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Thought-Provoking philosophy for you computer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: March 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game reputedly sent the writers close to madness with all the dialogue they had to write. This is unlike any other RPG. The plot and character development rival the Final Fantasy series. Add to this the fact that you choose your alignment through actions and they multitude of ways to win, and this will keep you busy for months!

A BIG hit for the new year!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: January 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have played many RPG/Strategy games, and so far, is completely dynamic, and is different each time you play. Sometimes, you can be an evil mage, bring chaos and mayhem to every street and every slum, or you can be a saintly fighter, helping damsels in distress. The graphics are stunning, to say the least, and the music and sound FX are up to the usual Black Isle productions standard, which is stunningly high. I ordered the game directly from Interplay, before it was released, and I am very glad I did. If you Planetscape Torment. It is one of the few RPGs that I will happily call a "must have".

A great but disturbing RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 21
Date: March 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of the best RPGs I've ever played. It ranks with Fallout 2, Bard's Tale, and Baldur's Gate as the best RPG ever created. But, be warned, this is not for children. Dead bodies that have been cut open for disection are common in the first part of the game, piles of body parts are found in another area, and the whole plot of the game is very mature. I would not recomend this game to anyone younger than 17.

Like any true RPG, the game is about choices, and in this game you face real choices nearly every 5 minutes, lie or tell the truth? Help someone or let them suffer their misfortune? You learn things about your own "character", some which reflect badly on you. You can try and make amends, or brazen it out. Other characters you meet react to you based in part on your actions and choices earlier in the game. Only the games Fallout and Fallout 2 have previously had this level of gameplay.

The characters that can join you are (mostly) wonderful. Dakkon, Anya, Falls from Grace, Nordom are all great companions with their own stories and (sometimes) with dialog between them. The funniest dialog occurs between Nordom and Falls from Grace (it sure seems like Nordom has a thing for the Succubus). For me, at least, Morte (the floating skull) didn't work as a character. It turns out that Morte knows just about everything you are trying to find out during the game. His reasons for not telling you things were not convincing.

Other things: combat is fun, but can go too quickly if you leave it on the default mode. Spell effects were kind of "over the top". Halting the game so they could play a cut-scene spells was iffy IMHO. I understand the designer's point, that magic should be "spectacular" but stil...

Bottom line: I was very concerned before the game was shipped that it would be too wierd to be enjoyable. It was bizzare but it was also facinating. Brilliant game design married to a deeply thoughtful plot puts this game into the super-star list of "games you must play".

Brilliant story, but with a few serious flaws

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 21
Date: May 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Let me say, first off, that this is without question the most absorbing, immersive computer game I've ever played. It's very close to being my favorite game of all time, but it has a few nasty flaws that keep it from being as amazing as it probably should be.

Torment allows you to make real choices about your character's personality.The player has the same freedom of choice in conversation that they do in Fallout, but with greater complexity befitting a later, more advanced game. The Nameless One's alignment (moral character and ideology, for those not familiar with Dungeons and Dragons) begins as neutral, and goes in the direction of good or evil, law or chaos, based upon the player's actions and decisions. This is a real breath of fresh air after Baldur's Gate 2's ludicrous 'choose an alignment at the beginning of the game and stick to it or lose experience' system. There's room for real character development here, and as such a real sense of involvement with the Nameless One.

The other characters are very deep and complex as well, and almost universally have their own agendas. Even the most trustworthy have something to hide, and one really gets the sense that these are people, characters with depth. The story, for its part, is fascinating, sophisticated and dark. If I were to say more, I fear I'd give away something, and this game has some very interesting twists and turns.

The combat is simple but fun. It's a lot easier to get into than the gameplay in the Baldur's Gate series, but also less interesting to master. The dialogue is where the real meat of this game is located, so players who are interested in RPGs for the battle tactics may be disappointed. On a related note, the six character attributes are much better balanced than in Baldur's Gate. Unlike Baldur's Gate, intelligence, wisdom and charisma are not useless dead weight. Instead, they are critically important in dialogue and various special encounters. If anything, they're a little over-powered, but they're still much closer to fallout's well-balanced attributes than Baldur's Gate's are.

Unfortunately, this game isn't all wine and roses. It suffers one serious flaw in its gameplay: combat is far, far too easy. As I've said, combat isn't the main focus of the game, but it's still kind of disappointing to be taking apart abishai (powerful lesser devils) easily with my low-level party. Even without taking your immortality and ability to raise the dead into consideration, the combat is still too easy, even with a diplomacy-focused character.

