We’re getting on to final thoughts time for this one.
For me, it marks the second time I’ve bounced off of The Nameless One’s tale. I might continue to plink away at it over the next couple weeks having put in the time to get it all modded up.
That’s an example of their spells in the game, zoom in to read that. Everything in the game is written with that wonderful flavor so that you want to explore every nook of it and find every bit of dialog, every Journal entry, ever bestiary entry, every incidental description. I love the fact that this game hides so much in plain sight. When you first start, there’s a bunch of zombie workers in the Mortiary, for example. And what you might not realize is that each zombie is somewhat unique, with a different number carved on their bodies, and different things about them that you might observe if you actually stop and talk to each one. It was similar last night when I was in the lower ward, talking to people in the marketplace. Even someone with the same generic dialog options as everyone else can sometimes have a different reaction, and delight you with their unique responses. That’s what makes this game so rewarding to me even on multiple playthroughs. I discover new things even when they’re in plain sight.
And perhaps it’s appropriate that we’ve reached final thoughts with me not making too much progress over my very first playthrough, where I also reached the same lower/upper ward area. The truth is that with a game like this that’s describing this wondrous, fascinating world to you, filled to the brim with so much possibility, as long as you never finish such a game, it’s still filled with almost infinite possibilities. The lower planes. The Upper planes. All the different worlds that you can reach through the portals.
I had a similar experience with Fallout 2 back in the day. I reached pretty far into the game but had to stop. And when I went back a couple of years later, I started over, and had some very different experiences, and I was amazed at the different possibilities within the game. Meanwhile a friend of mine was playing through it with an evil character, and he had people in his party that I didn’t even know were possible, conversing with them at length about different topics that I’d never known were possibilities. And as long as I never finished Fallout 2, it was still filled with possibilities. But on that playthrough, I did finish it, and the more you do play a game, the more the game seems smaller and smaller, as the possibilities narrow down to a linear finish, and the game becomes less about infinite possibilities and the world you’re inhabiting, and more about the particular stories written for you to experience in that world. Particularly the one that leads to the ending.
I guess in a way I’m lucky with my experiences with Planescape: Torment so far. I can see above my post, several people who played the game and finished it, and weren’t super pleased with aspects of it. And yet, for me, I’m still early enough that it’s still a world and a game filled with infinite possibilities. And each time I play, I discover new well-written gems in what in any other game would be mundane descriptions of the world around me. Set to the wonderfully evocative music that plays as you explore this world, maybe this is the best place to be when exploring a game like this. This situation, where you’ve experienced enough to know you love it, but not enough to feel restricted yet by a linear narrative that will inevitably impose itself on the world of infinite possibilities of the planes.
I do plan on finishing the game this time. But perhaps it is appropriate that my final thought for now ends here, while I feel like anything could happen next in the game. It could end in an hour or three, or it could end in dozens of hours. Maybe I’ll meet the Lady of Pain. Maybe I’ll get to visit the different planes of existence. Maybe I’ll be forever stuck in Cigil, ever-changing around me, molded by the Lady of Pain and the Dabus that do her bidding. Maybe I’ll go through a portal and end up in the forgotten realms universe one day. Or go through another portal and end up in the modern world. Right now, as the possibilities lay before me, I know one thing for sure: wherever the game takes me, it will be beautifully written, and filled with so much detail and I will want to drink it all up.
^^^
It’s posts like that that make me love this forum.
So, with the new Torment on its way, I think @Scotch_Lufkin is currently playing through this game for the first time. How far along are you sir? Come share your thoughts here. When I get home tonight, I’ll go see if my playthrough survived the death of my previous hard drive or not. If it did survive, I’d love to resume my game and finish this game before the new one comes out.
I put about 10 hours in or so this weekend, and it’s a blast. I explored very thoroughly (but not completely, I’m sure) the first area there, the city of Sigil, and was making my way through the Trash Warrens with a great NPC I picked up in a bar - a Githr;plknmfsd or whatever they are called, and he seems awesome.
I’m getting my ass kicked in every combat encounter, maybe going Mage was a bad idea - I’m swarmed instantly every fight and have like 5 spells I can cast. Hopefully things pick up on that front.
In fact, I died half way into the Trash Warrens, and woke up right where I wanted to be in the Burried Village. I spoke with Pharod and then decided to go back and explore the trash warrens where I instantly get swarmed by guys standing by the exit that leads into the village and killed. So I took a break from there and didn’t play much yesterday, but I’ll dive back in after work today and either try that fight again or I’ll just move on and explore the village some more.
I ended up playing a lot of Torment Tides of Numenera by accident instead of Torment, due to wanting to check out a few things like “leveling up” and lost almost 4 hours in that game. It’s going to be a real treat for sure, I’m convinced. Possibly my GOTY, looks like already. I wrote up something for some of my fellow PC gaming friends and after I sent that out to everyone, I had to uninstall it as I was constantly drawn back to it. Man, what a game!
I played PST for the first time recently. Similarly to Arcanum, I did not feel immersed due to the dated graphics and such. It’s sad, but I think it’s a case of “You had to be there [at the time].” For instance, I played similar games from the same time period, such as Fallout, and had my mind completely blown, because I played them much much closer to their original release (I think).
I played Planescape: Torment for the first time in… 2007, I think, and it blew me away. That said, I played Anachronox for the first time last year and loved that too, for the most part anyway, so… maybe I just have a higher tolerance for olde crust! :-)
I’m actually finding the visuals and especially the excellent animations are pulling me in quite a lot, especially when coupled with the excellent descriptions and writing. I’m also playing in a 1280x1024 boxed Window with Biggs mod and the UI mod, so that helps.
I could see Arcanum MAYBE being less immersive than Planescape due to the simpler, sparser graphic style (if I recall correctly), but I think Planescape holds up pretty well, with a nicely detailed depiction of its varied and creative (non-typical) settings, music/sound effects, and voice acting.
But maybe I have a soft spot for the Infinity Engine games. I think Baldur’s Gate II and the Icewind Dale games still look amazing compared to the other RPGs from that era.
Well it’s been one of the most requested titles on their forum so it’s no surprise
Kind of regret playing a high int and wis character for my first play through because that opened up all of the dialogue options.
And it’s coming to iOS/mobile. Hey, who knows, maybe I can make it past the first hour this time…