This review contains spoilers
I generally try to avoid spoiler reviews, but for something as narratively focused as Pentiment I just don't think that's feasible. Even revealing the game's structure is somewhat of a spoiler and I can't really mention my primary critiques without at least acknowledging that structure.
Pentiment is a game in three acts. For the duration of the first, the player inhabits Andreas, a young artist earning his keep in a small village through work at the neighboring monastery's scriptorium until he can finish the piece that will make him a master when he returns to his home city. This routine is disrupted by the murder of a visiting noble, and Andreas takes it upon himself to clear the name of his friend and mentor, the accused.
After Andreas has presented his findings to the relevant authorities and brought about the execution of his chosen suspect, Pentiment does NOT inform the player of their correctness. Whomever Andreas dooms, they claim their innocence all the way to the grave. At no point will Pentiment confirm or deny their guilt. This is an idea that has intrigued me since I first heard that one of the Sherlock Holmes games allows the player to be wrong and simply continues. In Pentiment however there is no wrong answer except the one that motivates the investigation in the first place. Act 2 operates in the same way with an aged up Andreas some years later. However, once the player figures out that their choice of suspect doesn't really matter, all tension is swiftly deflated. By removing the player's ability to be wrong, the stakes are reduced to nothing. It could promote replay value by keeping the other choices "valid", but a player is likely to see most of everything on their first playthrough and to put it bluntly, their choices really don't matter. Despite this, both of these thirds of the game are rather exciting and the sheer commitment to historical accuracy makes for a refreshing and interesting setting. Act 2 in particular is a highlight, as I'd say that Andreas' inner world at this point in his life provides the game's most powerful writing.
Act 3 on the other hand goes for something riskier, and I don't think it was worth the cost. The start of act 3 sees the player in control of a totally different character. This is always an interesting narrative trick and it's cool here too, but this is an overarching mystery plot and the previous character doesn't manage to pass on what he knows. As a result the investigative slate is wiped almost entirely clean and the player spends almost all of act 3 gathering knowledge they already have and has no clear bearing on previous intrigue. To say that act 3 is a pace breaker would be quite an understatement. Not only does the narrative mostly drop its ongoing threads for several hours, the gameplay suffers as well. The tasks and plot are more mundane, yes, but the investigation necessary to perform them is also far more linear and controlled. rather than choosing a path to focus on and digging up whatever you can in the time allotted, in act 3 you must find everything. There is a choice to be made at the end of each phase of this investigation but these choices have no narrative consequences, only aesthetic ones in a single cutscene at the end of the game.
Ultimately I have to describe Pentiment as "a mixed bag." There are some flashes of greatness and it's clear that little more than this was possible with the given budget. It's an enjoyable time and the product of good work, but it's nothing I'm willing to call a "must play."
Pentiment is a game in three acts. For the duration of the first, the player inhabits Andreas, a young artist earning his keep in a small village through work at the neighboring monastery's scriptorium until he can finish the piece that will make him a master when he returns to his home city. This routine is disrupted by the murder of a visiting noble, and Andreas takes it upon himself to clear the name of his friend and mentor, the accused.
After Andreas has presented his findings to the relevant authorities and brought about the execution of his chosen suspect, Pentiment does NOT inform the player of their correctness. Whomever Andreas dooms, they claim their innocence all the way to the grave. At no point will Pentiment confirm or deny their guilt. This is an idea that has intrigued me since I first heard that one of the Sherlock Holmes games allows the player to be wrong and simply continues. In Pentiment however there is no wrong answer except the one that motivates the investigation in the first place. Act 2 operates in the same way with an aged up Andreas some years later. However, once the player figures out that their choice of suspect doesn't really matter, all tension is swiftly deflated. By removing the player's ability to be wrong, the stakes are reduced to nothing. It could promote replay value by keeping the other choices "valid", but a player is likely to see most of everything on their first playthrough and to put it bluntly, their choices really don't matter. Despite this, both of these thirds of the game are rather exciting and the sheer commitment to historical accuracy makes for a refreshing and interesting setting. Act 2 in particular is a highlight, as I'd say that Andreas' inner world at this point in his life provides the game's most powerful writing.
Act 3 on the other hand goes for something riskier, and I don't think it was worth the cost. The start of act 3 sees the player in control of a totally different character. This is always an interesting narrative trick and it's cool here too, but this is an overarching mystery plot and the previous character doesn't manage to pass on what he knows. As a result the investigative slate is wiped almost entirely clean and the player spends almost all of act 3 gathering knowledge they already have and has no clear bearing on previous intrigue. To say that act 3 is a pace breaker would be quite an understatement. Not only does the narrative mostly drop its ongoing threads for several hours, the gameplay suffers as well. The tasks and plot are more mundane, yes, but the investigation necessary to perform them is also far more linear and controlled. rather than choosing a path to focus on and digging up whatever you can in the time allotted, in act 3 you must find everything. There is a choice to be made at the end of each phase of this investigation but these choices have no narrative consequences, only aesthetic ones in a single cutscene at the end of the game.
Ultimately I have to describe Pentiment as "a mixed bag." There are some flashes of greatness and it's clear that little more than this was possible with the given budget. It's an enjoyable time and the product of good work, but it's nothing I'm willing to call a "must play."