Planescape: Torment Comes to GOG

[Andy Chalk]

Planescape: Torment Comes to GOG

Hold on to your brain-box, berks, because the chant is rum today: Planescape: Torment has landed on Good Old Games.

Okay, so maybe GOG dropped the ball with that whole "going out of business [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103601-GOG-com-Closes-its-Digital-Doors]" thing. And then maybe it gave the ball a kick, and it smacked you in the junk, and that stung a bit and now you're mad and you don't want to play anymore. But nothing says I'm sorry like a classic RPG trip through the City of Doors.

Planescape: Torment from Black Isle Studios was an absolute high-water mark in the RPG genre, which makes it an even greater shame that nobody played it. It was a great story, brilliantly told, and it eschewed many of the usual RPG conventions in order to craft a much more compelling and affecting experience, but it also sold very poorly, quickly becoming the red-headed stepchild of the Infinity Engine family. Fast-forward a decade, however, and the game has become a legend, due in no small part to the obscurity that followed its original release.

Now, thanks to the Good Old gang, RPG lovers everywhere finally have the chance to see what all the penny-gush is about. Unveiled today, the Planescape: Torment release on GOG includes a digital copy of the complete owner's manual, a pair of wallpapers, the soundtrack, 16 avatars, 104 "artworks" and a book by designers Chris Avellone and Colin McComb. The game retails for $9.99 and, like everything else on GOG, is entirely DRM-free.

Planescape may not have the instant accessibility of a Dragon Age [http://www.amazon.com/Diablo-Battlechest-new-version-Mac/dp/B0002BQN7Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285693264&sr=8-2] but for an RPG with some serious meat on its bones, you simply cannot do better. This is a game that will stay with you long after it's over and may even change your entire outlook on the narrative potential of the genre. And even if it doesn't, it's still a hell of a game. What can change the nature of a man? Find out at GOG.com!


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[Irridium]

I think I'm in love.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Oh...

*opens another window and finds credit card*

 

[Yossarian1507]

Ah, Planescape: Torment. My 3rd favorite game of all time (after Heavy Rain and KotOR II). I still have my old trusty box version I bought in 2000, and I still like to play it sometimes. In terms of plot and climax - only a few chosen can stand in comparison with this masterpiece.

Amen.

 

[procyonlotor]

I think this was their plan all along.

Stupid publicity stunt => YOU TRICKED US, ARGH! => Look, Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment! => OK, we forgive you.

 

[Shihoudani]

I'm torn..! I want to purchase this game right now, because it was my all time favorite RPG when I was younger. Thing is Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition comes out soon ... Anyway if anyone is reading this, this to me was a must have RPG above even Baldur's Gate. I thought the story was simply fantastic!

 

[Terramax]

Huh, so GOG isn't shutting down then?

 

[wastaz]

This is the best RPG ever made. I cannot believe...


I cannot believe I'm still here typing in this thread.
*goes off to GOG.com*

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Now see, I already own a copy that I've painstakingly copied over to my hard drive and configured to not require using the discs[footnote]Something you could easily do with any of the Infinity Engine games, but probably wouldn't have at the time due to space constraints.[/footnote] and transferred along with each subsequent iteration of my PC, so I don't really need to buy a new copy from GOG.

I'm extremely tempted to anyway after reading that list of extras. Soundtrack = very yes.

 

[Calatar]

snip

When I first got BGII, I had a 6GB hard drive. Baldur's Gate II full installation took over 2 GB of space. CD-swapping was practically mandatory for the games back then.

Nowadays, 2GB out of my 1000 GB HD is no biggie.

I've never actually played Planescape Torment, though I keep hearing it's very good. Though I don't actually hear much about the content of the game itself, just how good it is.

 

[Littaly]

Always kind of wanted to play Planescape. Never really got to it though, I promised myself that I would finish the Baldur's Gate games first, and I kind of got stuck somewhere in the middle. But mark my words, I will play it someday!

Worst part about Planescape is how I went around for years thinking that it was developed by Bioware. Turns out it's not. It's developed by Black Isle who published Baldur's Gate which in turn was developed by Bioware. Ah well, we all make mistakes.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

snip

I've never actually played Planescape Torment, though I keep hearing it's very good. Though I don't actually hear much about the content of the game itself, just how good it is.

That's because the setting of the game is difficult to explain and the people raving about the game (like me) generally want you to experience it for yourself without spoilers. Suffice it to say that the writing is fantastic, the characters are interesting and well-rounded, and the City of Doors is just a fascinating place to explore. Mechanically the game is a lot like Baldur's Gate, but they are very different animals.

 

[Tiamat666]

Planescape: Torment from Black Isle Studios was an absolute high-water mark in the RPG genre, which makes it an even greater shame that nobody played it.

I played it. But then again...

[img src="http://www.messengermods.com/data/thumbnails/66/i_was_uncool.gif"/]

 

[MisterShine]

I think this was their plan all along.

Stupid publicity stunt => YOU TRICKED US, ARGH! => Look, Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment! => OK, we forgive you.

...this.

Now I never have to worry about losing my discs AGAIN!! THANK YOU GOG!

 

[Jhereg42]

I've never actually played Planescape Torment, though I keep hearing it's very good. Though I don't actually hear much about the content of the game itself, just how good it is.

That was because people were respecting the game for what it was. If I told you that it was the harrowing tale of an amnesiac zombie man trying to figure out why everyone is pissed at him it would not really encapsulate the plot, although that is a somewhat accurate spoiler-free summary.

Suffice to say it is really a benchmark on how an interactive medium can tell stories that others cannot. The truth is that it is a game about a question that has a very complicated and open answer, and at the end of the game you are answering that question as much for yourself as you are for The Nameless One.

 

[Keava]

That's because the setting of the game is difficult to explain and the people raving about the game (like me) generally want you to experience it for yourself without spoilers. Suffice it to say that the writing is fantastic, the characters are interesting and well-rounded, and the City of Doors is just a fascinating place to explore. Mechanically the game is a lot like Baldur's Gate, but they are very different animals.

Pretty much that. Planescape was one of most interesting and unique settings created within Advanced Dungeons & Dragons mutliverse, sadly it got slaughtered by WotC to the point where it is only mentioned in few of the current additional rule books.
I think a quote form one interview summs the whole theme best:

Planescape was a setting where cannibal halflings could open an eatery and employ a Drow as the bartender while an angel and a demon fought each other on the floor of the bar.

 

[Andy Chalk]

The book, by the way, is a novelization of the game written by Rhyss Hess, based on the original text by Avellone and McComb. Just so's ya knows.

 

[Phokal]

snip

I've never actually played Planescape Torment, though I keep hearing it's very good. Though I don't actually hear much about the content of the game itself, just how good it is.

The game is heavily story driven, almost to the point of being an RPG-Adventure game hybrid. Playing as an amnesiac hero means most of the story and game is about discovery; not much can be discussed without spoilers.

The one thing I think I can mention. Planescape is a realm in DnD (like Forgotten Realm of Forgotten Realm's Baldur's Gate, or the core realm(?) used in NeverWinter). DnD has many different realms for different styles of play and art direction.
Planescape is the hub realm that connects them (via Portals and other pathways).

So,...there's a lot of room to do a lot...of things.