Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition

This is not a review of the game Planescape Torment (or PT) because there's already enough of those out there. Rather this is a review of how well the enhanced version works with modern hardware, at least in my particular case. I recently found the original 4 CD version at a used book store, and I was looking forward to firing up a great classic game. Unfortunately old games and my laptop often don't get along very well which is exactly what happened with PT. I have a Windows 7 laptop with integrated Intel HD 4400 graphics. Yes, I know there are mods that supposedly allow PT to work on modern hardware. Problem is that none of them worked on my laptop. I spent many hours researching, downloading, installing and configuring with no luck. Nothing I could find would make PT work on my laptop. So I decided to take a risk and buy the enhanced version. Actually it wasn't much of a risk given GOG's very flexible exchange policy. But I'm so glad I did!! It installed and runs flawlessly. No issues whatsoever. All cutscenes play. Sound is perfectly in-sync with video. No crashes. Screen scrolls smoothly. Excellent framerate (measured via Fraps). Zoom feature works perfectly. Definitely well worth the full price of $19.99!! There are only two reasons I don't rate the enhanced version 5 stars. First the textures do not appear to have been upgraded to HD. Maybe they have been, but it doesn't appear so to me. I've compared my screens with HD screenshots and YouTube videos of the original game, and I don't see any significant differences. Second there's no option to change the resolution. My monitor supports 2560x1600, and I would've liked to see the Enhanced version take advantage of that to provide more clarity and details. In summary, if you have a modern PC, the enhanced version is well worth the full price if for no other reason than the simplicity and convenience it provides.

I was always told; this is a game to play. I bought it. First, I spent time researching all the forums I found on how people make the game run. Then I worked with Falran from GOG support team. He/She proved me wrong in an assumption support cannot be done via e-mails. It certainly can and he/she made it beautifully. However, after more than 10 hours of troubleshooting and experimentation, I gave up. In the meantime, I have sent two tickets to Beamdog that were practically ignored. The funny thing is that I made the game run easily on linux VM via wine... It works, but the VM is too slow to make it feasible and pleasurable. To sum up, the game was not patched in a long time, and judging by the commonly made steps to make it run (changing dlls, administrative rights, installing external libraries, turning off other applications, exceptions in antivirus and many others) it does not look like it is properly prepared for installation on modern computers (Windows 11, Intel integrated graphics).

Nothing added worth paying for. Dedicated fans have done far more for the games Beamdog has "enhanced" (in fact Beamdog ripped off many of those fan made fixes). Download the fan made mods, save your $, and refuse to support crap companies.

Do your eyes a favor and play this in the classic view. I played a good part of the game in the "enhanced" view, and it's really small and hard on the eyes. Fortunately, an unresolved glitch in the game forced it into classic view, and I enjoyed the game a bit more after that, since the characters are larger in the classic view. I get the feeling this is one of those "you had to have been there" games. I didn't play it when it was new. It reeks of the 1990s. It has a severe preoccupation with the macabre, which I never really understood in any medium. There's the sidekick who is perverted in a disturbing rather than funny way. The plot line is just awkward (not to mention the ending). It also has the feel of being unfinished. There are slots for armor in the character pages, but there's barely any armor in the game. As far as I can tell, there's none for the main character. There are also slots for arrows, bolts, etc., yet I discovered no range weapons in the game, which is kind of annoying. (Although I did discover some bolts nobody in my party could use.) I like the concept of of a game that utilizes D&D races other than humans, elves, dwarves, humans, halflings, etc. I understand the Blood War a bit better now. Still, I don't feel any desire to replay this game like I did Baldur's Gate. I played it through once, and now I feel I'm done with it.

Beamdog usual scamming.