This is the first time I'm writing a review of any sort. I tried to keep spoilers to a minimum of course, and to remain objective thoughout. I just hope my style is not too pretentious. All feedback will be welcome.
The foreword
Again you woke up with no recollection of what happened to you. The first thing to greet you is a floating skull calling you "chief", telling you you found your way into the Sigil Mortuary - again, it would seem. Again you have died and again you have forgotten, as was your fate for who knows how long, and who knows hor many incarnations. But this time, that will change, as you can finally die without forgetting. You will set off to a journey to discover who you are, and how it came to be that death itself refuses to take you.
Do not think it will be easy, Nameless One. The enemies set out to strike you down will be the least of your concerns - most of the time. Incur the wrath of the wrong person, and your journey will end forever, without answers. The real dangers, however, lie not in threats or violence but in the persistent and quite literal hauntings of your past lives. You will need to face who you were to discover who you are, and the picture will not always be pretty. Still, play your cards right and you will be able to reclaim your lost mortality - do you have what it takes?
Welcome to the Planes, and welcome to Torment.
The "where"
The world is a huge, sprawling place, and you will explore it in the isometric perspective. Starting in Sigil, the City of Doors, where you're likely to spend the better part of your journey, and to find every secret it hides, you'll need to look hard, and search every nook and cranny - and even then you can't be sure. The world under and beyond Sigil offers much to see and explore as well, of course, from catacombs and your own tomb to the Outlands and the infernal plane of Baator, from strange mazes to the Negative Plane. The movement is made slightly easier in Torment because the "You must gather your party before venturing forth" rule from Baldur's Gate is not in effect, nor do you get ambushed between screens.
The music accompanying your travels is beautiful and fits the theme, but unfortunately due to the shortness and number of the tracks tends to get repetitive with time, so that's a bit of a drawback. The world itself will make sure you pay it as little thought as possible, however.
The "who"
Ah, the characters. Starting off with the protagonist, The Nameless One, you can immediately tell this is not your generic story. Torment gives us the immortal amensiac whose countless lives and deaths have left him scarred and battered, not a hero out to save the world, not the chosen one by one prophecy or the other, but a man ruled by Torment, in search of his own identity, and his own mortality. As Torment is one of the overarching themes in the game, it should come to no surprise that the possible party members tie into it as well - quite directly it would appear as you (re)discover their background stories. Aside from the aforementioned wise-cracking floating skull, you will be able to choose between a chaste succubus priestess, a suit of armor animate only though a sheer sense of Justice, an insane wizard who wants nothing more than to set the Planes on fire and burn along with them - among others.
As for the NPCs, most of them have a story to tell. Taking time to talk to everyone you can will reward you with not only more information on the world, and you will not be sent on countless seemingly irrelevant fetch quests. Their stories are unique, and sometimes just lending an ear will have your memories resurface. So take your time, but take care because saying the wrong thing at the wrong time may very well lose you some experience or information.
The main characters are partly voiced, but most of the story still plays out with a lot of reading. The few lines of voiced dialogue, however, only add to their personalities and help flesh them out. Of course, do not forget to talk to your party members often, you may learn a thing or two - or teach them a thing or two.
The "how"
The gameplay itself runs on the story and the conversation. There is combat, of course, but all but two fights can be completely avoided - and sometimes talking someone down will yield greater rewards than killing them. In all honesty, combat is not a strong point of this game, and the lengthy casting animations, while looking good and interesting the first few times, can get quite tiresome when it takes a whole minute to cast a spell. You can choose the classic fighter/mage/thief trio, and you can change classes at any time you want once you meet the appropriate characters, but you can only be one class at a time.
The inventory can get troublesome as well - while there's hardly any weapons or armor in game, nearly every item you pick up has some use and you will not want to leave anything behind, because you can count on needing it at a later time.
The conversations, however, are where the real rewards and dangers lie. As you talk to people, you will have numerous options to respond to them, and all of them will shape both your alignment and the world's disposition towards you. The choices are extensive, and you may not be able to get them all, some only become available if your character is wise, intelligent or charming enough, and if sweet-talking or reasoning fails, you can always try threats - which can be real or bluffed, depending on what kind of Nameless One you choose to be.
The final word
Planescape: Torment is a game you play for the story, if you are looking for an action oriented, combat driven RPG, you will be disappointed. But if what you're looking for is a deep story in which you can get personally, almost intimately involved, and carve your own path through the Planes until the inevitable conclusion, give it a try. I've mentioned several times it's easy to miss things - but ultimately it's a lot more satisfying to play your story the way you want, and take a different path on a subsequent playthrough.
