Pentiment is somewhat of an anomaly of a game; being as educational as it is entertaining, as stylized as it is authentic, and as peculiarly niche as it is polished and high quality.
Animations are a delight, and the game's presentation on the whole is exceptional. Unexpectedly, the painstaking detail in everything from the mixture of 16th century art to each character speaking in different script depending on what societal role or class they represent serve to paint a mural of a world more intriguingly and convincingly than any other piece of entertainment I have experienced, historical or fictional alike.
The writing is also quite enjoyable and poignant, if not entirely even through the game's runtime. Being split into three distinct acts, not every act is as immediately gripping or charming as the rest, and I found the start of each new act to be an uphill battle in retaining my emotional investment. By the end of each of these acts and by the end of the game, a complete and satisfying story is told, though I can't help but feel that some fat could have been trimmed here.
Perhaps this feeling would be alleviated had Pentiment not have been seemingly so front-loaded with its game mechanics. Those expecting more of a proper adventure game or detective RPG may be left for wanting a little bit
more. Dialogue mechanics aren't used enough to feel consistently weighty, though this may be due to the game's text-only* nature that can often make reading the writers' intended tone hard to navigate. (*Even with the game's excellent accessibility features, the text-to-speech can only go so far without real human performances.) By the end of the game, it feels that much of Pentiment could have been written as a highly linear visual novel with how the scope of interactivity beyond dialogue choices narrows so much. While this may very well be a thematic point to the game, such shifts in gameplay expectations are always hard sells, no matter how bold.
The mechanic that I struggled the most with during my time with Pentiment was the game's inconsistent and not very well conveyed use of the passage of time. Working against a time limit serves to give the player a sense of urgency, though on more than one important occasion I had moments where activating certain game events seemed to have broken the sequence of things or would pass far more time than I had anticipated, serving to undercut my agency as a player and ultimately resulting in some unsatisfying outcomes. I'm still unsure if these were bugged out features, or if the game's writing failed to indicate the intended flow and pace for me to play at...
Still, it's difficult to deny the raw talent and intense passion present in Pentiment. I am not overly familiar with Josh Sawyer's work, but my interest in his abilities beyond being a tweeter or a GDC-talk giver are certainly piqued after having played this title.
Animations are a delight, and the game's presentation on the whole is exceptional. Unexpectedly, the painstaking detail in everything from the mixture of 16th century art to each character speaking in different script depending on what societal role or class they represent serve to paint a mural of a world more intriguingly and convincingly than any other piece of entertainment I have experienced, historical or fictional alike.
The writing is also quite enjoyable and poignant, if not entirely even through the game's runtime. Being split into three distinct acts, not every act is as immediately gripping or charming as the rest, and I found the start of each new act to be an uphill battle in retaining my emotional investment. By the end of each of these acts and by the end of the game, a complete and satisfying story is told, though I can't help but feel that some fat could have been trimmed here.
Perhaps this feeling would be alleviated had Pentiment not have been seemingly so front-loaded with its game mechanics. Those expecting more of a proper adventure game or detective RPG may be left for wanting a little bit
more. Dialogue mechanics aren't used enough to feel consistently weighty, though this may be due to the game's text-only* nature that can often make reading the writers' intended tone hard to navigate. (*Even with the game's excellent accessibility features, the text-to-speech can only go so far without real human performances.) By the end of the game, it feels that much of Pentiment could have been written as a highly linear visual novel with how the scope of interactivity beyond dialogue choices narrows so much. While this may very well be a thematic point to the game, such shifts in gameplay expectations are always hard sells, no matter how bold.
The mechanic that I struggled the most with during my time with Pentiment was the game's inconsistent and not very well conveyed use of the passage of time. Working against a time limit serves to give the player a sense of urgency, though on more than one important occasion I had moments where activating certain game events seemed to have broken the sequence of things or would pass far more time than I had anticipated, serving to undercut my agency as a player and ultimately resulting in some unsatisfying outcomes. I'm still unsure if these were bugged out features, or if the game's writing failed to indicate the intended flow and pace for me to play at...
Still, it's difficult to deny the raw talent and intense passion present in Pentiment. I am not overly familiar with Josh Sawyer's work, but my interest in his abilities beyond being a tweeter or a GDC-talk giver are certainly piqued after having played this title.