Planescape: Torment

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Planescape: Torment
Developer(s) Black Isle Studios
Publisher(s) Interplay
Release date(s) December 12 1999
Genre Computer RPG
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB:Teen (T)
Platform(s) Windows

Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) that takes place in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Planescape setting. It was created by Black Isle Studios and released in 1999. Chris Avellone, now of Obsidian Entertainment, was the lead designer.

In the game, players assume control of an enigmatic character with no memory of his identity and past as he wakes up in a mortuary. He soon meets a floating, talking skull named Morte, who follows him around from then on. Planescape: Torment differs from similar CRPGs like those in the Baldur's Gate series by a heavy emphasis on conversation and storyline, thus decreasing the importance of combat - arguably to the detriment of its acceptance by gamers (see Trivia). While the game is still hailed today as one of the finest examples of storytelling in a computer game by developers and serious gamers, it remains forgotten by the bulk of the gaming public. Themes include the significance of names, the question "What can change the nature of a man?", and the importance of knowing oneself.

Contents

Synopsis

The story opens in Sigil, City of Doors, when the protagonist (The Nameless One) awakens on a mortuary slab, not knowing who or even where he is. A chattering skull named Morte floats over to him and informs The Nameless One of writing on his back instructing him to read his journal, and then find someone named Pharod. The Nameless One then embarks on a quest to resolve two fundamental problems: why he is immortal, and how he can become a mortal again.

These two plot devices carry the player throughout the rich Planescape setting, which is filled with people, objects, and oddities from different planes all across the multiverse. The player travels to exotic destinations like Avernus, the first layer of Baator, the plane of thieves and liars, the Astral plane, one of the Lady of Pain's Mazes, a 'pregnant' alleyway, and more.

One idea that presents itself many times during the game is a sort of consensus reality - if enough people believe in something, then it is real, and simply pops into existence. For instance, when people ask The Nameless One his name (which he doesn't know), there is usually a response where he tells them that his name is 'Adahn'. If he tells enough people that's who he is, Adahn may appear, claiming to be an old friend, even though he never existed before.

Eventually, The Nameless One (or TNO) reaches the Negative Energy Plane to confront his mortality, which had grown into its own entity by the name of The Transcendent One (or TTO).

If The Nameless One is wise enough, he can convince or force The Transcendent One to merge with him. If he accomplishes this, The Nameless One wakes up in a new plane, going willingly to a punishment he became immortal to prevent.

If The Nameless One is not wise enough, he can choose to murder himself. Given the special nature of the Negative Energy Plane, it is the only place that The Nameless One can truly die. As such, if he dies, The Trancendent One dies as well.

Credits

Cast (voice)

Trivia

While considered to be one of the greatest computer role-playing games ever made by serious computer gamers, Planescape: Torment remains one of the least commercially successful, with approximately 73,000 copies sold. For comparison, Diablo sold approximately 1,300,000 copies.

Planescape: Torment is notable for the amount of dialogue (in text form) which it contains. An estimate by the creators of the game place it at almost 1 million words. This is comparable to one volume of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It has been argued that the wordy nature of the game turned many potential players off from the game, realizing that the bulk of the game often focused on picking the "correct" answer out of 1-6 presented conversation sources.

External links

he:Planescape Torment pl:Planescape:öá Torment

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