Torment: Tides of Numenera

1. Kai82

   Apr 5, 2020

   10

   One of the best RPGs ever made but also divisive. Because much of the story is delivered in text form it is not for everyone. Many even saidOne of the best RPGs ever made but also divisive. Because much of the story is delivered in text form it is not for everyone. Many even said that this was the return of text adventures and while I not completely agree will admit that they have a valid argument. This is also the final decision for you to make. If you like reading books and great stories this is a 9-10/10, if you want something more like Baldurs Gate, Dragon Age or Zelda this can be a disappointment probably in the 1-6/10 range. Lets start with the strengths: The story of the game. Be it the main story, side quests, backstories or personal quest all are amazing. Not many RPGs or even other games can compete. You will have a lot to discover, solve problems and learn a lot about the setting. You are the Last Castoff. A former shell of a near immortal called the Changing God. He creates new bodies for him to use and the old castoffs develop a personalty or become an independent person. Because he does this for a long time there are a lot of your brothers and sisters. All are hunted by an entity called the Sorrow. You try to make sense of all this while finding your place in the ninth world and being hunted. Beware because of his actions the Changing God is hated, feared and worshipped. The ninth world is an incredible setting. It is a billion year in the futures. Eight civilisations have fallen while some archived technology far beyond ours. You can find middle-age technology and some things even the Star Trek technology cant archive. Arthur C. Clarke said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” which is a fitting description for magic in this setting. Then there is the character building. You can even play trough the game without fighting anyone (Maybe one baseline / discus worthy exception). Even the fighting tutorial can be evaded. It took me nearly 10 hours until I started a fight because I found always better solutions. Towards the end I just tested the battle system a bit and will say it is adequate. For the gameplay you have a pool of strength, speed and intelligence points. For each task you need one of the corresponding with often multiple approaches. I recommend using a Nano (Mage) because of the useful scan toughs ability. Also use a personality with the skill Anamnesis. It helps a lot and cant be learned! You cant learn or say master all abilities but there are companions for this. All have their unique skills and strengths. Remark: There is Rhin a child with the lowest abilities. She gets better and has a really good ability later on. She is also interesting character wise (also would you abandon an orphan?). The Tidal system shows your interactions with the world. A small ripple can change the tide (Butterfly effect). For the non battle skills I will say all have their use but not all are equal. I would chose Anamnesis, Persuasion, Tidal Affinity (Nano only if I remember correctly) and Deception high on my list. For the other skills I will advice you to have specialisations in your party. All fits well together. It is the beauty of the game that you can get the tools to solve everything in your hands. For the bad parts. I have had no serious bugs until the final 10% of the game. I could not re-include a party member after an event because she stuck in an unreachable area. This angered me a lot because after replaying the event she always got stuck in other unreachable areas. While angering it was my only complaint with maybe the battle system if I preferred the more violent solutions. Overall one of the best stories I have played in any RPG. I was always invested in the story and often reloaded just to see what outcome another approach had.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
2. roachtbp

   Nov 8, 2017

   10

   I finally got around to playing the game (purchased it back at release, but wanted to wait until it was fully patched before playing). I haveI finally got around to playing the game (purchased it back at release, but wanted to wait until it was fully patched before playing). I have to say - this game is amazing. Great characters with funny banter between them, there is a very interesting world to explore (to say the least), the graphics look beautiful, the story is very interesting with plenty of well-written dialogue, and the strategic turn-based combat is great.
   
   This game does not have maps filled with enemies to kill (trash mobs), but instead combat is optional. Combat situations arise based on your choices in dialogue. You can have more or less combat depending your dialogue choices, but this game definitely has way less combat than most rpgs. Most of the game is spent exploring maps and having dialogue with npcs. There is a LOT of text to read, but I found the dialogue to be very engaging for 2 reasons: 1.) the dialogue is well-written, and 2.) there are constant skill checks available in dialogue that reward you with stat bonuses, gold, exp, or items. The dialogue feels very interactive, and you are constantly rewarded for passing skill checks. This makes it feels like you are actually playing a game (not just reading a novel).
   
   If you love the old isometric D&D rpgs such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, or Planescape: Torment, or if you love more modern rpgs such as Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny, then you need to give this game a try. It is an underappreciated masterpiece!!!… Expand

   • 5 of 6 users found this helpful
4. spreadsheeticus

   Mar 31, 2017

   10

   Great storytelling, premise, and fun battle mechanics. A spiritual successor to Planescape:Torment, but it also has parallels to other ChrisGreat storytelling, premise, and fun battle mechanics. A spiritual successor to Planescape:Torment, but it also has parallels to other Chris Avellone games.… Expand

   • 7 of 10 users found this helpful
5. Camus

   Mar 12, 2017

   8

   The game is good but it is not without it's faults. It is a story driven game and you'll be reading quite a lot. It's similar to the JapaneseThe game is good but it is not without it's faults. It is a story driven game and you'll be reading quite a lot. It's similar to the Japanese videogames known as visual novels. Talking to a NPC usually entails asking about themselves and background information of said situation, lore, characters, and environment. Many of these dialogue choices can spur multiple outcomes depending on how you respond.
   
