SaberHazari
1992
The game follows the protagonist Gillian Seed who has been assigned to the JUNKER(Japanese Undercover Neuro-Kinetic Elimination Ranger) which is an organization established to deal with the onset of Snatchers in Neo Kobe City. Snatchers are robotic killing machines who take on the identity of their victims. This game is heavily inspired by the movies "Blade Runner" and "Terminator".
Hideo Kojima is best known for his Metal Gear series. But before its stealth gameplay and plot complexity, there was Snatcher. Kojima's love of films is apparent from the beginning of this game. Protagonist Seed hunts down the Snatchers, Replicant-esque Terminators in Neo Kobe City, which might as well be Los Angeles in terms of architecture. He is accompanied by a sensible robot companion named Metal Gear as he investigates murders and uncovers a gigantic conspiracy.
Gillian and his wife Jamie both suffer from amnesia and they can't remember anything about their past before 3 years ago when they were found. Because they don't know anything about their past, both of them have a hard time being together again.
Snatcher has an in-game wiki in the form of computer Jordan which is really well-crafted and interesting. I became invested in the game more after reading through the wiki after I started the game.
In terms of gameplay, Snatcher is a console equivalent of a point and click adventure. From your first-person perspective, you can move to different areas, talk, look, or investigate things most of the time. This user interface is rough due largely to the fact that you may need to perform some strange combination of your options in order to proceed, but Snatcher tends to inform one's goals well. What really makes Snatcher stand out is in the details. Each area has richly nuanced pixel art and multiple points of interest that can be examined through the menus instead of cursor pixel-hunting.
Dialogue in this game is amazingly delivered despite the limitations of the hardwares at the time. The visual movement in the times of voice acting in important moments, I thought, are brilliantly done and feels very immersive.
The lore of the game is really interesting. The plot has depth and very well foreshadowed twists. The characters are all mostly really likable and the game is very emotional at times too. I won't say the writing is perfect here but it's definitely fantastic enough to leave an impact on the players mind.
Overall, I tremendously enjoyed playing through this game while at times being frustrated at the gameplay but not enough to diminish my positive experience of the game. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi and noir films or is a fan of Kojima.
Personal Rating - 9/10
Hideo Kojima is best known for his Metal Gear series. But before its stealth gameplay and plot complexity, there was Snatcher. Kojima's love of films is apparent from the beginning of this game. Protagonist Seed hunts down the Snatchers, Replicant-esque Terminators in Neo Kobe City, which might as well be Los Angeles in terms of architecture. He is accompanied by a sensible robot companion named Metal Gear as he investigates murders and uncovers a gigantic conspiracy.
Gillian and his wife Jamie both suffer from amnesia and they can't remember anything about their past before 3 years ago when they were found. Because they don't know anything about their past, both of them have a hard time being together again.
Snatcher has an in-game wiki in the form of computer Jordan which is really well-crafted and interesting. I became invested in the game more after reading through the wiki after I started the game.
In terms of gameplay, Snatcher is a console equivalent of a point and click adventure. From your first-person perspective, you can move to different areas, talk, look, or investigate things most of the time. This user interface is rough due largely to the fact that you may need to perform some strange combination of your options in order to proceed, but Snatcher tends to inform one's goals well. What really makes Snatcher stand out is in the details. Each area has richly nuanced pixel art and multiple points of interest that can be examined through the menus instead of cursor pixel-hunting.
Dialogue in this game is amazingly delivered despite the limitations of the hardwares at the time. The visual movement in the times of voice acting in important moments, I thought, are brilliantly done and feels very immersive.
The lore of the game is really interesting. The plot has depth and very well foreshadowed twists. The characters are all mostly really likable and the game is very emotional at times too. I won't say the writing is perfect here but it's definitely fantastic enough to leave an impact on the players mind.
Overall, I tremendously enjoyed playing through this game while at times being frustrated at the gameplay but not enough to diminish my positive experience of the game. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi and noir films or is a fan of Kojima.
Personal Rating - 9/10
Premise:
Fata Morgana is a gothic suspense tale set in a cursed mansion. The overall story spans across a millennium. An amnesiac spirit awakens in the mansion and is greeted by a maid who seems to know the spirit and calls it her master. And both of them go through the past of the mansion in an attempt to recover the memories of the spirit.
Review:
Fata Morgana starts off with 4 almost completely different stories that have very little connections with each other and are set in very different times of the mansion. At first it may seem like an anthological series of stories but all of the different stories will get connected to an unified plot over the later half of the narrative. It is really fascinating to see how the novel manages to intertwine the different stories and characters together with each other and the mansion.
