Planescape: Torment.
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Not the best game in the world, but certainly the BEST story.
Surface gameplay functions as a dumbed down Baldur's Gate (DnD), but the entire experience is more or less an interactive novel.
When you ignore the cliche overhangs you get from the DnD universe, it is quite amazing.
You really need to approach this game differently, although if you are used to Black Isle the transition shouldn't be too hard.
Surface gameplay functions as a dumbed down Baldur's Gate (DnD), but the entire experience is more or less an interactive novel.
When you ignore the cliche overhangs you get from the DnD universe, it is quite amazing.
You really need to approach this game differently, although if you are used to Black Isle the transition shouldn't be too hard.
Like felltablet above me mentioned; Planescape: Torment is not really the best game ever, its got a plethora of problems like glitchyness, crashes on XP, unbalanced gameplay and horrible combat. However, it has the best story ever put into a game, ever. Period. There's no debating this really and if you're trying to debate it it's only because:
A- You never played Planescape so you're still under the impression Final Fantasy or somesuch is high art in storytelling or
B- You simply didn't understand the story or you skipped dialogue and were expecting a convinient cinematic to go about explaining the plot for you in easy to bite bits like most games do. Torment doesn't!
Planescape: Torment taken as an interactive novel is genius. If it were a book, it'd be among my favorites! The story is eccentric and strange beyond all reason, yet still compelling with such an imaginative style to itself you can't help but be drawn in. The characters although similarly strange beyond all reason, are believable. How can a talking skull, a chaste succubus, a body-snatching demon girl, or a possessed suit of armour be believable you ask? Play Planescape and find out. The overall plot is riddled with symbolism, questions of morality and all sorts of tough questions that leave you wondering long after the credits are over as well as many genuinly touching scenes. Not to mention this is one of those games where to really appreciate the plot you'll want to play through the game multiple times, there really is that much in the game it's impossible to see and learn it all in one playthrough.
All that said, as a game, it's somewhat mediocre. Although it uses the same fantastic engine that powered Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, don't expect the same level of quality tactical combat here. Planescape's combat I've found is usually tedious and dull. Similarly although not bad, the art design has not aged so well and looks muddy and unclear. Sound is excellent however! Great voice acting and a memorable musical score that differs from the usual high-fantasy orchestral stuff you usually get in rpgs.
Long story short: If you play this game for the story, skip nothing and explore as best you can, you WILL fall in love. In this respect Planescape: Torment is top dog! But if you go in there wanting thrilling gameplay, in-depth statistics or fun tactical combat, you'll only end up leaving dissapointed. Take that as you will.
As for where to find it? Ebay is yer best bet. The game has been out of print for years now, sold terribly. Plus the games developers, Black Isle, folded awhile back. That's about all I think of, I still treasure my old boxed set with the huge ugly orange box (probably half of why the game sold so badly) much and wouldn't part with it for a fortune.
Oh, and if you do get the game, a tip for ya. Max out your int and wisdom scores as soon as you can, then work on charisma. If you try playing the game as a warrior or rogue, you'll only be getting half the story. High intelligence, wisdom and charisma scores are essential. Becoming a mage as soon as possible is helpful, it's not hard to figure out how.
A- You never played Planescape so you're still under the impression Final Fantasy or somesuch is high art in storytelling or
B- You simply didn't understand the story or you skipped dialogue and were expecting a convinient cinematic to go about explaining the plot for you in easy to bite bits like most games do. Torment doesn't!
Planescape: Torment taken as an interactive novel is genius. If it were a book, it'd be among my favorites! The story is eccentric and strange beyond all reason, yet still compelling with such an imaginative style to itself you can't help but be drawn in. The characters although similarly strange beyond all reason, are believable. How can a talking skull, a chaste succubus, a body-snatching demon girl, or a possessed suit of armour be believable you ask? Play Planescape and find out. The overall plot is riddled with symbolism, questions of morality and all sorts of tough questions that leave you wondering long after the credits are over as well as many genuinly touching scenes. Not to mention this is one of those games where to really appreciate the plot you'll want to play through the game multiple times, there really is that much in the game it's impossible to see and learn it all in one playthrough.
