Game 15: Pentiment

Plays All The Things
Aug 13
21 min read

Updated: Aug 15

We begin on a page of a book.

I am using a rock to erase words that I can't read so that nobody else can read them, I suppose. Feels like a dick move.

Also this rock erases better than any rubber eraser I've ever used.

I don't know what that erasing had to do with anything but we're now moving on to the main game. We begin in the Year of our Lord 1518, Bavaria, in the Holy Roman Empire. The story starts in a dream scene where I'm choosing some dialogue options.

It's a little jarring to have all these historical trappings and then have a character use modern internet slang.

I am Andreas, an artist, currently finishing up some artistic work for the Abbott, and thereafter I shall go to marry a woman in an arranged marriage and live out the rest of my career.

I am awake, and trying to get my bearings. I'm wandering around screens like it's a point-and-click adventure, but for some dialogue and hitting tab, the game will inexplicably do this:

But we are also In A Book and we have A Long Finger

Ahhh, it's a clever way to do definitions.

Lady I'm not made of pfennings, be reasonable.

Last time I played with groschen was in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which I think takes place around the same era and isn't that far away. Also this bitch isn't getting one more coin out of me than necessary, I am leaning towards going full Artist Asshole on this game.

YES, thank you game - I can indeed be a jerk. My course is clear.

I'm getting some character creation options now. I am at a loss as to which one is going to be helpful here or what the eventual consequences of this choice will be, but we're close to Italy so let's choose the one background that doesn't let us understand Italian.

Italian's probably not that important in the Holy Roman Empire.

Hedonist is also tempting, two great choices here, but if we're going full asshole then we like fights.

Clever detail - Claus is a typesetter and prints text, so his dialogue is animated as such an appears all at once. Other character's dialogue this far has been animated as though it is being hand written.

It's a neat stylistic choice. Also the sound effect is of pen scratching / press stamping rather than voices.

I opted to go with fancy fonts because it feels true to the period and I see they've made some stylistic choices about fonts and people, but the game at the start allows you to opt for more legible ones if you find them hard to read.

The fancier the fellow, the fancier the font.

Oh are we getting involved in Protestantism against the Catholics?

I'm definitely up for agitating some religious strife.

Another character creation option - it's interesting that they've spaced these choices out a bit. Let's get Biblical!

The Law option is tempting for asshole potential but if we're doing a religion-heavy storyline we'll want Theology.

This guy, the Noble Lorenz is also an asshole, as he dismisses the presumably righteous anger of a peasant woman.

Another choice - there's a lot of different options for our hero.

Oooh, let's go Occultist and get... non-Biblical! Also Orator since I probably need to lie.

This is going well, I'm already contemplating making rent by stealing money from the church.

If it helps, it's for a good cause. Mine.

I hadn't really suffered tangible consequences for being a jerk so far but that seems like it'll change soon.

The game features a 'This will be remembered' note when you make a consequential decision.

The jerk options continue. The nice old monk Piero casually asks to see what I'm working on out of simple curiosity. "No, you may not see my work Piero!"

Take your fucked up beard elsewhere old man!

My objections notwithstanding, Piero comments on my efforts - a scene of November, with peasants leading their pigs to eat acorns before we slaughter them.

Piero points out that this is no longer done as various lords about the land have outlawed it, but I persist in that the image is being copied from an older book.

It leads to an insightful conversation ('But that is not how November IS anymore') about the truth of the book and the march of technology, and the concerns about writing and artistry no longer being the sole domain of monasteries, and the concern about what things will be like if many more people are able to read.

There's a interesting parallel there for this blog - who blogs a 'let's play a game' experience anymore? It's all videos now, right? In fact with the ubiquity of video media everywhere, people's literacy rate in the future may well decline.

Wise words. Not that Andreas will acknowledge them as such.

My first 'quest' is to retrieve some books that have been strewn about the abbey. The Librarian promises me more info on the Baron if I help.

I was not given the option to just be a jerk and refuse this task, I will only be helpful when forced to.