Fata Morgana deals with several heavy themes such as tragedy, misfortune, racism, oppression, abuse, love, relationships, loneliness etc. It is a story that tackles various sensitive topics that people generally refrain from discussing.
I think the characters of Fata Morgana are written to almost perfection. All of them are given enough context for the consumer to feel emotions toward. When Fata Morgana hits its high points especially character moments, it is really hard to not feel any kind of emotion towards them. Almost all of the characters are multifaceted complex characters with defining personality traits, proper background and growth.
There were no visible plot holes to the story at least from my perspective, everything was well explained and delivered to the consumer. The dialogues are also intelligently written.
The soundtracks of the game are perfection. Almost all of the soundtracks in the game are voiced.
In conclusion let me say that, this game and its narrative is easily one of the best fictional experiences of my life and I highly recommend it to people who have become interested in the game after reading the review.
Personal Rating: 10/10
Fata Morgana is a gothic suspense tale set in a cursed mansion. The overall story spans across a millennium. An amnesiac spirit awakens in the mansion and is greeted by a maid who seems to know the spirit and calls it her master. And both of them go through the past of the mansion in an attempt to recover the memories of the spirit.
Review:
Fata Morgana starts off with 4 almost completely different stories that have very little connections with each other and are set in very different times of the mansion. At first it may seem like an anthological series of stories but all of the different stories will get connected to an unified plot over the later half of the narrative. It is really fascinating to see how the novel manages to intertwine the different stories and characters together with each other and the mansion.
Fata Morgana deals with several heavy themes such as tragedy, misfortune, racism, oppression, abuse, love, relationships, loneliness etc. It is a story that tackles various sensitive topics that people generally refrain from discussing.
I think the characters of Fata Morgana are written to almost perfection. All of them are given enough context for the consumer to feel emotions toward. When Fata Morgana hits its high points especially character moments, it is really hard to not feel any kind of emotion towards them. Almost all of the characters are multifaceted complex characters with defining personality traits, proper background and growth.
There were no visible plot holes to the story at least from my perspective, everything was well explained and delivered to the consumer. The dialogues are also intelligently written.
The soundtracks of the game are perfection. Almost all of the soundtracks in the game are voiced.
In conclusion let me say that, this game and its narrative is easily one of the best fictional experiences of my life and I highly recommend it to people who have become interested in the game after reading the review.
Personal Rating: 10/10
Premise:
The game follows the protagonist Estelle Bright and her adoptive brother Joshua. They go on a journey throughout the kingdom of Liberl to complete their training to become full-fledged Bracers. Bracers are the members of a non-government multinational organization that acts to keep the peace and to help and protect civilians.
Review:
This game is the beginning of a narrative that spans over 10+ games and as such it is pretty slow as it builds up and establishes the lores and world building for the entire series. You can compare this series to a novel series where the first book takes a lot of time to properly establish the world. But this doesn't mean that it will not pick up the pace. Believe me, even the first game has a lot of twists and turns later on in the game.
The story writing of the first game is excellent, most of the twists in the game have a lot of subtle hints and foreshadowing for the player to pick up on. The game explains and gives context on most of the things that happen in the story and to the characters to keep the player immersed on the plot.
The characters are what I am most interested to talk about when I am discussing this series. Each and every playable character in the game is written sublimely throughout the series. All of them get relevantly fleshed out background and story throughout the plot, they are all characters that you can get immersed and engrossed in. The important non-playable characters are also really well crafted to stay relevant to the story. I can't praise Trails' character writing enough. All of the townspeople and non-playable characters all have their own story and relationships that you can get immersed on. I highly suggest doing all the sidequests, even the hidden ones, in the game, they are well worth your time as they flesh out all of the in-game npcs.
Trails world building is simply phenomenal, there are so many different factions, nations and races in this world. The conflict and relationships between these different organizations are portrayed brilliantly. And as this is the first game of the series, it establishes the context about a lot of those organizations and builds up the lore of the world.
The battle system is really dynamic and enjoyable. It has some elements of tactical rpgs but in essence, it is a turn based rpg series. The combat is pretty deep as it has many things for you to consider, with very diverse setups for your characters. Strategy is important to win many of the battles in the series and even in the first game. There are three difficulty modes in the game, Normal, Hard and Nightmare. I would recommend Normal mode to anyone. The higher difficulties of the games aren't that balanced, mostly just increases the stats of the AIs rather than making the AIs more advanced. That isn't to say the higher difficulties aren't hard, they can get very very challenging at times. If you do want some challenge, go ahead and pick Hard or Nightmare mode.
