Ah, Planescape: Torment. The only computer game to come out of the Planescape setting, an imaginative setting created for 2nd Edition AD&D that expanded upon the planar cosmology already established in 1st Edition. It was unfortunately discontinued once 3rd Edition was released, but fortunately, the cosmology stayed. I do so love it when D&D branches out into the weirder parts of the Monster Manual far removed from more conventional fantasy, and seeing as Torment was being handled by Black Isle, who were responsible for Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, this game was right up my alley.

You spend the majority of the game in Sigil, a donut-shaped city that wraps around itself and floats atop a tall spire located at the theoretical center of the planes, with many hidden portals that lead to every corner of the multiverse. It's as weird and wonderful a setting as it sounds, and I really liked how they utilized it in Torment.

The cast of characters are as unique as you would expect as well. A wisecracking floating skull, an asexual succubus, and a Scottish tiefling, to name a few. The player character is no exception: a nameless man who's committed horrific crimes against all of existence and has been cursed to reincarnate and lose a little bit more of his sense of self every time he dies. His goal is a simple one: to find his identity and atone for his crime. About what you'd expect from a game called Torment.

This is not a heroic tale, and so Planescape: Torment is very much dialogue over combat, as demonstrated in how you are much better rewarded for talking than fighting. As such, despite starting out as a generic male fighter (generic being a relative term in the Planescape setting), you're incentivized to dump points into your mental stats instead of physical. If you go into this game expecting something more balanced like Baldur's Gate, you'll be disappointed. This detracted from my enjoyment when I played it as a dumb teenager, but as I've gotten older and have branched out into different genres of games, I learned to appreciate this aspect.

My main issue now lies with the pacing. The portion of the game where you have to leave Sigil and travel the planes to search for answers is noticeably rushed. By contrast, to simply recruit the asexual succubus I mentioned earlier requires that you have lengthy dialogues with all 10 of her disciples, which can take up to an hour. And while I do realize that combat was never the priority with this game, the combat system feels a bit too underdeveloped for my liking.

Overall, Planescape: Torment, as strange and experimental as it is, is pretty solid, and is worth playing if only for the fact that it's simply one of a kind. However, I would not recommend it if you're looking for a more conventional RPG experience.

Stands the test of time - my garbled gamer brain almost dropped this after being lost in the Mortuary for an hour, but I'm glad I stuck it out. This title is often lauded as one of the best written games ever, and it's really no wonder why: it's wickedly sharp, hilarious, and confronts the genre in surprising and thoughtful ways. Admittedly, the game is quite outdated visually (obviously, it came out in 1999) and the combat is horrible, but I still found it an incredibly compelling experience, warts and all.

playing through this after having played disco elysium was a bit of a bizarre experience and really cemented the latter's existence as a spiritual successor to the former even more in my mind

Working your way through the mystery of the nameless one and the mark he left behind on Sigil (which is a crazy cool setting, btw) was utterly enthralling. The dialogue holds up even after all these years and Morte/TNO's voice acting is incredible. I love all the philosophical and silly conversations you can get into in this game.

Definitely recommend to fans of DE