Pentiment Reviews

Pentiment is ranked in the 96th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2022

If you enjoy story-driven affairs with choices that impact the world in which you’re playing, Pentiment is worth a playthrough. The historical narrative adventure is perfect if you don’t want to play something that requires a high level of skill, but you still want to enjoy a rich history and impactful choices.

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Lee Mehr
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Mar 25, 2024

For a title so reverent of history, it feels like divine justice that Obsidian's special narrative adventure earns such a high spot in the annals of its own.

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9.2 / 10.0
Nov 17, 2022

Tassing, however, has other plans for our young penman.

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4.8 / 5.0
Nov 15, 2022

Pentiment is one of the best games of 2022 that anyone could play.

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8.1 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2022

Even if it's not a particularly ambitious production, Pentiment is a small gem that shows all the love for the late Middle Ages and its art in every single aspect.

Review in Italian | Read full review

EGM
Top Critic
Nov 14, 2022

Pentiment is a true achievement of marrying story, style, and theme into a magical and cohesive whole. In lieu of 3D graphics that try too hard and still fail to represent an authentic-feeling world, Obsidian's artists opted for a more illustrative aesthetic to tell their gripping story of a murder in an abbey, a choice that resonates throughout the entire game. While it might not satisfy every player, especially those expecting a more traditional RPG or adventure experience, those who can immerse themselves in Pentiment's vision of 16th century Bavaria will find one of the best games of the year.

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9.5 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2022

Obsidian has a fantastic history of ambitious RPG titles, but none feel as confident and refined as Pentiment. This is a game that truly understands the intoxicating nature of choice in video games, and rewards you with cynical torment befitting the world it portrays.

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10 / 10.0
Nov 15, 2022

A gorgeous, towering watermark for choice-driven narratives, enlivening a heartfelt medieval saga to surpass the greats in prose and play.

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7 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2022

Still, while Pentiment doesn’t make the best first impression, and the lack of music robs it of atmosphere and character, it’s well worth digging into if you’re a fan of well-written narrative adventures or games that require you to conduct investigations. You’ll soon come to love – or loathe – its cast of characters, and with plenty of fun puzzles to solve, minigames to engage in and meaningful choices to make, it’s rewarding in ways that other games in the same genre space rarely ever manage.

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GBAtemp
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Mar 16, 2024

With its unique presentation, historical accuracy and intricate branching narrative design, Pentiment is a showcase of Obsidian’s prowess at crafting memorable experiences across genres and scopes.

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90 / 100
Mar 11, 2024

Pentiment demonstrates all the ability of Obsidian Entertainment to develop excellent games in genres that are currently little explored and of Xbox Game Studios in offering these games to new platforms.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

9 / 10.0
Mar 1, 2024

So rarely do we see this type of life portrayed in this particular way in games, let alone let a player walk their own path through it all. The twists and turns will keep you engaged and by the end Pentiment left me feeling with a sense of joy, purpose and appreciation. I am quite certain that if you enjoy adventure games, story driven games or roleplaying games, you will too.

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8.5 / 10.0
Dec 17, 2022

A journey to medieval Bavaria with its human joys and numerous sorrows – not without routine and uneven pace, without any intelligible gameplay, but authentic, vividly written and with a deep message.

Review in Russian | Read full review

9 / 10.0
Dec 6, 2022

Unlike the usual historical games, it is a game that is very realistic and sometimes sad, but definitely needs to be experienced at least once.

Review in Turkish | Read full review

8.8 / 10.0
Nov 21, 2022

Pemtiment is without a doubt one of the best games of 2022. If you're a fan of classic point & click adventure games, you're going to have a blast playing pemtiment.

Review in Persian | Read full review

10 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2022

So we can only recommend this game even if it does not seem "your style". Pentiment is dynamic, fun and engaging and we believe that it is worth enjoying by any type of player, because it is a safe bet that you will love.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

9 / 10
Nov 14, 2022

Pentiment is one of the most unique and clever games we've played in a very long time. It may be the fabulous art style that first draws you to this one, and it really is quite the looker, but it's actually the very obvious care that's been poured into the narrative and the exacting detail in every aspect of the world-building here that ends up selling the whole thing so well. With a story that really goes some places, tons of history to learn about, lots of fantastic characters to meet and plenty of fun and surprises along the way, this is one medieval murder mystery you should absolutely check out as soon as it hits Xbox Game Pass.

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8.5 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2022

Pentiment is an excellent narrative adventure with Obsidian's quality seal. No fan of the genre should miss it. It is a unique game thanks to its incredible visual presentation and historical background. The studio manages to move away from the hardcore RPG to give us an alternative and great vision of role-playing games. It is clearly a niche game that probably not everyone will appreciate.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2022

Pentiment is a game from artists for art lovers. This is a crafted honestly made game, which, of course, has flaws. Some of them also left a bigger aftertaste in my mouth. But what work of art does not have them? And, although I'm afraid that the title won't impress ordinary gamers too much, I still firmly believe that this unique work by Obsidian will eventually find its fans.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2022

As a story-driven adventure game, Pentiment is a history lesson come to life, with some intriguing mysteries to solve and tricky decisions to make. It's a vertical slice of history, and it provides a glimpse into a turbulent period through the experience of a small town. The experience can be a bit sluggish because it sometimes values historical accuracy over player comfort. Your choices impact the Bavarian town of Tassing over a quarter of a century, all while uncovering a truly interesting mystery. Tassing is the actual protagonist here, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being an integral part in its community and participating in its struggles. It's a bit special and stubborn in its delivery, but Pentiment is an interesting and worthwhile investigation of the period, its customs, and its issues.

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