Torment: Tides of Numenera

Before you pick this up, throw everything you know out the window, aside from controls nothing is familiar. The setting, the stats and mechanics even the concepts of reality are unique. Once you get right into the game though it's fantastic.

First: This is a solid, entertaining RPG throwback to the late 90's. It's a very good game on its own merits, but was always tragically doomed to fail in trying to live up to the decades of legacy from Planescape: Torment. NOTE: This is not in the least an RPG combat game. The combat is minimal, easily avoided, and really not that satisfying. There's little point to most "loot" as a result, which further makes combat even less relevant. The first one-third of the game had me thinking, "Not only is this a worthy successor to PS:T, but I think I like it BETTER." A fascinating setting, lots of character and lots of small hidden stories that really paint a deep picture of the world. This quality, and the overall writing quality, is why I give the game 5 stars. Once I got to the airship, things slowed down. Maybe I just got tired of things, but the details that shined in the first part seemed more subdued, and that continued through to the end. The ending was the worst part, and really a let down. There is simply no choice that is particularly satisfying, and the two big showdowns that comprise the end game are depressingly sedate, in one case you can simply say "Don't you have some doubts?" and the character responds, "Well I guess I do, I'll just go away then." Writing that started out excellent and mostly sustained a high level throughout just completely falls apart at the end. It's a testament to it's strength at the beginning that I am willing to give it 5 stars. I was torn between that & 4, and would have gone 4.5.

The game deserves its criticism: there's a lack of polish in the visuals, combat is infrequent and never becomes a fully fleshed-out feature, the sheer volume of reading can drag on at times. However the game world is wonderfully unique and strange. Every crevice has something to discover. It was a pleasure to interact with characters and objects, not sure what might happen if I pushed the dialogue in a certain direction. The arcing main story was well paced; it's revelations convoluted but intriguing - get ready for multiple realities and memories. The greatest compliment I can give ( and my highest recommendation ) is that by the end of the game the combat's potential showed through; choice pathways branched out; and I started to wonder about the 3 playable characters I never let join my party. After completion my mind wants to fight everyone, wants to play with the more risky choices, wants to tell that playable character to f**k off at the start. No, it's probably not as good as Planescape: Torment. But you wanted this type of game, and it very almost ( nothing has came this close before) betters it's spiritual predecessor. Side note: don't hold onto Cyphers like they're special. Expect 30-32hrs to finish your first run.

loved it - hated it - loved it - hated it ... you get the point upside * grand story * gand backstories * grand atmosphere * brain-twisting immersion (which takes its due time) * extreme complexity: i mean adepts, technologists, cultists, explorers, various life-forms, a labyrinth in your own mind, a body-jumping god ... just to give a wee glimpse * endless streams of half finished threads: yes i see that as positive - it's very much like real life. and you emerge without memory after all - so unconnected threads are part of the immersion. * scarce economy: same reason as before - its realistic. first you have too little money, then you have too much for the limited available supply. * blocked tasks: pre-mature actions might close paths that would be accessible otherwise. again plus point for realism. * a lot to read: until it's too much. see below. neutral * battle system: well let's say it's good enough. once you get the hang of it (at the end of the game cause there is not that many fights anyways) it's very straightforward. * ability structure: it takes some time to get the hang of it (i.e. which skills matter most) so not entirely intuitive but very clean and well-structured. downside * too much to read. if you try to play it in one run and try to read most of the dialogues at some point your brain starts to freeze. and you go like: whatever. but again that's like real life: you just can't ingest everything at once. * graphics: well they are not really 2017 standard. on the other hand that doesn't matter for the immersion: i'd rather play a low graphics - high intelligence game than the other way around. but that's just me - so just wanted to mention it. * characters & perspective: the details are well & fondly modelled but there's really little point zooming in and out all the time. which means you only see the characters quite tiny - which takes a lot of the connection potential. if you made it till here this game is probably just right for you ... ;-)

Great game. It's not P:T. Storywise it's much worse. But it's better than any other contemporary isometric cRPG. Much, much better story than Pillar's of Eternity, Dragon Age: Origins or Divinity original sin. Big amount of text, and It's very, very interesting text. You just want to read into this game more and more. You can avoid almost all fighting and it's great. And mechanics are brilliant (unless You are not some Icewind fighting freak). This game has it's flaws. But in comparison to other contemporary cRPG it is ultimate story-driven RPG.