Planescape: Torment

Jimi-Spandex

Just picked up this as I fancied an RPG and heard that it has a good script. The only thing that I'm slightly worried about is I haven't a clue of AD&D, 20-sided dice, beards, or any of that jazz.

Do I need to know much about the stuff to play the game? I really don't want to have to hit gamefaqs.com before I start a game. That'd be a bit much.:p

MooseJam

may I ask where you got it, it was released in 1999 ? reviews are great for it , you should enjoy

Zapp Brannigan

Stoopid game not being compatible with Mac...

Nevyn

Just play it, you don't need to know about the paper combat system.
best repg evar tbh.

Sarky

Morte: "Hey Nordom, calculate the quickest way for me to, eh, snuggle with Annah's pillows!"

Nordom: "Annah! Mort wishes to snuggle with your pillows!"

steviec

The game does all the die roll things under the bonnet - you never need to know about them to enjoy it, although some insider knowledge may help a little in working out how to develop your character. I wouldn't worry too much though - most things work the way you'd expect them to work and it's an absolutely stunningly good game, I'm sure you'll enjoy playing through it.

Squall

Naw you dont really need to know anything. Barr maybe some stuff on character stats i.e strength, int etc and what the do.

Planescape is good though in that its nearly better to have a well rounded character than a straight fighter/mage char

Just play it.... youll be grand. Superb game btw... great storyline and some really funny moments

swiss

One thing I would say is that wisdom and intelligence are two very useful traits. Wisdom in particular I believe helps you get experience faster, and gives you more dialogue options to help you through the game.

I also agree that this is an excellent game, very intelligent and witty. I bought a copy ages ago but one of the CDs is beggar'd and the image files I have for it are corrupted (I know, what are the chances). Still, I'm sure I'll pick it up again sometime and give it a blast. Classic gaming.

Dr Bob

wow coincidence or what?!
been replaying this over the past few week, it is quite excellent , and there's a LOT of decent dialogue and back story going on there.
I think having a higher charisma stat gets you more dialogue options as well as wisdom by the way.

Jimi-Spandex

MooseJam wrote:

may I ask where you got it, it was released in 1999 ? reviews are great for it , you should enjoy

I bought the budget version years ago but never got around to it due to exams. Was cleaning some crap out of my shelf and saw this, thought I really should give it a go.

Thanks for the advice folks, going to fire this one up now.

moridin

Such a fantastic game, with multiple ways to approach most tasks. And a wicked sense of humour to boot.

Maximilian

Best RPG ever, without a doubt and in fact one of the best games ever. period.

One of the things I loved was the special animations for the top level spells. Asteroids coming down from space or what not. Never bettered. Even BG2 couldn't compare.

Newaglish

It's one of those games I've always wanted to get into, being a fan of RPGs, particularly Baldur's Gate (1&2), Icewind Dale, all that D&D malarky.

I could never fully understand Planescape Torment though - I don't get what class the main guy is supposed to be, or how the magic system is supposed to work or anything. Is there some kind of online manual I could read?

I always seem to be pretty crap and die...!

Squall

Well basically the main character doesnt have any set class (although I believe he starts as a fighter).... During the course of the game you meet certain people who can train you to be a certain class i.e. train to be a theif, a fighter, a mage etc and you can even switch between them.

Every few lvls as you gain exp you gain proficiency slots that you can then fill by talking to a trainer. (Im not sure how magic works as ive never played as a mage)

I think the best thing to do with planescape is to create a fairly well rounded character in terms of stats and dont just stat him up to be a fighter or a mage or whatever.

Zillah

Yup, incredibly deep RPG. The opening is utter crap though, just try and stick with it for the first half hour or so. I tried and gave up the first three times, and every time friends convinced me to give it another go. Eventually I got passed the crappy opening scene and it just got better and better.


So yeah, play a Mage and max out on Wisdom and Charisma, you can get some seriously game changing conversations options. The first time I played it I played as a simple fighter and never really understood what was going on. The second time I played I max out on the afformentioned stats and had an entirely different experience. There is one incredible moment right at the very end that had me laughing at its originality.

I seriously reccomend checking out a walkthrough before you play. Try to skip over spoilers as much as you can, but there is so much stuff you can just completely miss by not happening to do one small thing or so. Turns out there was a wonderful party member I never ever realised was even in the game, and becoming a mage can be quite easy to miss too.

Oh, and really high constitution can be fun, the player character gets regeneration, and its speed is based on this stat, so with a little creativity you can have a really high regeneration rate.