Pentiment review: A Scrumptious artwork

Pentiment is a side-scrolling narrative-driven adventure game developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Pentiment fills out the obsidian void left in hearts of Obsidian Entertainment fans for years, however, as an Xbox exclusive. Pentiment makes for an experience almost novel to the Obsidian catalogue. In this Pentiment review we’ll discuss every ounce of the game and wheather it’s the right one for you. You can however, check out all of our reviews here.

An unforgettable journey

The Pentiment shares many of its elements with other narrative based or even Obsidian Entertainment games however it doesn’t shy away when it comes to distinction. The most brilliant aspect of The Pentiment is its narrative as it features a murder mystery that spans over multiple decades and is definately enough to hook players in.

The beginning and some aspects of the journey is left to decide on the player as you’ll need to choose the background, subjects studied and more, however, Andreas will always have a distinct way of talking and personality which isn’t a black slate at all, and it surprisingly does enrich the experience rather than blowing off the emersion of the players. Gameplay wise mostly Pentiment has decision-making moving around and some puzzles that are really satisfying.

Melodious personalities enrich the soul of Pentiment

Essentially Pentiment isn’t a gigantic world or a graphical showcase and it’s even in 2d hand-drawn style for that matter but what the game boasts of is the characters. Like a golden table in the middle of a picnic, the colourful and melodious and rarely melodramatic characterization sits beautifully in the middle of the pie that is Pentiment.

The characters you’ll encounter throughout the multiple decades long saga are truly going to stick with you even after the completion, even if there’s sometimes a little to much to take note of.

An art style drowned in character

Any gameplay footage or screenshot from the game should be enough to scream out the world “Minimal Art’ to you, as this game is entirely hand-drawn painstakingly by passionate artists which definitely reflects on the final product.

However, where it lacks is the music department as it mostly doesn’t have one and often consists of beautiful but void of tunes natural sound and keeps things grounded. The details put into the art design down to ever character’s dialogue having their own font and the distinct sound of writing when the dialogue box fills up does enrich the experience.

Every choice paves the way in Pentiment

The Choices you make in Pentiment really shapes your story and the eventual outcome. Everyday is divided into chunks that even include meal time that you’ll spend eating with the close ones and trying to gather food which makes the experience more grounded in reality.

How you utilise the time given or who you choose to interrogate first or which place will you visit first will also effect the movement of your story, and this especially adds nuances to each different playthroughs.

Pentiment looks to have embraced its quality of being a 2d scroller and a narrative-driven experience however, this one doesn’t have any voice acting so everything needs to be read on screen by the player which migh be annoying but some but pretty unique, novel and interesting to the others

Verdict

As this Pentiment review might suggest Pentiment looks to be a niche 2d scrolling narrative masterclass with a unique hand drawn art style, however slightly hampered by the expected but missing voice acting.

If you’re willing to experience something unique yet made with true passion and conviction and a brilliant narrative by reading through the enormous number of lines and voice boxes full of engaging dialogues and events then Pentiment might just be the perfect butter to your bread. However, Pentiment seems to be more handheld friendly than Console as this makes the experience way more laid back and enjoyable.

Hope this review helps you to decide if Pentiment is the game for you, Let us know in the comment section!

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