of the Holy Roman Empire, a detective story, a philosophical debate, a theological meditation and a discussion on the value of storytelling. It is through this literary device, borrowed from Eco, that the title manages to find a great deal of coherence in its storytelling [2]. The investigation – i.e. the criminal story – is interwoven with the socio-political narrative, so that the player is constantly confronted with both general and specific elements. Andreas Maler acts as a bridge between these two worlds. Firstly, because he finds himself at the crossroads of very different social universes: as a traveller, he is used to many cultures; as a young artist, he associates with the powerful without being fully part of their universe. Above all, he is a stranger to Tassing, and his gaze is that of a witness whose interest in local politics, however altruistic, is rather weak. In other words, his view is certainly subjective, but it is all-encompassing. These characteristics are very similar to those of William of Baskerville, who had a complex theological background.
Depicting the Middle Ages through the new social studies
In terms of narrative economy, such a protagonist captures the player's attention in a number of ways. For classically trained historians, Andreas provides access to the ancient and medieval literary world; for mystery fans, his role as a detective is crucial. The choice of Andreas' background means that, in addition to the interactive gameplay typical of CRPGs, players can personalise their experience around the themes that interest them most. As a Latinist, I was pleasantly surprised to see Pentiment commanding a very solid Latin, and to read the classical locutions quoted by Andreas. The title has a rare encyclopaedic quality, in tune with recent scholarly developments. There remain a few very minor approximations, such as certain onomastic choices (Else Mülleryn should rather be spelt Müllerin) and Kiersau's remarkable and exagerated interregionalism. On the latter point, the choice was certainly motivated by Umberto Eco's vision of a universalist abbey and a political response to Kingdom Come: Delivrance (2018): the figure of the Ethiopian priest Sebhat seems a rather explicit foil to Daniel Vávra's ultra-conservative claims about the absence of people of colour in fifteenth-century Bohemia.
Pentiment always uses its encyclopaedic knowledge wisely to illustrate medieval mentalities. Arrogantly imparting knowledge is the best way to undermine the friendship and support of the game's various characters. The game constantly seeks to highlight the limits of Andreas' knowledge and the subjectivity of the concept of truth. As such, Pentiment seeks to portray the situation of women in the Middle Ages with real nuance. The game's fictional micro-history project features women who are involved in their village's economy and are pillars of the community. Discussions with the Benedictine nuns also provide an opportunity to explore women in religion, and Pentiment clearly illustrates the prejudices of the time, as well as Andreas' very masculine perspective. In contrast to the Christian tradition, which leaves no place for women in its traditional hierarchy – women's religious offices generally disappeared in the central Middle Ages, which is exactly the situation described for Kiersau Abbey – and restricts them to religious life or marriage, Pentiment constantly emphasises their agency and the ways in which they can circumvent the restrictions. Amalie illustrates the extreme spiritual experiences that women can voluntarily inflict on themselves through her retreat and mystical visions. Illuminata embodies a mastery of the literary classics, while the other sisters stand out for their practical knowledge and integration into Tassing society.
To write, to read and to die in the universal library
Like Umberto Eco's library, that of Kiersau Abbey is intended to be universal. It seeks to circumscribe all known knowledge through the possession of rare volumes, be they erudite treatises or chivalric romances. Writing and rewriting are at the heart of Pentiment's project. The narrative is subjective and subject to numerous corrections: when the dialogue is presented, mistakes punctuate the text and are corrected in front of the player. Similarly, the choice of script depends on the impression the speaker makes on Andreas. He presents the discourse of the educated clergy in a Gothic style, while the villagers have a much less polished script. Above all, it is noteworthy that Andreas changes his representation according to the information he receives. For example, when he learns that the shepherd is actually an avid reader of Latin books, he updates the script used in the dialogue. These elements are linked to a concern for memory, and Pentiment sets out to question what deserves to be left to posterity, rejecting the idea of a monolithic history. The truth is in a constant state of flux and varies from different perspectives: it is this insight that guides Andreas' investigation into the various murders. The game is less about finding the culprit than about writing Tassing's story. The game forces the player to accuse one of the suspects for each murder, but it is remarkable that all the solutions seem unsatisfactory. Pentiment is not about solving murders, but about understanding how Tassing society reacts to events that upset its internal balance.
