Pentiment

[i]Pentiment[/i] is a [b]slow[/b] game, asking that you take your time to learn about the main character, Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist temporarily residing in the town of Tassing, its inhabitants from the townsfolk to the Benedictine monks of the abbey, and to understand the history of Tassing itself. Every inhabitant of the town has their own story, relationships to the other townsfolk, and opinions on their life, the abbey, the future. It feels like a real place with real stories both of tragedies past and present. A fundamental factor to this rich environment is the town's prevalent gossip as you learn secrets of who's sleeping with who, who bears a grudge against who, or even information potentially connecting someone to the current investigation. The game initially draws you in with the idea of solving a murder, interrogating townsfolk, gathering evidence but after all is said and done and the time to identify a culprit comes, the game never tells you if you were right or wrong. It only ever shows the effects of your choice on Andreas, the people of Tassing, and you. This open-ended narrative leaves room for the player to input in their own thoughts into the game's story, their own ideas of the truth. It reinforces one of the central themes, that Andreas himself is struggling to understand, not as an investigator of a murder but as an artist. An inescapable idea that, we put ourselves into our work, whether it be a painting, writing, music, or any other way we express ourselves. There will always be a piece of us within it, and the story, while not requiring it, wants us to input a bit of ourselves and our version of the truth into the experience. In addition to requiring our own interpretations of the evidence, the limited time structure allows us to only see a certain amount of information in one playthrough but it fleshes out the stories of the people we choose to spend time with, allowing both the player and Andreas to form opinions about them. Andreas himself is a very [b]human[/b] character, with his share of flaws, opinions, and biases. While we have some control on aspects of his life such as where he has spent his years wandering, his lifestyle, and his university studies, we have no control on how the events of the game affect Andreas. We are able to shape his general personality from the way he responds to the relationships he has with the people of Tassing. We see him make new friends, potentially to last a lifetime, or even enemies in that same regard. It's hard to describe without delving too heavily into spoilers but fundamentally, [i]Pentiment[/i] is a game about [b]time moving forward.[/b] People change. Some get older. They grow together. Or apart. We have no control over that and that's a good thing. We can only continue on with memories of the past and hope for the future. To quote a favorite character of mine, [i]time passes for us all, things change, the future will write over the present.[/i]

靠走路跑图吃饭堆时长，实在糟糕。

Good book.

rpg good

This game is beautiful crafted, with amazing art and written scripts and an intricate, engrossing story that propelled me onwards. There's a certain melancholy to the game, but not so much that it crushes one with sadness. There is hope, joys, and small moments of connection between people. I will certainly be playing it again.

我是文化沙漠玩家，尽管一无所知，尽管我没法说自己学到了什么知识，但让自己尽可能沉浸的感觉真不错，这部游戏让我这种西方史门外汉也能玩得很舒服，以非常坚实的创作让我也能参与小小的思辨。盛赞pentiment的音乐、美术、细微又宏大文字（虽然文本速度真的很慢，但无所谓了，如果某些“缺点”在框架下是圆满了它的风格，那么便很无所谓了）

I wouldn't recommend this game because it feels more like a book than a CRPG. Your decisions barely affect the story, and it feels like no matter what you do, the game will just keep going as it was intended to end. It feels like reading a book, with each mouse click advancing a paragraph. The backstories you give your character unlock specific dialogues, but thta's about it, they don't change the ending or get you any better results in game. If the game had a point system, item collection, dice rolls, and more interaction with the story, with the toen and other characters, I'd feel like I was playing a game, not reading a book. Playing this on Steam on a PC is a pain in the ass, so if you're going to play it, I recommend buying it for the Nintendo Switch because you can read the game in bed. Yes, read the game, not play it. Disco Elysium set the bar incredibly high, and the rest of the point-and-click games feel very simple and empty.

honestly, the historical murder mystery angle had me interested from the get-go, and coupled with the artstyle, i knew this would be right up my alley. however, i did not have too many expectations going in - just a fun game, you know? and while it is certainly fun - a bit slow at times, depending on your tastes, but i had so much fun just exploring and talking to people that it didn't bother me too much - there is so, so much more to this. one really big aspect of the game are the choices, and i've played many a choice-based game before, but this one was unique in that the choices feel like they really, genuinely MATTER. there is no way to go back and change them, save scumming is only an option if you're lucky and the game saved right before, and your choices genuinely DO effect the game, long-term. from small choices to big. also, the artstyle is beyond lovely. and the music! and the writing; not only did the recurring themes of love and grief kick me in the balls repeatedly (in the best way), the characters feel real, you really find yourself liking or disliking certain people, wanting to help them or work against them - which influences your choices, which influence the future. it's all so terribly human, in a way. and certain reveals left me stunned! you can just tell that not only a lot of research, but a lot of love and care was put into this game. personally, i really enjoyed this, way more than i initially thought i would, and can certainly recommend it to lovers of mystery games and visual novels.