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I never received it!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 66
Date: July 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

You say I ordered this game on June 13. I never received it, so how can I rate it?

I would like to receive a copy of this game so I can!!

waste your time and bucks

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 97
Date: July 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Those reviewers giving it 4 or 5 stars are fools.
The game is a piece of .... An hex on Black Isle Studios.

player's torment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 80
Date: July 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

this game is a real turkey. 1. the theme is goulish, almost disgusting; 2. the pace is extremely slow; 3. the player options are poor. Also, it " eats " memory out of your computer. I have nothing good to say about this game.

Stability problems

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 24
Date: June 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I can't argue with much of the content of the reviews here. However, be aware that the character control is really poor and that's aggravating in the extreme. I have a high-end PC with lots of memory and disk and the game crashes (just leaves for the ether), on average, about once for every 3 hours of play. The game has lots of nice dialog options, character 'alignment' (good/lawful/neutral, etc.), but the problems I've mentioned make it pretty low in my estimation.

Dissapointing for AD&D Players

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 44
Date: June 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I LOVED Baldur's gate. This game was dissapointing. It is much more geared toward role palying and you CANNOT die. That takes all the fun out of all those battles. If you are looking for a AD&D game, buy Baldur's gate or the new Icewind dale.

Torment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 33
Date: November 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm not going to knock BI, this is an awesome game, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would and actually felt that it was a bit limited as far as the games I have seen them roll onto the market. The graphics are awesome, the effects are awesome, and the storyline is great. The only complaint that I have is the character was pre-generated. I hoped that it would have been more open.

A good story tormented by disappointing gameplay

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 18 / 46
Date: September 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I really wanted to like this game, based on all of the praise it has received and the fact that I really don't have the time to play simply mediocre games. After having played the Baldur's Gate series and thoroughly enjoying it, I thought that this would be more of the same immersive fantasy-based gaming. On some levels, this game is successful in creating an interesting world to explore with some fascinating people to meet and things to do. The story itself is quite intriguing and well-written. The problem is that the game is slowly paced for the first several hours and is tedious throughout.

Gameplay: The controls are fairly simple and should be familiar to anyone who has played Baldur's Gate and similar RPG titles. Your character is an immortal amnesiac who must find out who he is and how to resolve his curse of immortality. The character creation options seem flexible at first, but they really aren't. While you can change classes during the game, you had best learn how to do one thing well, or there will likely be problems later. Also, your alignment (moral view) may change based on your actions, but many of the game's quests (including the main one) are scripted for "right" answers that might force your character to play out of character. Also, there are some unreasonable limits placed on combat. In 30 hours of gameplay, I didn't come across one projectile weapon, which meant that all fights were melee skirmishes. Moreover, you can't tell how wounded your opponents are until they actually kill over.

Planescape: Torment is a very text-heavy game, which is both its strength and greatest weakness. Whoever wrote the dialogue and story is a talented writer, and this would have actually made a decent novel. However, much of the dialogue gets in the way of the gameplay in ways that are truly annoying. You'll find yourself running back and forth between people, going through their entire dialogue trees looking for clues (several times). Sometimes those clues will not be found unless you know exactly who to talk to, when, and about what topic. Even then you might not get what you are looking for. Some of the quests are very imaginative, but others are greatly hindered by this ask-everybody-everything-everytime approach.

The dialogue issue would not be such a problem if it did not plague the main quest, but it does. I hate to consult walkthrough guides, but you will probably have to in order to get pass a few of the several places where you simply won't know what to do next, who to talk to, or what item you need. There is an in-game journal that can be useful, but even it won't point you in the right direction on some occasions (and "completed" quests are not always taken out of the "assigned quests" category).

Actually, this is the first computer RPG that I have played that could not hold my interest until the end. This was largely due to the tedious nature of the gameplay. I knew that it was time to quit when I defeated the main boss, just to get a message afterward that said that, in effect, I had not chosen the correct specific dialogue options before defeating this enemy. What??? It was like finally meeting Diablo at the end of Diablo 2, or Dagoth Ur at the end of Morrowind, or Jon Irenicus at the end of Baldur's Gate 2 and winning the fight, just to learn that you had not been nice enough in your dialogue responses before the fight started and thus would have to redo the 30 minutes of dialogue that preceded the encounter. Very frustrating.

Graphics: Visual representation is decent, even by today's standards. Character models look good, as do environments. The game does have a certain drabness about it, which is part of the storyline. But overall, the graphics are fine.

Sound: Decent, but nothing memorable. The weather in the main city of Sigil is always the same, so there are no thunderstorms or other ambient noises. The voice acting is decent, but quite sparse. More of it would have made the story even more immersive and less text-driven. The music was okay, but again not memorable.

