It's Just so Good! Pentiment

Sure, I enjoy a good triple-A game just as much as the next person--there's nothing quite like sparkly graphics and fancy gameplay.  However, I don't often find myself walking away from triple-A game with a sense of wonder and that true "wow" feeling--you know, the one where you immediately want to start over and try to experience it all over again.  Recently, I experienced this feeling after finishing up the very excellent Pentiment.

What is it?

A choice-based, point-and-click game set in 16th century Bavaria.  The game is designed to look like a living, illuminated manuscript so it has a unique visual style.  You play as Andreas Maler, an artist who has taken a commission for artwork to appear in an illuminated manuscript.  The art of illuminated manuscripts is a dying one (largely thanks to the invention of the printing press), so Andreas has ended up in one of the last places that still has a working scriptorium--the abbey of Kiersau near the village of Tassing.  Unfortunately for Andreas, a tragic murder occurs and he finds himself pulled into the investigation and consequences related to it.  It's your job as the player to investigate the murder...and try to solve it.  This isn't a straightforward task and other events also start spinning out of control.  As you make choices, the consequences play out in the story.

How long does a playthrough take?

I would estimate around 20 hours.  I sort of messed up at the beginning of the game and didn't do as much exploring and talking to other folks as I should have--that might have added some playtime.

Pros:

+ The story is choice-based and very well-written.  There are many difficult choices to make and the consequences of your choices play out in the story.  It is text-based, so there's plenty to read, but, again, it's an engaging read.

+ It is designed to look like an illuminated manuscript and has a fun visual style.  If I has played it before the Steam Awards had happened, I definitely would've nominated it for the visual style award.

+ As a history teacher, I appreciated the fact that it was set in a specific historical period and that the events of the time were reflected in the game.  No, it's not a history game, but the village of Tassing definitely finds itself in the middle of the major events of the time--the Protestant Reformation has started and much of Europe is dealing with a huge religious schism that also impacts the social order of the day.  Peasants find themselves swept up in these changes and revolts break out across Europe.  It's definitely a tumultuous period, historically speaking.

+ Players get to choose Andreas' background and skills.  These choices allow Andreas to access certain knowledge--for example, I chose for Andreas to be interested in medicine and nature.  At one point in the story, Andreas was able to use his medical knowledge to try to defend someone against accusations of murder.  There are multiple backgrounds to choose and each offers up certain advantages that can impact the story.  It's also fun that you get to choose them throughout the story and not just at the beginning.

+ No quicksaves or manual saves.  The choices you make are final--there's no way to undo them unless you re-play the story.  This might be infuriating to some people, but I found it invigorating.  In way too many games it gets really easy to go back and undo a choice.  Every decision I made in Pentiment made me feel uneasy, and that's not a bad thing...there should be uncertainty about the consequences of your choices rather than a convenient quicksave to undo an outcome that you don't like.

+ The cast of characters in the game are interesting and fun to talk to.  Andreas, the main character throughout most of the story, is great--he's a bit listless and unsure of himself.  You learn more about his background and self-doubt through his dreams...where he finds himself having conversations with saints and historical figures from the time period.  Talking to the villagers, monks, and nuns is vital as you are able to find side missions and learn more about the events taking place.

+ The music in the game is pleasant and also reflects the historical period.  The cantor in the abbey has a beautiful voice and you shouldn't skip the opportunities to have him sing.

+ You can pet all the village and abbey dogs and cats!  There's even a chance that a choice you make has an outcome related to some of them.

You can pet the dog!  (And all the village cats too!)

Cons:

- If you're one of those "keep reading out of games" types, this one ain't for you.  There's no voice acting and you have to read all the dialogue.  Stick to Call of Duty.

- Your choices are final.  You're stuck with them.  I think some people won't like this feature, but I liked it.

Recommendation:

Pentiment is one of the games that you should believe the hype about.  I played through the story and then immediately wanted to start over (...mostly to see if I could make better choices, but also just because it's that good).  The story and characters are well-written and you really do find yourself invested in the outcome for the village of Tassing and its inhabitants.  I would pay full piece for this gem.

