Pentiment Review (pikacat)
A long time ago, I got a master's degree in medieval literature. This is going to be a very niche review for a very niche game. My degree is basically unhelpful and I never use it, but I can say definitively, this game is extremely well-researched. Amazingly so. I think pretty early into the game, I realized I was in for an experience when my hedonist character name-dropped St Augustine expecting me, the player, to be like Ah, yes, haha!
One thing that I love about medieval literature is the loss people endured at the time and the imagery people used to cope during this time period. While Pentiment is not strictly medieval (more the time period where late medieval slides into the Renaissance), a lot of the imagery is from late medieval works, including Beatrice, the dream vision guide coping with the loss of a child.
Aside from the blow your mind fonts that are *also historically accurate,* I was really shocked to realize I was playing a choices matter game that was delving into the politics of literacy, Martin Luther, the advent of the printing press, and how this related to the Great Peasants' Revolt (or a mini version anyway).
I did enjoy thinking about this message again, though, because it had been a while since I had thought about the importance of literacy, the control of access to knowledge and critical thinking. I realize this is far too thinky of a review on Steam, but this game is special and I think it deserves to be noted that this game reminds us that tens of thousands of people died for our ability to share books not only in the vernacular language, but in accessible fonts and in mass production. The danger was evident to the ruling class and you can see the control of information and access to education again today. Pentiment reminds us that a society where ruling groups control how education and freedom of certain rights are doled out to the other classes is a form of bondage that restricts upward mobility and change.
It also reminds us of how many people died so that we could write stupid reviews like this. At least on my play-through, in the credits, it showed me of two characters who ended up being burned at the stake as heretics. While we do not have this danger nowadays, I hope it reminds us of the luxury we have of reading in the vernacular, and of having the right to move freely around the world no matter of our gender or race. This game also reminds us to consider how we should fight to keep these rights accessible to fight for better days.