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Summary: true freedom
Review: if you lik rpg's this is one of the best, and you can read the other reviews to see why. the newest feature i want to point out is true character freedom. in most rpg games you are given moral choices, but within the gaming peramaters you have to answer a certain way to win. now i perfer to play good characters, but i like the option to be "pure evil" once in a while. in this game you can do whatever you want and you won't be punished like in balder's gate when the towns people will attack you if you have a bad reputation. in this game no answer is wrong, some choices may be harder than others, but at least they're your choices.
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Summary: What can change the nature of a man?
Review: There are games, and there are good games. There are good games, and there are great games. Every once in a while, you falter and fall flat on your face and drool slightly as you witness the birth of an epic.If you want to speak technically, I'll get that out of from every deep dark corner. The crew at Black Isle have used the Bioware engine to create effects never before seen in a two dimensional game, and some of the spell effects have the intense drama Hope) The graphics are, as usual with Black Isle, crisp and stunningly real, not to mention incredibly beautiful. Also, I'd have to say that the web to look for a patch or to read through pages of ranters and lunatics posting their off-topic and non-sensical ramblings on the Torment-ed planescape-torment.com boards. THE EPIC THAT IS TORMENT I've only played three games in my life that I would consider epics, with Torment being the newly added third. It just happens that all three are RPGs, mainly because I believe this is the only type of game that can create these rarities. In order to create an epic, you must first find a story that deserves to be told. It is here that Torment brings to light the story of an immortal who does not *know* himself, and is therefore lost, both to the Planes and himself. The game _is_ the story. The story is the heart and soul of Torment, and what you do as The Nameless One will shape his destiny -- which in this case is his enigmatic past. Brilliant voices, heart-felt music, and a story which is one of the deepest, most enthralling I've ever experienced in a computer game all contribute to what has got to be one of the most endearing RPGs ever made. This game sets itself apart from prior both, and I liked both, but I _loved_ Torment. A fantastic story is what most games today lack (*cough* Quake *cough* Tomb Raider). An epic brings not only the story to the player, but the player into the story. In the end, as I watched the last scenes to the epic unfold, I felt as if I had been there, acting as a caretaker to guide this lost soul to his destiny.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! Have you died yet today?
Review: This game is so incredible. I already played Baldur's Gate and Fallout and I would never have thought, that a RPG could get any better in the near future... but here it is! This game is keeping me out of bed! And when I find an hour or two to get some sleep, I find myself workin' out a way to get through the catacombs or how to solve some quest given to me by some weird lookin' characters... So much for Dale... Hurry up Guys!
Rating: 
Summary: Another great Black Isle game
Review: For the last couple of years people have been patiently awaiting the release of I found out that the same makers of those two great games where releasing an RPG in my favorite campaign setting, I almost soiled myself with glee. Torment uses the Baldur's engine, but don't be the setting is not the sword and sorcery genre you are used too. In fact to me, it seems to have more of the quirkiness of Fallout2 than the straitforward D&D elements of Baldur's. There are few weapons choices and I've never even worn any armor, but, you won't miss any of that. The main PC is a recently resurrented immortal and his first ally is a floating skull. I have almost finished the game and my weapon of choice through most of it was my own severed arm! How can you not love that? The only reason I'm not giving the game 5 stars is because, for my system, I found it quite buggy. I suffered lots of lockups and assertion errors, as well as the occasional graphics glitch. The third disk had trouble loading at times as well. I still highly recommend this game, and I commend Black Isle for putting the RP back into RPG. The setting and story are compelling and unpredictable and the party members are rich and interesting instead of just someone to hold your treasure. So, if you are biting your nails in anticipation for Diablo 2, give Torment a try (and if you haven't already, try Baldur's and Fallout2) you will be glad you did.
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Summary: This game consumes...
Review: This game is way too cool. The premise is you wake up on a mortuary slab with amnesia. You have to figure out: who you are, where's your stuff, why do you keep waking up after each time you die, and what do you want to do about it? The locations in the game stay constant but what your character does and says *greatly* affects what happens in the game. I had to restart the game after moving it to another PC, and there were different interactions with the characters in the game. (In one the main character was able to talk his way out of a lot of trouble. In the other, he had to fight his way out.) The tone of the game is very *dark*. You are in an afterlife and it's not a very pleasant place. There is lots of creepiness: the music, the visuals, even the written descriptions. Philosophy plays a big part in the game and story line. Your character can succeed by talking, making helpful observations, or verbal argument (if you know something about your verbal opponent's point of view). And when diplomacy fails, there is always force. (Violence is not much of a philosophy but having other options is a nice change from the traditional Hack and Slash RPG where the choices are: hack violence or slash violence.) But the game also needs a lot of system resources. 600 meg of hard drive minimally. To get faster play you can copy the CD's to your hard drive (roughly eating another 3 * 600 meg - described at a very cool game web site: plus as much free space for page/swap file as you can spare. And it will run with 32 meg of memory but it's choppy when you enter a new area. It does better with 64 meg (and even better with more). But you get some great effects for all those resources. You watch little characters move around, talk to each other, and fight each other in some pretty amazing detail. And it's been eating all my goof off time for the past week.
