Pentiment - Josh Sawyer's historical mystery narrative-driven game set in 16th century Bavaria

[†††]

Spoiler

I initially understood that the Mastermind is the actual killer (as in, grabbed the murder weapon and did the actual deed, then framed someone else). But I've been rewatching the endgame sequence and it turns out that the Mastermind wants the victim dead and essentially convinces every suspect separately that they must kill the victim.

We don't get a definite confession (far from it, they all claim they are innocent until the very end) or a glaring clue that says "out of the 5 suspects, THIS is the REAL killer". But whomever you end up selecting as the culprit based on your investigations and deductions is the "real killer" as far as the story is concerned, so every choice is technically the right one.

And, of course, at no point during the game do we have an actual choice to investigate or accuse someone of being the Thread-Puller, until we reach the endgame.

During the game's acts there are 2 murders and 1 murder attempt total. Murders one and two are instigated by the Mastermind and carried out by the suspect we select. The murder attempt is carried out by the Mastermind, but there are no suspects in this case and we eventually find out the resolution during the endgame sequence.

Sawyer taking balancing to ridiculous extremes.

 

[Infinitron]

Another Josh interview:

Mike and Gary are joined by Obsidian's Josh Sawyer to talk about their newly released Pentiment, history, and the Fallout franchise!

Time Stamps -
00:00:00 - Start
00:01:00 - Josh Sawyer Is here!
00:03:30 - Housekeeping
00:05:30 - Josh Sawyer on Pentiment
00:33:09 - Ads
00:36:15 - The First Announcement & Finding Success
00:43:16 - The RPG Elements
00:52:52 - Josh’s Future & Viewer Questions!

 

[ferratilis]

This guy gets paid 250k a year to make an indie game. If I were an actual indie developer, I'd be pissed. Especially when you consider that his income is higher than the entire budget of the game. And that he'll probably get a fat bonus at the end of the year.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

men just play this instead:



it's better, has an interesting setting, meaningful c&c and a higher all-time concurrent player base than pentiment

liked this a lot and I don't usually like visual novel style games
has 4k reviews and it's still underrated

 

[Infinitron]

That's a lot of reviews:

Attack of the Fanboy 4.5/5, But Why Tho? 10/10
CGMagazine 9.5/10, Checkpoint Gaming 9/10
COGconnected 82/100, Destructoid 9/10
Dexerto 5/5, Digital Trends 4/5
DualShockers 9.5/10, EGM 5/5
Eurogamer Recommended, Game Informer 8.5/10
Game Rant 3.5/5, GameSpew 7/10
GameSpot 6/10, GamesRadar+ 4.5/5
GameWatcher 9.5/10, Gaming Nexus 8.8/10
GamingTrend 90/100, Gfinity 10/10
God is a Geek 9/10, Hardcore Gamer 4/5
IGN 10/10, Impulsegamer 4.8/5
Inverse 9/10, Kotaku
Launcher (The Washington Post) 9/10, Metro GameCentral 4/5
New Game Network 84/100, Noisy Pixel 9/10
NME 4/5, PC Gamer 88/100
PCGamesN 7/10, PC Invasion 8.5/10
Player 2 B+, Polygon
Pure Xbox 9/10, Rock Paper Shotgun
Screen Rant 5/5, Shacknews 8/10
Slant Magazine 3/5, Stevivor 8/10
TheGamer 5/5, Guardian 4/5
TheSixthAxis 8/10, TrueAchievements 9/10
Twinfinite 4.5/5, VG247 5/5
VGC 4/5, Wccftech 8.5/10
WellPlayed 10/10, Windows Central 5/5
Worth Playing 8.5/10, Xbox Achievements 80/100
XboxAddict 10/10, XboxEra 8.7/10

 

[mediocrepoet]

That's a lot of reviews:

