Despite 20 years of gaming, Pentiment immediately became one of my favorite games of all time, it's not just any title, it really leaves something in you, not only along the way but also and above all in the ending, where it triggers an infinite series of reflections, on history, the sources from which we learn about past events and what we decide to leave for posterity to tell an event, a story or our passage on Earth
I think it’s probably the best written game ever. Like there’s some competition with Disco Elysium and Pathologic 2 (and Fallout New Vegas and Planescape Torment to a lesser extent) but i think it takes the cake. It is just so incredibly thematically dense with themes on history, the power of language and writing, consequences, the passage of time, art and self expression, community, faith, and power. All these themes not only developed over the entire game but regularly intersected with each other to create an absolutely compelling game. The characters and town are so believable and memorable, and the ending reveal is probably one of the best executed plot twists I have ever seen. It brought back memories and feelings long gone for me in a way that most artistic works have not in a long time. It’s honestly mind blowing how great it is and how many people bounce off of it for not being interactive enough.
Eh, Pentiment is basically the Pillars of Eternity narrative in a different format. Just wish Sawyer had a broader understanding of the topic, though, to his credit, he does a commendable job anyway. He deffinitely should consider more diverse consultation if he ever wants to tackle the topic again in the future.
It's unquestionably one of my top ten games of all time, and I enjoy how they practically admit (min 12) that this game would never have existed if Umberto Eco hadn't written The Name of the Rose (such a great book)
Pentiment was the most impactful story I played in the past 5 years or so, seeing all the villagers grow up through time really makes even the most secondary characters meaningful to the player and made me bond with them. Growing up in Northern Italy I also saw some elements that reminded me of my hometown's medieval architecture, making me feel both at home and slightly on the edge.
Hearing them talk about the challenges, I totally understand why we dont have more historical RPGs, but this game was such a lovely experience it made me wish it was a larger subgenre, it's such an immersive way to learn history.
Tbf all games are tremendously challenging. The main argument of people don't make historical games, because people don't wanna play historical games, is just absurd. Kingdom come deliverance, for example, was an excellent game
This is why I love playing Medieval II Total War and Shogun 2 total war. I can just immerse myself in the historical eras and come up with stories for my countries and soldiers. It’s great! But yeah this blew me away at how much Pentiment scratched that historical itch.
My 2022 GOTY, and a Top 10 all-timer! A singular, inimitable experience. Video games rarely bring me to tears; I cried twice during my playthrough. Phenomenal writing, art direction and historical aesthetic. Full points to Mr. Sawyer and his small team for this masterwork. 🙏
Cool to see such a unique, experimental game like Pentiment get made at a large studio like Obsidian. I hope they're able to keep sprinkling smaller projects like this into the development schedule.
I played Pentiment for 20 hours and Baldur’s Gate 3 for 200 hours but Pentiment’s story and uniqueness has stuck in my brain for far longer and with greater emotional impact
Pentiment is a brilliant game that I would encourage everyone to at least *try*. The way its characters exist, within the context of the created world and real world history, is nothing short of an achievement and it deserves an earnest look by everyone for this alone. These characters feel like they exist for their own purposes and not just as some piece of content that the player interacts with. The historical context of its setting only deepens this feeling, as you could easily imagine normal folks living their lives this way at that point in time. And the game does this with nothing but charming visuals and dialogue that is steeped in humanity and realism. Within my own life, I played this game when my newborn son was taking naps, and its themes of generational hope and conflict resonated with me and brought up feelings in a way that a video game had not done so before. Thank you so much, NoClip, for taking a look at this game and the voices behind it, it means the world to those of us that really connected with this work of art.
Pentiment is definitely one of my favorite games. Watching Andreas's hat travel from him to Anna and then to her daughter was priceless =) It is because of such pleasant little things that I, as a player, get attached to the characters
Pentiment truly feels to me like the Golden Age of Graphic Adventure Games (from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s; afterward they first chased action adventure games in vain and then became and mostly remained mechanically barebones even in the Kickstarter-fueled renaissance of the 2010s) dialed up to 11, which is possibly the highest praise I can give. And great documentary, too. 👍
Well, Pentiment isn't mechanically heavy per se as well. As Josh argues, one of the inspirations was Nights In The Wood. That isn't a walking sim. But it isn't an experience full of condundrums and semi-open isle hopping/exploration a la Monkey Island 2 either. But it's an interesting experience either way.
@@snakeplissken111i think pentiment is very much mechanically deep, the sheer quantity of threads in conversations that affect later conversations is a level of realism I always wanted in video games. When you talk to NPC #1 about a stray observation, and two days later the NPC#2 AND #3 know about your conversation because the words spread up to the abbey through gossip.
I never clicked on a video so quickly. I'm going to savour this one though. One of my favorite games of all time. So many unique parts of the development to explore too. Very excited!
