Pentiment Reviews
Pentiment offers a tightly wound and gripping tale that is as optimistic as it is unique.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Pentiment is an absolute must-play game.
Despite bringing a limited, sometimes repetitive, and somewhat simple gameplay experience in RPG elements, Pentiment is one of the best examples of historical fiction that the video game media has ever produced. Its narrative has an engaging mystery, a historically rich context with several good points for reflection on the passage from the medieval to the modern era, a coherent and immersive audiovisual and, above all, a unique text design that makes every word say much more than its mere meaning.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Though this is not a game I’d recommend binging due to its lengthy dialogue sequences, Pentiment is still a title that can pull you in for hours before you realize what has happened.
Ostensibly Pentiment is a murder mystery narrative driven point and click video game. But, it’s so much more. It’s a commentary on the nature of perception, how time is an utterly critical factor in our lives, about how relationships evolve over that time: growing and withering equally. It was a truly magical fifteen hours and I was genuinely emotional when I finished the game. It’s not often I use the word but it’s a masterpiece, a lovingly crafted piece of gaming art.
Pentiment was more than just a story, it is a masterpiece of narrative storytelling and one of the best stories in gaming in the year 2022, Its storytelling was distinguished by an elegant artistic style that simulates the beauty of that era, and choosing the background of the character added other dimensions to the dialogues and choices, which makes the gameplay experience greatly diverse and different between One person and another, as well as add excellent replay value to the game
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Pentiment is an unconventional take on a colorful and intertwined story that knows what it is doing very well. The free hand in decision-making creates a significant butterfly effect and can mess with the search for the killer. The period artwork enhances the entire experience wonderfully, and the solid historical foundations give the story even more depth.
Review in Czech | Read full review
A beautiful and beautifully-written narrative game that makes masterful use of its early modern setting. One of Obsidian's finest.
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 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.
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
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
Pentiment is not going to be popular. I do think however that it will become a cult classic. I can’t think of another game from a 1st party publisher to tackle a subject like this. Nothing about it feels forced to try and earn the most money, instead, it is a labor of devotion to telling a brilliant story at a specific period and place in our past. Life may rarely go the way we want, but there is power in our choices and I’m glad that Xbox allowed this game to be made. It’s a unique, dazzling work of art that will stand the test of time for as long as we remember it.
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.