See it to believe it
Josh Sawyer is a name that has been familiar to RPG fans for decades. He's worked on Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights 2, Alpha Protocol, Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and most recently Pentiment. How did he get into game development, how has his design philosophy changed over the years, and why did he decide to do Pentiment a little differently?
Those are some great games. Icewind Dale I & II are underrated.
If Larian made Icewind Dale III, I'd lose my mind.
What a fantastic, thorough interview.
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "When it’s all said and done, Pentiment is one of the most impressive narrative adventures in recent years. From the words scrawled across the page to impressive background details, there's a distinct appreciation for history coming out of every pore; moreover, it doesn't merely succeed at doing its homework, but also in fashioning unique visual storytelling that harmonizes with its rich narrative & themes. There are some specific design and narrative critiques, but none of them outright smother the abundant successes. For a title so reverent of history, it feels like divine justice that Obsidian's special adventure earns such a high spot in the annals of its own."
Pentiment demonstrates Obsidian Entertainment's ability to develop excellent games in genres that are currently little explored and Xbox Game Studios' ability to offer these games for new platforms.
"Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom 2022, Pentiment director Josh Sawyer said the team didn’t pitch the game to Microsoft, but rather got straight to work. Obsidian only told its publisher about the game after several months of development, feeling it needed to be seen to be understood."
That's one of the benefits of a hands-off approach. You can actually experiment and build something first, rather than pitch a game that's difficult to explain.
Was definitely a passion project for Sawyer.
Hoping it lands like similar experiences such as Planescape and Disco Elysium.