Pentiment borrows its idea of humour from The Name of the Rose [3]: laughter is used to subvert the order of the world, because it reveals – through sarcasm or astonishment – the way in which the world turns. The comic scenes in the game anchor the narrative in a plausible reality, not just a cold, theoretical illustration of 16th-century Tassing. Pentiment's dialogue system is not so much a mechanic that supports 'choices' leading to different endings, but rather a sincere exploration of the world. Comedy is necessary because it is an instrument of freedom and truth, which all the characters seek in one way or another: to laugh is to break free from social bonds, hence Saint Grobian's irreverence. Conversely, silence allows the player to conform to the social mould, to maintain the status quo. Such a position is sometimes necessary to make progress in an investigation without alienating potential allies. The great strength of Pentiment is that it strikes the right balance between laughter, speech and silence. The characters, including Andreas, have to take a stand, and the question is how to do it.
There are no straightforward answers, and the game is never preachy or pretentious. The complexity of the world, of social relations and social transformations explain the hesitations. Uncertainty is part of the truth: Pentiment shines through its unique artistic direction, borrowed from manuscripts and engravings. In a stroke of genius, the game moves drawn characters on fixed backgrounds. There's something magical about seeing sketches move in this way, evoking a kind of collage. The practice of cutting out and reusing figures and backgrounds is well documented in the production of medieval manuscripts, underlining the plasticity of art in the representation of history [4]. In a fifteen-hour adventure, Pentiment creates such a vast universe. I find it difficult to write more, given the extraordinary richness so elegantly condensed into a game, from religious issues to economic innovations. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the welcome presence of an indicative bibliography in the game's credits. Umberto Eco concludes The Name of the Rose with a variation on a line by Bernard of Cluny: 'Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus', he writes. The original rose lives on in its name, we keep the names naked. To Bernard of Cluny's 'ubi sunt...?', Eco adds the persistence of memory. The memory of people who existed centuries ago should persist even more; Pentiment is a sublime fresco in their honour, coming as close as possible to the historical truth without ever being able to fully circumscribe it: 'Since I tell to its end my story, then joyful shall be my days.' [5]
___________
[1] Joachim Whaley, 'Economic Landscapes, Communities, and their Grievances', in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, vol. 1, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012, pp. 122-142.
[2] José-Marie Cortès, 'Itinéraires interprétatifs dans Le Nom de la Rose', in Synergies Inde, no. 2, 2007, pp. 289-306.
[3] Michel Perrin, 'Problématique du rire dans Le Nom de la Rose d'Umberto Eco (1980) : de la Bible au XXe siècle', in Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé, no. 58, 1999, pp. 463-477.
[4] Anna Dlabacová, ‘Medieval Photoshop’, on leidenmedievalistsblog.nl, 18th February 2022, consulted on 13th June 2023.
[5] Wolfram von Eschenback, Parzival, II, XVI, l. 676 (trans. Jessie L. Weston), c. 1210.
Style is a little bit off, its more of an inspiration then actual medival paintings
This game... this game is not just about history, not just about choices, this game is also about you living with your choices. Andreas’s regrets, successes, and the butterfly effect of his presence on the people of Tassing are told with great import. If you play this game, I urge you not to savescum or make a new save when things don’t go your way.
Unique, wish it could have been a tad more engaging at points, but it was an experience and those are rare.
A surprising novel style game about history and time. Worth it for the ending alone.
This review contains spoilers
𝐁𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐞 𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚, 𝐩𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐚́𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐬.
—𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐨 𝟓:𝟔
Pentiment siempre me llamó la atención desde su lanzamiento
Un whodunit ambientado en los 1500 con un estilo artístico increíble y creado por Obsidian
Todo podía salir bien
Menos su fecha de lanzamiento
Por algún motivo decidieron lanzarlo la misma semana que God of War: Ragnarok y condenarlo a pasar desapercibido
Fuera de la estupidez de Microsoft al condenar su última exclusiva del año de esa forma
Pentiment es una obra maestra
Aun siendo un libro con botones le da mil vueltas a casi cualquier historia que se ha escrito para un videojuego en los últimos 10 años
Su mundo está construido de una forma tan perfecta y con tanta atención al detalle al momento de transferirse a Tassing
Un lugar tan hermoso y con la misma importancia que el propio protagonista
Un lugar con tantos secretos e historia que contarnos que no tendríamos la vida para escucharla
El aprecio que tiene el creador/escritor por la historia es increíble, descubrí muchas cosas gracias al diccionario que viene dentro del juego
Todos los personajes tienen algo para contarte, aun si es una queja sobre los impuestos que van creciendo cada día
Nunca hay una sola plática vacía y sin sentido
Todo conecta al punto principal de una forma u otra
Mientras tienes uno de los soundtracks más hermosos que he escuchado en mi vida.
