In a game as famously dense as Planescape: Torment, the only word I can use to describe my experience playing through it is simply esoteric.
While it carries the CRPG tradition of "pretty damn impressive story and world-building, but really weak combat" as one would expect from this era, Planescape: Torment would go beyond these met-expectations to deliver an incredibly unique, poetically rich experience that earns its place as being one of the greatest written video games in history.
The most interesting part about Planescape: Torment as a game is how it takes special effort into subverting the many RPG tropes and conventions people were familiar with the genre at this point. The standard blank slate RPG protagonist? This premise is flipped on its own head as they discover they have this entire repressed history that’s important in deciphering which works as an effective mystery hook for the narrative. The plot of a hero trying to save the world from a greater evil needing to be stopped? The Nameless One is more interested in trying to discover the existential truth about themselves and the damage they’ve caused in their previous lives. This goes for other aspects of the gameplay like traditional fantasy equipped armor being tattoos or eyeballs you replace from your own body, experience being gained by remembering memories or skills you’ve always had but forgotten, and the player being immortal makes dying just a minor annoyance and also a brilliant integration between story and gameplay. There's even an entire optional dungeon in the game which makes fun of dungeon crawlers. The hilarious setup being that it was a failed psychological experiment by actual robots to discover why people would venture into unforeseen danger and death. Something beautifully topped off with generic enemies who don't know what their real motivation is beyond just programmed to fight the player while dropping generically named loot like "A Goody!" which has no in-game value.
The combat may trench on being territorially mid unless you’re a Mage with high leveled spells to your disposal but I believe nothing can quite knock down the experience of exploring Sigil and all the various multiversal planes in this ridiculously rich yet cryptic fantasy setting. All the very out-there philosophical ideas of mortality and the ever-so famous theme of “what can change the nature of man?” are echoed throughout the locations and characters you encounter. This has among my all-time favorite party members for being a well-written group of tormented individuals who are attracted and follow the most tormented one of them all. You know you’ve really succeeded in telling a really damn great story for a game when the most fascinating character worth paying attention to is The Nameless One himself. In how he, through the player, confronts his own literal demons catching up on him and harming the people affected by it. The way immortality is treated more like a curse than a blessing in disguise when it comes to personal choices and consequences being made. And the different versions of himself throughout his undying life that he once was or could potentially still relapse back into.
The ending of Planescape: Torment was what fully convinced me this was a certified classic. In how it perfectly caps off this surreal yet intimate story being told from where it leaves The Nameless One from where the game began, and for being one of the most memorable and worthwhile experiences I've had playing a video game.
While it carries the CRPG tradition of "pretty damn impressive story and world-building, but really weak combat" as one would expect from this era, Planescape: Torment would go beyond these met-expectations to deliver an incredibly unique, poetically rich experience that earns its place as being one of the greatest written video games in history.
The most interesting part about Planescape: Torment as a game is how it takes special effort into subverting the many RPG tropes and conventions people were familiar with the genre at this point. The standard blank slate RPG protagonist? This premise is flipped on its own head as they discover they have this entire repressed history that’s important in deciphering which works as an effective mystery hook for the narrative. The plot of a hero trying to save the world from a greater evil needing to be stopped? The Nameless One is more interested in trying to discover the existential truth about themselves and the damage they’ve caused in their previous lives. This goes for other aspects of the gameplay like traditional fantasy equipped armor being tattoos or eyeballs you replace from your own body, experience being gained by remembering memories or skills you’ve always had but forgotten, and the player being immortal makes dying just a minor annoyance and also a brilliant integration between story and gameplay. There's even an entire optional dungeon in the game which makes fun of dungeon crawlers. The hilarious setup being that it was a failed psychological experiment by actual robots to discover why people would venture into unforeseen danger and death. Something beautifully topped off with generic enemies who don't know what their real motivation is beyond just programmed to fight the player while dropping generically named loot like "A Goody!" which has no in-game value.
The combat may trench on being territorially mid unless you’re a Mage with high leveled spells to your disposal but I believe nothing can quite knock down the experience of exploring Sigil and all the various multiversal planes in this ridiculously rich yet cryptic fantasy setting. All the very out-there philosophical ideas of mortality and the ever-so famous theme of “what can change the nature of man?” are echoed throughout the locations and characters you encounter. This has among my all-time favorite party members for being a well-written group of tormented individuals who are attracted and follow the most tormented one of them all. You know you’ve really succeeded in telling a really damn great story for a game when the most fascinating character worth paying attention to is The Nameless One himself. In how he, through the player, confronts his own literal demons catching up on him and harming the people affected by it. The way immortality is treated more like a curse than a blessing in disguise when it comes to personal choices and consequences being made. And the different versions of himself throughout his undying life that he once was or could potentially still relapse back into.
The ending of Planescape: Torment was what fully convinced me this was a certified classic. In how it perfectly caps off this surreal yet intimate story being told from where it leaves The Nameless One from where the game began, and for being one of the most memorable and worthwhile experiences I've had playing a video game.