We get to see some of the books. This is now the sum total of my knowledge about the Aenid. Seems dark. Dido appears to have simultaneously stabbed and burned herself.

Lady, there's other fish in the sea - and they're right there!

Books that have been missing from the library for years are mere feet from the librarian's door. Who's the real asshole here, me or the monks that haven't been returning these library books? The last book is interesting - it's a French book (which my language helped recognize and read some of) that was ordered destroyed by Bishops 200 years ago. The librarian is going to destroy it on the Abbott's instructions.

The whole being an asshole thing proves to be a detriment in my ability to persuade her.

The sound effects for this scene are great; A windswept and creaky, desolate and eerie vibe frames the conversation. In this case at least, the problems caused by being an asshole can be solved by being more of an asshole.

All right! Time for Sext!

Sext is not nearly as fun as it will be if you wait 500 years.

Since everyone's busy eating it's a good time for a little reverse-tithing.

Yes I absolutely would have stolen all of it if the game had let me.

Wandering around the Church a bit I found a secret entrance to the Library!

Andreas just says 'I'll remember it' when I try to use it, so I guess it's for later.

The Ruffian background choice is paying dividends, I'm having a great time with it.

Looks like there may be some puzzles to be solved.

I do wish I could attempt to fiddle with it even though it's clear I don't have enough info yet.

Dinner at the Abbey!

I managed to stand-up a different dinner date in town to be here.

The Baron brings up Martin Luther and the 95 theses, which is a sore subject with the Abbott. I chime in on the side of Luther / The Baron and help make the whole event awkward, plus I think the asshole Nobleman Lorenz will like me more now - I'm not at all concerned about angering the Abbott (even though I suppose he could interfere with my work here). Some guy named Otto asked me to give their regards to the farmer's daughter that I'm housed with. Which means I won't say a word from him and will try my luck instead!

Hah, being a jerk finally pays off when persuading another burglar.

And more importantly, we got in good with Lorenz, the Noble jerk.

Skullduggery! Murder, murder most foul! I show up for work in the morning only to hear screams! Everyone gathers in the chapter house and we find Baron Lorenz like this.

Don't blame me, I'd leave fellow jerks alive.

'Hurt' is not the word I'd have used on finding the scene, and that turns out to be the right call. The Baron is dead.

The Abbott on the other hand is all about making this go away and sweeping it under the rug. This doesn't necessarily mean he's the murderer - the Baron had powerful friends that could shut down the abbey - but it's still very suspicious.

This doesn't seem very Abbot-like - maybe he's also an asshole and I should have been nicer to him.

Y.. yes? Is that an option we can pursue?

Mother Cecelia points out that the Baron's wife is arriving today and he has a servant waiting for him, so a coverup is not a good option.

Mother Cecelia talks some sense into the Abbot.

Now they are accusing Piero, the kindly old man with the insane beard, of the act! He wouldn't hurt a fly! Plus there's zero blood on him and lots on the victim.

Als if a 4' 6" 80-year old actually manages to violently murder you, you weren't trying very hard to live were you?

The best arguments are those that insult the innocent.

That argument falls on deaf ears. Piero is taken into custody and the Abbot kicks me out of the Abbey until tomorrow. The other monks sympathize with my view and also think Piero is innocent. I'm told to come back later discretely to examine the body. Time to wander around the town a bit more.

Ha ha, what a joker. How did this guy ever fade from history?

I'm off to investigate the murder.

This lady is happy about it and seems to have it out for everyone else at the abbey, she's great.

Mother Cecelia reveals that the Baron did 'Irreparable Harm' to one of the sisters last time he was here but then claims that this person could not have killed the Baron.

The Baron was even more awful than I initially assumed.

She won't reveal more than that but I do find out that records of it are in the library, so now I have a couple reasons to go there - I should also be able to decipher the puzzle I found earlier.