I really love the aesthetic and artstyle of the series. It is a 3D environment presented in an isometric, rotatable camera perspective with charming sprites for the characters.
The dialogues in the game are written with passion, ambition and intelligence. It is recommended for you to talk to all of the characters(plot important characters, residents, random npcs) after any major event in not just this game but the whole series, as they have really interesting things to say. Interacting with treasure chests twice is also recommended as they contain random tidbits and hilarious messages from the developers.
The soundtracks of this series contains some of my most favourite and memorable osts of all time. The sound team working on this series "Falcom Sound Team Jdk" really are an exceptionally talented and passionate musical group.
In conclusion, if you are interested in a large well built narrative with tons of characters then you should definitely give this series a shot and start with this game.
Personal Rating: 9/10
I will try to write a review for the Second Chapter soon as well but I can't promise when.
The game follows the protagonist Estelle Bright and her adoptive brother Joshua. They go on a journey throughout the kingdom of Liberl to complete their training to become full-fledged Bracers. Bracers are the members of a non-government multinational organization that acts to keep the peace and to help and protect civilians.
Review:
This game is the beginning of a narrative that spans over 10+ games and as such it is pretty slow as it builds up and establishes the lores and world building for the entire series. You can compare this series to a novel series where the first book takes a lot of time to properly establish the world. But this doesn't mean that it will not pick up the pace. Believe me, even the first game has a lot of twists and turns later on in the game.
The story writing of the first game is excellent, most of the twists in the game have a lot of subtle hints and foreshadowing for the player to pick up on. The game explains and gives context on most of the things that happen in the story and to the characters to keep the player immersed on the plot.
The characters are what I am most interested to talk about when I am discussing this series. Each and every playable character in the game is written sublimely throughout the series. All of them get relevantly fleshed out background and story throughout the plot, they are all characters that you can get immersed and engrossed in. The important non-playable characters are also really well crafted to stay relevant to the story. I can't praise Trails' character writing enough. All of the townspeople and non-playable characters all have their own story and relationships that you can get immersed on. I highly suggest doing all the sidequests, even the hidden ones, in the game, they are well worth your time as they flesh out all of the in-game npcs.
Trails world building is simply phenomenal, there are so many different factions, nations and races in this world. The conflict and relationships between these different organizations are portrayed brilliantly. And as this is the first game of the series, it establishes the context about a lot of those organizations and builds up the lore of the world.
The battle system is really dynamic and enjoyable. It has some elements of tactical rpgs but in essence, it is a turn based rpg series. The combat is pretty deep as it has many things for you to consider, with very diverse setups for your characters. Strategy is important to win many of the battles in the series and even in the first game. There are three difficulty modes in the game, Normal, Hard and Nightmare. I would recommend Normal mode to anyone. The higher difficulties of the games aren't that balanced, mostly just increases the stats of the AIs rather than making the AIs more advanced. That isn't to say the higher difficulties aren't hard, they can get very very challenging at times. If you do want some challenge, go ahead and pick Hard or Nightmare mode.
I really love the aesthetic and artstyle of the series. It is a 3D environment presented in an isometric, rotatable camera perspective with charming sprites for the characters.
The dialogues in the game are written with passion, ambition and intelligence. It is recommended for you to talk to all of the characters(plot important characters, residents, random npcs) after any major event in not just this game but the whole series, as they have really interesting things to say. Interacting with treasure chests twice is also recommended as they contain random tidbits and hilarious messages from the developers.
The soundtracks of this series contains some of my most favourite and memorable osts of all time. The sound team working on this series "Falcom Sound Team Jdk" really are an exceptionally talented and passionate musical group.
In conclusion, if you are interested in a large well built narrative with tons of characters then you should definitely give this series a shot and start with this game.
Personal Rating: 9/10
I will try to write a review for the Second Chapter soon as well but I can't promise when.
2019
Premise:
Outer Wilds is a wonderful autonomous space exploration game, takes place in a collapsing solar system. Your mission as the newest member of the Outer Wilds Ventures space program is to travel and visit the Nomai ruins dispersed throughout the solar system and decipher their messages using your brand-new translation technology. Unfortunately, you only have a short time before the solar system implodes.