I played and 100% finished Pentiment a couple of months ago. Loved it so much I had to order the physical edition immidiately. Amazing game, highly recommended!
Pentiment is a game cater made for me. An historical setting rendered in a stylised way that felt both expressive and authentic, but also telling a achingly human story. One that deals with the human conidition in the immediacey: Love, regrets, hatred, spirituality, rebellion and conformity. But it also ties those aspects into the historical medium it was built from, about how society progresses, and forgets. About how tradition and progress, with all it's ebbs and flows, are always at odds, and how they are never wholly good or bad perspectives. It tells this incredibly ambitous narrative so well, not just because of it's lofty narrative goals, but telling it through the lense of a gorgeously localised story. Sure Josh talks about some of the historical liberties that the story took, but it's because of those slight leaps that creates an incredible historical fiction that not only tells a story via history, but echoes through it, all the way from the illuminated manuscripts made almost a thousand years ago, right through our screens, and what a privelege it is to experience it. What a game, and what a video highlighting the human effort to accomplish it. I hope it is remembered fondly.
I just finished Pentiment on my Steam Deck OLED 2 days ago! I loved it. I love basically everything Sawyer does. New Vegas, Pillars 1 and 2, Pentiment, etc.
Imagine my surprise this weekend when almost by accident I download this game, and what an experience. I’m 34 years old, an anthropologist, and I love history. Without a doubt, a sublime experience, an interactive book that deeply resonated with me. I will think about the game for a long time.
Pentiment is such an amazing game, easily one of the best games I've ever played. I enjoyed every second of it. I just wish we had more games like this. Thank you for making such a beautiful documentary and thanks to the wonderful devs ❤.
There's much of the old 80's-90's historical stuff to find on GoG and abandonware sites. If you can get them to run. Most of the grounded educational/scientific stuff gets buried in pop culture history, though, even if it was popular.
I'm so glad your channel exists and has existed for this long. The work/effort you guys put in your videos is always phenomenal and it's the kind of stuff that makes me love video games even more. Pentiment was by far one of my favorite games of 2023 and of the last decade, it had been a while since I cared this deeply about fictional characters, their everyday life and their fate. A masterpiece.
I bought pentiment the day this was released, and waited to watch until I finished the game. It may have been one of my favorite games of the last few years. I fell in love with the characters and was so impressed with the art style that I completely forgot the entire story takes place entirely within a book.
One of the most unique games I have ever played. The writing, music and art are all outstanding. The characters actually feel like real people and not weird npc automatons. Also, The Name of the Rose mentioned! Well done Josh, you've done it again.
I played Pentiment for the first time a couple days ago and thought to myself "I really wish there was Noclip-quality documentary about its creation." And what do I find right at the top of my subscription feed? Most excellent.
I live in suburb of Paris and fell in love with Alps suroundings, bavaria austria, slovenia etc... this game captures so well the ambiance of this region and by extension I guess, era. this is such a particular game that fullfill perfectcly my hungry of non combat focused rpg game. thanks Obsidian for bringing this game to life, thanks Noclip for that superbe documentary
This game tickled my history brain-side and I loved every second of it. Had me picking up history books and documentaries on the HRE, Bavaria and the Reformation.
i'm sure you folks were pressed for time but i wish there was a section for the music which was also relatively period accurate with a lot of old instruments thanks so much for this doc. incredible work
I wish in bigger studios people were more oftenly allowed to sit down an be like: "Wouldn't it be great to have a game about..." Rather than having market research, (low) risk management and focus groups dictating what's getting made next. Thankfully, ever since the explosion of digital distribution and the like, there's always gonna be the indies. But it's always interesting what people at major studios can do if they are allowed to do what they actually genuinelly WANT to do. PS: I'm an avid RPG fan. But for the life of me I can't fathom how nobody is ever getting sick of elves, PipBoys and Cyberpunks by now for realz.
I don't think I fully appreciated when playing Pentiment just how much dedication they put into the historical details and settings - down to the small detail of character walk animations being toe first! Sure, anyone can see they did their research, and that Mr Sawyer has a passion for this particular period, but it's those little things that take it to the next level! This excellent doc has certainly made me want to revisit Pentiment just to appreciate it even more as a very unique game.
I love this game so much!! We can feel the dedication, passion and fun, so much attention to details!! I hope it inspires many gamemakers to do similar work, and maybe have stories from a variety of historical times, places and fantasy
I just finished my first playthrough of this game and will certainly be returning to it again to explore other storylines within it. Of course I can relate to two artists being the main characters, as one myself. Then of course, Magda is around my age now. I loved every bit from the characters' personalities to the art to the passage of time being evident. I've never played another game like this.