We find that the Baron was killed with a blunt object, back of the head. Even though he was stabbed, Florian believes the knife didn't kill him. Someone comes in and interrupts the Autopsy. I'm not actually supposed to be there and Florian tells me to hide, but I refuse and just stand there instead and get sent away - probably missed out on some good info there. Time to sneak into the library. It looks like I only have so much time to do things before the game moves on, so you have to choose how to investigate the murder and prioritize what you're doing. If you cared about actually solving it, at least. I'm happy to just do stuff and see what ends up happening.

The library is very informative!

I discover the secret to the puzzle I know about...

... probably a secret to another puzzle I haven't found...

... Sister Matilda is the one the Baron harmed three years ago!

Yours truly is of course fine with this, but our hero Andreas Mahler the asshole in the 16th century? Oh boy.

I'm hoping that I can hold this blasphemous act over their heads.

It works, they agree to keep their mouth shut if I do the same. I don't get much sleep because of the library thing AND the family's young child is up at 3 AM poking me in the foot with a stick. She can't sleep, so I tell her a story. A story about what happens to little girls who don't let visiting artists get enough sleep.

A note in Prior Ferenc's house indicates that the Baron was trying to make him perform an occult ritual.

I've stumbled upon something that seems like a motive.

The puzzle-cypher from earlier reveals something about a recently deceased monk, and the dirt there has been disturbed. My character mentions something about getting permission from the Abbott but I have generally been pissing him off and I'm more of a 'seek forgiveness after the fact rather than seek permission before the act' kind of guy.

But an artist has delicate hands, why should I dirty them? I lie and tell the brother that manages the cemetery that I have the Abbot's permission

He's pretty dumb. A word from me and he's off to the races helping me with grave robbing.

We are rudely interrupted by Mathieu.... who knew my blackmail was going to come in handy so soon?

Mahler's persistent smirk is perfect for delivering these lines.

We discover a cache of items, including a scepter that's the likely murder weapon.

I think Brother Ferenc may actually be guilty here.

But time runs out before I can confront him, it is evening and I learn the Archdeacon arrives tomorrow.

There's another dream sequence where I can mentally summarize all I've learned.

There is still a little time left. Matilda's shovel has blood on it, so I question her. I get the sense that there's multiple plausible candidates for the murderer.

So this is interesting - she has a note from someone.

Ferenc had a similar note delivered to him too. I'm beginning to think that whoever is leaving the notes is the real culprit and the other various threads are red herrings, but I'm rapidly running out of hours to find out who that might be. I spend the remaining time skulking around and seeing if other villagers are involved.

The guy on the right, Lucky, goes to honor a secret grave...

... the grave of 'Two Innocents' referenced in these notes.

So the Baron did a lot of bad stuff in this town, a lot of people have motive to kill him - and someone knows about just about all of it and has great handwriting.

Hell-o ladies, investigation is on hold for a sec!

I have lunch with the Charcoal-burner. You get the option to have lunch with various families over the course of the game and hear gossip about the town and other people's opinions. He talks about seeing a ghost, which I also saw very early on. Maybe the Red-Note leaver is also the specter. Also, he mentions seeing Ferenc do his occult stuff.

The ritual involved Ferenc's own blood, explaining how it got on the staff - which removes him as my prime suspect.

The hour has come, and I speak with the Archdeacon.

I'm committed to the bit, but being a jerk here is not going over well.

But hey, that's all right - I don't know who the killer is anyway, so someone innocent is probably going to hang regardless of what I do. I've got four people I can try to throw under the bus, and I think there's actually a fair bit of branching options within the game by this point - clearly the Old Angry Widow could also be a suspect but since I wouldn't do her damn chores for her I never found out more.

How about everyone? Everyone is getting thrown under the bus today.

Despite offending Judge Jacob here I might still be able to put the blame on someone.

Being a smooth talker makes up for my many sins.

Ferenc was a jerk to me and he WAS doing black magic stuff. Even if he's not the murderer he's more innocent than Piero.

The Archdeacon ends up taking my advice and Ferenc is executed.

