Recent reviews by gobi desert

totally messy and kind of critically flawed but also probably a masterpiece? its not really a horror game so much as a detective VN with underutilized but near genius gimmicks. no anime brain rot to be found and the characters are all written with pathos and dignity. the character design + art is a real highlight. as a narrative it is very explicit with its themes but they are GOOD themes so it works for me. there are many small thematic branches littered through the game that are still engaging/thought provoking which is an absolute treat. I got pretty stumped a few times which is typically rare for me with these kinds of games so my advice to anyone curious is: Go in knowing nothing and take your time, let your brain soak in the threads and put things together yourself.

a sequel that doubles down on all the wacky ideas and gimmicks would be a GOAT contender but unfortunately im pretty sure this thing bombed since Squeenix didn't ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ market it. A friend recommended it to me like a year ago and I had no idea it was even on PC until a week ago, they buried this thing. the actual sequel has been relegated to a manga releasing next year and i feel that it losing the interactive element won't do it justice but if enough people pick it up it could create some momentum for another game. either that or this poor dev team survives another decade in the industry making ports and nintendo slop just so Squeenix can give them a microbudget to make a sequel to a beloved cult classic...

a bit mid innit?

the most refreshing FPS in a long time. GOATed soundtrack by Machine Girl. i played a lot of great games this year and this is easily one of the best among them.

Needs some tuning but crazy to see a non Content Slop Marvel game that is also good. Magik is my wife also no steal

UFO 50


(GOTY)

Vote UFO 50 for GOTY

people complaining about this game being too hard or whatever are straight up crying babies. game does not hold your hand but if you take the time to look at the difficulty settings it recommends that new players players play on Squire, and even as a returning player I played through on Squire and had a fantastic time. The game REWARDS you for challenging yourself and learning by becoming more engaging each time you beat the game. this is the exact kind of ♥♥♥♥ you guys complain about game journalists doing and yet there are hundreds of negative reviews complaining.

Fantastic game give it a shot if you like retro platformers

Excellent little detective game. Sound design is GOATed across the board. Highly recommend going in with zero context.

Great game. Please add more mechanical depth to the following: War, Republics, Disease, and Counts/Dukes. Also please let me form the Plantagenet Dynasty for christ's sake

It is easy enough to acknowledge Pentiment as a unique accomplishment in the medium in regards to how well researched it is, how passionately it commits to its time period, or how creative and refreshing it feels in this current generation. Those statements may all be true and well represented in the coverage it's received since release, but still somehow it feels as if the praise bestowed does not do the game justice. This is a major work, and for me, impossible to see as anything but a masterpiece. Nearly every detail adds up to a greater whole, what might be a quirky addition in another RPG in Pentiment ends up challenging our pre-conception of where the narrative is going, the time period (particularly the people of that time), or the literary influences it displays overtly and boldly on its sleeve. None of that subversiveness would mean anything if Josh Sawyer and the team at Obsidian did not have a vision to communicate many deeply moving and often uncomfortable truths, and it's in that space of empathy and the desire to reach out and consider the constructs, natural mysteries, and complexities of the world we inhabit where the true beauty of Pentiment is revealed. The conclusions (or lack thereof) Pentiment comes to may resonate in the context of the struggles of our time, but the greater point seems to be that all of history is felt no matter where or when we are, even if the material knowledge of the past alludes us. Obsidian have succeeded so tremendously in (as Brother Piero puts it) illuminating a path to truth with Pentiment that it is difficult to imagine other works being worthy of comparison, but one day something else will come along, and as The Name of the Rose is erased and overwritten here, so too will Pentiment be.

Incredible. Just play it.