Planescape: Torment

"A long-winded, frustrating version of Fallout 2."

Planescape: Torment is an RPG cult classic released by Black Isle Studios in 1999. It is one of the most open-ended games ever, as there are many possibilities when it comes to customizing your character and numerous quests. It has received numerous distinctions. Seeing it named in Top PC Games lists and made by the developers of Fallout, I decided to give it a shot.

The setting is based off a Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign. If you have not played AD&D, then this game will be very hard to understand at first. There are a lot of references to it, from the main city to characters you come across. For example when you learn a spell you have to equip it then sleep to memorize it. It also uses Bioware's Infinity Engine used in games such as Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. Don't know what that is? Good, neither did I.

STORY: 3/10

The story begins with the protagonist, The Nameless One, awakened on a mortuary table by a floating skull named Morte, who you also control. Basically you are on a quest to figure out why The Nameless One cannot die. Throughout your adventure, you meet several diverse characters (there are 6 other possible NPCs) and pick up many other quests. The game has references to a lot of wide references, not just to AD&D, and unique languages. However I found the use of 17th-century English slang and uncreative names, like Ravel Puzzlewell, to be of no interest.

I found the story to go from interesting to uninspiring. The story isn't too bad at first, but the game continues with long-winded explanations of unnecessary background stories that are really hard to pay attention to. You discover a lot more about the protagonist as the game goes on. But halfway through the game I found myself skipping through the dialogue as fast as possible.

GAMEPLAY - This is where Planescape: Torment really fails. 2/10

Somewhere along the making of this game the developers of Planescape:Torment forgot that games are supposed to be fun, and a deep story is used to enhance that quality. The bulk of the game is spent in text. Massive amounts of text.

The majority of experience comes from text quests, not through battles. A lot of the quests involve running back and forth and engaging in conversations. The conversations are especially long-winded. Many times you will have to hit "Click for More" button because the whole dialogue won't show up in the window. I was able to follow the dialogue initially, but the sheer amount of unnecessary wordiness will break down anyone's attention span. The conversations depend on what you say. There isn't necessarily a right thing to say in every conversation, but a few important outcomes depend on certain dialogues. It isn't too hard to figure out the right thing to say, because they are usually the longer lines. You don't have to bother reading them.

Controls are good, but the map is very frustrating. You can't skip from one section of the town to another on the world map until the end of the game, and that only works if you run to the town exit. The map is supposed to be responsive, so if you click on a section of the map your characters will run there, but this rarely happens.

In terms of what makes this game open-ended, there is an alignment system in the game based on your character's actions. You can join factions and become a fighter, mage, priest, or thief. Your character can't die, but there are a few parts of the game where it will end if you fail to accomplish an event.

If people say you should save before talking and the majority of the game involves talking, then the game isn't very fun.

LOOKS AND SOUND 5/10

Nearly ten years after its release, there's really nothing to complain about in terms of graphics. The game does a nice job of using different colors.

The soundtrack, on the other hand, is a much different story. Especially the battle music. It's really annoying. I played my own music to combat it from tormenting my mind. A few important characters, such as the NPCs, have voices but you rarely hear them because the dialogue is so complicated. There are a few annoyingly voiced characters. The floating skull, Morte, can be entertaining.

REPLAYABILITY - 2/10

This game takes a healthy amount of time to complete, it took me a month but I didn't play every day and probably completed about half the quests. I really forced myself to complete this game because of its reputation. You can do a speed run in about 10 hours, but you will miss most of the quests. Judging by its popularity, if you like the game you will replay it. But I will never do so.

FINAL WORD - 3/10

If you are unfamiliar with the AD&D system or don't like massive amounts of text, then you should probably skip this title.

PROS
Good controls
Various ways to play
A lot of detail

CONS
A lot of backtracking
A lot of text
Annoying sound
Unlikeable characters
Uninspiring story
Unnecessarily long
Not much in terms of gameplay
Did I mention a lot of text?

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 07/14/08

Game Release: Planescape: Torment (US, 11/30/99)