Poll: Planescape Torment v. Arcanum of Steamworks

[vasiD]

Thanks for everyone who gave me their opinion, you all make great points. I'm going to go with Arcanum for now as it really seems like more of the RP experience I'm looking for, however know that Planescape won't follow far behind as I really do want to find out about that fascinating setting.

What I find odd about this thread is there's no debating... Inspires me to craft a new thread pitting all the great top-down CRPGs against each other for the Escapists affection!

Damn but Planescape has a nice number of votes too, if only I weren't a full time music student I'd play both, I'd be able to fit them in now were it not for the concerts... Maybe over christmas I can dig in and get nerdy.

I still won't get to play until the weekend, so feel free to keep the suggestions coming. I MIGHT still be swayed, but it would take one hell of a CH roll.

 

[Auberon]

"Absurdly fun adventure" is Arcanum. It also has multiple for various cities etc, while Torment has far less variation in its ending. Overall, you'd probably like Arcanum more.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well Planescape will have you sitting down reading the story and observing the freaky environments 90% of the time, while Arcanum is a far more action adventure type thing.

I say get two monitors and play both at the same time

 

[vasiD]

Well Planescape will have you sitting down reading the story and observing the freaky environments 90% of the time, while Arcanum is a far more action adventure type thing.

I say get two monitors and play both at the same time

This is easily possible. I could actually run it on two different PCs (my absurdly strong desktop and my on-the-go-music-production laptop) with a mouse in each hand... But then how would I also masturbate? (As I'm certainly going to need to if I'm having all that awesome thrown at me.)

 

[charge52]

What I find odd about this thread is there's no debating... Inspires me to craft a new thread pitting all the great top-down CRPGs against each other for the Escapists affection!

I think the reason there isn't any debating is because both games have been out so long, and they have each earned such respect as a classic of the genre that most people consider it pointless to actively debate which is better, because most peoples opinion here are set in stone. So everyone knows the winner is most likely the one who has more fans that vote, so all discussion is generally reminiscing on past experiences and trying to get new people to play them.

 

[vasiD]

What I find odd about this thread is there's no debating... Inspires me to craft a new thread pitting all the great top-down CRPGs against each other for the Escapists affection!

I think the reason there isn't any debating is because both games have been out so long, and they have each earned such respect as a classic of the genre that most people consider it pointless to actively debate which is better, because most peoples opinion here are set in stone. So everyone knows the winner is most likely the one who has more fans that vote, so all discussion is generally reminiscing on past experiences and trying to get new people to play them.

Good point.

 

[vasiD]

Play both and also get some Temple of Elemental Evil in there, so you can get your fix for good combat.

Here's some info on mods for each game.

Arcanum -

http://terra-arcanum.com/drog/dest/uap.html

http://terra-arcanum.com/drog/dest/highres.html

http://terra-arcanum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=17712&sid=fb1e3ccfc4def1123ce110bb06dd3bc0

http://terra-arcanum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=15119


Planescape-

http://www.gog.com/en/news/mod_spotlight_planescape_torment_mods_guide/


ToEE-

http://www.co8.org/forum/showthread.php?p=76226

Thanks, I didn't have the Arcanum mods. I will give ToEE a try as well after I wrap up these two.

 

[barbzilla]

Now that Halloween is over, and I've cleared all the Horror games I stuff between parties and school at this time of year, I'm looking for an old school RPG to play and it's come down to two classics, neither of which I have touched, but both of which I own (GOG.com <333). Really this is a question of which first and why.

Planescape Torment or Arcanum of Steamworks?

Once you've chosen, you'll have to pass a CH roll to persuade me.

Well I voted for PS:T, but they are both simply amazing games. My reasoning for PS:T is twofold however. Planscape Torment has one of the absolute best stories of any RPG I have ever played, it encourages thought while providing enough mindless action to keep a perfect balance between story and gameplay. Arcanum also has a great story, but it just feels disjointed at times and leaves you a touch confused as to where to go sometimes.

On top of that, you mention a charisma check, so i assume you are familiar with Dungeons and Dragons

 

[eimatshya]

Well, both are great games, but if someone could only play one, I think I'd recommend Torment over Arcanum. There are some really great (and not so great) things about both, but Torment is one of those games that everyone who is interested in games as a storytelling medium should play through at least once. The actual story won't appeal to everyone, of course, but I feel that Torment set a standard for in-game storytelling that no other game has matched. And as other posters have mentioned, the soundtrack is pretty awesome.

