Pentiment Reviews
A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage.
A brilliant take on narrative adventure games by Obsidian. Pentiment is an awesome portrait of XVI century Europe and a compelling game about the sense of history, religion, tradition and personal beliefs. Sometimes the narrative structure is constraining, but overall the writing is amazing, the style is great, and the bibliography become part of the game in a clever way.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Pentiment does an excellent job of making my journey feel natural, with results that directly reflect my dialogue and action choices.
A game like Pentiment doesn’t come around often. Top developers like Obsidian Entertainment usually leave smaller productions like this on the editing floor. The vast majority of games with fantastic stories usually ask players to kill something, solve puzzles, or have some other gimmick to it so that they remain engaged. Pentiment dares instead to rely on its craftsmanship, authenticity, and choice-based dialogue, trusting that the murder mystery is enough of a draw to pull players in. And despite some minor quibbles, Pentiment succeeds in its pursuit, creating a fantastic generational period drama with a wonderfully original vision.
A Dark Ages mystery whose gameplay and dialogue are as unique as it's daringly unconventional premise and visuals.
Pentiment goes all in as a dialogue-heavy historical murder mystery that you won't want to stop playing. You will question your actions throughout the game because your choices truly matter. No two endings will be the same, which makes you want to replay the game to delve deeper into the mystery. How will your story end?
Pentiment's gameplay — or lack thereof — may deter some would-be players, but those who become invested in its lovingly crafted world set in distant past, emotional and human narrative, and gripping murder conspiracy are guaranteed to fall in love.
This historical murder mystery isn’t what you might expect from Obsidian Entertainment, known for first-person action RPGs like The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas, but there is still importance placed on building your character and choosing how you experience the world. It explores the societal, theological, and artistic beliefs of one town during a time of rapid change, and it does so with a beautiful art style unlike anything else in video games. Everything about Pentiment feels as carefully designed as the illuminated manuscripts it draws inspiration from, delivering an enthralling mystery that is a wonder to behold.
The slow pace and amount of reading required may put some people off, but I'd encourage you to try it all the same — it's a fascinating period piece that tells both history lesson and original narrative while reflecting on the importance of art and stories, and comfortably one of the best examples of its genre in recent years and best Game Pass games.
Learn to move at Tassing’s sedate pace and patience will be rewarded as a seemingly simple murder mystery makes way for a rich portrait of village life and the difficult choices that come to define it.
An evocative recreation of 16th-century Bavaria examines how the tide of history crashes against the lives of everyday people, all framed by an intriguing crime story
We were largely enthralled during our dozen or so hours with Pentiment. The mystery at the heart of the narrative remains compelling throughout, but it was the smaller moments that warmed our hearts; breaking bread with friends, sharing in their joy and heartbreak, watching lives play out, and generations pass, in a world on the cusp of dramatic change.
Mostly, however, we have praise to pour over Pentiment. The game is the stylistically most beautiful adventure of the year, while also feeling both intelligent and passionately built. It's undeniably an odd bird that's likely to find the right niche audience. For just over SEK 200 on Steam and considering that it is included in Xbox Game Pass, we encourage all curious people to take a closer look at the game.
Review in Swedish | Read full review
Pentiment is not a bad game, it’s just not one that I have no real interest in; It’s more along the lines of an interactive, mystery novel than a video game. While I loved the storybook art style, the overly stylized font was just too much to look at for long play sessions. And Pentiment tends to drag on a bit too long for my taste, but for those that have a love of history, murder, religion, betrayal, secrets, walking from left to right/right to left and reading your video games; then I think you should try Pentiment, especially at the price of $19.99 or included with your Game Pass subscription.
At least visually, Pentiment is unlike any game in the marketplace, and its execution is never less than impressive. As a reflection on the role of the artist and the fundamental, unchanging nature of the human experience, it can be thoughtful, amusing and moving. The game’s mechanics, some of the writing and pacing definitely take a back seat to the aesthetics. Taken as a whole, playing Pentiment is another great reminder that not every videogame experience needs to overwhelm the senses, challenge reflexes or be the product of market research. Pentiment might not be for everyone, but that’s ok. Not for everyone is sometimes exactly what we need.
Pentiment won’t be for everyone. It’s bookish, sometimes a bit dry, and demands you take its questions about the nature of religion, art, and other heady subjects seriously if you want to get the most out of its narrative. If that sounds like your sort of thing, you can look forward to a rich, well-researched world you'll truly feel a part of and a fantastic story that serves up numerous memorable, moving twists and turns. Pentiment will leave an indelible mark on you if you just give it a chance.
What Obsidian has here is a reinvention of narrative gaming, however, and one that asks a question of the player everyone should at least attempt answering. Whether or not the question is too inscrutable doesn't really matter - it's how Andreas, and the player, responds. Pentiment is the kind of masterwork that Andreas chases early in the game, and it's equally as flawed, biased, subjective, and captivating as the pieces he's inspired by. Play it and decide for yourself whether it's worthy of that kind of comparison. That's the point.
Pentiment is a fascinating dive into XVI century Bavaria, that combines a murder mystery spanning over twentyfive years with a quick but accurate portrayal of the tumultuous social upheaval of the time. Its choice-based dialogue system only marginally influences the central elements of the plot, but the characters are well-written and artistically, the game is excellent.
Review in Italian | Read full review
We found Pentiment to be utterly addictive and would compare our playthrough to reading a great novel that we could not put down, which feels apt since the game is stylized as a medieval storybook. While the game looks simple, there's an incredible amount of depth and those who like to lose themselves in a good story will enjoy every moment. The game was a little bit too long when compared to other narrative adventure games, and this risks some players not making it to the closing credits, but we're mostly nitpicking. Like their protagonist Andreas, Obsidian has created a masterpiece that not everyone will appreciate, but those who do will remember for years to come.
Pentiment is a slow and deliberate novel of a game. Though quite lively at times, this is still a game that asks players to read long, intricate conversations and remember scores of characters in a historic setting. The mystery is interesting, and the history is fascinating, but if these aren't enough to pull you through, you might want to look elsewhere. For patient players, Pentiment is a game like no other, teaching lessons on history, community, and the nature of life itself.