Just remember that this is a form of justice - after all, Ferenc was rude to me. The abbot is unspeakably angry with me for everything I've done, including the grave robbery. What an ingrate, the Archdeacon could have had the Abbey closed down!

Act I comes to a close. Act II begins with an older Andreas returning to the small town after many years.

Well Guy I never wanted to see your face again either.

And you get another character choice about what Andreas has been doing in the meantime, cool.

Seven years is nowhere near enough time for me to change my ways.

I have an apprentice now, Caspar.

I work hard to break him of his hopes for his future.

The issue at hand today is that the Abbey is heavily taxing the peasantry and they are sick of it. Otto assembles the town and speaks what has been whispered.

Hear hear Otto, the Abbot especially deserves your wrath!

Some people I didn't see last time I was here try to calm things down.

They're concerned about the Duke getting pissed off if the town revolts against the Abbott.

The thing about being a jerk is that seven years ago I greatly pissed off Otto because I flirted - a lot - with the woman who is now his wife. But I also mightily angered the Abbot by supporting Luther... and also grave robbery.

Both sides in this dispute start off not liking me.

It's an anti-moral dilemma - I believe the side of the peasantry is the more righteous cause than that of the Abbey oppressors, which makes me want to side with the oppressors. But a revolution against the Abbey could result in soldiers putting down the townspeople and still equates to being a jerk to the Abbey, and in fairness to the Abbot he didn't strike me as a super evil guy so I don't want to automatically side with him. In such situations I think it's best to anger everyone and see what happens.

Back in my element, insinuating infertility.

The Gertner family I used to stay with isn't doing well, the kid and grandpa are sick and they can't afford much food. Caspar and I are the only ones at the table who are given bread.

I eat it last, let 'em stare at it for a bit.

Someone left a note in my room overnight.

The person that I presume is the original killer is not happy that I'm back.

The Abbot has responded to the cries of the peasants by closing the Shrine of the Hand of Saint Moritz, which just pisses them off more.

Those who pray here have to talk to the Hand.

The Library and Scriptorium closed some time ago, ended by the Printing Press and the disinterest of the current Abbott.

Things have changed, I wasn't allowed in here at all before.

In the library I find a book that matches the handwriting of whoever has been writing the notes. Unfortunately it's partially burned and the sisters don't know who wrote it.

Is this demon on the wall just helping out with the chores, churning some butter?

I'd like to take an interlude from some of my jerkiness to praise this game's understanding of history and my enjoyment of it's large variety of different ancient texts that it's made mention of, it's a very cool way to introduce these works to people - this is a video game you can learn a lot from. And without the game ever explicitly saying so thus far, what's being depicted here is a 'slice of life' for people living through a major historical event. But for Andreas, it's full steam ahead.

Some folks have had enough of me. Respect.

The Abbot invites me to dinner, despite basically exiling me from the Abbey seven years ago. He wants to give me his side of the story about this whole Abbey / town situation. He is not at all good at making his case, he's being an asshole about things. The Abbey owns the forest, the peasants must shoulder the tax burden, while we're eating Pheasant and plum pudding up here. Act II is a lot more linear than Act I so far, it hasn't branched out into letting me choose to interact with different people and paths as much. Another dream sequence as the villagers celebrate some semi-pagan traditions. Otto wants to defy the Abbot's instructions tonight, but I'm going to sleep through all that and see what the sunrise brings. Sleep isn't easy. Mahler had - and lost- a child with his new wife in the intervening seven years.

I wake up in the middle of the night and Caspar isn't home yet. I find him in the woods watching townsfolk in costume running around gathering herbs. The Abbot comes out to put a stop to it when we hear a scream from the town.

Quick Caspar, grab some herbs for us while he's distracted!

Otto is the victim. It looks like he was near a building under construction and a load of bricks fell on him. I think there is another murder to solve.

Maybe I shouldn't visit this town, ever.

Some people immediately accuse the Abbot of the deed. I point out that the Abbot was with us at the time and couldn't have done it.

