Planescape: Torment

It all stared at the mortuary, I woke up as if I've been taken to a hospital after a night when I had too much in my stomach that really belonged to the bottle. My head hurts and I cant recall a thing, although this time its not just yesterday, I cant remember a thing at all. Next to me I find a skull, although not a dead one, a living, talking, free floating skull. He tells me his name is Morte...

This is probably one of the best games ever made, I haven't played anything that have drawn me in like this game. Normally I'm really not in to role playing games, I think that they are too pretentious and foney, I mean OK: I'll save the world, get the treasure get half the kingdom, bla bla... Just so boring, this game is how ever different. You don't save the world, Its not in the dark ages, it doesn't contain: dwarfs, elves, orchs or any of that crap that I've seen a little too much of. My Journey is a different one, I'm of too get my life back, or at least the memory of it since I don't even have that. I cant even commit suicide, all that happens if I try is that I wake up again. Imortalaty is not a blessing in this game, its a curse. In most games the challenge lies in surviving, but not here. Here immortality is not a cheat that you've found on gamespot, its a fact that cant be switched on or of, this game is different. This game contains a profoundness that games usually never even want to have, every single character you meet in this game has a story, some have more than others, but its always extremely well made and you never feel like its repeating itself. In fact its manuscript is so thick that its thicker than what 5 normal sized novels are together. Sure its story is a linear one, but thats not something thats going to bother when the story is filled with mysteries that unravel as the story goes by. But it does not provide the answer to all questions it awakes. This game will leave you with questions, and gaps that are not supposed to be given answers by it self, that is something you'll have to fill in for yourself.

The computer role-playing game industry was supposed to be dead. If it wasn't dead, surely it was dying. As advances in CPU speeds and 3D accelerators continued the push for 3D games that would showcase these technologies, seemingly groundbreaking games such as Half-Life, Unreal, and Quake III Arena threatened to become the final nail in the computer role-playing coffin.

Then Interplay and Black Isle Studios brought them back. Fallout and Baldur's Gate were the first twitches of life the CRPG genre had seen in years, and Planescape: Torment signals the full recovery of the breed.

Fittingly, PS:T is centered around The Nameless One, an immortal whose memories decay in each brush with death. You assume the role of The Nameless One just as he pulls himself off a slab in the Mortuary once again. It's up to you to re-discover who you are, or were, and piece together the story that placed you in this situation.

It's quite a story, and a good one at that. Although the game features stunning graphics and incredible audio, it's the detailed and involving text that immerses you in the Planescape multiverse. Book reviewers often describe a title with an excessively compelling story as "a page turner" or "one you won't want to put down." Moreso than any other computer game, PS:T falls into that category. This is as close to an interactive novel as anything produced to date.

You not only play PS:T, you read and write it as you go along. Decisions made at one juncture have a real and concrete effect on the outcome of later events. This game rewards reason and favors experimentation and the thoughtful solution. If your idea of a good time is hacking and slashing your way to glory, you may want to steer clear of this game, unless you're ready to see your style of play undergo a complete transformation.

Technically speaking, PS:T isn't as 'cutting edge' as the latest Quake-clone, but that's not such a bad thing. PS:T is a world unto itself, with incredible artwork, detailed animation, immersive audio, and tons of replayability. Most folks, once they've played through PS:T and witnessed the ADJECTIVES! ending, will immediately start the game again, just to see the outcome of the path not taken.

Personally, I believe that Black Isle should be commended for such an outstanding and original effort, especially in these days of "what can I kill next" mediocrity. The merits of PS:T cannot be overstated, though any attempt to describe the experience is doomed to miss the mark. It's a great game, there should be more like it.

Planescape: Torment is one of the best, if not THE best video games I've ever played. Interplay did a great job with the voice acting, but didn't rely on it as too many of the games coming out do. Without giving away too much, the storyline is basically thus: Your character (the Nameless one) awakens on a stone slab in a mortuary. You have no recollection of your past, and in fact no memories at all. Your first interaction comes right from the onset from a floating skull named "Morte". Morte helps explain a bit as the game progresses, and mainly serves as a VERY lighthearted companion throughout the game. He is the source of most of the comedy throughout the game, and by reading this, you may have gotten the impression this game is comical. Far from it. In fact this game is anything but. Your quest will take you across several different planes, and will be a long one. If you're the type of person that likes a short lived romp in the arena fragging and killing other players, then this will most likely not be your type of game. However, if you are an Anime fan, or a fan of great Sci-Fi and Fantasy, this is your type of game. Some people may be turned off by some of the elements, and there are a few somewhat adult oriented elements through the game. These range from some scantilly clad women, to a few sexual innuendo's by Morte and a few others. So, if you're a parent that doesn't want your children seeing this sort of entertainment, I'd suggest against this one. However, everything said and done in this game can and will be seen on regular network television, so your children should be safe. That said and done, I can only give this game the highest regards in my opinion, and as I am a very picky game player, I can only hope this will spark your enthuiasim into this game. The game is based on the AD&D set of rules based in the Planescape realm. It is and RPG, and I can only stress that you will need time to get into the game, and once in it. You will need more time to quench that desire to go even further into the games' storyline.

