"Whoever said games can't be art needs to play this."

I've barely scratched the surface of playing this game so far, but I had to review it. I used to hate RPGs until last year, when I forced myself to play through a Final Fantasy game. Ever since, I've been hooked. I'm still kinda "meh" about the battle systems in most RPGs, so I play for the storylines. And Planescape's storyline has me loving it.

I really feel connected to the main character, The Nameless One, and my own personality keeps seeping through to my dialog choices in-game. And seeing as how Planescape is centered around (incredible) dialog, I can't help but be immersed.

That's what makes this different from the usual crop of RPGs. There's no Chocobos and cutesy anime children. This is a dark, cerebral, emotional game. You start out in a mortuary with flayed corpses on tables, and later on you walk through a ghetto full of gangs and hookers, all looking for money or a fight.

Don't get me wrong, this game is never needlessly explicit or violent, the bloodshed is minor, and the language is PG-13 at worst. But this game requires a mature mind to appreciate it's nuances anyway, so if l'il Johnny brings home a copy of it, he'll be bored with it long before anything offensive happens.

Which brings me to the best part of the game. Character interaction. Planescape is known for it's huge amount of text, and every word of it is worth reading. The descriptions are superb, and the conversations are a mix of hilarious, thought-provoking,and disturbing, depending on who you talk to. Your first party member is a floating skull named Morte, who provides the comic relief, and is a great ally in fights. How he carries his inventory is beyond me, but who am I to question a flying bone?

Almost everyone you meet has an extensive dialog tree, and what you choose to say to people can have a huge impact. Say the wrong thing and you might find yourself facing the pointed end of a dagger, say the right thing and you might be greatly rewarded.

That's pretty much the meat of the gameplay style, so here's the breakdown.

STORY: 10/10

Perfectly gripping. I actually felt sad when talking to some of the characters and listening to their backstories, and laughed plenty of times at Morte's antics.

SOUND: 7/10

The music is good, and the instances of voice acting are well-done. But too many times you'll find yourself hearing nothing but the click of your mouse.

CONTROLS: 10/10

The controls are mostly mouse-driven, so not too much can go wrong there. Definitely set auto-run on.

INTERFACE: 8/10

A bit confusing at first, but never overly so. Slightly cumbersome.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

Well animated, large character sprites, and colorful surroundings. A tad bit pixelated, and no bells and whistles, but it doesn't need them.

GAMEPLAY: 6/10

The battles are fun, but often either too difficult, or too easy. Luckily there isn't many of them. (In fact, there are only 4 battles you can't avoid, according to what I've read.)

OVERALL: 9/10

Truly a work of art. And like art, the flaws have no effect on the enjoyability.

QUIBBLES:

My only pet peeves are, if you forget to save, you'll end up back at the mortuary if you "die". Backtracking abound. Also, there are times when the game slows to a crawl for no good reason. (Trust me, it's not my machine)
It can be very easy to get lost, too. Use the map often.

If you don't like reading, don't even bother with this game. (And pick up a book, flagnabbit. It won't hurt you.)

If, like me, you rarely go places without a paperback, you'll love this game. Even if you hate gaming, (then why are you on this site?) you'll love it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/07/07