To the opening question: Because being inspired by real history means engaging with real political ideas. Having beliefs and ideas makes businesses and investors worry about losing sales demographics. So when historical inspiration does come into play, it must be cached in fantasy elements for plausible deniability. That or you swing in the opposite direction, like Ubisoft titles, with marketing around politics baiting but narratives that ultimately refuse to present ideas that could challenge the status quo.
One of the most affecting games I’ve played for a long time, without really knowing what I was getting into. I will always love and appreciate Pentiment; it is a truly unique experience.
I'm not kidding when I say that this is my favorite project from Obsidian. Even more than F:NV. It's so full of passion and meaning that I couldn't help but be completely captivaded by such project. Thank you for this documental.
Playing it last year, Pentiment instantly became one of my favourite role-playing games and one of the most emotionally resonant gaming experiences I've ever had. I really hope its positive reception will prompt Obsidian, or even other studios, to continue pushing the boundary of role-playing game settings, stories and themes.
Best game I have played on my series S, I couldn't put it down once I started it, the period music, art style, quill scratching parchment took me to that time and place. Great to see behind the scenes and meet the amazing team that made this gem of a game.
Danny, I'm many sheets to the wind, so I'm sorry if this is gibberish and not necessarily germane to this video in particular. I just really wanted to say I think you make absolutely fantastic documentaries - you're so good in front of the camera and the amount of research that goes into every video is obvious and really appreciated. You're clearly very successful and rightly so. I think we're about the same age (late 30s?) so we possibly had similar gaming experiences so your opinions resonate especially so with me. Long may you continue producing amazing content - I often, when feeling a bit low, plonk one of your videos on, maybe crack a beer or two and just sit with a smile on my face, drinking (!) it all in. Big love and many thanks from a big fan. You're clearly good people and very talented. That sounds patronising reading it back, I hope my sincerity comes across. Good on ya lad, thanks for being ace.
I love Pentiment. It was one of the most enjoyable and memorable games of the past years for me. It certainly is on my personal "all time greats" list.
The art style of this game is absolutely wonderfully done. It's been a true inspiration to me and opened my mind to a totally new 2D style for games. I hope that there will be others out there that are also inspired in such a way. Thank you for this masterpiece.
One of the best games of the last decade, a truly unique title. I'm sad we don't get more of these titles. Also a great video that kept it interesting and to the point throughout the entire runtime. Thank you.
Thank you for making this documentary Noclip! I stopped before the Act 3 spoiler section, bought the game, and binged it this week. What an excellent game I nearly missed out on.
Thank you for working on this documentary! I have finished the game a week ago and this video came out at the perfect time! This is one of the games that would stay in my head for a really long time. Shoutout to the amazing artists and creators of this game that believed this would be possible!
The way Josh Sawyer gets so in-depth about the history and setting marks this as a true passion project. I'm glad he got to make something that's so special to him!
One of the best games that I played in years. It has a very heart-touching story. And the art direction is so good! Thanks for making it (to Obsidian devs) and thanks for creating a movie about it (to Noclip).
This reminds me HARD of Mind-Maze in Encarta!!! Gonna have to check this out just for the nostalgia factor even though this isn't anywhere near the same.
Huge fan here. I'm just going to start posting this on everyone of your vids--you guys just have to do a doc on Playdead! Limbo, Inside, and their unreleased space game. I mean Inside is a masterclass. Low key one of the best games ever made. There is a lot of internal drama with Playdead, which is why their new game is taking so long to finish (if it even will). All this would be some awesome content!
Pentiment was one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had. I would love to see more games made in a similar style and with a similar depth of research and clear passion for their time period.
I loved this documentary. It makes us know a new gem to discover and play… and most of all, enjoy. If it is as good as the documentary itself, I have no worry.
I've never seen a game so committed to a place and period in history. Pentiment was a delight and a triumph ! I hope it can inspire more historical, or at least history inspired, games with as much care and thoughtfulness towards its setting and characters. In any case, it's a very special game and Noclip never disappoints
Interesting to see the development of a game that’s essentially the platonic ideal of the subscription era of games. Take an unbelievably talented group of people, let them make something experimental and small in scope, remove them from the pressures of a traditional publishing environment. Makes me curious for what’s next out of Double Fine now Tim can focus on making games instead of making payroll!
Recently played this on PS5 and what an absolute treat it was to play loved the many references I caught throughout especially the heavy Andrei Rublev vibes in the 3rd act the love and care the team put Into this game is so evident I hope it gets more people interested in trying Historical Fiction as a viable genre in games as it worked so well.
I'd love a follow up on this, digging up old devs and covering how this genre was pretty big in the 80s-90s. Ye olde Cryo adventures were my gateway games as a kid. Another follow up covering the history and scale-realism fixation of last decade's Ubisoft, the adventure bits of Assassin's Creeds, or something on the family drama rpg aspects of the Crusader Kings or Total War games... It's fascinating to me whenever devs actually get historic fiction, or anything scientific/educational, really, past their publishers. Loved hearing on that in this video.