Eventually we're locked out of the library by the Monks and Abbot hiding in there, while Peter wants to burn everything to the ground.

At least they don't seem to want to kill me anymore.

The irate peasants agree to give me just one day to find the real murderer or they will come for the Abbot. Which I don't really mind, I did great last time on a short time frame.

I decide to sleep in and burn through half the day before starting.

Now there's a lot of threads and options for investigation. One of the options mentioned was to go listen to people's confessions, which I assumed would be the most dickish of investigation options, but I did so believing that the modern practice of private confessions was older than it may be.

These confessions are somewhat less private than I expected.

The segment is cleverly done, sometimes the penitent wants to whisper their confession so I have to go up and light a candle to hear what's said, and there's only so many to light, so I have to choose which three confessions I think might plausibly give me a clue. Listening to confession gets me a lead on Guy, one of the monks who was apparently cooking the books at the Abbey - and Otto found out! Even better, Guy is a jerk! I have found the possible culprit that I will pursue to the exclusion of other possibilities!

Ah-ha! Stealing from the Church! What sort of MONSTER would do such a thing?!?

Night comes quickly, and a man simply cannot get any sleep in this town.

The irate peasants demand to know what I've learned and hold a midnight trial.

But the Trial is interrupted! A representative of the Duke arrives and demands that the peasants release the Abbot and other monks.

I get more time to figure out what happened.

In the morning I'm down to buying a round of drinks for everyone to see if anyone gets drunk enough to spill the beans.

I will accept anyone who gets drunk enough to admit they did the deed or anyone willing to pretend.

Oh, this is intriguing - Martin Bauer, the little thief that I encouraged to steal in Act I, has been acting differently after 'traveling the world' and also returning to the village. I figured it was just because he matured, but the doctor here says that Martin no longer has a scar that he used to have.

How interesting... perhaps it's not really Martin that returned?

That thread is immediately interrupted by the prospect of gambling!

I have no idea what game this is but I'm in!

Haha, this is great, my background in skullduggery gives me the option to cheat at the card game.

The house always wins, and this is my house.

While I was playing cards the drinking got a little heavy and one thing led to another which led to a full-on tavern brawl.

Caspar is quite wrong about how I feel about the result.

I took this opportunity to join the fight and trying to sucker-punch a mercenary.

Artists should not attempt to sucker-punch a mercenary.

I decide to continue my murder investigation by going on a hunting trip.

Ok, well, a hunting trip seems fun and you never know if you'll get a lead!

As soldiers bear down on the town, some villagers abandon Peter's cause, fearing violence.

Those that are left demand that I name someone as the murderer.

Being a jerk to Caspar all this time proves to be really, really good for him right now as Andreas tries to make him leave before some potential violence goes down.

Being an asshole is just the right thing to do sometimes.

And now, time to throw Guy under the bus.

Don't feel too bad for him, even if he isn't the murderer, he was still stealing money from the Abbey.

Guy ends up hiding in the Mill, protected by my former hunting partner.

Look Mr. Ten Second reload, only one person HAS to die, but you can make it two or three if you really want to.

He has the gun trained on Peter and shoots, but he misses and and kills someone else.

After all that, Peter agreed to not harm the brothers, but he has one last fuck-you in store for the Abbey and lights it on fire.

He won't hurt you provided you get the hell out right now.

Panic.

Andreas tries to save the books and burns to death in the process.

Frightened peasants and monks run outside right into angry soldiers which results in them attacking the peasantry in the midst of the inferno, and all in all a bad day for everyone.

Did my choices lead here or was it inevitable?

Thus unfortunately ends Andreas Mahler, but we get to see that Caspar managed to escape. Ironically I suspect that other players that were nice to Caspar may have gotten him killed here because he'd refuse to leave someone who was kind to him - so who's the jerk now?

Act II ends, and Act III begins.

Now, I'm playing as Magdalene, some years later based on her age. She was still a child last time Mahler visited the town. She's the daughter of Claus, the guy who runs the printing press.

It'll take more than losing a main character to make me play nice.

