General News - Pentiment - New RPG from Obsidian?

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WindowsCentral reports that Obsidian is possibly developing a narrative RPG called Pentiment:

[...]

Grubb mentioned that Pentiment takes cues from the likes of Disco Elysium and the branching narrative designs Josh Sawyer is known for. You'll be able to investigate and make accusations against the characters in-game, which could lead to cascading consequences if you're wrong. It'll be a dialogue-heavy game with decisions to make and response options to choose from, which will shape your experience as you unwrap the murder conspiracy before you.

I am told that Pentiment is being built by a small team of around 12 people, and is more of a narrative RPG adventure than something combat-oriented. The art asset above may represent some of the designs the game is gunning for. Jeff Grubb also mentioned that Pentiment is exploring "experimental" gameplay elements, too, although they may ultimately not make it into the final release. Speaking of which, Grubb also noted that Pentiment is indeed gunning for a 2022 launch.

[...]
More information.
 
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So that's the official name for their project "Missouri"?

Strange that people continue to compare that to Disco Elysium just because a journalist coined that. I'm still hoping it's more serious and Sherlock-Holmes-oriented.
 
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So that's the official name for their project "Missouri"?

Strange that people continue to compare that to Disco Elysium just because a journalist coined that. I'm still hoping it's more serious and Sherlock-Holmes-oriented.
I mean, if it's a murder mystery RPG with little to no combat that's the obvious comparison, even if they have nothing else in common. That said, I agree that in this game I would hope for more player influence in how the case pans out, which was lacking in Disco Elysium. I wonder whether they are going for a The Name of the Rose kind of vibe, based on the setting.

Either way, without combat or similarly hefty gameplay the game lives and dies by the quality of its writing, so the bar there's higher than it would be for a typical RPG. Hopefully Sawyer can control the expositional incontinence on display in the PoE titles.
 
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Name of the Rose vibe you say... Now I'm interested.
 
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I mean, if it's a murder mystery RPG with little to no combat that's the obvious comparison, even if they have nothing else in common. That said, I agree that in this game I would hope for more player influence in how the case pans out, which was lacking in Disco Elysium. I wonder whether they are going for a The Name of the Rose kind of vibe, based on the setting.

Either way, without combat or similarly hefty gameplay the game lives and dies by the quality of its writing, so the bar there's higher than it would be for a typical RPG. Hopefully Sawyer can control the expositional incontinence on display in the PoE titles.
It's true that Sherlock Holmes didn't have any character evolution, not in the ones I've played anyway. That would make this new game even more interesting!

What part didn't you like in PoE?
 
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What part didn't you like in PoE?
Only played the first one, but I thought the writing was aggressively dull. One reason for that was how every character was eager to give you a dry lecture on the setting. Worldbuilding's a dangerous drug, particularly for an overenthusiastic GM.

Wanting to show off your made up world is not an issue with historical fiction, but there is the related one of wanting to show off your research. I hope we don't end up with characters stiffly and painstakingly explaining to each other how sixteenth-century currency works or the proper way to put on pantaloons, as one does.
 
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Only played the first one, but I thought the writing was aggressively dull. One reason for that was how every character was eager to give you a dry lecture on the setting. Worldbuilding's a dangerous drug, particularly for an overenthusiastic GM.

Wanting to show off your made up world is not an issue with historical fiction, but there is the related one of wanting to show off your research. I hope we don't end up with characters stiffly and painstakingly explaining to each other how sixteenth-century currency works or the proper way to put on pantaloons, as one does.
So true! :) I played the 2nd more than the 1st (but never finished either of them), and I didn't find the writing dull in that game, but it was definitely imparting too much lore to the player through dialogues. It was not badly done, but it was still overwhelming to me at times.

That being said, I'd rather have a little too much than not enough. As long as we're not forced to take an exam at the end of course. ;)
 
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Only played the first one, but I thought the writing was aggressively dull. One reason for that was how every character was eager to give you a dry lecture on the setting. Worldbuilding's a dangerous drug, particularly for an overenthusiastic GM.

Wanting to show off your made up world is not an issue with historical fiction, but there is the related one of wanting to show off your research. I hope we don't end up with characters stiffly and painstakingly explaining to each other how sixteenth-century currency works or the proper way to put on pantaloons, as one does.

I'm wondering how you can write aggressively dull.
 
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For me, no combat equals no sale

Well maybe comparison to Disco Elysium is a way for good sales in this case - those who played it are used to not only thorough investigations, but also almost no combat, and walls of text of inner monologue, so for them only heavy-dialogue oriented will be walk in a park :) and if they will look for similar game...
 
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I prefer games without combat, and enjoy VNs, walking simulators, and detective games. This sounds like it should be right up my ally, if it isn't too dry.
 
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Maybe I'll actually watch someone play this rather than play it myself. Sounds a tad boring to me, I mean, I read enough already, when I fire up a game I expect some fighting will take place! -)
 
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Sounds like an adventure style game with role-playing elements. Well if it's half as good as The Name of the Rose, it might be interesting.
 
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Sounds like an adventure style game with role-playing elements. Well if it's half as good as The Name of the Rose, it might be interesting.
Yep that;s the impression I'm getting from all the available information. It might even be a type of digital novel adventure like the new Vampire Masquerade games as well.:nod:
 
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