Pentiment

What a beautiful story to experience. Absolutely amazing. The graphics are nice, and the atmosphere is captivating. The only downside is having to walk back and forth quite often, but that's a minor issue in this mystery-solving gem. The story completely drew me in—it felt like reading a really well-written book. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

I love politics in games!!! Keep politics in games! The art style and the writing are oh so good, the inventiveness and the art history of it all is truly wonderful.

我是怀着敬意写下这篇测评的。这种敬意不止出于游戏的优秀，也出于制作团队的辛勤付出。如果选一个合适的形容词来概括这款游戏，那应该是“典雅端庄”。 在评价这款游戏本身之前，我强烈建议中文玩家根据社区指南安装精修汉化补丁，因为官中令人失望。此外，考虑到游戏剧情的设计，*强烈不建议*没有通关的玩家观看加黑内容。 游戏标题pentiment源自意大利语动词pentirsi的名词变体pentimento，这一词语本身的含义是“忏悔”，即“本来不该这样做”。在绘画领域，它指在一幅画刚完成时不明显，但随着岁月流逝而逐渐显露的修改痕迹。我并不了解绘画的艺术，至少没有油画的相关经验，不过之前和央美学这些方面的同学聊天时，她特别地强调笔触的概念，认为这些它非常迷人：通过笔触，我们能够理解作者的技法乃至想法。我认为笔触的在场使特定作品由此成为观者经验到作者的媒介，同时，对过程的展示也赋予静态作品一种过程意义，使其更加鲜活。 游戏的表达与立意高度统一。我认为标题pentiment在剧情中具体有三层对应：一是游戏大部分叙事都包括了书写与绘画，其作者需要对内容作许多取舍，同时，一些信息需要其表层内容被删除才能显现出隐藏内容，一些东西则需要被覆盖才能画出新内容；二是玩家作出的许多选择具有重大影响，即便其中一些在当时看来无关紧要；这些选择未必都是令人满意的，但你无法改变过去，只能在其基础上继续前行；三是人们对历史的描述就如绘画那样，总是一层层彼此叠加，从不是一蹴而就，但无论多重叙述如何自我展示，历史的真实仍会在视差之间偶然呈现；同时，描述历史的人终究成为历史的一部分，它们在不自觉的情况下也一样创造历史。 游戏的终极隐线之一是村庄Tassing的历史，不同版本的叙述在时间线上经常彼此矛盾：基于神话与传说的论述从某个虚构源头讲起，在那之后Tassing就固化为现在的模样，这种论述完全忽略了发展与嬗变的过程；正统派认为Tassing源自罗马人撤退后其他种族的迁徙与再占领，这种论述则将罗马人到来之前的时间极度压缩，认为罗马人留下了Tassing文明的基础；异端派则主张早在罗马人到来之前这里已发展出了自己的文化，但这种文化后来被罗马文化斥为邪教。然而，讽刺的是本作中自居正统的基督教在中世纪前也不过是一种曾被封杀的异教文化。游戏中的[spoiler]神父Thomas[/spoiler]正是因为绝望地意识到了这一点，才不惜一切代价掩埋足以推翻正统叙事的证据，希望历史让位于传说。 DeLanda在A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History中将历史的发展描绘为新的历史形态不断加入旧友形态，彼此堆叠、共存与混合，而非线性的“从一个阶段到下一个阶段”。Koselleck提出“时间层”（Zeitschichten）这一概念，用以论证历史时间性的多元性：一些事物（例如地理的历史）具有更长的时间周期，一些事物（例如人的一生）则更短，历史正是这样一种复杂时间的复合。这些观点为我们理解游戏提供了良好的切口。不过，我相信这款游戏的制作者可以在没有通读这些理论的情况下做出这样一款游戏——借用亚里士多德的内在论表述，人通过具体事物（而非特定理论）就能把握到普遍的本质。 除了以上，我认为游戏最可圈可点的还有如下方面：首先，它事无巨细地虚构了一个栩栩如生的中世纪生活环境，引用大量考据来塑造符合历史的生活细节（这通常会被认为是吃力不讨好的、沉闷的），从而创造了这一时代的沉浸氛围，在这一氛围中，人物或剧情都没有使人感到违和。