Filed under: computer games, dungeons and dragons, role playing games | Tags: dnd, games, planescape
A friend sent me a link to a blog entry by taluxb about planescape: torment.
It’s a great post, and explains the game well, but it doesn’t quite explain why so many RPG fans love the game.
I may be a sad nerd (I am), but myself (and my then wife) loved the game and played it together for about 2 weeks until we completed it, then when Balders Gate 2 and others (inc. Neverwinter Nights 1) came out then I bought them immediately, and was disappointed that they didn’t match up.
Myself, I think the reason why Torment was such a brilliant game is because it’s different; seriously different to standard (i’ve got a new term to use here..) Munchkin-esque DnD type games which can be seen just about anywhere.
Firstly as the nameless one you’re not sure why you’re there or what you’re doing. The environment is seriously different to other games. Neverwinter Nights etc. you’ve seen the scenery a million times, you’re going to meet gobins, elves, and orcs. In contrast Torment (and the Planescape setting) is more varied, yes you’ll see elves and dwarves, but in new and interesting ways. Plus it feels more grown up than the other games, it’s slightly subversive, without having to resort to horror or gore.
I really hope that somebody comes along and does a spelljammer or planescape game, as they’re different enough to be exciting, I doubt we’ll ever see a worthy sequel to Torment though, and that’s a damn shame
Personally I’m not convinced that it’s purely a role-player’s pc game: my wife never played D&D, and yet she was a fanatic (and also ended up deeply disappointed by Balders Gate and stuff).
For other info take a look at the wikipedia page for torment
if you want to buy it then it’s going to hurt i’m afraid – Ewelike has Planescape: Torment on it but it’s only available from an Amazon Marketplace vendor (for £40! – i didn’t pay that the first time round when it was new and was released!) – but they do have links to eBay sellers where it seems a more manageable £15/$25 .. still expensive though!). A quick search round the web doesn’t seem to show anybody else cheaper 
