There are so few answers to the questions raised by sentiment.
The plot of Pentiment is complicated and takes place over more than twenty years. It leaves us with a lot of questions but not many answers. This is on purpose. We’re not supposed to know every secret about every person in Tassing, because it was made to be historically accurate and, more than that, to have people who feel like people. Even if you live in a small town, nobody knows everything about everyone.
Maybe it’s just how a game about religion and how people see it is supposed to be. We can’t really know the answers to life’s questions, so they are for our stand-ins. But we can still wonder. And we will. Endlessly.
So…Who Did It?
This question is left open on purpose. The creators have been very clear that we’ll never really know who killed the people we looked into. Still, after playing the game, we can’t help but wonder. Were we wrong? Did we jump to any wrong conclusions that led to the death of someone who wasn’t guilty? How can we stop this doubt from making our minds and hearts hurt?
With so many possible suspects for both murders and only so much time to look into them, we can’t be completely blamed if we miss important details. We might have spent the afternoon with the wrong people and gotten biased information as a result. We could look at the situation as a whole and say that it’s really the system’s fault (which it is), but that seems like an easy way out, doesn’t it? We really just want to know who did it. We need to know that our investigation is right, or else we’ll always have doubts.
What Happened To Sabine?
Sabine, Andreas’s wife, is most likely still in Nuremberg. We never meet her, or at least we never meet the real her. She only exists in Andreas’s mind, as a fantasy made up of vague ideas and forgotten words. In the first act, Andreas doesn’t know her, but his brother sent him a sketch of her. By the second, they have been married for a few years, but Andreas still ignores her in every way he can: in his thoughts, in conversation, and by putting off going back to Nuremberg.
We know that she and Andreas also lost their young son to the plague, but we never really find out how she dealt with it or if she is dealing with it at all. Andreas doesn’t like the idea of going back to a house that is empty, but she is already there. How does she feel about living in an empty house? After what happened in Act 2, did she ever find out what happened to her husband? Or did she grow old waiting for a man who never came, just in case she could try again? We can’t stop thinking about Sabine, even though she is lost in the details of Andreas’ life.
Does Tassing Lose The Old Ways?
In Tassing, the customs are a mix of Christian and pagan beliefs. Their mythologies are so mixed up that they can’t be told apart. Everyone knows who Perchta is and has heard of The Wild Hunt (no, not that one), but all of their traditions have been heavily influenced by Christianity, almost to the point where they can’t be recognized. Few people still do things the old way, and even fewer will admit it.
Ill Peter is one of the few, and he might teach Ursula if you can’t get her to be interested in something else. But Peter the Ill is old. Like, he’s old when you first come to Tassing, and he’s still there 27 years later. He is the only one who knows the legends, so when he dies, he will probably take that knowledge with him. Child Ursula will be burned at the stake for heresy if you fail your speech test with her. Who, then, will keep the history of Tassing’s first people alive after she and her grandfather are gone? Is anyone there at all?
Magda’s Life In Prague
Magdalene goes to Prague to live with her friend Esther and her family, but we never find out how her life turns out. It’s not bad — Basket Random game has a satisfying end — but we are just curious. We can’t say enough about how good Magda is at art and the printing press, so we know she has the skills to “make it” in the big city. The question is whether she actually does.
You can invite Otto’s son, Otz, to come with you to Prague if you want to get a hint of how her life might have gone, but that’s not enough for us, is it? We, like Magda, don’t care much about who she marries or if she marries at all. What we care about is what kind of beautiful things she might do. Sad to say, it’s up to our imaginations.
Does Anyone Ever Discover Martin’s Secret?
When you meet Martin in Act 1, he is a scary guy. He isn’t much older than a child, but he already has a small child and a miserable wife. In your first paragraph, you make it clear that he is not doing his farm work, and things only get worse from there. No matter how hard you try to be friendly, every conversation you try to have turns out badly. Martin has no interest in you, his family, or anything else. After the first murder, he leaves town, but not before he steals some valuable things.
Then, in Act 2, you see him again. And he’s… friendly? Even though it’s been seven years and people, especially teenagers, change, he’s still responsible and works hard. He seems to be a whole different person. Well, that’s because he is a totally different person. Martin died soon after he left Tassing, and his criminal partner took his name and place. Some people may think he is a fake, but no one will say it out loud. If you don’t blame him for Otto’s death, no one will know that Martin is a fake. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t ever. Can he and his wife keep the secret to themselves until they die, or will someone find out what happened?
Caspar’s Fate
Oh, Caspar. Our wonderful, helpful assistant is a young boy who is doing his best to impress his caretaker and become a master artist himself. Depending on the choices you make, Caspar could leave Tassing on the night of the revolt and never come back… or he may run away and then come back to help you, giving his own life to save yours. It’s mean, especially if you cared about the child.
If he gets away, we will have to wonder what happened to him. Did he become a successful artist? Was he able to see his family again? What is he doing now? Does he still think about her? And if he dies on the night of the revolt, do his family and friends ever find out what happened to him? Or are we the only ones who have to carry this heavy load? No matter what, we hope he found peace.
…Will We Ever Return To Tassing?
It’s not fair to say that Pentiment, a great small-scale game with a complete story, needs a follow-up. In fact, the fact that it doesn’t want to make franchises may be a good thing. Still, you got so involved with this world, the people of Tassing, and their daily lives that you can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever see them again. Or at least their ghosts, who were as much a part of the rock in Tassing as the Romans were.
It would be so interesting to go back to this small but exciting village during another time of social upheaval and change. We now know this town. We want to see it grow and change, and if luck is on our side, maybe even thrive. Not to sound like a cliche, but Tassing is its own person. We don’t know where it’s going or if we’ll be able to see it.