Obsidian was one of the most unique developers worth keeping an eye on for creating some of the best games put out in the role-playing genre and industry. Their games still stood the test of time and proved to be perfect examples one could look back to when discussing game design and well-crafted narratives in vidya games. What made Obsidian stand out to me was how they carried the role-playing legacy of Interplay/Black Isle. And it's of no surprise knowing Obsidian were one of the main three offshoots of a dying Interplay/Black Isle. Regardless, what they passed on from this lineage was striving to be consciously aware of the trends common in the industry but took advantage in offering something truly special among the crowd. It’s undeniable that this sort of alternative ‘counter-cultural’ streak personified Obsidian against other developers which made their games feel important and remembered fondly even when time should've buried it deep into obscurity.

BioWare defined CRPGs through their Infinity Engine take on D&D fantasy with Baldur’s Gate? Black Isle put out Planescape: Torment as a response to the conventional staples of the genre being defined. The story and world of The Nameless One being unforgettable with how it tackles philosophical and existential topics in a way I argue many games nowadays barely scratched the surface on.

BioWare made a safe sprawling Star Wars adventure that took many fans back into comfortable territory of the older movies? Obsidian developed KOTOR 2 as an ambitious game which took Star Wars into unexpected directions that challenged the foundations of the setting itself. Kreia’s musings about the force are still ingrained in so many people’s minds to this day for good reason.

BioWare released Mass Effect which further revolutionized RPGs as a greater genre of gaming while pushing cinematic storytelling and presentation? Obsidian made Alpha Protocol which accomplished what Mass Effect was renowned for to greater effect while functioning as a clunky Deus Ex-lite. That canceled Alien RPG was another deadringer of them wanting to just outdo Mass Effect and show them how it can really be done.

The fact that people even still think about New Vegas over ten years after it first came out, whether its citing it as a worthy example of masterful game design, its placement in the franchise, and debating what's truly the best outcome for the Mojave Wasteland is an enormous testament to Obsidian’s craftsmanship as video game developers. Even going back to the Black Isle days they were literally writing the rulebook on the importance of narratives, world-building, and choice & consequence through the original Fallouts and Planescape: Torment which paved way for more direct inspirations like Disco Elysium to keep experimenting with. And with how unfortunately common it was for many Western RPG developers to just crash and burn in a hundred different ways (RIP: Ion Storm, Black Isle, Troika, BioWare, and probably ZA/UM rn) it almost seemed like Obsidian was The Chosen One to spearhead role-playing games.

Then Outer Worlds happened which confirmed Obsidian is only alive in name only when all the key developers bounced ship after New Vegas. They brought in legendary Fallout creators, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, two developers I highly respected for Fallout and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines respectively, only to return with a soulless product indulging in misguided New Vegas nostalgia. Do you like New Vegas? Cool. Here it is (except not really) but we somehow make Bethesda’s Fallouts look more substantially designed and memorable. Didn't help with all the critical acclaim it got when it came out like it was certified GOTY or the best RPG in ages because that Fallout Copium was super high and they didn't play Disco Elysium (was released a week apart lmao) which ironically was a better spiritual successor to the good ol' Interplay/Black Isle days of roleplaying than the guys who founded and made the games themselves. Frankly, it speaks volumes that not even a year after Outer Worlds came out no one really talks about it. Most of the actual discussions you'd find are people remembering it in passing like a faded memory or realize it actually wasn't very good once the hype fizzled out in their system. So, Obsidian was not in a good creative state for quite a while. It seemed like their glory days were now past behind them, and they only really exist in name only. But then I remember there’s still one developer still working there to make me care again.

Josh Sawyer is one of the most underappreciated and talented video game designers working in the industry right now. Everything you might’ve loved about New Vegas’ masterful approach to game design stems from this guy steering the big ship itself. He’s responsible for the amount of player expression provided, the realistic choice & consequences, the underrated weapon balancing including the addition of different ammo types which has never caught on, and let’s not forget some of his greatest written characters ever in Arcade Gannon and Joshua Graham. He’s the only living person who I even trust to touch the Fallout franchise because of how well he just gets it from a storytelling and game design perspective. He is the last man standing preventing Obsidian from being another disposable developer with nothing to show for in the medium than reliving the bygone glory days. When he’s ever going to put out his inevitable Bike Shop RPG, I will be the first of many waiting right in line to buy it and see just what this madman is cooking next.

