Posted on: June 3, 2021

craig_s_russell

Games: 509 Reviews: 42

Worthy successor to Planescape: Torment

If you loved Planescape: Torment, then I think you will also like Tides of Numenera very much. I'll start with the shortcomings which prevented a 5-star rating. The combat is atrocious!! If you're looking for a turn-based RPG with great combat, this is NOT your game. I find myself building characters who rely on non-combat skills such as charisma, deception, diplomacy, etc. just so I can avoid the combat. The audio could be better. Needs more spoken dialog. Also the ambient audio was mediocre. It wasn't bad, but it was more appropriate for a game from the early 2000's, not 2017. Now the good. In a nutshell, your decisions during character build combined with the phenomenal amount of branching dialogs with consequences give the game staggering replay value. Your Tidal Affinity (which is determined by your dialog choices and actions) has a dramatic effect on your character's legacy (i.e. what you achieved and are remembered for). I've played through using Blue, Gold, Indigo and Red affinities, and my characters' legacies were significantly different each time and my legacy was exactly what I would expect of that type of person in the real world. Excellent story. The themes covered in the story are timeless and part of the human experience. This is one of the traits that made Planescape: Torment so special, and Tides of Numenera follows this tradition. Many interesting and unique companions, NPC's, factions, and locations. Just mixing up your companions during replays produces distinctly different game experiences. Yes, I know this mechanic has been around for years, but not all games execute it well. Tides of Numenera is excellent in this area. Conversations and decisions made in one area of the game sometimes impact other areas of the game including what dialog options you have and how NPC's and companions react to you. A must-have game if you enjoy a thoughtful, complex, but combat-lite RPG with massive replay value.

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Posted on: April 17, 2022

Peasant0

Verified owner

Games: 96 Reviews: 21

Great Numenera game (bad successor?)

As someone who hasn't played PST but is familiar with Numenera, I thought this was a great portrayal of that setting and system. It looks great, the locations are creative and the mechanics are interesting if flawed. Mechanically, the best thing about this game is the Might, Speed and Intellect pools, which can be spent to boost your odds in various combat and non-combat actions. I love this system for 3 reasons: 1) It gives the player agency outside of combat 2) It bridges combat and non-combat and gives both consequences that affect the other, unlike most RPGs where mechanically combat feels like the real game and everything else feels like a shallow, tacked-on 2nd game 3) It creates tension by making you gamble a precious resource Unfortunately, combat itself is messy mostly due to a dodgy positioning system. It's not gamebreaking though, just annoying. Now, the elephant in the room: I've heard the plot copies a lot from PST. Having not played PST, I thought the plot was interesting and felt natural. But if you have, maybe skip this game. But for anyone interested in Numenera, or just interesting non-combat gameplay, I highly recommend this game.

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Posted on: March 7, 2017

ianuse

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 9

Disappointed

I was really disappointed, nice art but I don't like the rest of the game. I loved Pillars and Wasteland 2 but I don't like this Torment game, everything seems like grinding and not like playing a game. I don't care about stretch goals, although I'm a kickstarter.

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Posted on: March 11, 2017

nonamespalace

Games: 68 Reviews: 3

Doesn't do justice to PS:T

If you are going to call a game a "spiritual successor" to another game, especially a game as legendary as Planescape: Torment, it is best to not change fundamental game mechanics from the original. I was a huge fan of PS:T. Part of the reason I liked it (among many other things) is because I like the RTwP mechanics. Turn based just isn't my thing. When you try to expand upon legendary games and move away from fundamental things that made the original game great, you end up with things like Deus Ex: Invisible War... or Tides of Numenera.

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Posted on: March 28, 2017

Vilcapaza

Verified owner

Games: 167 Reviews: 9

Rekindling my lust for RPG'ing.

I simply adore the new Torment. It was everything I wanted from a new single player roleplaying experience: -Weird, punishing and interesting combat -Odd and intriguing world/lore -Some of the best writing I've ever experienced -Great characters, both conceptually and functionally -Open and deep plot, despite it being very linear This game made me love the Numenera RPG universe, with it's mysteries and wonders. I would recommend it to any experienced roleplaying gamers or any kind of player who enjoys sinking deep into an unknown world, ready to accept the rules of it. ...abd that's all I can say about this game without rambling.

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