What can change the nature of a man? A game like this, most definitely.
The foreword
Again you woke up with no recollection of what happened to you. The first thing to greet you is a floating skull calling you "chief", telling you you found your way into the Sigil Mortuary - again, it would seem. Again you have died and again you have forgotten, as was your fate for who knows how long, and who knows hor many incarnations. But this time, that will change, as you can finally die without forgetting. You will set off to a journey to discover who you are, and how it came to be that death itself refuses to take you.
Do not think it will be easy, Nameless One. The enemies set out to strike you down will be the least of your concerns - most of the time. Incur the wrath of the wrong person, and your journey will end forever, without answers. The real dangers, however, lie not in threats or violence but in the persistent and quite literal hauntings of your past lives. You will need to face who you were to discover who you are, and the picture will not always be pretty. Still, play your cards right and you will be able to reclaim your lost mortality - do you have what it takes?
Welcome to the Planes, and welcome to Torment.
The "where"
The world is a huge, sprawling place, and you will explore it in the isometric perspective. Starting in Sigil, the City of Doors, where you're likely to spend the better part of your journey, and to find every secret it hides, you'll need to look hard, and search every nook and cranny - and even then you can't be sure. The world under and beyond Sigil offers much to see and explore as well, of course, from catacombs and your own tomb to the Outlands and the infernal plane of Baator, from strange mazes to the Negative Plane. The movement is made slightly easier in Torment because the "You must gather your party before venturing forth" rule from Baldur's Gate is not in effect, nor do you get ambushed between screens.
The music accompanying your travels is beautiful and fits the theme, but unfortunately due to the shortness and number of the tracks tends to get repetitive with time, so that's a bit of a drawback. The world itself will make sure you pay it as little thought as possible, however.
The "who"
Ah, the characters. Starting off with the protagonist, The Nameless One, you can immediately tell this is not your generic story. Torment gives us the immortal amensiac whose countless lives and deaths have left him scarred and battered, not a hero out to save the world, not the chosen one by one prophecy or the other, but a man ruled by Torment, in search of his own identity, and his own mortality. As Torment is one of the overarching themes in the game, it should come to no surprise that the possible party members tie into it as well - quite directly it would appear as you (re)discover their background stories. Aside from the aforementioned wise-cracking floating skull, you will be able to choose between a chaste succubus priestess, a suit of armor animate only though a sheer sense of Justice, an insane wizard who wants nothing more than to set the Planes on fire and burn along with them - among others.
As for the NPCs, most of them have a story to tell. Taking time to talk to everyone you can will reward you with not only more information on the world, and you will not be sent on countless seemingly irrelevant fetch quests. Their stories are unique, and sometimes just lending an ear will have your memories resurface. So take your time, but take care because saying the wrong thing at the wrong time may very well lose you some experience or information.
The main characters are partly voiced, but most of the story still plays out with a lot of reading. The few lines of voiced dialogue, however, only add to their personalities and help flesh them out. Of course, do not forget to talk to your party members often, you may learn a thing or two - or teach them a thing or two.
The "how"
The gameplay itself runs on the story and the conversation. There is combat, of course, but all but two fights can be completely avoided - and sometimes talking someone down will yield greater rewards than killing them. In all honesty, combat is not a strong point of this game, and the lengthy casting animations, while looking good and interesting the first few times, can get quite tiresome when it takes a whole minute to cast a spell. You can choose the classic fighter/mage/thief trio, and you can change classes at any time you want once you meet the appropriate characters, but you can only be one class at a time.
The inventory can get troublesome as well - while there's hardly any weapons or armor in game, nearly every item you pick up has some use and you will not want to leave anything behind, because you can count on needing it at a later time.
The conversations, however, are where the real rewards and dangers lie. As you talk to people, you will have numerous options to respond to them, and all of them will shape both your alignment and the world's disposition towards you. The choices are extensive, and you may not be able to get them all, some only become available if your character is wise, intelligent or charming enough, and if sweet-talking or reasoning fails, you can always try threats - which can be real or bluffed, depending on what kind of Nameless One you choose to be.
The final word
Planescape: Torment is a game you play for the story, if you are looking for an action oriented, combat driven RPG, you will be disappointed. But if what you're looking for is a deep story in which you can get personally, almost intimately involved, and carve your own path through the Planes until the inevitable conclusion, give it a try. I've mentioned several times it's easy to miss things - but ultimately it's a lot more satisfying to play your story the way you want, and take a different path on a subsequent playthrough.
What can change the nature of a man? A game like this, most definitely.
