Anyone here play video games?
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I recently finished playing Pentiment on my PS5. The game has been on XBox and PC for a while already, but came to the PS5 a few months back under Microsoft's recent push to release its games on more platforms.
The narrative is excellent. I could easily see the story re-written as a period novel.
You play as Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist completing his masterpiece (required to attain the rank of 'Master') in 1518. He is doing this work at an abbey in the fictional Bavarian town of Tassing when a visiting Baron is brutally murdered and one of the monks with whom Andreas is close is blamed. Armed with a short list of alternative suspects, Andreas must gather evidence to present to the court to try and clear his friend's name before the judge arrives in a couple of days' time.
You do this by discussing events with the brilliantly written townspeople, finding clues in the environment, and making the odd deduction.
There's some replayability by virtue of the fact that you won't have enough time to fully investigate each suspect - you're left with a nagging feeling that you did your best, but did your evidence condemn an innocent person to death? - so you should play it through at least twice to see all possible avenues of enquiry. You also get to make some choices early in the game about Andreas' prior life experience which open up some dialogue options and close others. Your choices in dialogue will in turn also affect how other characters react to Andreas and whether he forms friendships or fosters animosity with the other townsfolk.
The early bubbling of what would become the Reformation and lead to the German Peasant's War provides a wider political backdrop to events, with subtle impact on the story. There is also a wider conspiracy at work which, once you've seen the ending, is subtly hinted at throughout the game if you pay attention. It has that satisfying quality that a movie with a twist ending has, where repeat watchings give you those 'aha' moments when you notice something which foreshadows the twist.
Artistically, the game has been heavily influenced by the Nuremburg Chronicle, with the characters and world drawn in a flat, medieval style. Yet the characters remain surprisingly emotive despite this self-imposed limitation by the developers.
I highly recommend it if you are after a particular type of experience. The game is very narrative driven, with almost no gameplay to speak of besides movement and pressing X to enter and progress conversations with other characters and make selections between different responses. But for a narrative that stuck with me and had me thinking about it for days after completing my first playthrough, I can't recommend it highly enough.
I dunno if you're into video games, @endo, but I thought you in particular might get a kick out of this given the setting and your interest in early Christendom.
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Thanks for this review and the recommendation @EdH I do play video games, for almost 40 years. Started on a Commodore C64, later early PC games, console for the last 15 years, currently also on a PS5. Apart from my faith, most of all I love shooting Nazis and zombies. But your review sounds very interesting and the setting reminds me of ‚The Name of the Rose‘ (but later in time). All in all the advent and early years of the reformation were fascinating times. Will have a look at it. Thank you.
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@RoxRocks86 I’ve been slacking so bad at finding a nice rig to attach my wheel and pedals to. Really a bit apprehensive about my lap times suffering tho since I’ve only ever known controllers for racing.
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Was sick at home for a week and played Alan Wake 2 on ps5. Great game. After mostly playing multiplayer games with friends like raft, enshrouded or some shooters it was nice to follow a more story driven game that feels like playing a movie
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What up my peeps? As the new COD is a few weeks away, and having stepped away from shooters the past couple of years, I’m curious if anyone plays Warzone? I just played my first couple games and feel like it would be good to run with peeps, not solo dolo. Also looking to shape up before BO6 returns and round-based Zombies is back. Happy to run some Zed too. Let me know y’all! PSN: deadendpro
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Currently obsessed with Returnal. A little late considering it was released three years ago, but damnnn if this isn't the most intense gaming experience I've had in my life.
I'm generally more of a casual indy/puzzle gamer but this has grabbed me by the throat and never let go.
Infuriating is an understatement, but I'm loving the whole loop/concept of it all!
“𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑡, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡.”
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Recently started Baldurs Gate 3, this game absolutely rocks. I’m 20+ hours in and still only in the first act. It’s wild how big it is.
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@GardenState I'm playing on my phone at the office, and playstation at night... The only thing that curved the addiction originally was having to leave the house...
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@GardenState so much fun though, with new free content coming out in Jan too apparently
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@T4920 Oh great now we're both going to be unproductive phone Balatro addicts.
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@T4920 Mate, between that and Vampire Survivors, my productivity would be nil. I don't install games on my phone for this very reason.
Vampire Survivors is also on PlayStation now and it's fiendishly addictive...
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@alexxedge The furthest I've gotten is ~250 hours in, and didn't even finish that playthrough. My problem is that I get bored of my character and want to start a fresh one before I get too far into Act 3.
But yeah, the game is insanely good value for money.
Take the dive...
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@T4920 HMU if you want to do a little Returnal multi-player. I'll be rusty, but I need to dip back into that game to finish off the Platinum trophy. At this point I think I'm basically just on the grind to find the last few randomly spawning collectibles to get the true ending and achieve 100% completion on the collectible screens.
Take the dive...
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@EdH I can definitely see that happening. I almost immediately regretted some of my character design questions. But, the story is great. I’m stick in Act 2. My wife is in Act 3. Neither one of us have been able to pick it back up since our vacation. I may just have to put in some time this weekend since there is no F1, and I’m primed to ignore yard work.
