With Pentiment, Obsidian Continues To Expand The Definition Of An "Obsidian RPG"
Pentiment, the next RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, looks like a completely new kind of game for the studio. Inspired by the aesthetic of paintings from the early modern era, the game is being billed as a "narrative adventure," that director Josh Sawyer has said has "light RPG elements and a branching narrative." Sawyer has also described it as being similar to indie adventure games like Night in the Woods and Oxenfree.
Pentiment’s art style doesn’t do a ton for me, but its story certainly does. Players take on the role of an illustrator who, over the course of 25 years, is drawn into investigating a series of murders at Kiersau Abbey. If the trailer is any indication, he will do that by engaging in conversation with characters in and around the abbey, selecting dialogue options, and exploring every nook and cranny in search of clues and solutions.
RELATED: I'm Already In Love With Pentiment, A Historical Murder Mystery From The Director Of Fallout: New Vegas
While the game’s murder mystery set-up and RPG-meets-adventure-game genre hybridization drew pre-reveal comparisons to Disco Elysium, Pentiment’s narrative sounds more like Zodiac but with the decades-long investigation transplanted from ‘70s-‘90s San Francisco to 16th century Germany. Hopefully, in this detective story, we’ll be able to find the killer.
Pentiment is a new kind of game for Obsidian, but this isn't the first time the studio — which just celebrated its 19th anniversary — has zigged when fans expected it to zag. Beginning life as a sequel incubator for more established RPG developers studios, Obsidian's first two games, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2, were sequels to popular BioWare games. It followed
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