Pentiment truly feels like the exact type of game you’d imagine being developed by Black Isle. A sentiment that makes all the more sense understanding that this was the passion project Josh Sawyer had dreamed of going all the way back in the ‘90s. Originally envisioned as a more cut-and-dry traditional RPG set in a non-fictional historical setting which never got the wind it deserved because of how niche the concept is to appeal to a larger audience. But over time this concept got modernized, and thanks to Microsoft buying Obsidian, set the stage for Pentiment to finally come to fruition. Like KOTOR 2, New Vegas, and in time, Alpha Protocol, I can see Pentiment being a game that will never abruptly leave the gaming consciousness for how much there is worth discussing what it accomplished. I can see there being years upon years worth of still-standing discussions about who really murdered who in the same way people will never stop debating which faction was the best outcome for New Vegas. Or how it uses the historical backdrop to explore the nature of faith, what it means to uncover the truth, and Sawyer’s favorite recurring theme of history being written by those partaking in it. Witnessing the town and its inhabitants age and develop throughout the course of the game, either influenced by your choices, was very impactful. You feel involved with the most mundane of things and become intrigued by how this town could even thrive in a world changing so beyond their scope and realization. Playing the game feels like the equivalent of reading a really damn cool textbook immersing you into a historical period you never expected to care much for before.

The meticulous amount of detail that went into the overall presentation is worth commemorating. They didn't slack off with adapting the aesthetics of 16th Century Bavaria. Having a pre-established knowledge of the later renaissance era thanks to one lengthy art history course, I can vouch for how authentic it truly is. The characters are rendered to be drawn in an art style perfectly replicating the illuminated manuscripts found prevalent in the time period. There's a lot of subtle character animations and gesturing done to make it look lively and prevent it from feeling too stiff. Every NPC also has dialogue of which the font is rendered to suit the various forms of older text associated with their status or class. The Monks speak only through an antiquated Gothic font, the printer initially speaks in old-fashioned printing typeface before it becomes more clear, the peasants speak in a rough and dirty font, and the wealthier residents are given cursive styled text. It’s easily Obsidian’s most impressive work on a presentation level alone, one department I feel they struggle with for certain games.

Pentiment is the true culmination of Josh Sawyer’s work in his career so far. In what may be the most elaborate excuse to flex his academic history degree and giga brained knowledge he, along with the rest of the team here, have created a modern gem in gaming. There is no other game like Pentiment out there and that may as well be what makes it a worthy addition to the Interplay/Black Isle/Troika/Obsidian lineage of Western RPGs. Though it's on the lighter side of being an RPG, mechanically that is, and trades it off with a clearer focus on a narrative adventure game bringing some admittedly overblown comparisons to Disco Elysium but I understand where these stem from. The journey of Andreas Maler is worth experiencing to uncover the underlying image that was painted over by another.

I don’t even know where to start, how to describe this game without spoiling it. I guess I can say, if the game looks interesting to you, go play it right now. If, in addition, you’ve ever liked a game made by Obsidian or a hyperlocal adventure game (Night in the Woods, Kentucky Route Zero, Norco), or some combination of the two (this section is here so I can mention Disco Elysium) then GO PLAY IT RIGHT NOW.

Beyond that, the task becomes workable. When my girlfriend asked me what I thought of the game, I said “I think it’s probably one of the best works of art I’ve ever experienced”, and I stand fully behind that text message I sent like 10 minutes ago. Somehow, Josh Sawyer and his team at Obsidian have crafted a wonderful murder mystery with themes around class consciousness and theology, and a lovely, tender story and cast of characters, and they made it entirely out of historical references you’d literally need an encyclopedia to fully understand. And don’t fret, the encyclopedia is ALSO in the game.

