Janky combat and a somewhat rushed late-game does not stop this from being a revolutionary game in the CRPG landscape (even today there is still nothing quite like it, afaik). The story and writing is excellent in this one, with goofy but likeable and fully fleshed-out side characters, and not too superficial philosophical musings (it's not that deep, but keep in mind that the other major isometric crpgs that went out before this were the first two Fallout games and Baldur's Gate -- I'll also throw in the Ultima series and Diablo so as to not only cite Infinity Engine games, but hey, you get the point). The lore-dumping can be a little bit too apparent at times, but is balanced out by how fascinating and bizarre the Planescape setting is. It really feels so new when compared to the tamer, more standard DnD setting of Baldur's Gate. Finally, the ugly low budget late-90s 3D graphics may seem off-putting for a while, but in the end it fits the strange atmosphere perfectly. An excellent game overall.

(as a necessary fair warning, the game is a tad "passively" misogynistic at times, which is, of course, a bit unavoidable in games from that era, but still. it's also written mostly by Chris Avellone, a fact which may be understandably off-putting for some, given some recent events)

Reviewed on Apr 08, 2024


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