Canciones como City of Melancholy, Andrea’s Farewell o sic arsit historia kiersis son un deleite de escuchar
Quiero hablar de cada acto por separado
ACTO I
El acto I de Pentiment inicia de una forma extraña pero que agradezco
Conociendo perfectamente a cada uno de los personajes principales
Desde Andreas. Un joven pintor que está a punto de culminar con lo que él llama su obra maestra
Hasta Martín, Un joven ladrón que tiene alergia al prado
Toda esta introducción puede parecer larga e innecesaria, ya que no sabemos sobre el misterio que nos rodeara en nuestra aventura
En mi caso no sabía absolutamente nada de la historia del juego y cuando llego el momento de presentarse el misterio me dejo sorprendido
Un asesinato que no transcurre hasta entradas 2 horas de juego en mi caso
Después de la muerte del barón me quedé pensando en quién podía ser el asesino
No había muchos sospechosos, pero cada palabra que digas tendrá consecuencias permanentes en el pueblo
Desde la muerte de un niño hasta el final de un linaje entero
Todas tus decisiones tienen un peso en la trama y 𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞
La presión de tener menos de 3 días para resolver un asesinato es inmensa y me hizo tomar cada minuto en cuenta
Una mala elección de diálogo podría sacarme totalmente del caso y condenar a un inocente a su muerte
Una investigación de días donde cada noche mi opinión cambiaba
Una investigación donde termine condenando a muerte a una viuda que renegaba de 𝐃𝐢𝐨𝐬
Aun cuando era Teólogo nunca le reproche el hecho de renegar y blasfemar en contra de 𝐃𝐢𝐨𝐬
Era una viuda que iba a perder toda su propiedad por el poder de la iglesia, que tanto renegaba e insultaba
Una viuda que no tuve el valor de ver como era ejecutada por mi juicio
Este acto fue maravilloso y me hizo querer llegar al final
ACTO II
Este es mi acto favorito, sin duda
Vemos a un Andreas que logro el éxito, la fama y el reconocimiento en el ámbito artístico
Ya era un artista al cual se le pedían grandes obras de muchas partes de Europa
Una fama que solo le había traído desgracia, miseria y arrepentimientos
Un Andreas que no sabía si quería ser artista o simplemente ser como su padre
Todo aquello le hizo volver a Tassing después de 7 años de su primera visita
El acto II de Pentiment es maravilloso
Ya no es tanto sobre un misterio que quedo sin resolver en su primera visita a Tassing
Es más sobre Andreas como persona y artista
Una persona atormentada sobre todas las decisiones que ha tomado en su vida
Aun cargando con la muerte de su hijo y viéndolo en aquel laberinto que era su cabeza
La desgracia perseguía a Andreas a donde quiera que fuese
Esa desgracia que no tardo en volver a Tassing con la muerte de Otto
Misma muerte que fue la chispa que inicio la rebelión en contra de la iglesia
Aun con menos tiempo para juntar pruebas, este caso tiene mucho más que contar que el primero y se pone aún más peso sobre los hombros al saber que una mala decisión podría llevar a la muerte de todos en el pueblo
Cada persona tenía algo que contar y cada persona tenía un punto de vista distinto
Un parto fue el tiempo límite para llevar al culpable ante de la justicia
En mi caso la elección fue solo una
Martín o lo que aquel impostor trato de hacerle creer a todos
Era la persona con más razones para matarlo
¿Fue la decisión correcta?
No lo sé para ser honesto
Pero quede satisfecho con el resultado
Aun con un condenado.