This game is nothing short of a work of art, plane and Sigil.

Torment is set within the wonderfully unique Planescape setting for (A)D&D, one of the most original roleplaying settings to ever be created. Put simply, the "normal" world, real and standard D&D, is called the Prime Material Plane... And Planescape is a long walk away from the nearest Tolkien-ish elf or dwarf. The Inner Planes are infinities of pure elemental power, of the four basic elements of alchemy, along with life and death energy, and how these all mix. The Outer Planes are the infinities created and shaped by belief -- heavens and hells of all kinds, related to the various "alignments" of good, evil, law, and chaos; and all home to the gods of any pantheon you could name, as well.

This is quite a backdrop to place the events surrounding a single human, but the game does it excellently. Torment is mostly (mainly because this is where you'll be building up a lot of early levels and getting used to the game and quests) set in Sigil, a curious city built in the center of a ring, floating above an infinitely tall Spire at the center of all the multiverse (maybe). Sigil can only be reached through magic portals, and these portals can be found in almost any bound space (like a doorway), and can be used as long as someone has the proper key (an item, a thought, a song they're singing at the time, a gesture, etc). These portals go *every*where.

Now, the actual story... Waking up, with no memory of who he is, the Nameless One finds himself in the Mortuary of Sigil, surrounded by zombies and a very strange skull -- which flies around about 5 and a half feet up, has eyes, and a wit sharper than a magic sword. The game just flows from there, into a tale of self-discovery and the most compelling objective I've seen in an RPG, so counter to what one does in most: the Nameless One wants to find a way to die. His mortality has been taken away, and while this gives him a phenomenal healing rate and some strange powers -- as well as great potential for incredible power in more "traditional" areas such as warcraft, thievery, or wizardry -- it is a curse in disguise as he loses his memories and will eventually lose his mind totally every time he takes wounds enough to kill anyone else of similar skill (read: level and hit points).

The best part of the story is learning it for yourself, but it's not spoiling anything to relate the matter of the Nameless One's immortality and healing speed, or similar. The writing itself is some of the best I have seen, and make it an extremely compelling story unfolded through all the dialog and related writing. Unique items and spells are full of history in their descriptions, and just getting some of these unique spells provides an opportunity to experience the skilled writing, and helps so much to make one of the characters a very real figure.

Ah, yes, the characters. There are a number of companions you may eventually gain, though you are limited to a total of six members in your party. Morte is the skull already mentioned, and he is perhaps the most interesting character (after the Nameless One, of course). Talk long with him every time something related to him happens in the game, and you will learn of the depth of the character. Dak'kon is a githzerai, a member of a race once descended from humans but now much different. His story is very nearly as deep as Morte's, and has direct consequences on his strength in combat, through his blade. Annah is a young tiefling woman, strong-willed and valuable, related somewhere in her family history to the tanar'ri -- demons. While her story is not as important, it provides some very human depth to the Nameless One and the overall tale. Ignus is a mad mage who wields fire like anyone else might use a dagger. His story is far from essential, but it is another interesting facet of the Nameless One's history (it seems everything in this game ties into the Nameless One's history, somehow). Fall-From-Grace is a succubus, a demonic temptress who has turned away from evil and chaos. Instead, she wields the healing magics of the priests. For the story, she is not as important as others, though just the quirk of her nature is interesting. Nordom has to be the most unique character of all. "Backwards modron > Nordom" he states as soon as Morte makes a sarcastic observation. Some explanation is in order: a modron is a semi-robotic creature of pure law from the regulated clockwork plane of Mechanus. Nordom, being a backwards modron, is a rogue, a modron who has been infected by chaos and made into an individual. He and Grace are perhaps the only ones not already tied up in the Nameless One's past. Finally, the last character you may add is Vhailor. Strange, to say the least, Vhailor is a suit of armor inhabited by an undead spirit devoted to Law and Justice. His story is important almost solely for the ending -- but that's all I'll say.

The final act to Torment is excellent. The story is revealed finally, but not too much -- the authors knew where to stop before ruining it. There are a number of different ways to end the game, with some varying amounts of satisfaction depending on how much you liked the other characters.

A beautiful game. I'm on my third or fourth time through it, and I still love it and am still finding new things.

I won't comment too long here -- I've already seen enough praise from other posted comments that perfectly mimc what I think of this great game. I will say, though, that I have been an AD&D Planescape fan since it first showed up, and was totally amazed by the incredible ability to create its unique architectual, character, and overall art style into this 3D masterpiece. It was loads of fun, was chock-full of wonderful elements in RPG and story sense, and I can only hope for more and more of the same. My ONLY disappointment was that you don't get to venture out to more planes of reality, but they have to leave SOMETHING for the sequel, eh ^_~?