Torment: Tides of Numenera Reviews
InXile defied the odds and delivered a truly worthy successor to the oddity and wonder of Planescape: Torment.
Thanks to a deep narrative, exquisite morality mechanics that make every decision equally weighty and meaningful, and sublime characters, inXile has given the game a genuine shot of living up to the legacy of one of the greatest games of all time.
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
Insgesamt macht Torment: Tides of Numenera einen sehr guten Eindruck, man sollte sich vor dem Kauf aber ein bisschen darüber informieren. Der Fokus auf die massigen Dialogtexte im Spiel sagt sicher nicht jedem zu, heutige RPGs wie Mass Effect sind da doch eindeutig actionlastiger. Fans der RPGs aus den 90igern können hier bedenklos zugreifen und auch Leute, die Wert auf eine stimmungsvolle Science-Fiction/Fantasy-Welt Wert legen sollten sich den Titel mal ansehen. Torment muss sich absolut nicht hinter seinen Vorgänger verstecken, die Charaktere, die Welt und die Story sind alle überaus interessant und motivieren zum Weiterspielen.
Review in German | Read full review
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.
A slow start gives way to a thought-provoking adventure in a remarkable setting. A fitting follow-up to a beloved RPG.
The turn-based combat may be a little disappointing, but Torment: Tides of Numenera manages to live up to the legacy of Planescape: Torment by offering a fascinatingly weird and well-written tale. Thanks to a wide variety of options in conversations and the influences of its tidal system, it offers decent opportunities for replay value and a memorable tale each time. This is the rare game that leans almost entirely on its setting and writing for its appeal, and the miraculous thing is that it usually succeeds.
Torment looks like a future-fantasy Lord of the Rings, plays like a collection of extreme short fiction, and emerges as the most alien world I've discovered in decades. Be ready for the narrative equivalent of combat fatigue. But if you’re in the mood for a complex world operating under a complex moral system, then it’s worth examining Numenera's overriding question: "What does one life matter?"
Torment: Tides of Numenera is a worthy follow-up to the original and a fascinating game in its own right.
To sum it all up, Torment: Tides of Numenera is an amazing game set in a unique and easily recognizable setting. It has a very steep learning curve and a lot of complexity to the systems. Adding the sheer amount of information thrown at the Castoff, the game might be overwhelming for a new player. The companions are well written and varied in their behavior and reactions. Many NPCs are memorable and quest text quality is befitting of a book. In short, Numenera is a decent successor to Planescape: Torment and pays respects to the classic games of the genre.
While appealing to players of the first game or longtime fans of the genre as a whole, new players will also find much to like about Torment, most notably the experience of playing a game that isn't funneled down a pre-determined avenue of "discovery", but one that rewards exploration, time and diligence to NPCs and locations and much more.
By weaving an interesting narrative, creating a lush and bizarre world and giving players a surprising amount of freedom, inXile has created an RPG that does reward those that are willing to delve into its deep dialogue system.
Constant text-reading and unusual imagery are delights to speculative-fiction lovers, but others may be confounded
It’s rare that a game allows me to use my failures within itself to build a unique narrative, and that in itself allowed me to approach Torment: Tides of Numenara from a new light. Ironically, the lack of a Game Over led me to be more cautious as I know the world has evolved, even if just by a tiny bit, as a result of my failures.
Ultimately, it’s an excellent game that delivers an engaging story, and that’s what’s expected and desired from Torment: Tides of Numenera. Sometimes it’s clunky, and other times it is sluggish, but mostly it’s an engaging game that rarely disappoints. If only everything was this way.
Amazing writing, an interesting yet gritty world to explore and a charming set of characters. All this, united with the unique set of mechanics, make Torment: Tides of Numenera a must play for most RPG fans, whether or not they've played Planescape: Torment.
Be prepared to take a voyage in time and space, not only to the Ninth World countless years into the future, but also 20 years into the past, into your bedroom as a young gamer just finding your way. If you still know how to read the Numenera known as a "book", Torment: Tides of Numenera will take you places no other game has in a decade. Although the game is not overly long (about 30 hours), it is easily justified for the modest price of 44.99$.
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.
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
For a game claiming to be the "spiritual successor" of the popular 1990 RPG, Torment does not only capture the soul of Planescape: Torment that made us feel nostalgic, but it also managed to get rid of the old cliches and add enough new ideas to be a great game on its own. Even though some of the new systems aren't ideal, the right mix of a charming world, an epic story, interested characters, and surprising plot twists puts it on the list of the greatest modern RPGs.
Review in Arabic | Read full review