Lo inevitable ocurrió
La rebelión estalló y una simple antorcha fue suficiente para prenderle fuego a todo un monasterio con su biblioteca
Misma biblioteca donde el maestro Andreas Maler falleció tratando de salvar los libros que se pudieran
ACTO III
Andreas ha muerto y con eso la historia cambia de protagonista
Magdalene Druckeryn es la nueva protagonista y al inicio me pareció algo raro que no fuera su sucesor, ya que compartes el acto II con él su mayoría
Un personaje que solo conociste de bebé, pero logro crecer a una artista que no se deja silenciar por nadie y responde a la mínima provocación
Este es el acto con el inicio más lento posible, pero esa lentitud juega a su favor en el final de la historia cuando se nos es revelado quién estuvo detrás de la tragedia de todo el pueblo
Magdalene logra ganarse un cariño inmenso de mi parte gracias a su personalidad propia y no ser una simple copia de Andreas como lo espere al inicio
Tassing cobra otra víctima y esta vez es el propio padre de Magdalene
Todo por un mural en el cual se trataba de plasmar la historia de un pueblo donde los dioses bajaron a convivir entre los humanos
Esta intriga me llevo a platicar con todos los habitantes que sobrevivieron a la revuelta de hace 7 años
Cada persona tiene una versión distinta del mismo día y nadie logra decir lo que realmente sucedió
Todos están de acuerdo en una sola cosa
Llego la paz, pero a un coste muy alto que algunos aún no logran superar
Saber como todos acabaron y como los actos de Andreas pasaron de justicia a ser insultado
Decidí pintar sobre el lobo, la presentación de los dioses y la masacre de la revuelta
Todo esto parece relevante para la creación de un lugar tan extraño como Tassing
Aquel lugar donde Andreas Maler logro realizar su obra maestra y su 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨
Todo esto llevo a una resolución de la cual estoy satisfecho
Descubrir quién fue el asesino pero no decirle a nadie
No iba a permitir que una población tan dañada como Tassing sufriera un golpe que los terminaría de destruir
El silencio y la ignorancia será algo que los ayude a sanar después de tanto sufrimiento
Una vez terminado con el misterio
No quedo nada más
El invierno ha terminado y con ello se inicia una primavera
Quisiera terminar está enorme, ¿reseña? ¿Análisis? No estoy seguro ya
Con una conversación de la parte final del juego que me dejo al borde de las lágrimas
-...
+¿Tu También? Han pasado muchas noches, muchos años sin verte la cara. Pensaba que me había olvidado de como era
-...
+Pero sabía que seguirías aquí. Esperándome en silencio
+No puedo cambiar el pasado, no puedo ocultarlo. Siempre está ahí, bajo la superficie, por mucho que intente enterrarlo y no sé qué hacer.
-...
+Eh…
-No pasa nada.
+... ¿Qué?
-No pasa nada, papá
+¿De verdad?
-Ya no tienes que esconderte aquí nunca más.
+Tengo miedo, August.
-Lo sé y por eso mismo no puedes quedarte. Hay gente que te necesita
+¿Y si no puedo ayudarlos?
-No lo sé, papá. Soy muy pequeño. Creo que tienes que resolverlo tú mismo.
+Por supuesto. Tienes razón
+Gracias
-Te quiero, papá.
+Yo también te quiero
+Buenas noches, August
-Buenas noches
—𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐨 𝟓:𝟔
Pentiment siempre me llamó la atención desde su lanzamiento
Un whodunit ambientado en los 1500 con un estilo artístico increíble y creado por Obsidian
Todo podía salir bien
Menos su fecha de lanzamiento
Por algún motivo decidieron lanzarlo la misma semana que God of War: Ragnarok y condenarlo a pasar desapercibido
Fuera de la estupidez de Microsoft al condenar su última exclusiva del año de esa forma
Pentiment es una obra maestra
Aun siendo un libro con botones le da mil vueltas a casi cualquier historia que se ha escrito para un videojuego en los últimos 10 años
Su mundo está construido de una forma tan perfecta y con tanta atención al detalle al momento de transferirse a Tassing
Un lugar tan hermoso y con la misma importancia que el propio protagonista
Un lugar con tantos secretos e historia que contarnos que no tendríamos la vida para escucharla
El aprecio que tiene el creador/escritor por la historia es increíble, descubrí muchas cosas gracias al diccionario que viene dentro del juego
Todos los personajes tienen algo para contarte, aun si es una queja sobre los impuestos que van creciendo cada día
Nunca hay una sola plática vacía y sin sentido
Todo conecta al punto principal de una forma u otra
Mientras tienes uno de los soundtracks más hermosos que he escuchado en mi vida.
