Pentiment’s Director Wants You to Know How His Characters Ate

I want to love Pentiment, and for the first 5 hours or so I did. The art is gorgeous and you can really tell that the creators of this game poured their passion into it. There are so many small but extremely thoughtful details, like a character's dialogue font changing when the protagonist's view of them changes. I found the writing to be generally compelling too.

The problem I have with Pentiment is that (at least for me) the core gameplay loop is not very engaging. They intentionally stripped out anything but movement and dialogue. There are a few fun little minigame/QTE things but they're few and far between. Compare it with something like New Vegas (made by some of the same people, a game which I loved) - the combat gameplay is decidedly mediocre and the storytelling and dialogue is less nuanced than Pentiment. Nevertheless, New Vegas is way more fun because the possibilities are way broader - you can either talk or shoot your way through things but the fact that the solution space is way bigger was much more engaging for me. In Pentiment there's not really any loot or combat or stealth or trade. It's just talking. Even your "build" doesn't really feel super impactful - I suspect it's intentionally designed to be equally optimal regardless of what you choose. It seems like it's more designed to be more flavor than anything else.

Also, I found the third act a slog. I see what they were trying to do but it really took a lot of momentum away from the game.

Absolutely loved this game. Playing through it felt like the first encounter with something unprecedented. Like it reminded me of the first time I read a graphic novel like Maus - the elevation of something I was already pretty familiar with in ways that are so surprising yet ideal to the art form. It has the air of a masterwork, created by artisans at the height of their abilities, driven by their passion for the medium in which they’ve chosen to express themselves.

It’s left me feeling completely reenergized about games and what’s possible with a relatively small team and budget.

A truly remarkable game. It really gives you a sense of what life might have been like in that era.

You can tell it was crafted with care and love.