Pentiment

Pentiment is a narrative adventure role-playing video game played from a 2D perspective. The player takes control of Andreas Maler, a wandering journeyman painter from Nuremberg who becomes embroiled in a series of murder mysteries in Upper Bavaria. The story is set in the fictional Alpine town of Tassing and the nearby Benedictine Kiersau Abbey during the 16th century, and takes place over the course of 25 years.

The player is tasked with investigating the murders of prominent individuals for which other townsfolk have been accused for various reasons. After collecting physical proof and gleaning information from townsfolk, the player is meant to accuse an individual based on either who they think committed the crime or who most deserves punishment. Concurrent with the overarching murder plot are other crimes and conspiracies as well as insights into the history of the area. Throughout the game, the player is also presented with the option to define Andreas' personal history through dialogue trees, including his previous travels, language skills and academic background, which can affect how the mysteries are resolved.

In 1518, Andreas Maler is serving an apprenticeship as an illuminator at Kiersau Abbey near Tassing. Baron Lorenz Rothvogel, a friend of the Prince-Bishop of Freising and longtime benefactor of Kiersau, pays a visit to check on a manuscript he commissioned. Unhappy with the work of the illuminator, the elderly Brother Piero, he insists that Andreas complete the remaining illustrations. The baron is found stabbed to death the following day.

Fearing that the murder could damage Kiersau's reputation and lead to its dissolution, Abbot Gernot blames Piero for the crime and has him detained until the archdeacon can conduct an inquiry. Andreas believes Piero is innocent, however, and begins an investigation of his own. He soon discovers several townspeople had reasons to murder the baron, and each received a mysterious note trying to manipulate them into attacking him. Andreas presents his evidence to the archdeacon, and one of the suspects is executed.

Game developer Josh Sawyer, who has a degree in history from Lawrence University and studied the Holy Roman Empire, had long sought to make a historical game. He first pitched what would become Pentiment to Feargus Urquhart in the 1990s, when the two were working at Black Isle Studios. He was inspired by the historical fiction of Darklands, a 1992 role-playing video game by MicroProse that combined the Middle Ages with supernatural themes. Urquhart thought it would have little appeal outside of history aficionados, and the project did not materialize.

When the two reunited at Obsidian Entertainment years later, Sawyer revived the concept following the release of the 2018 Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. He reframed the game as a narrative adventure with mystery components and gameplay similar to Night in the Woods, Mutazione and Oxenfree. Urquhart accepted the pitch and a small development team was assembled, commensurate with the game's niche attraction. Sawyer and art director Hannah Kennedy worked as the initial team of two; later the team was expanded to 13 people.

Pentiment received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.

IGN praised the time pressure mechanic, saying it made the game more tense and added replayability: "you're never given enough time to pursue them all [leads]. This added some welcome tension and forced me to make a lot of interesting decisions". Destructoid praised how there was no "golden route," with each decision having its pros and cons. GamesRadar+ loved the setting, feeling it captured the anxiety of the time: "the dawning of a new age is palpable, and the struggle to come to terms with it rumbles furiously throughout, whether from monks still painstakingly scribing tomes...