Admittedly the introduction is a little dry. It leans heavy on establishing the setting, your place in it, and a calm before the fall, and it’s important, but until things get going it was feeling a bit like what I was worried it would be: interesting and intellectual, but lacking in heart. Once you get used to the game though, things pick up quick and all of a sudden you’ve been playing for 6 hours straight and it’s 1 in the morning and you don’t want to stop, because you don’t know if the next person you talk to, or the next meal you eat, or the next setpiece you explore could throw mysteries and answers at you in equal measure, pulling you deeper and deeper until the next chapter break.

I don’t think I know how to talk about this game at all actually. Not the way I usually do. Mostly you just have to decide what leads to follow based on what information you have, and what your character can provide based on their background and standing with each member of the community. But that doesn’t really get to the heart of what’s so good about the game, what I love about it. That lies in the seemingly endless depth on display, a hyperfocused depth of character and setting that only exists in those other hyperlocal adventure games and Obsidian-style RPGs, to my knowledge.

It’s just that good, and it gets better and better as you go along. The layers peel back, pulling the sardonic exterior away so you can tug at the core underneath. I’m surprised a game like this could be made still, and by a company of the size Obsidian is. It’s got all the references of a game made by 3 nerds in a basement, all the heart of a game made by 3 indie devs in a basement, and all the technical prowess that being owned by Xbox gets you. I don’t get how a game can be so seemingly mired in itself and yet still so affecting, still such a triumph, and I don’t get how Josh Sawyer’s been doing stuff like this for 20 years. I’ll be buying the collectors edition if it materializes though, you can count on that.

A series that was once at the cutting edge of game design has officially ran out of tricks, although this was pretty much already the case with DS3 6 years ago.

Very frontloaded main quest, exploring Limgrave, Liurnia and accidentally stumbling into Caelid was very impressive and gave the game a sense of adventure.

There is also a staggering amount of freedom given to the player. You can access Liurnia, Volcano Manor and Atlus Plateau and many other areas from the beginning without killing anything.

Unfortunately there is a very evident nose dive after Leyndell, Mountaintop of the giants is practically empty in comparison to the 3 earlier mentioned areas. Farum Azula is practically a straight line with possibly the worst boss in the entire series.

This nosedive extends to the side content as well, the level of recycled content in the dungeons/caves/mines is beyond embarrassing. If this was any other dev aside from the current hivemind darling then forums would be rammed with your typical internet gamer rage.

Overall i'm glad I played it, but it's just clear to me that Souls is tired, the game conforms heavily to the tropes that earlier games established to the point of it being mundane. I was rolling my eyes when the mid boss anime power up cutscene played on the ~10th different fight. Sure it was cool when Ludwig did it but that was back in 2015. Time to get some new tricks Fromsoft.

✅Open world
✅Abyssmal collect-a-thon of plants and animal stuff
✅Shitty crafting system completely tacked on
✅"Stealth" mechanics revolving around hiding in bushes and takedowns
✅Enemy campaments with useless rewards
✅ Annoying npcs

Far Cry haters are awfully quiet today

I don't want to sound like a moralist or exercise armchair activism, but how long can you continue defending a game that has ended the careers of so many workers? So many devs abused while Nintendo and Mercury Steam get the accolades for creating another continuity metroid.
In case you don't know, mercury steam did not credit several devs who were dismissed improperly or were forced to leave the project due to force majeure, such as poor mental health or, I don't know, THE FUCKING PANDEMIC.
There is plenty of information on the internet about this and, hey, probably several of my favorite games were developed through Overworking, unfortunately in Japan it is common and surely, there will be similar or worse cases than that of metroid dread, but at a time when The fact that social conscience and mental health is such an important and controversial issue, I find it inconceivable that so many praises are given to a game perpetrated under the worst business practices I have seen in years, it is pure meritocracy.

Please, if you love a game, its perfectly okay, but do not defend it that if has been created under bad praxix and has screwed up the careers of some of its devs, on the contrary. Do not stain anyone's memory