Attack of the Fanboy 4.5/5, But Why Tho? 10/10
CGMagazine 9.5/10, Checkpoint Gaming 9/10
COGconnected 82/100, Destructoid 9/10
Dexerto 5/5, Digital Trends 4/5
DualShockers 9.5/10, EGM 5/5
Eurogamer Recommended, Game Informer 8.5/10
Game Rant 3.5/5, GameSpew 7/10
GameSpot 6/10, GamesRadar+ 4.5/5
GameWatcher 9.5/10, Gaming Nexus 8.8/10
GamingTrend 90/100, Gfinity 10/10
God is a Geek 9/10, Hardcore Gamer 4/5
IGN 10/10, Impulsegamer 4.8/5
Inverse 9/10, Kotaku
Launcher (The Washington Post) 9/10, Metro GameCentral 4/5
New Game Network 84/100, Noisy Pixel 9/10
NME 4/5, PC Gamer 88/100
PCGamesN 7/10, PC Invasion 8.5/10
Player 2 B+, Polygon
Pure Xbox 9/10, Rock Paper Shotgun
Screen Rant 5/5, Shacknews 8/10
Slant Magazine 3/5, Stevivor 8/10
TheGamer 5/5, Guardian 4/5
TheSixthAxis 8/10, TrueAchievements 9/10
Twinfinite 4.5/5, VG247 5/5
VGC 4/5, Wccftech 8.5/10
WellPlayed 10/10, Windows Central 5/5
Worth Playing 8.5/10, Xbox Achievements 80/100
XboxAddict 10/10, XboxEra 8.7/10

They probably spent more greasing palms than they did on the game.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

That's a lot of reviews:

Attack of the Fanboy 4.5/5, But Why Tho? 10/10
CGMagazine 9.5/10, Checkpoint Gaming 9/10
COGconnected 82/100, Destructoid 9/10
Dexerto 5/5, Digital Trends 4/5
DualShockers 9.5/10, EGM 5/5
Eurogamer Recommended, Game Informer 8.5/10
Game Rant 3.5/5, GameSpew 7/10
GameSpot 6/10, GamesRadar+ 4.5/5
GameWatcher 9.5/10, Gaming Nexus 8.8/10
GamingTrend 90/100, Gfinity 10/10
God is a Geek 9/10, Hardcore Gamer 4/5
IGN 10/10, Impulsegamer 4.8/5
Inverse 9/10, Kotaku
Launcher (The Washington Post) 9/10, Metro GameCentral 4/5
New Game Network 84/100, Noisy Pixel 9/10
NME 4/5, PC Gamer 88/100
PCGamesN 7/10, PC Invasion 8.5/10
Player 2 B+, Polygon
Pure Xbox 9/10, Rock Paper Shotgun
Screen Rant 5/5, Shacknews 8/10
Slant Magazine 3/5, Stevivor 8/10
TheGamer 5/5, Guardian 4/5
TheSixthAxis 8/10, TrueAchievements 9/10
Twinfinite 4.5/5, VG247 5/5
VGC 4/5, Wccftech 8.5/10
WellPlayed 10/10, Windows Central 5/5
Worth Playing 8.5/10, Xbox Achievements 80/100
XboxAddict 10/10, XboxEra 8.7/10

Makes sense, this is basically the Schindler's list of video games. Is it possible to make a game that appeals more to game journalists?
No gameplay, nothing you do matters, shits on religion, subverts European history, and has a stupid twist.

 

[Alex]

(...)
No gameplay, nothing you do matters, shits on religion, subverts European history, and has a stupid twist. 10/10, best (((game))) since Disco Elysium.

I humbly propose (to both Rusty and Infinitron) that this slightly edited quote be used as the official Codex review.

 

[Saduj]

I tried watching the section of the video regarding "RPG elements" but gave up because it seemed like they were just going to circle jerk over the "RPG elements" without providing much specific information. From what I was able to watch, this is what I gathered: You pick a background. The game somewhat plays out differently based on player choices. And there are no stats.

Anyone know the specifics? Does the background consist of choosing one general template or is it a series of choices?

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Alienman]

 

[Leonard]

I tried watching the section of the video regarding "RPG elements" but gave up because it seemed like they were just going to circle jerk over the "RPG elements" without providing much specific information. From what I was able to watch, this is what I gathered: You pick a background. The game somewhat plays out differently based on player choices. And there are no stats.