其次，它挑战了长时间跨度的叙事可能，这款游戏严肃地选取3个节点进行了跨度长达25年的剧情书写（如果算上后日谈结算，这会更长），同时，它对于这25年的描绘是相对均匀的而非单纯节点式的展现。这是非常大胆的，你很少能找到类似时间跨度却叙事均衡的游戏。这种安排使玩家感受到游戏世界的鲜活，也许十几年前主人公的一个简单行为会完全改变一个人的命运，而在那么长的跨度下（需要知道，对于中世纪，25年几乎意味着一代人），玩家也得以看见许多家族的兴衰史，故人不断离去，新人逐渐成长。 它很难不让人想到《天国拯救》或是《遗忘之城》，这种类比学揭示了游戏的两面。前者指示了pentiment对历史质感还原的优秀，尽管游戏体裁与内容都不尽相同；后者指示了pentiment情节构思的精巧以及对古典命题的重新演绎，同时还有对伪谜题与伪开放世界手法的借用。值得一提的是，这款游戏的背景是16世纪初的巴伐利亚（差不多比天国拯救晚一百年），我们在pentiment中可以看到[strike]轰轰烈烈的农民大战争 [/strike]德意志农民战争（导致著名神学家闵采尔最终死亡的历史事件与著名歌曲*我们是黑色的盖叶部队*所歌颂的战争），对一个小镇的影响，这种从微观视角描绘宏观历史背景的策略，也与以上所提及的两款游戏有相似之处。 开头处，我用了“端庄典雅”一词来形容这个游戏。这是因为它广博地汲取古典要素以描绘宗教改革之初的山雨欲来，并集中借助了关系密切的小人物的故事来召唤这一时代特征，同时又体现出某些跨越历史阶段的人文情怀。游戏似乎充满了善有善报的故事，譬如[spoiler]爱徒如子者被学徒拯救，或鼓励被原神家庭毒打的小孩追求自己的绘画事业[/spoiler]；然而这里也存在黑暗，像是修道院对农民的压迫积重难返、[spoiler]已死之人被冒名顶替回乡，还有阴谋与死亡[/spoiler]。比起高尚的寓言，玩家看到的是无数平凡的生命所书写的故事，而异乡人被卷入其中，无法袖手旁观，被迫做出选择，在不可避免的牺牲中推进，直到真相大白。游戏避免了强行说教——玩家做出选择追寻某种理想路线，然而一些事情似乎竭尽全力也无法改变，仿佛是梦中的祭祀王约翰在提醒玩家不要忘记叙拉古的故事，而具备影响力的个体应当意识到在复杂的社会-历史中个人能力的边界从而巧妙运用。我们不应放弃向善，但也不该为了追求心中的善而行恶，而个人总是作为社会-历史的一部分而存在，真正的超越性不在宗教本体。游戏中[spoiler]神父Thomas[/spoiler]也许恰恰是这一点的反面。我们可以从游戏的诸多设计中感受到一种力量，这种力量有其坚实的历史-文化土壤，与后来的工业现代文明一脉相承。这像是《遗忘之城》将希腊-罗马的治理术教训嫁接于对民主制度的热爱，但没有那么政治化。 （我怀疑神父Thomas的形象设计明确地模仿了闵采尔，它们的外观和名字都有很多共同点） 这款游戏的确有很多缺点。剧情自由度并不像传统的rpg那么高，严格来说这里的主线是不可改变的；过多的细节会使不善阅读长文本的玩家一头雾水而找不到重点；繁杂的人名与很多不重要的剧情似乎使玩家分心，诸如此类。但我相信这些只不过是必要的牺牲——游戏不止关乎使玩家娱乐，一款游戏也可以像画一样作为媒介试图传达某种信息，而它本身并不一定是媚俗的。我们必须承认一些游戏和玩家在进行双向选择，但这并不会妨碍人们给予它公正的评价。

art and history lesson bundled together with an emotional journey. this game will mess you UP (positive)

"Love things for yourself. And you'll have to share it with the world." It’s hard to talk about this without giving away spoilers. Incredible storytelling and dialogue at the very best Obsidian has to offer, a pleasant surprise and a departure from their usual projects. Expect plenty of dialogue and puzzles, a slow burner story that rewards patience and engagement coupled with stunning art. The fact that the game runs flawlessly on the Steam Deck is the icing on the cake. Highly recommended.