Canciones como City of Melancholy, Andrea’s Farewell o sic arsit historia kiersis son un deleite de escuchar
Quiero hablar de cada acto por separado
ACTO I
El acto I de Pentiment inicia de una forma extraña pero que agradezco
Conociendo perfectamente a cada uno de los personajes principales
Desde Andreas. Un joven pintor que está a punto de culminar con lo que él llama su obra maestra
Hasta Martín, Un joven ladrón que tiene alergia al prado
Toda esta introducción puede parecer larga e innecesaria, ya que no sabemos sobre el misterio que nos rodeara en nuestra aventura
En mi caso no sabía absolutamente nada de la historia del juego y cuando llego el momento de presentarse el misterio me dejo sorprendido
Un asesinato que no transcurre hasta entradas 2 horas de juego en mi caso
Después de la muerte del barón me quedé pensando en quién podía ser el asesino
No había muchos sospechosos, pero cada palabra que digas tendrá consecuencias permanentes en el pueblo
Desde la muerte de un niño hasta el final de un linaje entero
Todas tus decisiones tienen un peso en la trama y 𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞
La presión de tener menos de 3 días para resolver un asesinato es inmensa y me hizo tomar cada minuto en cuenta
Una mala elección de diálogo podría sacarme totalmente del caso y condenar a un inocente a su muerte
Una investigación de días donde cada noche mi opinión cambiaba
Una investigación donde termine condenando a muerte a una viuda que renegaba de 𝐃𝐢𝐨𝐬
Aun cuando era Teólogo nunca le reproche el hecho de renegar y blasfemar en contra de 𝐃𝐢𝐨𝐬
Era una viuda que iba a perder toda su propiedad por el poder de la iglesia, que tanto renegaba e insultaba
Una viuda que no tuve el valor de ver como era ejecutada por mi juicio
Este acto fue maravilloso y me hizo querer llegar al final
ACTO II
Este es mi acto favorito, sin duda
Vemos a un Andreas que logro el éxito, la fama y el reconocimiento en el ámbito artístico
Ya era un artista al cual se le pedían grandes obras de muchas partes de Europa
Una fama que solo le había traído desgracia, miseria y arrepentimientos
Un Andreas que no sabía si quería ser artista o simplemente ser como su padre
Todo aquello le hizo volver a Tassing después de 7 años de su primera visita
El acto II de Pentiment es maravilloso
Ya no es tanto sobre un misterio que quedo sin resolver en su primera visita a Tassing
Es más sobre Andreas como persona y artista
Una persona atormentada sobre todas las decisiones que ha tomado en su vida
Aun cargando con la muerte de su hijo y viéndolo en aquel laberinto que era su cabeza
La desgracia perseguía a Andreas a donde quiera que fuese
Esa desgracia que no tardo en volver a Tassing con la muerte de Otto
Misma muerte que fue la chispa que inicio la rebelión en contra de la iglesia
Aun con menos tiempo para juntar pruebas, este caso tiene mucho más que contar que el primero y se pone aún más peso sobre los hombros al saber que una mala decisión podría llevar a la muerte de todos en el pueblo
Cada persona tenía algo que contar y cada persona tenía un punto de vista distinto
Un parto fue el tiempo límite para llevar al culpable ante de la justicia
En mi caso la elección fue solo una
Martín o lo que aquel impostor trato de hacerle creer a todos
Era la persona con más razones para matarlo
¿Fue la decisión correcta?
No lo sé para ser honesto
Pero quede satisfecho con el resultado
Aun con un condenado.
