Obsidian Entertainment are known for their beautifully crafted worlds with sprawling vistas and gripping storytelling. While Pentiment is a visual departure from many of Obsidian’s previous works such as The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas critics are still raving about the numerous gameplay and visual elements Pentiment brings to the table. Visually striking with its hand-drawn illustrated art style and impactful storytelling and world-building Pentiment drops you into a period in Europe when politics and religion were undergoing immense change.
With an average Metacritic and Opencritic score of 86 IGN described Pentiment as “a clever Medieval detective story with a gorgeously-realized world that I can hardly recommend highly enough.” PC Gamer continued to sing Pentiment‘s praises, describing it as “A beautiful and beautifully-written narrative game that makes masterful use of its early modern setting. One of Obsidian’s finest.”
It wasn’t all praise for Pentiment however as GameSpot’s 6/10 review noted “Pentiment too often limits its most enjoyable pieces to reach an ending that makes sense but is still unfulfilling.” Alongside this, GameSpew said, “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.”
Despite a few negative reviews Obsidian’s latest title seems to be winning over most of its critics with many of the scores ranging from low 80s to high 90s.
While players turned off by the idea of a lack of in-game voice actors might be tempted to skip Pentiment Josh Sawyer, Director of Pentiment noted in a recent interview that the game’s font style and book-like art helped to drive the title’s 25-year in-game story forward. He said, “The idea to have the game take place over 25 years largely came from my interest in showing how the changes and the choices that the player makes impact the community over longer than the typical amount of time that a game takes place in.”
Pentiment is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC on November 15th, 2022.