Planescape Torment is a cult classic and is considered by many to have the best story in any video game ever made. I recently completed it, and I'm here to tell you that the hype is justified--this is an incredible game. It instantly makes it into my all time top 5 games ever. Planescape contains one of the most unique and interesting settings (this is NOT just some rip off of Middle Earth) and the best writing and plot I have ever seen in a video game. It's possible there are some adventure games that can hold a candle to it (I've heard the game The Longest Journey is mind blowing), but I haven't played them. You really care about the characters and you will be blown away by the ending, and you will really care about the moral choices you make. In terms of gameplay, this game is somewhat similar to the Baldur's Gate series, although it lacks some of the interface elements found in those games (or at least in the second one; I haven't played the first very much). The combat here is not quite as tight as found in Baldur's Gate, but it is still excellent. This game is more focused on dialogue than combat, so if you like a very combat heavy game then you might not like it quite as much. That said, it's pretty hard to imagine anyone who enjoys video games and a good story not enjoying this game. You should also not get the idea that this is just a point and click adventure game with no real combat. There is still plenty of combat, and you must do some heavy fighting to get through a number of sequences in the game. Although there isn't a ton of it, the voice acting is another major strong point in this game that I wanted to mention. Another thing I like is that you level up A LOT in this game. You start out as sort of weak, but by the end of the game you are a bad, bad man, and that's something I always like in my RPGs. There's a lot of choice in the game as to how to behave--you can be a really evil jerk or you can be a good guy, and the game is immerssive enough that you actually care about having the choice. Graphically, this game looks pretty ragged on a widescreen computer at its original resolution, but this doesn't matter because there is an easy to use mod that allows you to play it in widescreen. Using the mod, it looks fantastic in widescreen. The artwork for the levels is quite detailed and lovely--it sort of made me long for the days of 2d graphics to be honest. I found full on widescreen at 1280 x 800 to be too zoomed out, so I made a custom resolution for 960 x 600 and found that to be just about right. In fact, there are a number of good mods that people generally recommend you get for the game. You can find an excellent and easy to follow guide in the planescape forum. The spell effects have also aged really well. One thing I would like to mention is that many people say that to get the full experience you have to put a lot of stat points in intelligence and wisdom because this opens up more dialogue options and potentially story elements. I am not sure how much is necessary to get everything, but just thought I'd pass that along. I was a mage and had them both very, very high. However, I am sure you can get just as cool an experience no matter what kind of character you are. Another thing to know about the gameplay (for those who don't read manuals) is that you don't create a mage or thief or fighter like you do in other RPGs. You always start out as a fighter, and then you have to find someone in the game world to train you if you would rather be a thief or a mage instead. You can also jump around between the different classes. This sort of threw me for a loop until I looked in the manual.