She finds a note in her father's house.

The mysterious writer is still around doing his thing.

More background choices! Magdalene has less going on in the 'asshole' department this time.

I think these background options have been well thought out, Mahler's options played into some neat dialogue choices and results, most memorably when I was allowed to cheat at cards which added an entirely new mechanic to the card minigame.

This is more my style for this playthrough.

We're off to a great start with our heroine.

That didn't take long MURDER MOST FOUL

Aw not Magdalene's dad! Even an asshole cares about their dad!

Attempted murder anyway, Dad will live.

Of course Father Thomas, I've never seen anyone steal anything in this town.

The Doctor says that Claus has brain damage and there's no way to save him - within days or at most months, the injury will kill him. So... eventual murder. Instead of immediately investigating the attack like the last two acts, Magdalene takes on her father's efforts to complete a mural on the history of Tassig. This section of the game is operating on a different timescale. I'm tasked with learning the history of the town so that I can paint the mural, and this starts with writing to Sister Illuminata who is elsewhere asking her what she knows and what's in her books, and then waiting two weeks for a reply.

I'm trying to get into an old mineshaft and do it safely, so I enlist the help of two troublemakers in exchange for assisting with their old-testament related frog scheme.

Sadly I didn't end up completing the frog thing and see it come to fruition, not sure what I missed but I definitely wanted it.

Ah, safely inside an abandoned mine - which as places go is among the most dangerous.

A very successful excursion so far, there's a carved Roman map of Tassig on the walls and I pick up a bunch of pottery shards, leading to this puzzle.

Someone tries to drop a rock on me just before I climb out!

The real murderer still lurks within the town....

Random jerk in the forest murders random pig in the forest in front of me to show me who's boss.

Time to work on the mural!

Since the peasants burned up their own history they deserve whatever I paint.

I found out a lot for this piece and I have a lot of options! Thus is history depicted, the historian chooses what to show from among what they have discovered.

One of our failures in teaching history is that many people don't appreciate that there's a lot of spin involved even with good history.

Exploring the ruins of the old Abbey.

It was never rebuilt after the fire and lies in ruins today.

Someone who is... not artistically gifted.... has been sneaking in here and painted over the Dance of Death mural.

This is a bit like that old lady with the Jesus painting.

The people here accurately remember my first character.

Christmas is a bit different in this century.

Personally, I've come to suspect that this guy Werner, the town doctor, is the culprit behind the notes and probably the murders.

The game hasn't given me many options to ever investigate him directly but he always seems to be involved, at least a bit. And being a doctor he's therefore educated and could have the amazing handwriting, though I guess that would break character for doctors. After the party I head home and check on Dad. He's not doing well, and asks me to get him some soup. I see the mysterious figure that nearly dropped a stone on me in the mine, but lose track of him. But he's still in the house...

Is this... Andreas? Maybe he didn't actually perish in the fire?

Andreas has been living alone in the woods and in the ruins, he couldn't let the murders and deaths go.

Skulking around mysteriously and abandoning his grieving wife means I've been playing Andreas the way he was meant to be played.

Mahler thinks he knows where the killer goes to hide - through the old Roman aqueduct to the ruins of the baths.

Dad says he's cool so I follow a crazy man into the sewer.

But when he comes to his senses, we've found their hideout. The culprits are Sister Amalie and Father Thomas. Father Thomas has been getting her to write the notes, without knowing how they would be used.

The village priest is responsible! I'm sorry I blamed the doctor. And that monk. And that other monk.

He did it all to preserve belief in Saint Moritz. Some people stumbled upon the truth - that the Saint was derivative of Roman depictions of their gods found in the ruins.

And the People can't handle the truth so they must be protected from it!

He admits to the murder of the original Abbott.. but not to the murders of the Baron or Otto later.

He believes it was all in service of the greater truth: That Christ died for everyone's sins. So he tried to stop Claus from completing the historical mural and discovering the truth in doing so. And now he tries to knock out the failing support beams and bury this room and its history forever.