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Summary: RPG of the Year
Review: An excellent game. It takes the best elements of the AD&D Universe and merges them with Black Isle's writing style. If you
Rating:
Summary: Addictive
Review: Torment is the best RPG I've played this year. The gameplay is addictive and the dialogue and choices available are astounding--better than any RPG to date. The combat system is somewhat wonky, especially if you want to cast spells, but since combat isn't the main thrust of game, this is a minor gripe.
Rating:
Summary: Oh. My. God
Review: The reviews in here speak for this game. Out of 147 reviews of Planescape: Torment, only seven had ratings under five stars. One of those was because they haven't received the game yet, one of them is because they are not aware of the fact that Black Isle released patches on the net to fix bugs in early versions, three because they are simply too impatient to allow the storyline to unfold in all its glory, and two who admitted that it wasn't their kind of game.
But I don't believe them. That's just ridiculous.
Fair enough, if you are a total Ad&D nerd that wants laborious character creation and endless menus, then this is not your game. In this game, your character is shaped by how you play the game, not vice versa. Go and play Baldur's Gate with all your other lonely friends.
This game is the absolute pinnacle of gaming perfection, from the graphics to the cutscenes, to the characters and the many locations wandering the planes takes you to.
And let's not forget about the storyline. My GOD, the storyline. I cannot describe in words the sheer rollercoaster of emotions your character takes you through in the quest to find yourself; the decisions you make and the impact they could have on the multiverse. Also, the man, the legend, Tony Jay, the "Most evil voice of all time" lends his superior talents to the voice of the final boss, an ever-present reminder of the evil that can occur in this strange world. Anyone who does not agree that this game is sex in a box should have their head examined. Best. Game. Ever. 140 out of 147 reviewers cannot be wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Superb yet not perfect game ever (4.5 stars)
Review: I had never played Baulders Gate (The 1st Bioware RPG) So I just had to get the next thing. When Planscape Torment came out i got it because of its eye candy cover. I had never heard of Planscape before (its a dnd setting whatever) but this game is great because you dont have to know anything and I MEAN Anything. Your character, the Nameless One gets to ask about everything. You can become an expert on the planes by asking around. You start out with a horribly scarred amnesiac fellow whose stats you can customize to suit yourself. Instead of starting out in a tavern like many other RPG's you wake up in a bloody slab in a mortuary. WOW that got me into it. The game has an unique and fantastic storyline and plenty of flavor items and characters. I would have to say it has the funniest dialouge (even better than NVN SOU which is hilarious) Pretty powerful spell efects and great sound are always appreaciated too. There are flaws, Though you have a lot of freedom, you just wish that you could personalize it more. No biggie though Morte, your floating skull friend always lightens the mood. Another annoying thing is that the game seems too easy, Youre immortal and you can raise all of your allies, you can heal on the fly instead of taking rounds like other games and you can basically avoid combat through 90 percent of the game. The dialouge is REALLY long and tedious after awhile too. By the second time you play the game, (you will be playing more than once) you will skim through most of it. I itch for a fight alot in the game so i kill townspeople and get chased by the harmonium (guards) which is great fun for evil characters. You allies are pre determined but great. Morte is the best feature about this game, and you get some other sweet friends (along with the occasional ignus or vhailor. Anyway dont let the negative stuff stop you, this game second to only the NVN trio which had 2 expansion packs to help. This game is just plain fun. Alot of it.
Rating:
Summary: Still puts most RPGs to shame
Review: Planescape: Torment is a great RPG, in the truest sense of the genre. You play the Nameless One, a confused but apparently immortal (in the sense of if you die, you don't die for good) wanderer of the planes, whose very flesh tells the tale of his endless struggles. You are turned loose into a world that bears only a passing and vague resemblance to any other D&D or RPG realm you may have encountered, and that is filled with endless mysteries and characters. I've never played another game where you can spend an hour talking to the other NPCs in your party (let alone in the rest of the world), earning experience and knowledge for what you uncover about their lives, and never feel like you're bored. There are plenty of fights but no sense of tedious hack-and-slash, and it's difficult to emphasize just how convoluted and intricate both the plot and the game systems really are. As an example, at one point my Nameless character was festooned with power-granting tattoos, dual classed as a thief-mage, and clubbing his enemies with a severed limb from one of his own previous incarnations. I mean, come on!
This is not really an RPG you can 'power game' your way through, more to its credit. One of the most important statistics is Wisdom, tactics are more important than brute force, and the puzzles and side quests are to be savored, not accomplished as rapidly as possible.
Lastly, in response to some of the other reviews, I have to note a few things. First, there are plenty of ranged weapons, particularly crossbows for a character you can obtain about halfway through in an impressive "side" quest. Moreover, there are life indicators under the portrait for each NPC so it's easy to see when people are hurt. And finally, having played Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Icewind Dale etc, the spell names, types, and effects in Planescape are totally awesome and in keeping with the surreal and twisted landscape. This is not a game to be missed.
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