Review:
Outer Wilds, a game about a time loop ending in a supernova is a story that relies primarily on its intriguing scientific discoveries and nonlinear plot. Discovering new areas of interest, gaining new knowledge, and learning about the planets, the solar system and the cosmos in the Outer Wilds will always make you excited.
Each gameplay run in Outer Wilds begins when you wake up on the day of your first space launch. From there, you have 22 minutes to explore the solar system before the sun goes supernova, annihilating all life in the region. As such, you must make each loop fruitful by learning more about the world and the Nomais, an ancient advanced race that supposedly went extinct for some reason.
The game uses the ship's log as a tracking mechanism to support its nonlinear nature. On the planet by planet map screen or through the rumor screen, you can view your ship's log entries. The rumor window is the most helpful element if you want to take a closer look at what you've discovered thus far. Outer Wilds also includes a good conspiracy theory web, which serves as a story component, a useful portion of the game's user interface, and a mechanical set piece all at the same time. The web grows larger and more knotted as you gather more knowledge.
You must monitor a few resources, such as the oxygen supply and fuel levels in your jetpack-powered space suit. You must rack your direction and velocity while in space or on worlds with minimal gravity, or you may drift out into space. The game's three-dimensional movement controls take some practice to master. The game's autopilot function is situational, I'd recommend using it carefully as it can lead to you colliding with other objects if it is in the way of your destination.
Outer Wilds is a game that evokes the sense of curiosity that no other game did for me, the moment you learn something new or understand something that you previously weren't able to is an irreplaceable experience that no other game is able to replicate. You don't need to know or explore everything to finish the game but I'd really recommend that you do, the experience will feel complete if you do. The game is written masterfully even with its very unique storytelling style, everything will make sense once you have all of the information and understand them.
The music and soundtracks of Outer Wilds are truly something praiseworthy, they enhance your sense of exploration and adventure by a multitude of degrees. A lot of the music in the game comes from your fellow explorers and they are very beautiful to listen to. The soundtracks of different locations are very appropriate and immersive.
I almost cried at the ending of Outer Wilds, it was something really fresh that I hardly see in other stories and games, I'd probably even go so far as to say one of my top 3 favourite moments in all of gaming. And the DLC somehow manages to match its brilliance! But I'll talk about the DLC "Echoes of the Eye" in a separate review provided that I write one :).
Personal Rating - 10/10
Outer Wilds is a wonderful autonomous space exploration game, takes place in a collapsing solar system. Your mission as the newest member of the Outer Wilds Ventures space program is to travel and visit the Nomai ruins dispersed throughout the solar system and decipher their messages using your brand-new translation technology. Unfortunately, you only have a short time before the solar system implodes.
Review:
Outer Wilds, a game about a time loop ending in a supernova is a story that relies primarily on its intriguing scientific discoveries and nonlinear plot. Discovering new areas of interest, gaining new knowledge, and learning about the planets, the solar system and the cosmos in the Outer Wilds will always make you excited.
Each gameplay run in Outer Wilds begins when you wake up on the day of your first space launch. From there, you have 22 minutes to explore the solar system before the sun goes supernova, annihilating all life in the region. As such, you must make each loop fruitful by learning more about the world and the Nomais, an ancient advanced race that supposedly went extinct for some reason.
The game uses the ship's log as a tracking mechanism to support its nonlinear nature. On the planet by planet map screen or through the rumor screen, you can view your ship's log entries. The rumor window is the most helpful element if you want to take a closer look at what you've discovered thus far. Outer Wilds also includes a good conspiracy theory web, which serves as a story component, a useful portion of the game's user interface, and a mechanical set piece all at the same time. The web grows larger and more knotted as you gather more knowledge.
You must monitor a few resources, such as the oxygen supply and fuel levels in your jetpack-powered space suit. You must rack your direction and velocity while in space or on worlds with minimal gravity, or you may drift out into space. The game's three-dimensional movement controls take some practice to master. The game's autopilot function is situational, I'd recommend using it carefully as it can lead to you colliding with other objects if it is in the way of your destination.
Outer Wilds is a game that evokes the sense of curiosity that no other game did for me, the moment you learn something new or understand something that you previously weren't able to is an irreplaceable experience that no other game is able to replicate. You don't need to know or explore everything to finish the game but I'd really recommend that you do, the experience will feel complete if you do. The game is written masterfully even with its very unique storytelling style, everything will make sense once you have all of the information and understand them.
