Pentiment
Reddit take
Not enough linked mention summaries yet; the source excerpts below are the evidence.
Pros
- for people who are up for a little medieval life-sim in a setting that is very rare for video games, its a real treat. personally i was kind of lucky to discover the game at a time when i was learning a second language. I played the game...
- I think Pentiment is an unambitious, but very well executed game. ... the game has top-notch (though not necessarily flashy) writing, it's detailed, it's very thoughtful and it's full of neat historical tidbits for people who love Europe...
- I had no problem with anything you mentioned. It is a game where you cannot get all the best outcomes, or even know what all the “best” outcomes are. This feels particularly apt for a time period in which so many people were poor and sic...
- And finally I thought the artstyle was lovely. Especially in the few scenes where the UI is removed and the scene is zoomed out to enjoy it fully.
- Finished Pentiment. This game completely hooked me, first time I play something that is completely text based. Act's I and II are super strong, and the ending is a bit lackluster, but still a great experience. Totally recommend.
Cons
- One issue I had. There's quite a few characters (https://pentiment.fandom.com/wiki/Characters), and I found it quite difficult to keep track of them all. Like when characters were talking about other characters, seeing the name mentioned...
- I understand that it wasn't a big budget game, and that that's no doubt the reason it wasn't voiced. But I feel like having characters with distinct voices would have made it easier to keep track of them. There's a 'tool tip' you can sho...
- I don't like that it predetermines failure for you. I didn't finish the 3rd act, because the 2nd doubled down on the problems of the first. You must choose someone to accuse, and you cannot choose right, someone who is innocent must be a...
- I thought it was a good game, but based on the combo of vibes and it being on Obsidian game I expected great, not good. I felt like for an all-roleplaying, no-mechanics game, it struggled to make the characters distinct and evocative (pa...
- The main element of this game is the story and while I think it has very interesting ideas and themes the story drags on with too much repetition, dropping themes and replacing them with new ones quickly and without enough connecting ele...
Sentiment
7 positive (50%) · 5 mixed (36%) · 2 negative (14%)
Trust + time weighted score: +37% · raw score 36%
What redditors said (10 of 14)
for people who are up for a little medieval life-sim in a setting that is very rare for video games, its a real treat. personally i was kind of lucky to discover the game at a time when i was learning a second language. I played the game in Spanish and didnt mind chatting with the villagers because not only was it interesting enough but it also felt like language practice.
One issue I had. There's quite a few characters (https://pentiment.fandom.com/wiki/Characters), and I found it quite difficult to keep track of them all. Like when characters were talking about other characters, seeing the name mentioned and trying to remember which person that was. Especially across the time periods.
I understand that it wasn't a big budget game, and that that's no doubt the reason it wasn't voiced. But I feel like having characters with distinct voices would have made it easier to keep track of them. There's a 'tool tip' you can show when a person is mentioned in some dialog that shows a picture of the character's face, but it would have been good to have more information (like the job) or showing a small family tree.
I think Pentiment is an unambitious, but very well executed game. ... the game has top-notch (though not necessarily flashy) writing, it's detailed, it's very thoughtful and it's full of neat historical tidbits for people who love European Medieval history. It's a real passion project, and it feels like it. The game sketches out a community that feels genuine and contains characters that I found myself caring about.
I don't like that it predetermines failure for you. I didn't finish the 3rd act, because the 2nd doubled down on the problems of the first. You must choose someone to accuse, and you cannot choose right, someone who is innocent must be accused and die. Twice. You cannot guess lucky. The game prevents it.
I had no problem with anything you mentioned. It is a game where you cannot get all the best outcomes, or even know what all the “best” outcomes are. This feels particularly apt for a time period in which so many people were poor and sick and suffering and the church and nobility controlled everything and science was in its infancy.
I thought it was a good game, but based on the combo of vibes and it being on Obsidian game I expected great, not good. I felt like for an all-roleplaying, no-mechanics game, it struggled to make the characters distinct and evocative (partially due to the devotion to realistically drab peasant and friar clothing). I loved the twist near the end, absolutely saved the second and third acts for me.
And finally I thought the artstyle was lovely. Especially in the few scenes where the UI is removed and the scene is zoomed out to enjoy it fully.
The main element of this game is the story and while I think it has very interesting ideas and themes the story drags on with too much repetition, dropping themes and replacing them with new ones quickly and without enough connecting elements. There are some pretty bold story decisions which are fresh, but also they are often unsatisfying. And this would still be very compelling if it was not dragged down by gameplay being extremely slow and making the game a lot longer. I loved about half of the time spent with this game, but half of the time I just wanted it to end.
My thoughts about Pentiment - very interesting ideas, but unsatisfying execution... I loved about half of the time spent with this game, but half of the time I just wanted it to end.
Compare
Pentiment vs HadesPentiment vs Stardew ValleyPentiment vs Portal 2
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