I'm really interested in the era of history that Pentiment is set in, and I really, really enjoyed it. It's not just a game, but a very solid piece of well-researched historical fiction. You can tell that Sawyer and the team had immersed themselves in the history, art and literature they were portraying. The decision to set the game over a long time period was a brilliant one, as it allows them to show how all the characters lives are affected by the broad historical trends affecting their world, the chaotic side effects of decisions you make as a player, and even the interactions between the two. The moment that stands out the most to me isn't even a character driven one. It's from near the beginning of act 3. Up until that point, the games has used the liturgical hours the monastery uses to mark prayers to represent its in-game clock, but the monastery's power was broken at the end of act 2 and suddenly they're replaced with the mechanical clock on the Rathaus. It's just such an elegant way of portraying two simultaneous historical trends affecting people who lived through the time period. Firstly, rapid technological innovation as a result of the rapid spread of knowledge allowed by the booming literacy rates the advent of printing had enabled a few generations before. Secondly the transfer of power from ecclesiastical to secular authorities that happened as a result of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. Those are pretty niche historical topics that few people are even interested in, and that one simple change in the game between acts conveys them in a way that even people who don't know very little about 16th century history will just instinctively understand. You don't need to know about Johannes Gutenberg or John Calvin to get that the old ways represented by the Abbot are out and new, more modern ways are in. It's a genius moment that condenses a whole history lesson into a few seconds.
55:30 as a graphic designer who also dabbles in type design this is the part that I found the most intriguing. I was nerding out with the designers as they spoke about their process. 1:00:30 why is it that scope for type design projects always seem to balloon? The curse of perfectionism and ambition!
I am really glad that in this day and age of extremely overproduced AAA games we sometimes get a shining example that games don't have to be massive and sprawling. In fact games like Pentiment remind us that more often than not less is more.
It feels like a great casual point and click adventure Game and putting details into this gave depth for interactivity and it fit too. The previous point and click adventure game that I played was Ken Follets The Pillars of the Earth and it felt amazing finding a simliar game to this.
Thank you for this! It was so interesting to learn the development process, and how other games, movies, and books influenced Pentiment. (Aside from Josh's reading list!) This was a game where the characters and place truly felt alive and vivid, and it was exciting to see how they changed over time.
Despite 20 years of gaming, Pentiment immediately became one of my favorite games of all time, it's not just any title, it really leaves something in you, not only along the way but also and above all in the ending, where it triggers an infinite series of reflections, on history, the sources from which we learn about past events and what we decide to leave for posterity to tell an event, a story or our passage on Earth
I think it’s probably the best written game ever. Like there’s some competition with Disco Elysium and Pathologic 2 (and Fallout New Vegas and Planescape Torment to a lesser extent) but i think it takes the cake. It is just so incredibly thematically dense with themes on history, the power of language and writing, consequences, the passage of time, art and self expression, community, faith, and power. All these themes not only developed over the entire game but regularly intersected with each other to create an absolutely compelling game. The characters and town are so believable and memorable, and the ending reveal is probably one of the best executed plot twists I have ever seen. It brought back memories and feelings long gone for me in a way that most artistic works have not in a long time. It’s honestly mind blowing how great it is and how many people bounce off of it for not being interactive enough.
One of the few games I've genuinely shed tears at during the ending sequence.
@@nobodythisisstupid4888 screenshotted your comment to check those games out. Thanks for the recommendations. 🫂
Pentiment and Norco both grabbed me that year.
Eh, Pentiment is basically the Pillars of Eternity narrative in a different format. Just wish Sawyer had a broader understanding of the topic, though, to his credit, he does a commendable job anyway. He deffinitely should consider more diverse consultation if he ever wants to tackle the topic again in the future.
As someone born and raised in Upper Bavaria, Germany, thank you so much for this game Mr Sawyer.
Ich komm aus Innsbruck. War einfach nur erstaunt und happy als die Stadt im Spiel erwähnt wurde.
It was crazy to see my tiny town FREISING in the game.
you are so gay lmao holy!
As someone born and raised in Northern Germany, thank you so much Mr Sawyer for making a game so great to make me stand the setting regardless
It's unquestionably one of my top ten games of all time, and I enjoy how they practically admit (min 12) that this game would never have existed if Umberto Eco hadn't written The Name of the Rose (such a great book)
I loved Pentiment, one of my favorite games of the past few years
noclip doing tremendous work, always raising the bar. hats off to danny and the noclip crew!
Hats off you say, nice try.
