A medieval detective with a visual style inspired by 16th century illustrations: Pentiment review
Pentiment is yet another proof that an interesting and engaging story doesn't always require hundreds of millions of dollars and a giant team. The desire to put your heart and soul into a project, to create an atypical style, the ability to play it all well, and a careful approach to the little things can work wonders, and Obsidian has done it.
I couldn't have imagined that I would be so interested in walking back and forth for 20 hours, talking to everyone and figuring out a mysterious murder. However, I was very wrong, and I realised this when I had one question in my head before going to bed: "so who is the real killer?".
Synopsis.
Pentiment is a point-and-click adventure role-playing game with 2D graphics based on 16th century illustrations. The player takes on the role of illustrator Andreas Mahler, who decides to investigate a murder in the town of Tassing, but has no idea what the attempt to play detective will lead to...
5 reasons to buy Pentiment
- An interesting and intricate story about mysterious murders in the Duchy of Bavaria
- Graphics in the style of 16th century illustrations
- You like point-and-click games
- You buy all Obsidian games
- You are looking for a game that your parents can play
2 reasons not to buy Pentiment
- You need a game with dynamic gameplay
- You already play Pentiment on PC or Xbox
Fast forward:
- What have we learned since our Pentiment review?
- Plot: mysterious murders, religion and attention to detail
- Gameplay: perfect for your parents
- The technical side of the Duchy of Bavaria
- How we will remember Pentiment
- Five things to know about Pentiment
Pentiment is like an interactive book that immediately immerses you in the 16th century in the Duchy of Bavaria, where the player's actions influence the course of events in the book. Obsidian has managed to create an adventure that doesn't even have any gameplay, because it's point-and-click, but it can attract the attention of those who have played more than a dozen AAA blockbusters.
Also, for Microsoft, this is the first game of the Xbox Game Studios division since 2021 to come to PlayStation 4/5. Therefore, the gg editorial team received Pentiment for review to tell Sony console owners why they should pay attention to the game. Although there may be PC and Xbox players who missed the release in 2022, they will be interested to hear how I, without exaggeration, fell in love with this project.
What new things have we learnt since the Pentiment review?
It's ironic, but I finally got to know Xbox Game Studios games better. Since 2017, I have been playing mostly on PlayStation, so I could only hear about Xbox games (except for Minecraft). However, in the winter of 2024, rumours began to spread about Xbox's new strategy to release more games on PlayStation, and at the end of February 2024, these rumours were confirmed (although the rumours themselves were a bit louder than reality).
Microsoft went to look for an audience in places where the company was almost non-existent before, and I support such decisions, because it allows people who may never have thought about Xbox to get acquainted with new games. Let me remind you that after Pentiment, PlayStation owners will still have at least Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves. And in this situation, two sides win: PlayStation players get some Xbox games, and Xbox starts to make additional profits and will 100% make someone want to at least think about buying a second console for their home.
And Pentiment is well suited to accelerate Microsoft's new strategy. We all want to get an interesting experience from games, but the more games you play, the harder it is to achieve this effect. But the Obsidian project, which we already know thanks to Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, has managed to do it. It's like finding your PSP in the closet when you've been playing PS5 for 2 years. Yes, you won't find any advanced technology in it, but sometimes you don't need it, because you need a break from blockbusters. What you get is a 20-hour adventure that is capable of giving you emotions only through its well-written story. It leaves you with pleasant memories, which means that the filmmakers have done their job.
Plot: mysterious murders, religion, and attention to detail
The 16th century, the Duchy of Bavaria. The young but talented illustrator Andreas Mahler stayed in Tassing to fulfil Baron Lorenz Rotwogel's order to create a manuscript.
Life in Tassing can be described as relatively calm. Most of the town's residents are friendly and actively communicate with each other, go to church, do household chores, run businesses, raise children, look for love and try to cope with problems such as high taxes. Andres himself is treated well, but he plans to finish his manuscript as soon as possible and go to Nuremberg to open his own workshop and develop further, but sometimes life makes adjustments to our plans.
One day, a terrible murder takes place on the church grounds, and an elderly man and friend of Andres's is accused of it. The boy immediately realises that his friend has nothing to do with it, and the answer is much deeper than some people think. The illustrator immediately realises that there is no way to convince anyone now, so he decides to become a detective in the case and find the killer.
He will have to think of everyone who might have wanted the victim to die, and then try to bring these people to light. Someone will have to help with the housework to inspire trust, and someone will have to be followed, because not everyone is ready to talk to us about the murder, especially when we ask uncomfortable questions.
But it's also worth bearing in mind that game days tend to come to an end, and it's not a given that you'll be able to question all the suspects. And this is one of the plot features of Pentiment - the absence of a "golden option". There is no right or wrong way. You have to weigh the pros and cons, calculate the time you have, and act. Some of them will have to be eliminated and forgotten immediately, while others you simply did not have time for, although you wanted to, but ran out of time. And when making a choice, you will have to choose from the information you have gathered, and it may be either insufficient or you will have to blame someone you did not want to.
Special attention should be paid to the fact that religion is mentioned a lot in the game. You have to listen to the church, Jesus, the Gospel, Martin Luther and his reforms, and the word "God" and everything related to it appears in almost every second line. However, even for me, as a person who is not very interested in religion, it was interesting to listen to.
