Obsidian Entertainment brings us a narrative and investigation game based on a dark history of murder in Germany. The studio has been working on this project for about three years...and it's about time they started revealing more. This was made possible thanks to the Xbox team, who gave us the opportunity to get our hands on it during a demo at gamescom.
In the XNUMXth century, in northern Bavaria, we play as Andreas Maler, an artist working in the scriptorium of Kiersau Abbey. The quiet life of the religious building is disrupted when a passing nobleman, Lorenz Rothvogel, is murdered. Especially since one of our friends, brother Piero, is found right next to the body, a bloody knife in his hand. Of course, all suspicion weighs on him... but things are rarely as simple as they seem. A great investigation will begin, which leads us to have to solve a whole series of murders which are spread over twenty five years. As our research progresses, we will have to question many witnesses: peasants, monks, thieves, nuns, nobles...
The game begins with choosing the career of our character. Only one can be chosen from the six proposed: Latinist, Logician, Orator, Astronomer, Occultist or Naturalist. Creation continues with its path (Theology, Imperial Law or Medicine), its origins (Basel, Flanders or Italy) and its past (Hedonist, Artisan, Bookworm, Rascal, Businessman). Suffice to say that there is a wide choice of possibilities even if it is not very clear yet to discern the real impact of these starting points on the plot of the story.
Narrative game requires, the dialogues are multiple choice, with many mini games, whether puzzles, or simply more basic actions like putting frames back in place. Another mini game in the demo asks you to collect wood and then cut it to the right length.
Although the story is important, it's not Pentiment's strength, and I think you guessed it for yourself from the screenshots. Indeed, the studio embarks on the world by offering graphics directly inspired by medieval illuminations and the profession of our hero. With an exclusively 2D rendering, and a very atypical modeling, Pentiment does not go unnoticed. Afterwards, you have to love, but that does not leave you indifferent. I think we either love it or hate it. Namely that, if you are afraid of having difficulty reading the texts, the font is to be chosen at the start of the game. You can therefore sacrifice immersion a little by choosing a font that suits you better. Then, in the game itself, the font also changes from character to character, reflecting the character's social class or mood. A great way to compensate for the lack of dubbing which, suddenly, goes unnoticed.
Beyond the original graphic aspect, it is difficult to really realize the narrative depth of the title just with a demo. But it's very promising. The graphics alone are enough to want to try the experience. I only regret one thing, I didn't write down the hidden code that allows you to launch the hidden card game! The developers threw it at us, at the end of our test session... Another welcome originality of a game which, I have no doubt, will succeed in making its place in the hearts of players fond of this game. period.