Pentiment was the most impactful story I played in the past 5 years or so, seeing all the villagers grow up through time really makes even the most secondary characters meaningful to the player and made me bond with them. Growing up in Northern Italy I also saw some elements that reminded me of my hometown's medieval architecture, making me feel both at home and slightly on the edge.
The game is a labor of love. Hannah and Josh faces are glowing while talking about it.
Hearing them talk about the challenges, I totally understand why we dont have more historical RPGs, but this game was such a lovely experience it made me wish it was a larger subgenre, it's such an immersive way to learn history.
Tbf all games are tremendously challenging. The main argument of people don't make historical games, because people don't wanna play historical games, is just absurd. Kingdom come deliverance, for example, was an excellent game
This is why I love playing Medieval II Total War and Shogun 2 total war. I can just immerse myself in the historical eras and come up with stories for my countries and soldiers. It’s great!
But yeah this blew me away at how much Pentiment scratched that historical itch.
My 2022 GOTY, and a Top 10 all-timer! A singular, inimitable experience. Video games rarely bring me to tears; I cried twice during my playthrough. Phenomenal writing, art direction and historical aesthetic. Full points to Mr. Sawyer and his small team for this masterwork. 🙏
Cool to see such a unique, experimental game like Pentiment get made at a large studio like Obsidian. I hope they're able to keep sprinkling smaller projects like this into the development schedule.
I played Pentiment for 20 hours and Baldur’s Gate 3 for 200 hours but Pentiment’s story and uniqueness has stuck in my brain for far longer and with greater emotional impact
Pentiment is a brilliant game that I would encourage everyone to at least *try*.
The way its characters exist, within the context of the created world and real world history, is nothing short of an achievement and it deserves an earnest look by everyone for this alone.
These characters feel like they exist for their own purposes and not just as some piece of content that the player interacts with. The historical context of its setting only deepens this feeling, as you could easily imagine normal folks living their lives this way at that point in time. And the game does this with nothing but charming visuals and dialogue that is steeped in humanity and realism.
Within my own life, I played this game when my newborn son was taking naps, and its themes of generational hope and conflict resonated with me and brought up feelings in a way that a video game had not done so before.
Thank you so much, NoClip, for taking a look at this game and the voices behind it, it means the world to those of us that really connected with this work of art.
Pentiment is definitely one of my favorite games. Watching Andreas's hat travel from him to Anna and then to her daughter was priceless =) It is because of such pleasant little things that I, as a player, get attached to the characters
Pentiment truly feels to me like the Golden Age of Graphic Adventure Games (from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s; afterward they first chased action adventure games in vain and then became and mostly remained mechanically barebones even in the Kickstarter-fueled renaissance of the 2010s) dialed up to 11, which is possibly the highest praise I can give. And great documentary, too. 👍
Well, Pentiment isn't mechanically heavy per se as well. As Josh argues, one of the inspirations was Nights In The Wood. That isn't a walking sim. But it isn't an experience full of condundrums and semi-open isle hopping/exploration a la Monkey Island 2 either.
But it's an interesting experience either way.
@@snakeplissken111i think pentiment is very much mechanically deep, the sheer quantity of threads in conversations that affect later conversations is a level of realism I always wanted in video games.
When you talk to NPC #1 about a stray observation, and two days later the NPC#2 AND #3 know about your conversation because the words spread up to the abbey through gossip.
Incredible game and well deserving of a video such as this. One of my favourites of the past few years.
They always choose the best games that need those behind the scenes❤
I never clicked on a video so quickly. I'm going to savour this one though. One of my favorite games of all time. So many unique parts of the development to explore too. Very excited!
I played and 100% finished Pentiment a couple of months ago. Loved it so much I had to order the physical edition immidiately. Amazing game, highly recommended!
Pentiment is a game cater made for me. An historical setting rendered in a stylised way that felt both expressive and authentic, but also telling a achingly human story. One that deals with the human conidition in the immediacey: Love, regrets, hatred, spirituality, rebellion and conformity. But it also ties those aspects into the historical medium it was built from, about how society progresses, and forgets. About how tradition and progress, with all it's ebbs and flows, are always at odds, and how they are never wholly good or bad perspectives. It tells this incredibly ambitous narrative so well, not just because of it's lofty narrative goals, but telling it through the lense of a gorgeously localised story. Sure Josh talks about some of the historical liberties that the story took, but it's because of those slight leaps that creates an incredible historical fiction that not only tells a story via history, but echoes through it, all the way from the illuminated manuscripts made almost a thousand years ago, right through our screens, and what a privelege it is to experience it. What a game, and what a video highlighting the human effort to accomplish it. I hope it is remembered fondly.
YES thank you!! I haven't watched yet but I absolutely loved Pentiment and I want it to get as much air time as possible.
My GOTY for 2022, no games have a sense of place and culture like the ones Josh Sawyer has a hand in. Can't wait for this
This has been my favorite game in years. So glad to see you guys are doing a documentary on it.
