Planescape-torment-box

planescape; torment

Planescape: Torment, an rpg based on the second edition Dungeons and Dragons game engine that powered Baldur’s Gate and Icewind dale , the Infinity Engine. It was recently re-released on the ipad. But does the old school mechanics and game play hold up in the modern age?

The story holds up as well as any good story would. You wake up on a mortuary slab with a floating talking skull for a guide, and no memory. A tattoo on your back gives you basic instructions from a past self and off you go to travel the planes, meet interesting people, kill interesting things and get loot and levels. I feel it is the strongest story of the Infinity engine games for sure. Even better with the enhanced edition, some parts have been added or fleshed out some from the original production notes. NICE!

The sound is acceptable, Decent music if a bit sparse. The game seems to prefer more of an atmosphere background noise than music much of the time. The sound effects are solid and what voices are good, but can get repetitive. The game is not fully voiced, so be prepared to read.. a lot.

The interface and controls get the job done with a bit more clutter than we are used to now days, but was the norm when the game was released. The iPad version cleans it up some planescape; tormentand the touch controls work fairly well. The team that ported it had plenty of practice with porting Baldur’s gate one and two, as well as Icewind dale so no complaints from me there.

The graphics are, of course, where the game shows a bit of age. I like the visuals in the game and they look good on the iPad, but you can tell they are from an earlier generation.  Again, they more than get the job done, and the game has never looked better or played smoother, but at the end of the day it is still 1999 graphics for the most part.

 

So do I think that Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition holds up? Yes. Of course I might be biased as this is one of my all time favorite games. That said, the enhancements and updates to bring this game forward nearly 20 years does the game justice and I can not wait to dive deeper and remember why I did and still do love this game.

 

 

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Image Credits: Beamdog software

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