The music and soundtracks of Outer Wilds are truly something praiseworthy, they enhance your sense of exploration and adventure by a multitude of degrees. A lot of the music in the game comes from your fellow explorers and they are very beautiful to listen to. The soundtracks of different locations are very appropriate and immersive.
I almost cried at the ending of Outer Wilds, it was something really fresh that I hardly see in other stories and games, I'd probably even go so far as to say one of my top 3 favourite moments in all of gaming. And the DLC somehow manages to match its brilliance! But I'll talk about the DLC "Echoes of the Eye" in a separate review provided that I write one :).
Personal Rating - 10/10
Premise:
You wake up as a man who is known as "The Nameless One"(TNO) or "The Restless One" in a mortuary. This man is an immortal who has just woken up from "death" again but he has no recollection of his previous lives or his previous memories, Only things he has is a talking head named "Morte" who acts as his companion and some writing on his back that has two messages for him: one is that he has to find his journal which has some useful information, two is that he has to find a man named "Pharod" to know more about his situation.
Review:
Writing a review for this tour de force of an interactive video game is not an easy job but I will try my best to explain why it's such a phenomenal experience without spoiling anything major or even minor to some extent about the main story because I truly believe this should be experienced completely blind and the experience is really different for different individuals because of it's interactive nature.
Before I start though let me give a brief overview of the setting and world of the story but I can't possibly cover all of planescape lore here, it's huge. Most of the events in the game take place in the floating city known as Sigil. Sigil is in the Outlands, hanging over the very tall structure known as the Spire, which sits in the middle of the plane. It is in the center of the multiverse of the Great Wheel Cosmology. It is also known as the city of doors as it has a lot of portals which is normally invisible to the eye unless the observer has the key for it, which can be anything, a thought, a physical material etc. Almost every species that exists in the multiverse is represented in the population of Sigil. Many different factions of people live within this place, all of these factions of people have their own philosophies regarding life. For example, the first faction that you meet in the game are called "The Dustmen". Let me add a quote from the game to better explain their views on life and death.
"Passions carry weight. As long as one clings to emotion they will be continually reborn into this life, forever suffering, never knowing the purity of True Death. To achieve True Death you must kill your passions and strip yourself of the need for sensation. When you achieve this you achieve peace, past the Eternal Boundary lies the peace all souls seek."
The "True Death" is what The Dustmen believe in. Life itself is a hurdle to removing passion, and passion itself is an obstacle to true enlightenment. Life's trappings are worthless, thus everyone should purge oneself of them in order to reach the emptiness of True Death. They hold the view that passion is what binds souls to what they term a "false life" and forces those who are overly passionate to experience rebirth repeatedly; in order to break the cycle, one must let go of desire.
Not all of the people that are part of a faction completely believes in their factions philosophies however, there will be some who will be struggling to believe it, some who doesn't truly believe the teachings but only acts outwardly as such, it's really complex much like real life, different kinds people believe in different things about life but they are not always black and white about it. What I love most about this is that you, the player will learn about these different philosophies as you play the game and you will have to make decisions, choices and actions to understand whether you align with any one of these philosophies and what you find right or wrong about them. Your actions also determine your alignment in terms of law and chaos as well as good and evil.
Planescape's combat is arguably it's worst part, although it's not bad by any stretch of imagination, it can be very tiring and also feels very outdated. There is also a section of the game that takes tedious to a new level if you are not prepared for it. At the beginning of the game you will be given some attributes points to add to your attributes(which are Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Charisma, Constitution), I suggest spending all of your attribute points to Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma because these three stats are arguably the most important stats in the game specifically Wisdom and they will affect conversations and choices too, you could spend a few points on Dexterity but I recommend spending all of the points you get when you start the game on those three. There are three classes that TNO can switch between in the whole game, they are Fighter, Mage, Thief. I recommend sticking to Mage most of the game but also leveling up the others to some extent. Being a mage will make the game much more bearable than the other classes.
There is little amount of music in the game but the music that is there is simply brilliant, seriously I listen to a few of these osts repeatedly sometimes.
The Nameless One's journey is unforgettable. Throughout this journey he will meet a lot of companions, friends, adversaries, who are all very complex individuals with different motivations, ideologies and background(well most of them are). TNO is probably the most interesting protagonist I've ever seen and also one of my most favourite characters ever. The main conundrum of the game is a single question for which the player/TNO must find an answer of his own. I will not spoil what this question is but it is beautiful, it connects everything that planescape is about so perfectly that I can only describe it with the word "beautiful" or anything synonymous to it.