Pentiment is one of my all-time favorites. So grateful for this labor of love.
thank you for this. Pentiment is one of the most unique narrative experiences I've ever had and i loved every brushstroke of it!
I can’t explain what joy I feel when No clip uploads. Best channel ever.
I just finished Pentiment on my Steam Deck OLED 2 days ago! I loved it. I love basically everything Sawyer does. New Vegas, Pillars 1 and 2, Pentiment, etc.
No Icewind Dale? :/
@@snakeplissken111 Haven't played it. is it still worth playing? Does it work well on a windows 11 machine?
I immediately purchased Pentiment after listening to your GOTY podcast. So glad I did. Insightful documentary on a great work of story telling.
One of my favorite games of all time. Thanks for making a doc on this!
Imagine my surprise this weekend when almost by accident I download this game, and what an experience. I’m 34 years old, an anthropologist, and I love history. Without a doubt, a sublime experience, an interactive book that deeply resonated with me. I will think about the game for a long time.
I'm super glad that this unique game exist 😊
Pentiment is such an amazing game, easily one of the best games I've ever played. I enjoyed every second of it. I just wish we had more games like this. Thank you for making such a beautiful documentary and thanks to the wonderful devs ❤.
There's much of the old 80's-90's historical stuff to find on GoG and abandonware sites. If you can get them to run. Most of the grounded educational/scientific stuff gets buried in pop culture history, though, even if it was popular.
Omg yes! Just burned through and got the plat on PS5. This game is amazing.
I'm so glad your channel exists and has existed for this long. The work/effort you guys put in your videos is always phenomenal and it's the kind of stuff that makes me love video games even more. Pentiment was by far one of my favorite games of 2023 and of the last decade, it had been a while since I cared this deeply about fictional characters, their everyday life and their fate. A masterpiece.
I bought pentiment the day this was released, and waited to watch until I finished the game. It may have been one of my favorite games of the last few years. I fell in love with the characters and was so impressed with the art style that I completely forgot the entire story takes place entirely within a book.
I loved this game found it randomly on game pass. Binged it all in like two sittings sooo good, got everyone I knew to play it
I will share this with my gamedev students.
Pentiment to me was one of the first games in a long time to truly feel special. Absolutely loved it.
One of the most unique games I have ever played. The writing, music and art are all outstanding. The characters actually feel like real people and not weird npc automatons. Also, The Name of the Rose mentioned! Well done Josh, you've done it again.
This game changed me as a person. It's so well made I keep thinking about even a year after finishing it
I played Pentiment for the first time a couple days ago and thought to myself "I really wish there was Noclip-quality documentary about its creation." And what do I find right at the top of my subscription feed? Most excellent.
I live in suburb of Paris and fell in love with Alps suroundings, bavaria austria, slovenia etc... this game captures so well the ambiance of this region and by extension I guess, era. this is such a particular game that fullfill perfectcly my hungry of non combat focused rpg game. thanks Obsidian for bringing this game to life, thanks Noclip for that superbe documentary
Thank you for doing a Video on Pentiment! Loved it, so glad Josh and his team finally got to make a game like this :)
This game tickled my history brain-side and I loved every second of it. Had me picking up history books and documentaries on the HRE, Bavaria and the Reformation.
This was one of my top games in 2022, Obsidian are the goats. Great documentary as always.
Im currently playing dreadfire and pentiment. Love tom, truly inspirong person.
i'm sure you folks were pressed for time but i wish there was a section for the music which was also relatively period accurate with a lot of old instruments
thanks so much for this doc. incredible work
Been a gamer for 30+ years, Pentiment is easily one of the best games I've played!
I wish in bigger studios people were more oftenly allowed to sit down an be like: "Wouldn't it be great to have a game about..."
Rather than having market research, (low) risk management and focus groups dictating what's getting made next. Thankfully, ever since the explosion of digital distribution and the like, there's always gonna be the indies. But it's always interesting what people at major studios can do if they are allowed to do what they actually genuinelly WANT to do.
PS: I'm an avid RPG fan. But for the life of me I can't fathom how nobody is ever getting sick of elves, PipBoys and Cyberpunks by now for realz.
I don't think I fully appreciated when playing Pentiment just how much dedication they put into the historical details and settings - down to the small detail of character walk animations being toe first! Sure, anyone can see they did their research, and that Mr Sawyer has a passion for this particular period, but it's those little things that take it to the next level! This excellent doc has certainly made me want to revisit Pentiment just to appreciate it even more as a very unique game.
I love this game so much!! We can feel the dedication, passion and fun, so much attention to details!! I hope it inspires many gamemakers to do similar work, and maybe have stories from a variety of historical times, places and fantasy
I just finished my first playthrough of this game and will certainly be returning to it again to explore other storylines within it. Of course I can relate to two artists being the main characters, as one myself. Then of course, Magda is around my age now. I loved every bit from the characters' personalities to the art to the passage of time being evident. I've never played another game like this.
