Torment: Tides of Numenera Reviews
Aside from some issues with encounter balance and my yearnings for more detail, it's a beautiful, challenging game, content to be ambiguous, rich and confounding in ways that few other RPGs have ever pulled off.
inXile’s spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment doesn’t quite reach the high notes of that game but it does tell an interesting story and explores themes not really touched on frequently in gaming. If you are after a new RPG with an evocative, if grim, setting then this is for you.
Torment: Tide of Numenera is many things; it is unique and wonderfully artistic.
Torment: Tides of Numenera is a fantastically written and incredibly deep role-playing game with most of its strengths firmly in the narrative department rather than its turn-based combat gameplay systems.
Torment: Tides of Numenera is a fascinating old-school RPG that doubles down on the concept of role-playing.
The game reveals itself as a sympathetic view of an imperfect world without a clear road to peace.
It's slightly too short, a bit technically ropey in places, and extremely heavily front-loaded with some very dense lore, but once you work your way through the initial overwhelming lack of direction, what you'll find is an exceptionally rewarding RPG filled with deep systems, a ton of genuine replay value, and a lot of love and care.
The result is a game that packs meaning into almost everything you do. It doesn’t surpass the emotional heights of its late 90s forebear, but Numenera’s incredibly distinct world and unique approach to gameplay offer something really untraditional to sink your time, thoughts and choices into. For RPG fans this is super exciting, and will be sure to entertain across multiple playthroughs over dozens, if not hundreds of hours.
Torment: Tides of Numenera is a game unlike many others. In many ways its tale more closely resembles a book than a game.
If you are a new comer to the RPG genre, or if you are not old-school enough, Torment: Tides of Numenera may very well frustrate you. But for a hardcore fan of classic RPGs, one that is patient and enjoys reading, it's the perfect option.
Review in Persian | Read full review
With frustrating tech, unappealing appearance and a lack of quality of life streamlining, Torment: Tides of Numenera might actually be my biggest gaming-related disappointment since I bought an Atari Jaguar. Some of the complaints mentioned here, especially exploration (wrongly as load times weren’t this bad), could be leveled at Planescape: Torment, but many years have gone by with many new ideas to make gaming experiences more engrossing.
Despite this, the game is really well structured, rich and exciting; offers a lot of unique details especially in this era of games where the story leaves time to find, so let me strongly recommend it to all old style RPG lovers, it really is worth playing!
Review in Italian | Read full review
Once you understand that, however, I've not got much bad to say. Time will tell if it hits the market with the impact that Planescape: Torment had. I would guess not, just due to the games industry being a different beast these days. But in quality of writing, and in its ability to make you care about characters and force you kicking and screaming to actually think about things like good and evil, and the value of life, Tides of Numenera is every bit on a par with its illustrious ancestor.
This won’t convert you to the cult of old-school CRPGs if you’re not already a fan. If you are a fan however, there’s an entire plane’s worth of meaty roleplaying goodness for you to sink your teeth into (especially in the meat prison).
Love it or hate it, Tides of Numenera is a worthy follow-up to Planescape: Torment, but an experience that’s unlikely to win over fans reared on modern games.
Overall, I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface of my time with Torment: Tides of Numenera. There are many hours of gameplay to be had here and if you’re after an old fashioned, but fresh RPG, which takes its role playing roots seriously, then this is a must buy for you. If you love story and narrative, rather than action and shooting, then you should be grabbing it right now. Those who are new to this type of game and are unsure of what to expect, but want to experience a deep, immersive RPG, then turn up and give this a go too – you won’t be disappointed.
I seriously can't speak highly enough of the world this game presents. I found value in every corner I poked my nose into. Its people, its creatures and its oddball take on what society could be like in a billion years places Torment among the best of its kind. Torment's world has a lasting appeal. Much like a good book you've closed for the last time, you're left with a sort of bitter understanding that you'll never experience it for the first time again. So, you settle for seconds.
After over a decade, the spiritual successor to Planescape Torment took itself to Kickstarter and destroyed its original asking amount in almost no time. Paying tribute to both its predecessor and to the fans of it, Torment: Tides of Numenera is the perfect follow-up the cult classic RPG.
Torment: Tides of Numenera impresses where it truly matters.
A wide variety of conversation options, an incredible story, and generally excellent visuals means that Torment: Tides of Numenera is a great game with a huge replay value to it. But would I go back again? Probably, but just not right away.