Replayability/Value: I couldn't bear to get through one complete playing of the game, so I can't recommend it for repeat plays. If you insist upon playing this game, try to get it cheap ($10 or less). The story and quests seem too linear to warrant doing them a second time, especially since you are the same basic character during every game. There are a few interesting party members, such as Morte and Annah, but NPC interaction here does not measure up to the high standard set by the Baldur's Gate games.

Overall, I cannot recommend this game to anyone except very patient and/or hardcore roleplaying gamers. For everyone else, there are many computer RPGs available now that are clearly superior to the gameplay, story line, and graphics of Planescape: Torment. If you want to play a truely excellent, classic RPG, check out Morrowind, the Baldur's Gate series, Gothic 2, or even the Diablo series. Though it has a good story, my suspicion is that Planescape: Torment largely appeals to a specific niche of the computer roleplaying market, which does not mind its tedious dialogue system, linear questing, and bizarre story.

Gabriel Knight3

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 26
Date: March 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you want a game with a excellent story plot with lots of twists and turns, This is is. But also be aware the puzzles and the solving of this game are about impossible without a hint book. This has to be the hardest game I have ever tried to play. I have played both G.K. 1 and 2, and they were a cake walk compared to this. But as I said the story plot is very intersting. I recommend this game if you don't mind getting the book too.

Maybe it's just not my thing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 29
Date: June 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I don't know, I bought this game way back when thinking it was going to be like Baldurs Gate..... Big Mistake. While the graphics and interface where similar I just didn't comprehend it. Maybe if they would have had a thing where you could travel to other plains like Dragonlance or the Forgotten Realms it would have been better, but all in all the game seemed... moderate at best. Like I said, maybe it is just me, but where Baldurs Gate succeeded, this game failed.

This is a good introduction to AD&D

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 16
Date: July 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

What would happen if there was a place where there existed a portal to anywhere you wanted to go, both real and imaginary? You would find yourself in Sigil, the city of doors, deep in the center of the multi-verse known as Planescape; a place where the mere belief in something will cause its existence. You play the role of 'The Nameless One' an immortal being with a touch of amnesia, in his search to find out about himself.

Gameplay:
Torment utilizes the Infinity Engine made popular by Baldur's Gate, yet it seems to be geared more toward the new RPGer rather than fans of BG. The interface is probably, the only downside to this game. Everything is accessed through a circular right-click menu that is accessed during a paused game. Everything from talking to your characters, changing weapons, casting a spell and using special abilities is run from this window. It's a good idea in theory, yet it tries to do too much with too little. The original quick buttons found in BG were a much more efficient set-up.
The game uses a slightly modified AD&D second generation rule-set. As with the interface, the rule set has been simplified in this game. You have no choice to your starting character. Simply put, you are the nameless - an immortal human male, who starts as a fighter. During the game, you have the option of changing between your starting class of a fighter and a thief or mage. There's no dual-classing, switching to another class is like building a new character, yet switching back, you will find all your previously earned experience saved. Your available party members are not only locked in whatever class you find them in, but are, for the most part, locked in their weapon and armor choices.
What makes this game one of the better RPGs on the market is the story. In your quest to discover yourself, you learn about the story and concept of the planeworlds, an interesting universe where belief is very fabric of being. Though it introduces the player to the world, the story is very linear and you'll find yourself without much choice in the matter besides your decision to play good or evil.

Graphics:
If you've played any of the Black Isle games on the Infinity Engine, you'll be very familiar with the sights and sounds of Torment. It's a bit more zoomed in than the others, and that can lead to confusion when trying to cross long distances without the use of your mini-map. But for being 5 years old and only 800x600 it is very artistically done. A lot of work was put into creating a town that looks and feels like it could be the center of the universe. Besides the obvious, the game has aged very well.

Sound:
The ambient music is excellently done, as well as the voice acting. The biggest problem is in the game's EAX manipulation. If you have this turned on, you'll be hard pressed to hear the voice-acting in any outdoor or cavernous scenes as it just blends into white-noise. Besides that, the only annoyance comes with the apparent necessity to have your characters have a voice prompt after they do *anything*. After you've heard one of your character announce they have stealthed for the umpteenth time, you'll be hoping to never hear it again.

Overall:
While it's a fun game, it's not quite my cup-of-tea. Your character is immortal, you die and wake up somewhere with your inventory intact. For the most part, you can go around with your level one thief and try to take out City Guards with no side effect. The game is just too easy, even at the hardest settings. Add that to the severely linear gameplay and at times it becomes a little slow. It's your typical quest driven RPG without much in the way of side quests. Luckily, you have a variable alignment which can change depending on your actions, and that adds a little to the mix, but not enough. If the story wasn't as well written, then this game would have been a flop, so pick this up as a nice interactive novel, but don't expect a second play through unless the best RPG you've played before this is FF.

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