I think if there are five stories that I will fondly remember even 20-30 years later, this is one of them. It seriously is a story of that calibre, I know all of these seem really hyperbolic but I urge you to play and finish this game at least once.
Personal Rating - 10/10
You wake up as a man who is known as "The Nameless One"(TNO) or "The Restless One" in a mortuary. This man is an immortal who has just woken up from "death" again but he has no recollection of his previous lives or his previous memories, Only things he has is a talking head named "Morte" who acts as his companion and some writing on his back that has two messages for him: one is that he has to find his journal which has some useful information, two is that he has to find a man named "Pharod" to know more about his situation.
Review:
Writing a review for this tour de force of an interactive video game is not an easy job but I will try my best to explain why it's such a phenomenal experience without spoiling anything major or even minor to some extent about the main story because I truly believe this should be experienced completely blind and the experience is really different for different individuals because of it's interactive nature.
Before I start though let me give a brief overview of the setting and world of the story but I can't possibly cover all of planescape lore here, it's huge. Most of the events in the game take place in the floating city known as Sigil. Sigil is in the Outlands, hanging over the very tall structure known as the Spire, which sits in the middle of the plane. It is in the center of the multiverse of the Great Wheel Cosmology. It is also known as the city of doors as it has a lot of portals which is normally invisible to the eye unless the observer has the key for it, which can be anything, a thought, a physical material etc. Almost every species that exists in the multiverse is represented in the population of Sigil. Many different factions of people live within this place, all of these factions of people have their own philosophies regarding life. For example, the first faction that you meet in the game are called "The Dustmen". Let me add a quote from the game to better explain their views on life and death.
"Passions carry weight. As long as one clings to emotion they will be continually reborn into this life, forever suffering, never knowing the purity of True Death. To achieve True Death you must kill your passions and strip yourself of the need for sensation. When you achieve this you achieve peace, past the Eternal Boundary lies the peace all souls seek."
The "True Death" is what The Dustmen believe in. Life itself is a hurdle to removing passion, and passion itself is an obstacle to true enlightenment. Life's trappings are worthless, thus everyone should purge oneself of them in order to reach the emptiness of True Death. They hold the view that passion is what binds souls to what they term a "false life" and forces those who are overly passionate to experience rebirth repeatedly; in order to break the cycle, one must let go of desire.
Not all of the people that are part of a faction completely believes in their factions philosophies however, there will be some who will be struggling to believe it, some who doesn't truly believe the teachings but only acts outwardly as such, it's really complex much like real life, different kinds people believe in different things about life but they are not always black and white about it. What I love most about this is that you, the player will learn about these different philosophies as you play the game and you will have to make decisions, choices and actions to understand whether you align with any one of these philosophies and what you find right or wrong about them. Your actions also determine your alignment in terms of law and chaos as well as good and evil.
Planescape's combat is arguably it's worst part, although it's not bad by any stretch of imagination, it can be very tiring and also feels very outdated. There is also a section of the game that takes tedious to a new level if you are not prepared for it. At the beginning of the game you will be given some attributes points to add to your attributes(which are Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Charisma, Constitution), I suggest spending all of your attribute points to Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma because these three stats are arguably the most important stats in the game specifically Wisdom and they will affect conversations and choices too, you could spend a few points on Dexterity but I recommend spending all of the points you get when you start the game on those three. There are three classes that TNO can switch between in the whole game, they are Fighter, Mage, Thief. I recommend sticking to Mage most of the game but also leveling up the others to some extent. Being a mage will make the game much more bearable than the other classes.
There is little amount of music in the game but the music that is there is simply brilliant, seriously I listen to a few of these osts repeatedly sometimes.
The Nameless One's journey is unforgettable. Throughout this journey he will meet a lot of companions, friends, adversaries, who are all very complex individuals with different motivations, ideologies and background(well most of them are). TNO is probably the most interesting protagonist I've ever seen and also one of my most favourite characters ever. The main conundrum of the game is a single question for which the player/TNO must find an answer of his own. I will not spoil what this question is but it is beautiful, it connects everything that planescape is about so perfectly that I can only describe it with the word "beautiful" or anything synonymous to it.
I think if there are five stories that I will fondly remember even 20-30 years later, this is one of them. It seriously is a story of that calibre, I know all of these seem really hyperbolic but I urge you to play and finish this game at least once.
Personal Rating - 10/10
This is one of the most poignant and beautiful pieces of fiction ever written. The zenith of the video game medium, I think I have already finished it...