After seeing the reviews for Pentiment, I grew more and more curious. After seeing that this was a new RPG, point-and-click from Obsidian, as well as seeing the phenomenal art style, I knew I had to give this game a shot; especially after seeing in on Gamepass. My curiosity was warranted, as Pentiment is one of my favorite games to have come out in 2022.
Pentiment is alllllll about the story and writing. Think of this game as a less-RPG heavy Disco Elysium-esc experience, where your choices in dialogue, as well as your background and strengths, play a role in how your character interacts with those around them, as well as how they solve the mysteries at hand. Being a murder mystery game, you'll spend most of your time talking to people and digging up clues as to who could've done it. Its extremely entertaining, as the writing is some of the best that I've ever seen in games. The writing is also held up by the stellar art style and presentation. Characters write in different scripts depending on their occupation, education level, and/or their personality. It is such a small thing, but helps build characters' personalities in such a cool, subtle way.
I don't want to give away ANYTHING about the story, as I believe it works the best when you go in completely blind. But just know that this game does feature heavy Christiaan themes, as it explore Catholicism and its hold on communities in the 1500s. Which I found extremely interesting. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it worked extremely well for me.
Now if you're the type of gamer that doesn't care much about writing or storytelling and just wanna get down and dirty with some gameplay, don't bother playing Pentiment. The game is all walking, talking, investigating, and choosing. There are some "puzzles" here and there, but they are really simple and not in the least challenging. You're really playing Pentiment for the story and characters, which Obsidian knocked out of the park.
More special mention needs to go to the art style. Its fashioned like the artwork you'd see in a book that was written in the 1500s. Everything follows this style, and it looks stunning. Such a simple style, but it oozes with creativity with every landscape you see in this title.
There's not really a lot to say about Pentiment without spoiling it, which again, I refuse to do. But know that if you love story-focused games with great writing and characters, you'll love Pentiment. It feels like such a passion project, and Obsidian knocked it out of the park.
Pentiment is alllllll about the story and writing. Think of this game as a less-RPG heavy Disco Elysium-esc experience, where your choices in dialogue, as well as your background and strengths, play a role in how your character interacts with those around them, as well as how they solve the mysteries at hand. Being a murder mystery game, you'll spend most of your time talking to people and digging up clues as to who could've done it. Its extremely entertaining, as the writing is some of the best that I've ever seen in games. The writing is also held up by the stellar art style and presentation. Characters write in different scripts depending on their occupation, education level, and/or their personality. It is such a small thing, but helps build characters' personalities in such a cool, subtle way.
I don't want to give away ANYTHING about the story, as I believe it works the best when you go in completely blind. But just know that this game does feature heavy Christiaan themes, as it explore Catholicism and its hold on communities in the 1500s. Which I found extremely interesting. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it worked extremely well for me.
Now if you're the type of gamer that doesn't care much about writing or storytelling and just wanna get down and dirty with some gameplay, don't bother playing Pentiment. The game is all walking, talking, investigating, and choosing. There are some "puzzles" here and there, but they are really simple and not in the least challenging. You're really playing Pentiment for the story and characters, which Obsidian knocked out of the park.
More special mention needs to go to the art style. Its fashioned like the artwork you'd see in a book that was written in the 1500s. Everything follows this style, and it looks stunning. Such a simple style, but it oozes with creativity with every landscape you see in this title.
There's not really a lot to say about Pentiment without spoiling it, which again, I refuse to do. But know that if you love story-focused games with great writing and characters, you'll love Pentiment. It feels like such a passion project, and Obsidian knocked it out of the park.