Torment: Tides of Numenera

The format of this game has not aged well. It was fun back in the day because that was all that we had. Not so much now, and it’s painful once the nostalgia wears off. The remake/sequel is even worse because they borked the combat system and made it turn based.

So the plot started quite interesting, when i read about the landscape whilst the fall, i was eager to explore that world and all its miracles... little did my past me know.... What followed was a lifeless and disappointing game, which broke all the possible promises. A world to explore? Nope dude, you are going trough those hose like levels and interact with lifeless NPCs and theirs stupid quests (some of them you cant qutite finish, coz the game is stupid). But your companions sure ll make up for this? pffhahahahahaha NOPE!!! okay a bit, i liked Maktina, Oom and Rhin, they were at least a bit entertaining, but did they much to improve the game? No. The rest ist a bunch of borderline boring wrecks. The developement of your characters is slow and just frustrating. you and your cast off just feel lonely. Half an hour of Baldurs gate and about one dialog of Mass Effect are comparable to the whole game. Furthermore the levels are so linear and you cant go back or explore more or see a changing sourrounding, no you ve been there, thats enough. For all the cheap talk in the game and from the developers, they sell you way more that you get. I mean, its a game from 2017 and backed by a lot of people, but it never reaches an average level to comparable RPGs not even from the past. And one more point: I hated Pillars of eternity. and now i played the Tides and hate it too. Overall for its wasted potential. It couldve been so great, the plot and the ninth world are really interesting, but you wont see s*** from it. The developers took the lazy way of readable stories instead, that you can visit the areas (yeah i know Tabletop Games but this is a Videogame and i m not against reading, but this is just lazy. I know need a RPG to console my harmed litte soul, maybe its time to replay Pathfinder, a real and good RPG imo. I feel sorry for me and the buyers and even the developers who tought they did something good or okay at least, but YOU FAILED!!!!

A successor to PLANESCAPE TORMENT? Really? The only two things I found these games have in common are 1) they both have the word torment in their titles and 2) they're more like interactive novels While PLANESCAPE TORMENT (the far superior "Torment" game) is a pure fantasy game, this one mixes fantasy in sci-fi (which I'm not a fan of). TTON ditches the terrible "real time with pause" combat system (which was never good to begin with) and replaces it with an unpolished, equally sucking turn based system. Just like PT the focus is not on combat, so if that's what you're here for, you'll be disappointed. TTON is about reading, reading and more reading. Few lines are actually voiced, so expect to do some serious reading for about 99% of the time. The classes you play as are the equivalent of fighter, rogue and mage (how ingenious!) otherwise expect the same old as in any isometric RPG. In no way does this game live up to PLANESCAPE TORMENT. The setting is replaced by a bland sci-fantasy mix and the game fails to provide PST's captivating macabre atmosphere. Don't waste your time here, read a book instead!

There is nothing meaningful about this game and it doesn't feel like one is getting anywhere adventure-wise when playing it. The story is flat abstract dialogue choices that don't form an atmosphere that puts the player in the game. It's a lot of abstractions smushed together around the castoff theme. The combat is a sideshow. The leveling of characters seems inconsequential. And lots of dialog. I left the game unfinished when I reached the bloom because it felt like a dialog simulation and not a game. And if you don't like dialog too bad because there is death by dialog. The point of these games is fun and/or the feeling of accomplishing something. There is nothing to accomplish in this game besides to say you suffered through to the end. This game isn't fun because it integrates very poorly. Lore(or back story) is way abstract and doesn't form a meaningful whole. Combat is sparse. Choices change your 'tide color' which seems to have little impact on anything and thus diverges to nothing. Slogging through the dialog might award you a whopping 2xp lol(grinding dialog for small xp <.<). The locations are pretty closed so there isn't much adventuring to do. It's not like 'wow I cleared the fog of war and discovered this cave with stuff to kill and treasure to loot". Rather it is "wow I cleared the fog of war in a place with no potential hostiles and discovered yet another station with dialog choices yay". If you can imagine playing Final Fantasy 1 with 10x more dialog, 10x less fighting, and much better art, you would have something like this game. If that integrated together into a whole it might be good or even great but as is it's a dialog simulation.

The best thing about TORMENT: Tides of Numenera is not only is it a fun game, it teaches you things you don't even realize. This game was made by some of the best writers on earth. It's almost the same way King's Quest/Space Quest/Police Quest taught me how to type. This game can teach you proper use of grammar and just elevate your reading/writing skills. Aside from all that though, game is masterfully written and incredibly engaging. The only downside , if any is the combat. Then again, even Planescape Torment main focus wasn't combat. It was it's masterful story telling. You can play Tides of Numenera a hundred times and each time will be completely different, due to the web of choices the game takes you on. This is a choose your own adventure book, made into a video game. This is mind candy. If you are looking for more action oriented games though, seek out Pillars of Eternity (even though sort of heavy on reading too) , Wasteland 1 (2 in the works) Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 (coming soon). I'm a proud backer of tides and glad we had this opportunity to even have this game created.