Also, despite the amount of choice given to you as to the development of your character, the game is actually rather linear. You can do a lot of interesting things on the side, and make the nameless one into a sadistic monster, a saint, or anywhere in between, but the basic thread of the story remains the same. Of course, this may not be a problem for some, but I still found it a bit disappointing.

The game's last major weakness is the last third or so. With the exception of the final dungeon, it feels very unfinished. The areas you go through have nowhere near the number of interesting characters or sidequests. There's very little new information to learn about your companions, especially compared to the wealth of information available in the early game. Certain characters have huge amounts of hints and foreshadowing surrounding them, then go nowhere. And the stages of the main quest all start looking pretty similar, too. Every time you talk to an NPC who is supposed to be the be-all-and-end-all fount of knowledge about your past, they send you on to someone else.

I may sound a bit harsh here, but I really do love this game. It's just that it's easier to talk about the faults without giving too much of the story away than it is to talk about how brilliant it is. I urge you, though, discover the latter for yourself.

You can call it literature

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: August 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Planescape: Torment is one of the deepest and thought-provoking games I have ever played. In that respect it resembles great literature -- it tackles the human condition and asks as its central question: "What can change the nature of a man?"

As a game, PS:T straddles the boundary between Role-Playing and Adventure; unlike most RPG's, you do not create your own character but rather assume the role of The Nameless One. However, you have complete control over how "TNO" evolves, from his skills to his morality. This restriction allows the game to be so focused, but it can also be a turn-off for more free-wheeling gamers. Similarly, your choice of companions and the plotline are also bounded, which for me is also a strength but for others may be restrictive.

The game displays incredibly deep writing and thought: all of the major characters, including yourself and your companions, are complex, deep /people/ with personalities, motives, and quirks. The way your companions interact with each other -- and with others -- can be delightfully entertaining. (In exchange for less control over your party, you gain this incredibly rich set of personalities). Your own character evolves with every decision you make; tell a lie and you become less Lawful; act selflessly and you become more Good.

I would recommend this game not simply as one of the most entertaining titles you'll ever pick up, but also as a work of art, a glimpse at the intersection between gaming and literature.

One of my favorite RPG's

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: December 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Even though this game is many years old, it is still among my favorite RPG's. It is truly an example of substance over style. While it doesn't have flashy graphics and sound effects that one expects from games circa 2006, it makes up for this with a unique and deep plotline.

In a nutshell, you play a character who wakes up in a mortuary without any memory. You must explore your world in order to piece together who you are. Learning about yourself is like peeling back the layers of an onion; every new fact you learn creates new mysteries for you to explore.
Along the way, you meet a group of travelers each with their own complex backstory which only adds to the intrigue.

The other thing to mention is that, even though the game nominally uses the D&D-style RPG system, the game itself in no way resembles anything dungeony or dragony. The world in which the game is set is totally unique, but it obeys rules which are internally consistent within the parameters laid down by the game designers. The depth of the setting and the attention to details really brings this world to life.

There are some of your typical "dungeon crawls" and "messenger quests", but much of the plot is advanced through conversations with various characters. This is one of the few D&D-style RPG's where traits like Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma are actually more valuable than Strength and Dexterity. You can accumulate a lot of experience through conversation. If you like slasher-type games, though, this may not be to your liking.

The other thing is that you have a lot of control over character development. You have the ability to evolve the character's profession, stats, and even alignment as the game develops. Alignment is based upon the choices that you make in the game, which is pretty cool, and much more realistic than other games.

Overall, this is a very unique and enjoyable game that takes a more cerebral approach to RPG's.

Torement will be a classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: May 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

By far the best computerized RPG I've ever played. Far superior to Baldur's Gate. The graphics were attractive, the story engrossing and and the characters fascinating. It's the only computer game that I started over and played again as soon as I finished playing it the first time...the fact that you can play the game differently and develop your character in different ways is a real novelty. It was also nice that the game often departed from the traditional "hack and slash" format of so many computer role playing games and often rewarded clever role playing far more than it did violence (there's plenty of combat for hack and slash fans, however). Even the music was good because it was varied and appropriate to what was happening in the game...kind of like a good movie soundtrack (this is the first time I've played a prolonged computer game that I actually left the music on for the whole time). I think that fantasy or D&D fans who don't usually like computerized role playing games mightlike this one. The main drawbacks are that the game is a bit buggy in places and occasionally crashed, even though my computer exceeded the minimum system requirements. Downloading the patch from Black Isles website helped a bit but sometimes I had to reboot because the game started to run really slowly. The fact that I stayed intrigued in spite of this is a testimony to the quality of the game. Just don't start playing this when you've got a big project due at work or are getting ready for finals in school because you will find yourself staying up until 4:00 AM for this one....unless you have way more self discipline than I do.

