GameSpite Quarterly 2, #29: Planescape: Torment

29. Planescape: Torment
Apparently all the PC RPGs I shamefully want to play but haven’t ended up clustered together in this issue’s voting. Here Nich proves that you can write a compelling, insightful retrospective without going on at length like I do. But then, he makes his living cramming words into tiny memory addresses, making them as interesting and concise as possible. Me, I write about games on the Internet.

8 thoughts on “GameSpite Quarterly 2, #29: Planescape: Torment”

  1. Yet another great article that makes me want to play Planescape. I’ve started it a few times, but have always gotten intimidated by the sheer breadth of stuff to do just in that first area of the game. Really oughtta buckle down one of these days.

  2. Ditto. As much as I’ve rhapsodized over the game, I’ve never been able to stick with it long enough due to other games that are out there, the about equally good Baldur’s Gate II being the first of those diversions.

  3. It really makes me want to play it and I’ve a)never played it before; b)don’t play PC games; and c)have absolutely zero time for ANOTHER RPG to play.

    Well done, Nich.

  4. I don’t know, the article kind of missed the point of Planescape: Torment. Sure, the story is well written and engaging, but lots of games can boast that.

    The thing that sets Planescape apart, I think, is that the game is a true mystery story. You actually want to solve the mystery of “who the crap am I and why can’t I die?” It’s not just some arbitrary plot point you have to uncover; as more and more people from your past start showing up, you really want to fit it together.

    And you gotta mention the stellar music. Very creepy, very fitting. It was made available for free to download a long time ago. You can still find it if you look, but http://www.bootstrike.com/Torment/music.html has it. If you just want to get a taste of the music, try “Smoldering Corpse Bar” or “Ravel’s Maze,” my two favorites for atmosphere.

    Finally, not to spoil anything, but the ending of the game is something I don’t think most RPG makers would have the balls to do.

  6. “This is different” isn’t a point. It can be said about anything that doesn’t share the same exact molecules.

  7. Being something different than the vast sea of same-y RPGs is honestly a much BETTER point than the one you made, Rand.

  8. “Molecules”? That is the single most banal critique I’ve ever heard. I feel like I should give you a prize or something.

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