2022 Gaming--A Year in Review

With the end of 2022 looming, it's time to roll out all those end of the year lists.  I'll admit that I'm a sucker for the fun little "wrapped" videos and do find it enjoyable to compare lists with others (*although parents who share Spotify with kids have valid gripes when their lists are tainted by their kids who listen to the soundtrack to Encanto five thousand times).  Steam decided to join the fun and created a personalized "re-play" list (here's mine).  While their list is a fun way to look back at what I played this year, it doesn't necessarily capture what I truly enjoyed...just what I played the most.  So, here are my thoughts and personal picks of the games that released in 2022.

The Game I Played the Most

Ugh, irradiated space rocks are the worst!

Two Point Campus topped my list and there's nothing surprising about this fact.  I love the Two Point games and the release of Campus was a pleasant addition to 2022.  Campus doesn't change the Two Point formula much--the signature goofy humor and semi-serious management aspects from Hospital are still there, but in a college setting.  The Space Academy DLC added in three new campuses and new space themed courses, rooms, and challenges, so I saw myself returning to the game after I had completed the 12 base campuses.  If you enjoyed Two Point Hospital or are just looking for a relaxing, light hearted management sim, give it a try.  (If you haven't played in awhile, it's worth going back to check out the very affordable DLC and the new holiday themed challenges)

The Best Game to Relax To

One of my Dorf Romantik maps.

As I've gotten older, I've definitely lost my desire to come home after work to even more stress.  I'm always on the look out for something that's low stress for times when I just want to throw on a podcast (or some music) and let the stress of the day wash away.  I found myself frequently drawn to Dorf Romantik--even though it has a bit of a strange name, it's a cute little puzzle game about piecing together random tiles to create cities, forests, and other features.  Even though it looks relatively simple, figuring out the best placement for tiles provides challenge.  Ultimately your goal is to keep growing your map, but if you fail it doesn't feel that bad...and you get to start a brand new map!  Each map winds up feeling different--sometimes you build large cities; other times you have sprawling railroads or huge forests.  

Surprising Indies

Even though they didn't crack the top of my Steam re-play list, many of the games that I remember the most are the many unique indie games.  In particular, two of them made a big impact on my 2022.  Strange Horticulture offers up a novel experience in the detective/mystery genre--it's a game where you have to identify and use plants to solve a supernatural mystery.  While it sounds fairly bizarre, it turned out to be a lot of fun (in fact, I need to go back and replay it sometime seeing as how there are multiple endings).

Spending each dice is Citizen Sleeper is a choice.

Citizen Sleeper was another indie that I wound up finding myself truly enjoying.  The gameplay is so deceptively simple--the dice-based system is totally ingenious--but figuring out how to best spend those daily resources and which path you want to pursue...well, it turns out to be a bit agonizing.  Like Strange Horticulture, it's also a game that has many paths and plenty of replayability (in fact, they are still releasing additional content for it).

I would highly recommend checking out both games (and, the good news is that you can buy both of them relatively cheaply).

My Personal GOTY

You can pet the dog (and cats too!) in Pentiment.

When the big sales roll around, I generally find myself taking advantage of those sweet, sweet deals.  The most recent (and currently still ongoing) holiday sale is no exception.  I bought exactly one game...and it turned out to be absolutely amazing!  Pentiment is a point-and-click adventure/mystery game set in a beautifully illustrated, semi-medieval setting.  Being a history teacher, I found the historical setting to be very genuine and the events that shaped the world play out in the game (in a much more personal way than simply reading about it in a history book).  The story is choice based and it's one of those games where your choices are final--there aren't any convenient saves to reload.  It's so well-written and engaging that making those choices is extremely difficult--I constantly found myself torn between the varying factions in the story.  The story plays out beautifully and I immediately wanted to start over and make different choices.  And, the best part, you can pet the dogs and cats!  (I plan on writing up a full review for Pentiment, so look for that in the near future).

Let's hope our 2023's are filled with lots of fun games!  Happy New Year to all!

(**Something weird happened with the formatting on this post and I can't figure out what it is.  Please forgive the weird white background on half the post!)