You know why Obsidian’s latest humble RPG is called Pentiment?The word (not really) comes from the term repentance, which refers to the changes an artist makes to his or her work as the project progresses. Pentimento also comes from Italian repentance, which means to repent or change one’s mind. Given that the game is about history, and the chronicles of our shared past that we believe or don’t believe in, this word is pretty fitting to describe the whole thing.
Now, some 18 months after Xbox’s weirdest exclusive first hit the Series X/S, Pentiment’s history is Very likely With its status as a Microsoft exclusive hanging in the balance, Hand of Fate was eager to have the words “PlayStation” and “Nintendo” written underneath its title, so it was changed again. How appropriate. How poetic.
It shouldn’t work. A hand-drawn 2D detective thriller about a series of brutal murders set in the bucolic countryside of 16th-century Bavaria – no one wants to play this game, right? It’s the kind of game you read about on Eurogamer on Sunday, or your grandpa asks you about the next time you go for a last-minute Easter lunch. Compared to its Xbox-exclusive counterparts (Hi-Fi Rush, Halo, Forza, Starfield), it seems completely out of place.
But its focus on food, fonts, and felonies intertwine in such a simple, confident way that the moment you pick it up, it’s hard not to fall in love with it. Maybe it’s in the food—large plates of Skran cuisine presented with rich detail designed to instantly immerse you in the lives of Bavarians living in the Holy Roman Empire—or maybe it’s in Tassin’s lush, lush surroundings and the famous Kirsch Abbey. Maybe it’s the way the game treats fonts; as important and narratively significant as any character getting a voice in more modern games.
Or maybe it’s the strange intrigue of the story, inspired by Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose” and obsessed with capturing the texture of history in the same way. Whatever it is that makes “Remorse” so captivating, it seems universal. Go read any review or article about the game and its impact—even less than two years after release—and you’ll find that Obsidian’s thorns have hooked multiple cortices since November 2022.
This is unlike any game I’ve played before. Yes, this is an Obsidian RPG, which means (like Pillars of Eternity, The Outer Worlds, and even Alpha Protocol) it will have rich themes, a complete world, and will Artfully distribute these narrative beats. But the way it tells the story, in full performances, with breaks, and time jumps, would make David “Cloud Atlas” Mitchell blush…it’s inspired.
Then, the tension between numerous contrasting elements further adds color to the world. The flowering of capitalism and socialism, religion and secularism, technology and tradition, man and nature. The game forces you to see how they intersect and intertwine, and – in great RPG fashion – it’s never as simple or one-sided as you might think.
Make decisions and ethical choices based on a basic understanding of: Nothing you can do is the right choice Truly intensifying the essence of being alive in the time of protagonist Andreas Mahler is an impossible task. Like living in any time, anywhere, really, if you realize the horrific implications of it all.
I think a lot of Pentiment’s success stems from the fact that it was an unabashed passion project of Josh Sawyer (of Fallout New Vegas fame). With a personal obsession with themes such as technological upheaval, social reform, and the inexorable nature of change—which is even evident in New Vegas if you look closely—Sawyer’s inky fingerprints are all over Pentiment. He studied early modern history in college, his mother’s family tree originated in Bavaria, and (as he puts it) “history encompasses all the cool things that ever happened.”
Of course, Remorse is more than just a one man project, but it’s clear how he led and directed his team to produce something that fully represents the through line between who he was, what he stood for, where he came from, and where he is now . Now that it’s coming to other platforms – moving away from the “historically locked Xbox,” if you will – more people than ever have the chance to experience this incredible game.
Regret is one of the most important and effective games I’ve ever played…well, yes. I think it tells a story that can only be told in a video game, and I think it tells it very well. If you care about the way this art form has matured, and how it allows artists to tell their specific stories in specific ways, I implore you: play Confessions.
I think this would be an absolutely fantastic mobile game on the Nintendo Switch as well.