Anyone know the specifics? Does the background consist of choosing one general template or is it a series of choices?

You get to pick one background trait representing your main interest (Hedonist, Craftsman, Bookworm, Rapscallion or Business), one region that you studied in (Switzerland, Low Countries or Italy, mostly affects which languages you know) and two areas of study (out of Latinist, Logician, Orator, Occultist and Heavens and Earth) and what you studied in university (either law, medicine or theology). Their impact is pretty minimal, comparable to your background impact in the first Pillars of Eternity. Usually you get some foreign text translated, some extra flavor dialogue, maybe a hint for a (pretty easy) puzzle (there are about 5 puzzles total in the game). I'd say there's almost no reason to replay the game to pick different choices, even the rare cases when I did get to use my traits felt disappointing. For example, I picked medicine as my university area of study and there was a total of one satisfying check for it in the whole game.

 

[Shin]

That's a lot of reviews:

Attack of the Fanboy 4.5/5, But Why Tho? 10/10
CGMagazine 9.5/10, Checkpoint Gaming 9/10
COGconnected 82/100, Destructoid 9/10
Dexerto 5/5, Digital Trends 4/5
DualShockers 9.5/10, EGM 5/5
Eurogamer Recommended, Game Informer 8.5/10
Game Rant 3.5/5, GameSpew 7/10
GameSpot 6/10, GamesRadar+ 4.5/5
GameWatcher 9.5/10, Gaming Nexus 8.8/10
GamingTrend 90/100, Gfinity 10/10
God is a Geek 9/10, Hardcore Gamer 4/5
IGN 10/10, Impulsegamer 4.8/5
Inverse 9/10, Kotaku
Launcher (The Washington Post) 9/10, Metro GameCentral 4/5
New Game Network 84/100, Noisy Pixel 9/10
NME 4/5, PC Gamer 88/100
PCGamesN 7/10, PC Invasion 8.5/10
Player 2 B+, Polygon
Pure Xbox 9/10, Rock Paper Shotgun
Screen Rant 5/5, Shacknews 8/10
Slant Magazine 3/5, Stevivor 8/10
TheGamer 5/5, Guardian 4/5
TheSixthAxis 8/10, TrueAchievements 9/10
Twinfinite 4.5/5, VG247 5/5
VGC 4/5, Wccftech 8.5/10
WellPlayed 10/10, Windows Central 5/5
Worth Playing 8.5/10, Xbox Achievements 80/100
XboxAddict 10/10, XboxEra 8.7/10

Makes sense, this is basically the Schindler's list of video games. Is it possible to make a game that appeals more to game journalists?
No gameplay, nothing you do matters, shits on religion, subverts European history, and has a stupid twist.

Narrative driven, short games in which you can't miss (much) content is basically a reviewers wet dream.

 

[†††]

Narrative driven, short games in which you can't miss (much) content is basically a reviewers wet dream.

The new Gone Homo. Expect it to top quite a few "best of 2022" lists

 

[ferratilis]

Played it for a few hours, seen what's it all about, uninstalled. I'm sure there's an audience for this out there, history and literature graduates mostly (of the left leaning variety). But I'm not the type. This isn't even an adventure game, it's all about the dialogues and selecting some background-flavored text every once in a while, that's it. You're moving your character along a predetermined line on a static background and clicking on interactable things. It's not a point and click game, it's literally a visual novel. At least Disco Elysium had a great atmosphere set in an interesting world you want to learn more about. But this game claims to be historically accurate, while at the same time forcing modern humor down your throat and poking fun at its source material. It simply doesn't have enough to keep me interested until the end. And knowing Josh, he'll sweep the rug under my feet at a critical moment.

The sad part is that, now that Josh had a taste of warm critical reception for something other than an RPG, he might continue down this path and stick to non-games for the rest of his career. Why work hard when you can make Game Pass fodder and be paid the same? The thought we might never see PoE3 directed by him saddens me, but it was bound to happen once MS took Obsidian over.