To the opening question: Because being inspired by real history means engaging with real political ideas. Having beliefs and ideas makes businesses and investors worry about losing sales demographics. So when historical inspiration does come into play, it must be cached in fantasy elements for plausible deniability. That or you swing in the opposite direction, like Ubisoft titles, with marketing around politics baiting but narratives that ultimately refuse to present ideas that could challenge the status quo.
One of the most affecting games I’ve played for a long time, without really knowing what I was getting into. I will always love and appreciate Pentiment; it is a truly unique experience.
Thank you Josh, Danny and everyone else involved in these projects on both sides. Superb game, superb documentary.
I'm not kidding when I say that this is my favorite project from Obsidian. Even more than F:NV. It's so full of passion and meaning that I couldn't help but be completely captivaded by such project. Thank you for this documental.
Playing it last year, Pentiment instantly became one of my favourite role-playing games and one of the most emotionally resonant gaming experiences I've ever had. I really hope its positive reception will prompt Obsidian, or even other studios, to continue pushing the boundary of role-playing game settings, stories and themes.
Best game I have played on my series S, I couldn't put it down once I started it, the period music, art style, quill scratching parchment took me to that time and place. Great to see behind the scenes and meet the amazing team that made this gem of a game.
Danny, I'm many sheets to the wind, so I'm sorry if this is gibberish and not necessarily germane to this video in particular. I just really wanted to say I think you make absolutely fantastic documentaries - you're so good in front of the camera and the amount of research that goes into every video is obvious and really appreciated. You're clearly very successful and rightly so. I think we're about the same age (late 30s?) so we possibly had similar gaming experiences so your opinions resonate especially so with me.
Long may you continue producing amazing content - I often, when feeling a bit low, plonk one of your videos on, maybe crack a beer or two and just sit with a smile on my face, drinking (!) it all in.
Big love and many thanks from a big fan. You're clearly good people and very talented.
That sounds patronising reading it back, I hope my sincerity comes across.
Good on ya lad, thanks for being ace.
I love Pentiment. It was one of the most enjoyable and memorable games of the past years for me. It certainly is on my personal "all time greats" list.
The art style of this game is absolutely wonderfully done. It's been a true inspiration to me and opened my mind to a totally new 2D style for games. I hope that there will be others out there that are also inspired in such a way.
Thank you for this masterpiece.
Two new games added to my library & a polished documentary
Noclip, thank you 🙏🏻
Brilliant game! Bought it on release, played a little, never finished though. It's like a good book. You have to be in the mood.
One of the best games of the last decade, a truly unique title. I'm sad we don't get more of these titles. Also a great video that kept it interesting and to the point throughout the entire runtime. Thank you.
Thank you for making this documentary Noclip! I stopped before the Act 3 spoiler section, bought the game, and binged it this week. What an excellent game I nearly missed out on.
Pentiment was fantastic. And the jokes and mystery utilized tge fact that ots a text adventure exceedingly well
So glad u guys made this, the game was so unique and it deserves much more recognition
Absolutely adore this game. Truly a gem, wish more people would play it! I hope Sawyer makes another one.
Thank you for working on this documentary! I have finished the game a week ago and this video came out at the perfect time! This is one of the games that would stay in my head for a really long time. Shoutout to the amazing artists and creators of this game that believed this would be possible!
The way Josh Sawyer gets so in-depth about the history and setting marks this as a true passion project. I'm glad he got to make something that's so special to him!
Wow, this was lovely. Pentiment is such a magical game, and I am happy that Josh finally got to do it.
The team that worked on this game from the animators to the artists are so talented!
One of the best games that I played in years. It has a very heart-touching story. And the art direction is so good! Thanks for making it (to Obsidian devs) and thanks for creating a movie about it (to Noclip).
This reminds me HARD of Mind-Maze in Encarta!!!
Gonna have to check this out just for the nostalgia factor even though this isn't anywhere near the same.
Huge fan here. I'm just going to start posting this on everyone of your vids--you guys just have to do a doc on Playdead!
Limbo, Inside, and their unreleased space game. I mean Inside is a masterclass. Low key one of the best games ever made. There is a lot of internal drama with Playdead, which is why their new game is taking so long to finish (if it even will). All this would be some awesome content!
Amazing art direction in this game. Their team deserves some recognition for their work.
Pentiment was one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had. I would love to see more games made in a similar style and with a similar depth of research and clear passion for their time period.
So grateful for this game and its narrative quality. Seriously stellar experience.
Finally! So excited for this doc!
