Pentiment is More Akin to Night in the Woods, Oxenfree; Offers Roughly 15-20 Hours of Playtime

Obsidian Entertainment’s Pentiment was finally revealed at the Xbox and Bethesda Game Showcase and has had a positive reception thus far. Set in the 16th century, the narrative adventure game is about journeyman artist Andreas Maler who works in the Kiersau Abbey scriptorium. Unfortunately, he becomes entangled in a series of murders over the next 25 years and must interrogate all and sundry.

As revealed on Xbox Wire, all of Andreas’ choices are up to the player. You can decide his lifestyle and educational background, what he’ll be doing each day (which can range from eavesdropping to digging up bodies), and so on. Each decision has consequences that will affect the community throughout generations.

While various rumors reporting the game as similar to Disco Elysium, director Josh Sawyer clarified the same on Twitter. “Something that has come up a lot is the idea that Pentiment is like Disco Elysium or inspired by Disco Elysium. That’s only true in the sense that Disco Elysium is a great game and inspirational in a broad sense (also that it doesn’t really have a combat system, but that’s kind of secondary).”

“Pentiment plays much more like Night in the Woods, Oxenfree, or Mutazione with light RPG elements and a branching narrative. I have huge respect for what Disco Elysium accomplished, but I don’t want people to think that Pentiment will play all that similarly,” he said in a follow-up tweet. When asked how many hours the game would be, Sawyer responded “Probably 15-20.”

Pentiment is out in November for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. It will also be available on day one for Game Pass for Xbox and PC.

BTW, something that has come up a lot is the idea that Pentiment is like Disco Elysium or inspired by DE. That's only true in the sense that DE is a great game and inspirational in a broad sense (also that it doesn't really have a combat system, but that's kind of secondary).

— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) June 13, 2022

Pentiment plays much more like Night in the Woods, Oxenfree, or Mutazione with light RPG elements and a branching narrative. I have huge respect for what Disco Elysium accomplished, but I don't want people to think that Pentiment will play all that similarly.

— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) June 13, 2022

Probably 15-20.

— Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) June 13, 2022