Even though I have always found Planescape Torment to be an outstanding title, always in the top ten, I have never been a huge fan of it. Not quite my "climate", a very limited AD&D system, "wooden" combat system and this "getting excited" by everyone with the question: What can change the nature of man? Probably because I have always considered them a bit of pseudo-philosophical gibberish, because in my opinion there is no such thing as human nature
Never mind. I have never worshiped or adored this title, so I did not wait with a flushed face for Torment: Tides of Numenera.
The time has come, however, that I also finished the game. And I must admit that after many negative opinions on the internet, I am surprised. And that's nice.
Numenera (this is how I will describe this game later in the text) takes us to an absurdly distant future (about a billion years), probably to Earth, although it is difficult to talk about the traces of our civilization, because in the game universe, the world has witnessed the fall and emergence of many civilizations, and we come to the stage of civilization close to the Middle Ages, although every now and then you can find mysterious artifacts of the past (so-called numbers), which are a product of advanced technology. Our main character is also somehow ... a creation. In the Ninth World we will explore, there is a being called the Lord of Incarnations - he has attained immortality by shifting consciousness from body to body. The problem is that the abandoned body ... also gains consciousness and becomes a de facto newborn human. Our hero is just such a newborn who has to find a place in this strange world; especially since he is being chased by a mysterious being called Despair.
Our hero is immortal like the Nameless One in Torment, although there are a few events during which he may die forever. Interestingly, death, the final one, will never happen during a fight. One is that it is impossible - no one but Despair can kill us forever, two - there is very little combat in this game. RPG fans may be amazed, because it may turn out that they will get their weapons for the first time after a few hours of gameplay. Is that okay? In fact, yes: the game does not prevent a character focused on fighting and solving problems in this way. Especially that among the companions there are more than talking and more than slapping the mouths with a sword .... Exactly. Comrades. We travel with up to three out of six. They are quite nice written, although it must be admitted that only two characters stand out in particular: Erritis, a bit dull, with an ego-bulky powerful warrior, who even shines (really!) With an aura of his "horror" and is a parody of all kinds of brave knights and other heroes from pop culture and Rhin, an approximately eleven-year-old girl who is a typical fictional character and has become one of my favorite companions in generally understood cRPG - she fights weakly (although she has great dexterity and when she gets a ranged weapon based on dexterity, she becomes a great support), it rains very quickly once they attack her, however ... she is the best-written character in Nu mener, she has a great quest related to her, her dialogues with other companions make her smile and ... she talks to the stone, but why you will discover it yourself
Did I say you talk more than fight here? There are a lot of conversations, descriptions in between them also, sometimes a bit water-less, but on the plus side. The vast majority of quests can be solved by means of an appropriate conversation and in various ways - the dialogue can be conducted in different ways, depending on our abilities (such as Intimidation) or in general: world view. These dialogues determine what current (in fact: character type) dominates our character, which will have some influence on the ending of the game. The fight, which is not much, is played in a turn-based system, although nothing would have happened if it had been a mode with an active pause because it would have accelerated it - because there is no ... tactical depth from, for example, the Temple of Primordial Evil. Well, it's ok.
I did not mention anything about the mechanics, which is based on the "paper" RPG Numenery system and although this system is not entirely "clear" to me, during the game you will easily see that character development is quite pleasant and gives some ... interesting possibilities .
What else? Didn't I mention music or graphics? To be honest, the first one was playing somewhere in the background and I completely didn't pay attention to it, which is probably not sensational, although I like the song from the main menu. Graphically, it is basically the same as in the first Pillars, because the game was created on the same engine.
Is Tides of Numenera a worthy successor to the old Torment? There is probably no good answer to this question. The game with the old Torment has only the title of the immortal, nameless hero and the fact that he is an isometric team game. Of course, it has a very good story, with many endings, but the atmosphere of the game is completely different, and I also think that the setting, which is a mishmash of fantasy, sf and post-apo, is a lot of fun.
louse and reminds me a bit of Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun". And frankly speaking: I will return to N�menera sooner than to old Tormenta. It turned out that I got the title of outstanding, one of the best erpegs in the history of the genre. And a small digression at the end: often old players (those of my age, i.e. around thirty and older) say that in the past "games were better". Probably some of them, but I don't think it's erpegi; We have been experiencing a renaissance of the genre for several years, perhaps this is the Golden Age of cRPG. Obsidianu games, Lords of Xulima, Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2, the new Torment, many are delighted with the Original Sin series (I personally bounced from this series). I think that recently (i.e. since the appearance of the first Pillars and the first Legend of Grimrock) we are dealing with better RPGs than in the times of Black Isle and Bioware (counting to the fall of Troika, because it was "dry" later). Well, that's about it
Who has not played - let him play Torment: Tides of Numenera.