I loved this documentary. It makes us know a new gem to discover and play… and most of all, enjoy. If it is as good as the documentary itself, I have no worry.
I've never seen a game so committed to a place and period in history. Pentiment was a delight and a triumph ! I hope it can inspire more historical, or at least history inspired, games with as much care and thoughtfulness towards its setting and characters. In any case, it's a very special game and Noclip never disappoints
Interesting to see the development of a game that’s essentially the platonic ideal of the subscription era of games.
Take an unbelievably talented group of people, let them make something experimental and small in scope, remove them from the pressures of a traditional publishing environment.
Makes me curious for what’s next out of Double Fine now Tim can focus on making games instead of making payroll!
Recently played this on PS5 and what an absolute treat it was to play loved the many references I caught throughout especially the heavy Andrei Rublev vibes in the 3rd act the love and care the team put Into this game is so evident I hope it gets more people interested in trying Historical Fiction as a viable genre in games as it worked so well.
Pentiment is one of my favourite pieces of art ever, loved this doc.
I'd love a follow up on this, digging up old devs and covering how this genre was pretty big in the 80s-90s. Ye olde Cryo adventures were my gateway games as a kid.
Another follow up covering the history and scale-realism fixation of last decade's Ubisoft, the adventure bits of Assassin's Creeds, or something on the family drama rpg aspects of the Crusader Kings or Total War games...
It's fascinating to me whenever devs actually get historic fiction, or anything scientific/educational, really, past their publishers. Loved hearing on that in this video.
What a great documentary; honestly everything about the art and modeling was just beyond fascinating, they really went above and beyond with this game
I'm really interested in the era of history that Pentiment is set in, and I really, really enjoyed it. It's not just a game, but a very solid piece of well-researched historical fiction. You can tell that Sawyer and the team had immersed themselves in the history, art and literature they were portraying. The decision to set the game over a long time period was a brilliant one, as it allows them to show how all the characters lives are affected by the broad historical trends affecting their world, the chaotic side effects of decisions you make as a player, and even the interactions between the two.
The moment that stands out the most to me isn't even a character driven one. It's from near the beginning of act 3. Up until that point, the games has used the liturgical hours the monastery uses to mark prayers to represent its in-game clock, but the monastery's power was broken at the end of act 2 and suddenly they're replaced with the mechanical clock on the Rathaus. It's just such an elegant way of portraying two simultaneous historical trends affecting people who lived through the time period. Firstly, rapid technological innovation as a result of the rapid spread of knowledge allowed by the booming literacy rates the advent of printing had enabled a few generations before. Secondly the transfer of power from ecclesiastical to secular authorities that happened as a result of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.
Those are pretty niche historical topics that few people are even interested in, and that one simple change in the game between acts conveys them in a way that even people who don't know very little about 16th century history will just instinctively understand. You don't need to know about Johannes Gutenberg or John Calvin to get that the old ways represented by the Abbot are out and new, more modern ways are in. It's a genius moment that condenses a whole history lesson into a few seconds.
Excellent work again Noclip! They sound like such a fun team to work in. Really glad they received the recognition they deserved
55:30 as a graphic designer who also dabbles in type design this is the part that I found the most intriguing. I was nerding out with the designers as they spoke about their process.
1:00:30 why is it that scope for type design projects always seem to balloon? The curse of perfectionism and ambition!
This game is a gem. Thank you for the documentary.
I am really glad that in this day and age of extremely overproduced AAA games we sometimes get a shining example that games don't have to be massive and sprawling. In fact games like Pentiment remind us that more often than not less is more.
It feels like a great casual point and click adventure Game and putting details into this gave depth for interactivity and it fit too. The previous point and click adventure game that I played was Ken Follets The Pillars of the Earth and it felt amazing finding a simliar game to this.
Crazy timing on this, i just bought Pentiment on sale the other day for Switch. Was going to start playing it tonight after Shogun ha
Absolutely loved this game!! The art style, music, characters and story were all done so masterfully.
Fantastic documentary work!
Played the game recently and was really glad to know way more about it
I was just looking at your upload history this morning and thought it was about time another doc showed up. This was great.
Pentiment was so good. I'd love to see Josh Sawyer make a Kingdom Come Deliverance type game.
What an awesome game. Stuff like this enriches our medium so much. Josh and Obsidian did it again
Playing Pentiment and reading Name of the rose simultaneously was a fantastic experience, this game is wonderful and a real gem.
I absolutely loved Pentiment and couldn't stop playing it. Great documentary on a great, unique game
Thank you for this! It was so interesting to learn the development process, and how other games, movies, and books influenced Pentiment. (Aside from Josh's reading list!) This was a game where the characters and place truly felt alive and vivid, and it was exciting to see how they changed over time.
I think Kingdome Come: Deliverance is the only other truly historical RPG I've seen. It's not an easy genre to get right.