Obsidian's long-rumoured Disco Elysium-esque narative game has finally been revealed at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase today. This also confirms that the name getting circulated around last year was accurate: Pentiment.
Pentiment was officially revealed alongside a trailer. It is one of the man games in development at Obsidian currently, alongside Grounded, Avowed, and The Outer Worlds 2.
Rumours began circulating about Obsidian's new RPG last November, when it was reported that it would take inspiration from indie hit, Disco Elysium. We also found out that it would revolve around a murder mystery, as we play as a 16th-century investigator looking into a grand conspiracy. This leak was backed up by a job listing earlier this year, where Obsidian was hiring for an unspecified project, but one that used a different engine than The Outer Worlds.
As we can see in the trailer, many of the details from these reports were quite accurate. In its 2D animated form, it's a lot different from Obsidian's other RPGs - but it is a studio that thrives on providing a very unique experience, so that's hardly surprising. You can also see the Disco Elysium influence in the gameplay, especially the conversation system.
If the leaks were totally accurate, then development is being helmed by Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer, giving us some idea of what we can expect. Aside from that, it's said to be developed by a relatively small team - perhaps freeing up space for The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed. One thing's for sure: Obsidian is a very busy studio right now, perhaps one of the busiest Xbox subsidiaries.
Pentiment is launching November of this year, but it will be an Xbox and PC exclusive. Like all of the games from Microsoft's subsidiaries, it will be available on Game Pass from day one.