Highlights

  • Pentiment is an adventure game with pitch-perfect writing and character development, making it one of the best titles of 2022.
  • The game's historical accuracy and depiction of medieval European history sets it apart from other interactive media.
  • Pentiment's mystery and lessons about life in a bygone era leave a lasting impact on players, making it a standout adventure game.

Andreas Maler's journey through 16th Century Bavaria in Obsidian Entertainment's Pentiment is an adventure that, by all accounts, shouldn't work as a video game yet absolutely established itself as one of the best titles of 2022. Among Pentiment's many triumphs are the game's pitch-perfect writing and character development, which should come as no surprise given the pedigree of developer Obsidian Entertainment, but embedded within that writing is another one of the game's best aspects. Pentiment is one of the most historically accurate adventure games available and one of the few pieces of interactive media that can make even a passive observer actually care about the workings of medieval European history.

The tale at the center of Pentiment begins with players assuming the role of Maler as he works on what is to be his masterpiece and gateway to advancing from apprentice painter to master. While working on his masterpiece in his spare time, Maler assists the local Kiersau Abbey with production of its illuminated manuscripts, and the game's visuals immediately stand out by borrowing the same visual motifs. Unwittingly, Maler becomes wrapped up in trying to solve the mystery behind a brutal murder, which spans the course of three distinct time periods in the fictional Bavarian village of Tassing and gives players a crash course in the history of mid-1500s Germany.

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Pentiment Was One of 2022's Dark Horse GOTY Contenders

Pentiment One Year Anniversary Internal

Obsidian Entertainment, best known for its captivating, choice-driven RPGs such as Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, is no stranger to great writing in its games. What makes Pentiment stand out from the studio's previous work, though, is that it is an old-school point-and-click adventure game released in an era where the genre has somewhat fallen out of vogue.

The gamble more than paid off for Obsidian, with Pentiment not only quickly becoming a potential Game of the Year candidate alongside heavy-hitters like Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarok , but also quickly becoming one of the most talked-about late releases of the year thanks to its unique historical premise.

The art style of Pentiment, which directly mimics the illuminated manuscripts used by the Roman Catholic Church (and the same manuscripts that protagonist Andreas Maler illustrates), immediately positions Pentiment as a game that's hard to turn away from thanks to its arresting visuals, but it's the characters and the mystery at the heart of Pentiment that keep players hooked. In a year with several bombastic AAA games showcasing that the "next-gen" of consoles was in full swing, Pentiment was a unique and understated game with a captivating mystery at its core. Even though it was released in the same year as Return to Monkey Island, Pentiment still made a strong case for it being the best adventure game in decades.

Pentiment's Murder Mystery Draws From History Both Factual and Fictional

The most obvious real-life historical event that serves as the backdrop for Pentiment's setting is the Reformation and the controversy surrounding Martin Luther's 95 Theses which drew attention to corruption within the Catholic Church, but it also happens to pull inspiration from an unlikely source for a video game, adventure or otherwise. In addition to its very real historical inspirations, Pentiment pulls heavily from Umberto Eco's groundbreaking novel The Name of the Rose, which itself has been adapted into a film starring Sean Connery in the role of the protagonist William of Baskerville as he attempts to solve a murder of several monks and faces resistance from both the locals and the Church.

And, similar to how The Name of the Rose has received praise for its accurate depictions of life and interpersonal relationships between the average citizenry and the Roman Catholic Church in medieval Europe, Pentiment treats its subject with great care. Sure, there are plenty of "video game-y" type systems at play in Pentiment such as starting skill specializations and dialogue trees. But ultimately, it's the game's mystery and the lessons it's able to teach about life in a bygone era that sticks around with players long after the credits roll.

Pentiment is one of the most historically accurate adventure games available and one of the few pieces of interactive media that can make even a passive observer actually care about the workings of medieval European history.