 

[kites]

pillows 3, really.. I just wanted a simple 2d-take based off the darklands base he wouldn’t shut the fuck up about in the past, is that really too much to ask.. and this is what he made

 

[Kerghnox]

So wait, there's no canon killer? Ferenc seemed to be the killer, but is that only because I focused on investigating him? I'm assuming the time system is literally only there to hide this bullshit.

 

[Leonard]

So wait, there's no canon killer? Ferenc seemed to be the killer, but is that only because I focused on investigating him? I'm assuming the time system is literally only there to hide this bullshit.

Yep, there's enough motive/opportunity/means for every suspect, but you won't find this out unless you fully investigate everyone (which needs multiple playthroughs). The game disguises this pretty cleverly in the first third (so until the end of Baron murder arc), but once I realized that, it just killed all the interest in engaging in mysteries for the rest of the game. If the dev doesn't care about the result, why should you?

 

[Roguey]

The thought we might never see PoE3 directed by him saddens me, but it was bound to happen once MS took Obsidian over.

This was never going to happen anyway. After Deadfire he said he never wanted to work on a Pillars of Eternity game again.

 

[Kerghnox]

Yep, there's enough motive/opportunity/means for every suspect, but you won't find this out unless you fully investigate everyone (which needs multiple playthroughs). The game disguises this pretty cleverly in the first third (so until the end of Baron murder arc), but once I realized that, it just killed all the interest in engaging in mysteries for the rest of the game. If the dev doesn't care about the result, why should you?

Wow, what the FUCK was Sawyer thinking? Glad I pirated this piece of shit, I was willing to stomach the constant crying about poor medieval women if the murder mystery was good enough. Even the Baron's fucking wife had to bring it up.

 

[Pound Meat]

So many haters in this thread.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The sad part is that, now that Josh had a taste of warm critical reception for something other than an RPG, he might continue down this path and stick to non-games for the rest of his career.

What's the sad part? This is pure incline.

Spoiler

Mostly kidding. He'd be way better if they demoted him and made him work on adapting licensed shit like D&D and stuff. He's kind of crap at doing his own thing, but pretty good at working on adaptations.

 

[Alienman]

The thought we might never see PoE3 directed by him saddens me, but it was bound to happen once MS took Obsidian over.

This was never going to happen anyway. After Deadfire he said he never wanted to work on a Pillars of Eternity game again.

Does he really decide that, though?

 

[Darkozric]

Why the fuck one would want another pillars of boring, as 2 weren't enough already. Do I need to remind you fags?



I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

 

[Hellion]

I tried watching the section of the video regarding "RPG elements" but gave up because it seemed like they were just going to circle jerk over the "RPG elements" without providing much specific information. From what I was able to watch, this is what I gathered: You pick a background. The game somewhat plays out differently based on player choices. And there are no stats.

Anyone know the specifics? Does the background consist of choosing one general template or is it a series of choices?

You get to pick one background trait representing your main interest (Hedonist, Craftsman, Bookworm, Rapscallion or Business), one region that you studied in (Switzerland, Low Countries or Italy, mostly affects which languages you know) and two areas of study (out of Latinist, Logician, Orator, Occultist and Heavens and Earth) and what you studied in university (either law, medicine or theology). Their impact is pretty minimal, comparable to your background impact in the first Pillars of Eternity. Usually you get some foreign text translated, some extra flavor dialogue, maybe a hint for a (pretty easy) puzzle (there are about 5 puzzles total in the game). I'd say there's almost no reason to replay the game to pick different choices, even the rare cases when I did get to use my traits felt disappointing. For example, I picked medicine as my university area of study and there was a total of one satisfying check for it in the whole game.

Certain vocations also make it easier to pass persuasion skill checks related to your investigations. For example if you need to have said 4 specific "positive" things to an NPC in order to convince him to give you critical information, with no room for error, having a specific vocation gives you a bonus that allows you to pass that check even if you've botched one of the necessary positives.

I think the main replay value comes from accusing different suspects, and watching how the town and its people change in later chapters depending on your choices. And some suspects are pretty much locked behind such persuasion checks, so pursuing them would technically be easier for characters with certain traits.

Also, the Hedonist trait produces some funny dialogue options now and then.