Pentiment
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Critic Reviews for Pentiment
Some players may create chaos, others will try to keep the peace, but each will be able to tell the story of Pentiment in their own way. It is interactive choose-your-own-adventure story-telling at its best, and although it feels too short, hopefully, there will be more tales and tomes like this one from Obsidian in the future.
Pentiment is a clever Medieval detective story with a gorgeously-realized world that I can hardly recommend highly enough.
A beautiful and beautifully-written narrative game that makes masterful use of its early modern setting. One of Obsidian's finest.
A brilliant narrative adventure that is filled with intelligence and heart.
It's a magnificent thing, and this story will be lingering in my thoughts for quite some time. Pentiment takes Obsidian's expertise in branching narratives, role-playing, and building evocative worlds, then packages it all up in an exciting and unique way. I was devastated when it was over, and I'm still not over that ending. But now I'm looking forward to playing it all over again, this time with another Andreas. Maybe one who speaks Latin, studied law, and spent his wandering years in Switzerland. There are some bad choices and disastrous consequences I'd like to avoid this time too. That's the beauty of being an artist: you can always scrape the parchment clean and start again.
"Many developments are outside of your control, yet rarely in games does the passage of time feel so intimately significant."
Despite some issues with the audio and the slowness of the third act, Pentiment is a wonderfully unique storytelling experience overflowing with respect for the historical era it strives to recreate. Much like the game’s themes of stories persisting over time, I’ll be thinking about Andreas Maler and the town of Tassing for years to come.
Pentiment too often limits its most enjoyable pieces to reach an ending that makes sense but is still unfulfilling.