All that said, as a game, it's somewhat mediocre. Although it uses the same fantastic engine that powered Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, don't expect the same level of quality tactical combat here. Planescape's combat I've found is usually tedious and dull. Similarly although not bad, the art design has not aged so well and looks muddy and unclear. Sound is excellent however! Great voice acting and a memorable musical score that differs from the usual high-fantasy orchestral stuff you usually get in rpgs.
Long story short: If you play this game for the story, skip nothing and explore as best you can, you WILL fall in love. In this respect Planescape: Torment is top dog! But if you go in there wanting thrilling gameplay, in-depth statistics or fun tactical combat, you'll only end up leaving dissapointed. Take that as you will.
As for where to find it? Ebay is yer best bet. The game has been out of print for years now, sold terribly. Plus the games developers, Black Isle, folded awhile back. That's about all I think of, I still treasure my old boxed set with the huge ugly orange box (probably half of why the game sold so badly) much and wouldn't part with it for a fortune.
Oh, and if you do get the game, a tip for ya. Max out your int and wisdom scores as soon as you can, then work on charisma. If you try playing the game as a warrior or rogue, you'll only be getting half the story. High intelligence, wisdom and charisma scores are essential. Becoming a mage as soon as possible is helpful, it's not hard to figure out how.
whoah whoah whoah here...
you should buy the game and check it out for yourself. but, let me know just say, it is possible to not like it. and if you find yourself not having much fun 5 hours into the game...drop it
i _loved_ fallout 1 and 2, so i figured i'd like planescape. but i didn't. i also didn't like Baldur's Gate much, and planescape felt more like BG than Fallout, imho.
give it a shot. just don't expect to find God.
you should buy the game and check it out for yourself. but, let me know just say, it is possible to not like it. and if you find yourself not having much fun 5 hours into the game...drop it
i _loved_ fallout 1 and 2, so i figured i'd like planescape. but i didn't. i also didn't like Baldur's Gate much, and planescape felt more like BG than Fallout, imho.give it a shot. just don't expect to find God.
"It's a great game, with just two minor drawbacks. Firstly, you can sit back and let your 25 Int, Wis and Cha finish the game for you, and secondly, you can sit back and let your 25 Int, Wis and Cha finish the game for you. Now I realise that technically that was the same point, but I thought it was such a big one that it was worth mentioning twice."
[/Kryten]
I mean, seriously. Start with 18 Wis and Int and 12 Cha, then pump them up in that order. I'm going to have to solo Sigil one of these days and see how many levels I can get (Without abusing the respawning Hive Thugs) before I'm all done in the various Wards. Then I suppose a trip back to pick up the experience leeches.
It's all about the Mage. More specifically, it's all about abusing the Mage-only +2 Int tattoo. Seriously, though. 18 Wis and Int to start off with, two level-ups in the starting area alone, a quick trip to the pub to talk to O for a Wis bonus... That's 21 Wis right there. Then all you need are the +2 Wis tattoo and two +1 ones. That's 25, and then you just have to become a Mage, put points in Wis each time you level and swap out each +1 Wis tattoo for +Int one by one, and then +Cha ones. In the end, it shouldn't be too hard to reach 23 in all three of those stats, wearing the +2 Int, Wis and Cha tattoos (And maybe not even that, if I'm remembering correctly and the level 12 Mage tattoo gives you extra Int on top of the bonuses you get from actually reaching level 7 and 12...).
And all the experience needed for exceed your Fighter level at that point is easy to get. Just pick up Dak'kon after becoming a Mage, and that EXP is as good as yours.
And as for the bits that you can't talk your way out of? Well, if you can't Mage your way out of them, you can always pick up an experience leech or two (Morte and Dak'kon work well) and cruise through the battle.
It's a great game, with great graphics and sound (Although with problems running on modern systems. Indeed, the Ice Knife spell caused my computer to crash unless I dropped various graphical settings into the Stone Age), and definitely should be in everybody's collection.
[/Kryten]
I mean, seriously. Start with 18 Wis and Int and 12 Cha, then pump them up in that order. I'm going to have to solo Sigil one of these days and see how many levels I can get (Without abusing the respawning Hive Thugs) before I'm all done in the various Wards. Then I suppose a trip back to pick up the experience leeches.