Lo inevitable ocurrió
La rebelión estalló y una simple antorcha fue suficiente para prenderle fuego a todo un monasterio con su biblioteca
Misma biblioteca donde el maestro Andreas Maler falleció tratando de salvar los libros que se pudieran
ACTO III
Andreas ha muerto y con eso la historia cambia de protagonista
Magdalene Druckeryn es la nueva protagonista y al inicio me pareció algo raro que no fuera su sucesor, ya que compartes el acto II con él su mayoría
Un personaje que solo conociste de bebé, pero logro crecer a una artista que no se deja silenciar por nadie y responde a la mínima provocación
Este es el acto con el inicio más lento posible, pero esa lentitud juega a su favor en el final de la historia cuando se nos es revelado quién estuvo detrás de la tragedia de todo el pueblo
Magdalene logra ganarse un cariño inmenso de mi parte gracias a su personalidad propia y no ser una simple copia de Andreas como lo espere al inicio
Tassing cobra otra víctima y esta vez es el propio padre de Magdalene
Todo por un mural en el cual se trataba de plasmar la historia de un pueblo donde los dioses bajaron a convivir entre los humanos
Esta intriga me llevo a platicar con todos los habitantes que sobrevivieron a la revuelta de hace 7 años
Cada persona tiene una versión distinta del mismo día y nadie logra decir lo que realmente sucedió
Todos están de acuerdo en una sola cosa
Llego la paz, pero a un coste muy alto que algunos aún no logran superar
Saber como todos acabaron y como los actos de Andreas pasaron de justicia a ser insultado
Decidí pintar sobre el lobo, la presentación de los dioses y la masacre de la revuelta
Todo esto parece relevante para la creación de un lugar tan extraño como Tassing
Aquel lugar donde Andreas Maler logro realizar su obra maestra y su 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨
Todo esto llevo a una resolución de la cual estoy satisfecho
Descubrir quién fue el asesino pero no decirle a nadie
No iba a permitir que una población tan dañada como Tassing sufriera un golpe que los terminaría de destruir
El silencio y la ignorancia será algo que los ayude a sanar después de tanto sufrimiento
Una vez terminado con el misterio
No quedo nada más
El invierno ha terminado y con ello se inicia una primavera
Quisiera terminar está enorme, ¿reseña? ¿Análisis? No estoy seguro ya
Con una conversación de la parte final del juego que me dejo al borde de las lágrimas
-...
+¿Tu También? Han pasado muchas noches, muchos años sin verte la cara. Pensaba que me había olvidado de como era
-...
+Pero sabía que seguirías aquí. Esperándome en silencio
+No puedo cambiar el pasado, no puedo ocultarlo. Siempre está ahí, bajo la superficie, por mucho que intente enterrarlo y no sé qué hacer.
-...
+Eh…
-No pasa nada.
+... ¿Qué?
-No pasa nada, papá
+¿De verdad?
-Ya no tienes que esconderte aquí nunca más.
+Tengo miedo, August.
-Lo sé y por eso mismo no puedes quedarte. Hay gente que te necesita
+¿Y si no puedo ayudarlos?
-No lo sé, papá. Soy muy pequeño. Creo que tienes que resolverlo tú mismo.
+Por supuesto. Tienes razón
+Gracias
-Te quiero, papá.
+Yo también te quiero
+Buenas noches, August
-Buenas noches
god bless you andreas
As an avid adventure gamer, I've had my eye on this one for a while, and finally got the chance to play it. I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed at all: the 2D art style is simply gorgeous, the story spanning over 25 years is full of twists, drama and mysteries, and the gameplay couldn’t be simpler, perfect for a choice-based adventure. I would have loved at least some voiced dialogues, though.
However, be warned that the plot moves quite slowly, especially in the last act, and most of the time you just walk around town, talking to people, occasionally eating with them, and sometimes, but quite rarely, you run into a light puzzle or minigame. It often feels more like a documentary, filled with tons of names and references, on how lower- and middle-class people lived in medieval Europe – probably the most accurate portrayal I’ve ever seen in a video game. So, if this is not something you’d be interested in, then maybe you should skip this one. For everyone else, give it a try if you can! It’s not everyday we get a game that is so fun and educational at the same time.
However, be warned that the plot moves quite slowly, especially in the last act, and most of the time you just walk around town, talking to people, occasionally eating with them, and sometimes, but quite rarely, you run into a light puzzle or minigame. It often feels more like a documentary, filled with tons of names and references, on how lower- and middle-class people lived in medieval Europe – probably the most accurate portrayal I’ve ever seen in a video game. So, if this is not something you’d be interested in, then maybe you should skip this one. For everyone else, give it a try if you can! It’s not everyday we get a game that is so fun and educational at the same time.