The developers also paid great attention to the transfer of everything that was happening in the 16th century to the game. They also showed the rituals on St John's Day, the architecture of those times, interior items, clothes, colour, food, so this game can even be considered historical in part.
I can't ignore the fact that the game highlights many problems that have been inherent in humanity throughout its existence: lack of knowledge of its own history, unwillingness to adapt to the new world, arrogant power, search for self, acceptance of one's own mistakes, and so on.
We also reinforce the plot with mysticism, constant development of events, interesting characters who feel as if they are alive, and unexpected moments that sometimes make you shout "wow", and as a result, you get a world to which you become attached. However, sometimes I wish the events would move a little faster, especially in the middle of the game. This is the only drawback I found in the plot.
Gameplay: perfect for your parents
The whole game is divided into 3 acts, and in each act there are several game days that we live through. It all starts in the morning, where we have breakfast and choose the goals that we will solve. After that, we have lunch, more tasks, then dinner - the final tasks, sleep, and then it's all over again.
The gameplay itself is as simple as possible. As I mentioned, you usually have to walk around Tassing and its surroundings and talk a lot, choosing answers. There are several interesting things about the latter.
Firstly, at the beginning, you need to choose certain characteristics of Andrés: where he has travelled, what he has studied, and what strong skills he has (for example, public speaking). This will allow you to give the character certain traits that will distinguish your walkthrough from others (albeit minimally).
Secondly, you need to think carefully about your answers to the interlocutor, because the future often depends on it. For example, at one point, my answers helped Andrés take a valuable book, even though another character wanted to burn it. And once I told a blacksmith that he had to go to another city to find his love, and at the end I saw him as a married man. So you feel that your choices really do have an impact on the world of the game, even if it's not immediately noticeable.
There are also some simple mini-games, but I would like to see more of them, because it would add more variety to the game.
Of course, if you just played Cyberpunk yesterday, the gameplay may seem "poor" to you, but you have to take into account the peculiarities of the Pentiment genre. Although I don't see a problem with that, and I think it's good to try such games for a change. Moreover, thanks to the interesting story, the lack of the usual gameplay is easily compensated for.
In general, after completing the game, I realised that such gameplay in Pentiment is, on the contrary, a plus for me, because even your parents can play the game. It's a good opportunity to introduce people to games that are far from this. You don't need to react quickly, and you don't need to press a lot of buttons. The main thing is to look at the map, where to go, and choose one of the options during the conversation - that's basically it. It would be great if one day the game would be released on iOS and Android, because with its gameplay, the Obsidian project fits perfectly for mobile platforms.
So if your parents, friends, or significant other are prejudiced against games and think that they are just "meat, swearing, and naked girls", try to drag them into Pentiment and chances are they will be pleasantly surprised.
The technical side of the Duchy of Bavaria
The game runs perfectly on PlayStation 5. There was never a single frame loss, bug, or crash. Of course, it would be strange if such a game did not work well on a console with such power, but anything happens in the gaming industry, but fortunately, the port turned out to be successful.
A visual style that cannot be found anywhere else
No matter how interesting the story is, there is one element in Pentiment that surpasses the story - the visuals. The authors were inspired by illustrated manuscripts and printed woodcuts from the 16th century, and that's why I describe the game as an "interactive book" at the beginning.
It's as if you've been transported into a book of those times, where everything has come to life, and you walk between the illustrations and look at them. And as much as we don't like this phrase, this time it fits well - the visual style of Pentiment is unique. You simply won't find a game with a similar style. It's the only one like it, and that's what makes it so attractive. Even when I discussed Pentiment with my friends, they said: "We don't know anything about it, but the visual style is so memorable from the trailers".
Obsidian found something that no one else had used before them, and they should be praised for that. In fact, it's better to check out the game's photos below to see these fabulous illustrations that come to life during the game.
The soundtrack immerses you in the 16th century
The soundtrack in the game is authentic, enhances the atmosphere and helps to immerse the player in the events of the 16th century. Sometimes, when certain compositions are played and you are standing in the middle of a square where people are having a holiday, you get the impression that you have already been transported to those events, and when you turn off the console, it will be the 16th century, not the 21st. And of all the games I played in 2024, this is one of the most atmospheric, and this is a great merit of the 37 compositions that were written for Pentiment.
How we will remember Pentiment
Obsidian has shown that there are plenty of themes and ideas in the industry that have not yet been shown to us. The example of Pentiment sends a clear message: "look where no one has looked and go where others are afraid to go". A visual style inspired by 16th century illustrations and events, an atmospheric soundtrack, characters so vivid that you recognise some of them as people you know, a certain element of mystery to keep you glued to the screen, and a well-written world and story put Pentiment in the category of games that you will remember with a smile and talk about it a lot, a lot, even after a while.
Five things you need to know about Pentiment
- Pentiment is a point-and-click adventure game about investigating a series of murders in the Duchy of Bavaria
- Thanks to its simple gameplay, even your parents can play the game
- The game is created in the style of illustrated manuscripts of the 16th century
- This is the first Xbox Game Studio game of 2021 to appear on PlayStation consoles
- PC and Xbox owners can play the game for free with Game Pass
| Pentiment | |
|---|---|
| Genre. | Adventure |
| Platforms. | PC, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch |
| Number of players | Single player |
| Developer | Obsidian |
| Publisher | Xbox Game Studios |
| Time to complete | 20-25 hours |
| Release date | 15 November 2022/ 22 February 2024 (PS4|PS5) |