It's all about the Mage. More specifically, it's all about abusing the Mage-only +2 Int tattoo. Seriously, though. 18 Wis and Int to start off with, two level-ups in the starting area alone, a quick trip to the pub to talk to O for a Wis bonus... That's 21 Wis right there. Then all you need are the +2 Wis tattoo and two +1 ones. That's 25, and then you just have to become a Mage, put points in Wis each time you level and swap out each +1 Wis tattoo for +Int one by one, and then +Cha ones. In the end, it shouldn't be too hard to reach 23 in all three of those stats, wearing the +2 Int, Wis and Cha tattoos (And maybe not even that, if I'm remembering correctly and the level 12 Mage tattoo gives you extra Int on top of the bonuses you get from actually reaching level 7 and 12...).
And all the experience needed for exceed your Fighter level at that point is easy to get. Just pick up Dak'kon after becoming a Mage, and that EXP is as good as yours.
And as for the bits that you can't talk your way out of? Well, if you can't Mage your way out of them, you can always pick up an experience leech or two (Morte and Dak'kon work well) and cruise through the battle.
It's a great game, with great graphics and sound (Although with problems running on modern systems. Indeed, the Ice Knife spell caused my computer to crash unless I dropped various graphical settings into the Stone Age), and definitely should be in everybody's collection.
It depends what you like about games. I like to log on for 45 min to an hour and kill shit then log off. I started playing Planescape and was quickly bored into a near-comatose state until I got tired of it and switched over to CoD4. I have shelves of books for my fantasy fix and no patience in video games unless the gameplay is such that I am never bored.
Actually if I( recall the game is available via Gametap and that is likely the cheapest way to get your Planescape fix. If you like Baldur's Gate, you will likely find something enjoyable here as it is almost a mix between D&D and Discworld.
In this case, saying *why* might ruin it for you. I reckon I can say, however, that Planescape has at its core a living, breathing world. Merely by existing, it draws you in and makes you feel a part of it. Everyone has their own story, and even the most generic of NPCs could talk your head off if you asked them the right questions. Torment has quality and quantity when it comes to dialogue, and I haven't found a single NPC that I considered to be "just there for plot purposes".
I'm not the right person to ask about "emotionally captivating" games, and Torment does have wit, mostly from Morte, Annah and their interactions with each other and other characters.
Torment is just... Torment. I can't really explain it.
I'm not the right person to ask about "emotionally captivating" games, and Torment does have wit, mostly from Morte, Annah and their interactions with each other and other characters.
Torment is just... Torment. I can't really explain it.
You are correct about GameTap. I'm not one to do a company's adverts for them, but I really love my game tap and Torment is one of the main reasons. Also, the tons of other great old school RPGs.Hengst2404 said:
But yeah, it's not a game for everyone. I would agree with a couple of the above posters that mentioned that the game should be viewed as an interactive book. It can be really slow with the action and there can be a whole lot of back n forth, but if you like a good story it's totally worth trying out. Hell, having a smart ass floating skull as your first companion should make you want to try it right away!
It's just better than all of them. It's about as dark as D&D fantasy can get. The characters are all amazing, even the extras. There's funny parts, there's badass parts, there's creepy parts. It's one of those stories that resonates on every level. Despite the fact it's aged poorly (looks better than Fallout, but The Nameless One is about 8" tall on a 20" screen, and the actual gameplay is pretty bad), it's so damn immersive the in-game cut scenes can give you chills.Terramax said:
I played it for the first time last year, and I couldn't stop because the story and world were just so interesting, despite the fact it's a dinosaur.
As luck would have it, Chris Dalen wrote a bit about Torment for us [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_7/47-Planescape-Torment] a while back.
The story is highly complex and each segment, each little quest (well, almost) has it's own little tidbit of genius. It's sort of like the graphic novels The Sandman. It's very surreal, but there's a system to the madness.
Actually, that's the best comparison I can make to the story in Torment: The Sandman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandman_(Vertigo)
edit: I just read that Torment-piece, and I doubt it could be said better than that without revealing too much : )
Actually, that's the best comparison I can make to the story in Torment: The Sandman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandman_(Vertigo)
edit: I just read that Torment-piece, and I doubt it could be said better than that without revealing too much : )
Some of my fondest gaming memories are from torment.
I saw a copy in the bargain games section are Target the other day.
There's some on amazon too, but it looks they're charging collector's prices
I saw a copy in the bargain games section are Target the other day.
There's some on amazon too, but it looks they're charging collector's prices