You need this game, cutter.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: January 16, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is the game to get. The story is very detailed and allows you to become your character. Your character is immortal and can become a thief, fighter or mage and can switch off between classes. Need to bash someone's head in? Fighter. But then you want to cast spells? Just find someone to train you in the art of magic. The graphics are awesome and spell animations are superb. But my favorite part of the game is that you do things that no other game has touched. To join you you can get a floating skull with an attitude problem, a pyromaniac that pissed off some people and so now is constantly on fire, and a suit of armour that carries a big axe. If experience cap so 9th level spells are all there and experience is plentiful. Just make sure you are on the right side of the tracks.

A cool spin off the D&D system

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: August 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you've ever played Baldur's Gate this game should be fairly familiar to you. It uses the TSR D&D rules (although instead of having your stats rolled out for you it assigned a certain number of points you have to spend) and many of the creatures that inhabit the D&D world.

You play the Nameless One, a man who dies and comes back to life over and over again. You have bo idea who you are or what you're doing, and have nothing to guide you except a note tattooed on your back telling you to go visit a man named Pharod. From there you're plunged into a great long adventure all about finding out who you are and how you came to be what you are.

The perspective is akin to Baldur's gate and Diablo, although unlike those games there are no multiplayer capabilities. You still are able to pick up companions in the game such as Morte the floating talking skull, Annah the red haired half-demon woman with a rat's tail, Ignus the fire elemental, and many others. All of them have their own skills and their own personalities. (Quite often they'll bicker at each other!)

I really loved the myriad of sub-quests in this game that you can run through or avoid at your leisure, and also the fact that most of the experience points earned in the game come from TALKING to people and discovering new things instead of just bashing lots of monsters -- although there are plenty of monsters to bash as well.

As you progress your actions determine what alignment your characters is, and you have the option of being a fighter, a mage, or a thief as you progress. It's a really great game with plenty to do and tons of entertainment time.

And remember to ask yourself, "What can change the nature of a man?"

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: March 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Planescape: Torment is a rarity among computer and video games. Rather than focusing on combat, the game is largely centered on roleplaying. I suspect that many people reading this review have played the Baldur's Gate and/or Knights of the Old Republic games. I did too, several times, before playing Torment. As such, I'll gear my review to this audience.

If you're looking for white-knuckled battles and powerful magic items, don't bother. That's not the point of Torment. The RPGs you've already played will sate your cravings. On the other hand, if you want an interactive graphic novel, you'll love this game.

The story is the centerpiece, and it's all to do with The Nameless One--your character. The game is a journey of discovery as Nameless slowly learns what he is. I never found an excitingly powerful weapon or suit of armor; I only found three fights in the entire game to be somewhat memorable--and even then, only because of who they were against, not because they required any great strategy. Yet I was consumed by the story. Without giving too much away, I can say that Nameless is caught between life and death, never truly experiencing either. Each dialog presents you with a variety of moral choices, making this a great game for pure roleplaying. On the downside, character creation is pretty inflexible. You set Nameless' stats, but everything else about him is predetermined. The story kind of requires it.

Fortunately, the story is a very well-written one, and the dialogue is sharp and clever. The graphics are 2D sprite-based, not 3D, so some players may feel as if they've been thrown back into the age of Super Nintendo--but not to worry. The environments are lush and deeply detailed, the characters are well-illustrated, and animations (such as spell effects) are interesting to watch even now. The user interface is rather clumsy and irritating, but the game is so dialogue-heavy that the UI isn't your primary concern. The sound and music are adequate--no more, no less. Given the copious amount of dialogue, it's a shame Black Isle didn't see fit to record more voice acting. Fans of Fallout, Baldur's Gate, and Knights of the Old Republic will recognize a few voices--and, I suspect, wish for more audio to properly convey these characters' emotions.

It is a small cast. In all, seven characters can join Nameless in his trek (as opposed to the 25 of Baldur's Gate). However, each character has his or her own unique set of sprites and animations, special items and talents, and backstory. KotOR fans are already familiar with a cast who have all been affected by the player character in some way--in that respect, this game is much the same.

To be completely honest, I think the concept of Planescape: Torment is better suited to a novel than a game. There is a novel, in fact, but the reviews are unimpressive. So play the game!

(Oh, and one more thing--crank Nameless' Intelligence way the hell up. Trust me.)

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