 

[ElectroJosh]

I voted for Planescape because its my personal favorite. Rather than encourage to get it, though, I will give you some things that might sway you one way or another.

PS:T
- Baldur's Gate-esque combat (not as much of it but the same basic concept).
- Party-based (up to six - most of the game is played with at least four characters)
- Lots of reading is involved (its good stuff, because the plot and characters are great)
- Unique setting (the planescape setting is not standard "fantasy europe")
- More linear exploration (but choices have wide plot/character development implications)


Arcanum
- Character creation options and builds a-plenty
- Fallout-esque combat (again, not exactly, but very similar)
- Smaller party or No Party (PC +1 or 2 NPCs; but not required)
- Large, "open" world
- Traditional RPG setting but more pre-industrial revolution than Medieval (so it gets points there)


Both will require some mods to run - so it really depends what appeals more to you.

 

[Vern5]

Torment is better but it only wins because it has less potential for frustration.

Arcanum is an amazing game. Period. No, make that an Exclamation Point. It's a wonderfully realized fantasy-industrial world that just heaves choices at you. That is Arcanum's strength: it gives you an enormous set of tools for tackling the world. Let's say you need to kill an Orc? Would you prefer to tear it apart by summoning elemental powers from beyond? Perhaps you would enjoy bludgeoning it to death with a hammer? Or you could just roll your eyes and think "fuck-it-all" and pump it full of lead? These choices make Arcanum fun.

However, Arcanum can become a chore to play because the story is not that engaging and some character builds can become fairly underpowered before you realize it. That's when the frustration can set in.

Torment manages to sidestep this problem by having very well-balanced gameplay and a plot that keeps you wondering what will happen next. In simplicity is bliss and Torment is simply engaging even though it may lack Arcanum's versatility.

 

[blindthrall]

Planescape is the best written game ever. I have reservations I'll see a better game storyline ever. The point of every other game is to survive- this game inverts that, being a very drawn-out suicide. Play it so you can experience all the sensory stones. Play it so you can talk to the Entropic Golem and O. Play it...because Ignus wishes to BURN.

Arcanum does have a very good ending, but the freeform nature of the experience means the story meanders quite a bit. And don't expect everything to get tied up in a nice little bow. When I play an RPG, I make enough characters to use every skill and max every stat. This led to an evil elf with a huge retinue of summoned familiars, resurrected enemies, and possessed NPCs, a butt-ugly dwarf with an acid-spewing gun of some sort, a grenade-chucking ogre, a herbalist with no combat skills whatsoever who shenaniganed her way into becoming way overpowered by the end, and my favorite, an incendiary archer whose followers were only there to lug aroung his army of steam-powered killbots. Nothing stands against 36 robots, not even the game itself, which crashed every other fight.

 

[Talvrae]

Well planescape, tried way too late to play Arcanum, never had the damn instruction manual, and never understood how the game worked, so never could get into it, while Planescape Torment came out i already had years of experience with AD&D 2nd edition

 

[Fat Hippo]

- Smaller party or No Party (PC +1 or 2 NPCs; but not required)

I think you can actually get up to 5 companions, 6 if you count the dog (and how could you not!?)

It just depends on how high your charisma is. What I love about this, is that it makes a charisma-build far more viable, by just letting your companions do all the fighting for you.

 

[ElectroJosh]

- Smaller party or No Party (PC +1 or 2 NPCs; but not required)

I think you can actually get up to 5 companions, 6 if you count the dog (and how could you not!?)

It just depends on how high your charisma is. What I love about this, is that it makes a charisma-build far more viable, by just letting your companions do all the fighting for you.

Oh really? Did not know that.

To the OP: scratch that part of the comparison then.

 

[Laurents van Cauwenberghe]

i liked the story of planescape: torment a LOT but the combat bores me so hard that I don't want to play another oldschool RPG so that is obviously my vote...
also does anyone else have this problem with these games? i'd really like to play them but they're SO BORING

 

[ElectroJosh]

i liked the story of planescape: torment a LOT but the combat bores me so hard that I don't want to play another oldschool RPG so that is obviously my vote...
also does anyone else have this problem with these games? i'd really like to play them but they're SO BORING

Nope - if anything I prefer the older RPGs (Wasteland 2 being my most anticipated game for 2013).