Pentiment - для меня это скорее интерактивное произведение искусства, чем игра в привычном понимании. Я ожидал детектив, поэтому поначалу был немного разочарован: ко второй половине становится понятно, что расследование здесь не главное. Лично для меня из-за этого игра немного просела, хотя концовка все же понравилась и в итоге игра оставила положительное впечатление. Из минусов - со временем начинает утомлять постоянная беготня между локациями, да и количество персонажей, которых нужно запоминать, довольно большое. Но, наверное, иначе было бы сложно передать тот масштаб истории, который хотели показать авторы. На самом деле игра про историю, память, религию и то, как рождаются легенды. Особенно впечатляет, как на протяжении десятилетий меняется целая деревня: жители взрослеют, стареют, умирают, а последствия их поступков ощущаются спустя годы. Отдельно понравилось, что игра основана на реальных исторических событиях. В итоге игра мне все же понравилась. Если любите историю и атмосферу 16 века - скорее всего, игра вам тоже зайдет.

An occurrence in many great RPGs is the moment when you sit and consider what the best thing to say or do is, genuinely weighing the consequences. This only occurs when 1. You are sufficiently invested in the world and characters to care what happens to them and 2. The game has actually convinced you that your actions have consequences and actually affect the characters and world. Pentiment is thoroughly saturated with such occurrences. Its aesthetic and atmosphere are fantastic and the manuscript style fits the game and world so wonderfully. I am also thoroughly entertained by the fact that this game cares enough about this setting to have a bibliography at the end of its credits. While the gameplay is virtually nonexistent, as this game is partially Point And Click Adventure Game and Visual Novel, that isn't an issue. The gameplay is essentially just talking, but that's the point. You aren't challenged by a difficult boss, rather, a tricky situation or a moral conundrum. The story itself works splendidly and I was satisfied by it as a whole, as well as the ending. I will not be assigning a number score of any kind. If you like Point And Click Adventures, Visual Novels, you'll probably like this a great deal. If you need action in a game or engaging gameplay, maybe consider whether this game is for you before buying it and spending between 15 to 20 hours on it. Either way, I am so happy that a game so dedicated to art was able to be made into such a great work of art.

I find it ignorant when video games are all lumped together. Some titles are made for entertainment only, and that is fine, but there are also those that can change your perception of the world, of history, or of reality itself. ​The melancholic story of Pentiment will stay with me forever. The entire game was made with so much heart, and so much understanding of the nuances of European history, that I was at times positively overwhelmed. Its story may be small geographically speaking, but it speaks of concepts relevant to every single person on Earth, despite being anchored mainly in Christian culture. It is a masterpiece in more ways than one.

"Art is illusion, storytelling, but in their most sublime form, these images form a path to truth." (Brother Piero) What a game. Playing through 20-something hours of the game was the equivalent of the feeling of having read your favourite book trilogy or TV series. It leaves an profound internal impact in the end, that you'll have to stare at the screen for a moment to reflect. Games like Pentiment are often a testament of how video games as a medium can be used to define and portray complex themes while also portraying history, art, philosophy while also exploring a hero story. This is a narrative-heavy game and it does it well. The story is self-contained (possible spoiler?) and it is incredibly rich with historical, theological and spiritual anecdotes. The town and abbey truly manages to immerse you with, embelished interesting characters that you can see grow in different parts of their own stories and incredible sound design- probably the best I've heard in a long time. The story manages not just to address an artist's internal conflicts, grief, loss, the burden of responsibility, guilt and finding hope by leaving the maze that illusions you into thinking it's protecting you, but also the quest for finding the truth about a past that is hidden by the fear of losing faith and maintaining peace. The game is not without flaws, moving around the game sometimes feels like a chore considering there are locations you will return to several times or walk/run through often. And oftentimes you're hunting for someone you had previously already talked to (and they probably just said 'God bless you, Andreas'). But in my opinion, this, along with the relative slow burn of this game can entirely be looked over for the payoff in the end and having experienced it all the same. What a game.

A spectacular construction, surely a sensation of a game for all church history and classical history enthusiasts. I am fortunately both.