   Combat situations are called Crisis, and they are quite difficult even if you have a combatant class. While the game looks like the typical isometric game like Baldur's Gate and Pillars of Eternity, it doesn't use the same combat system. Battles are turn based similar to the older tactical RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, where you have movement and action. Although it has one extra caveat where you can turn an action into movement.
   This game was designed for you to talk yourself out of almost every situation through intimidation, persuasion, or other attributes, so combat is not the emphasis and you can see how it was not designed as the focus.
   
   There are many faults to this game as many critics and users have mentioned. Many of the scenes are written and well described, leaving much of the events to be imagined and not displayed by your characters. They are static and lack a great deal of animation. Voice acting is thin. There are flashback scenes and they are in a novelized form with only a few drawn images of the locale.
   
   The story is perhaps one of the best in videogames. Other games that recently came out such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Nier Automata are similarly praised for their story, however they fall very short when you compare it to Torment Tides of Numenera.
   
   The controls for the PS4 feels very well done. It feels more comfortable than using a mouse after getting used to it.
   
   The PS4 version is buggy. Loading times are long. The framerate isn't consistently 30 fps. There is freezing on certain animations after combat ends. I've had instances where I couldn't click on anything or leave the area. I've had one crash so far. It isn't unplayable, but these issues make the game less enjoyable.
   
   I'm basing this review summary on one playthrough of the game on March 12,2017. Hopefully an update will fix things.… Expand

   • 4 of 6 users found this helpful
6. tomvs123

   Jan 6, 2021

   7

   Very unique game that's more of a text adventure than a typical western RPG.
   
   In the game's sci-fi fantasy world, you are a castoff - aVery unique game that's more of a text adventure than a typical western RPG.
   
   In the game's sci-fi fantasy world, you are a castoff - a newly-realized consciousness in an immortal body that was previously inhabited by the Changing God. There's hundreds or thousands of castoffs like you, created by the Changing God, who are making their way in life while trying to escape a supernatural-like force that's trying to eliminate you all.
   
   The game takes place in the Planescape D&D universe, which is basically a mixture of worlds, technology, and civilizations that seemingly has no limits in its variety. That's a good recipe for a typical nonsensical children's story, but the developers here actually succeeded in making the writing cohesive and intelligent.
   
   I'll cover the story only slightly, as it's best to experience first-hand. Your primary goal changes throughout the game as you gather more information, but you're primarily looking for the Changing God, to figure out what his plans are. Each of your goals are meaningful, intelligent, and make sense, which is more than I can say for most RPGs these days. The only major downside of the story is its rushed and abrupt ending. It's a bit cliche, with your final opponent basically telling you his master plan, when he could have done so previously, which would have saved all sides a lot of trouble. But besides that, there's nothing else I'd really consider dumb or a big plot hole.
   
   Gameplay primarily consists of talking to people. You can spend hours talking to a single person and trying to complete his or her quest line. That usually involves talking to other people, getting more information or items, and then returning to that person to continue the process. And by no means are these nameless fetch-quest givers. Their stories are intricate and always involve or benefit you in some way.
   
   Various skills help you in your conversations with people. Persuasion, deception, dexterity (grabbing/stealing things), and a load of other skills can move situations in the direction that you want, with your party members able to help with many of these. The only real issue with skill usage is that it gets too easy over time as you gain bonuses in those skills. This can make many actions that were previously costly or difficult free with a 100% success rate. Though if you're playing this like a typical western RPG, you might use skill points for combat skills, which aren't very useful since combat is rare. Either way, every obstacle has multiple solutions, so you won't get stuck, even if you fail at all of your conversation rolls.
   
   Additionally, there's side stories. You'll gain artifacts that allow you to relive a portion of different castoffs' lives (in text format). These are all interesting, but most have no relation to your current goals or setting. So they seem random and disconnected, as if you start reading the middle of a new novel when you haven't finished reading your current one.
   
   The writing style is typical for fantasy novels, based on the few Forgotten Realms novels I read 30 years ago. Even though this is a video game, visual aspects of people, scenes, and actions are described in great textual detail, while the images on screen remain static. So this is definitely a game for readers and not the typical young impatient gamer. And thankfully, the writing respects your intelligence enough to not outright tell you characters' inner thoughts. It leaves that up to you to determine though their words and actions.
   
   The game surprised me. While it doesn't reach the psychological depth of the best Japanese RPGs, it's more practical in nature and far more intelligently-written than every other western RPG I've played. As a teen, I didn't play the original Planesape: Torment due to there not being enough combat. Now, it's on my list of games I must play.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
7. Grownia

   Aug 7, 2017

   6

   Tides of Numenera is a long wait failure to me. I loved the original Torment back , there was so much magic in it, very good characters andTides of Numenera is a long wait failure to me. I loved the original Torment back , there was so much magic in it, very good characters and ideas. Sadly Tides Of Numenera doesn't impress at all.
   
   * Graphics are good but art is a mess. You can't focus on anywhere or your characters , So colorful and ugly.
   * Soundtrack is below average too. Most of the time you don't even hear a sound at all.
   * Most of the time you don't even understand the story at all. It all comes too fast and gets you in chaos. No character building at all. I spent hours on trying to decide what to do next. Quests are all a mess too.
   
   Last word : Avoid it. Only play if you are a die hard RPG player.… Expand

   • 3 of 6 users found this helpful
8. KeyboardPlayer

   Mar 10, 2017

   0

   no. no. no. no. NO!
   i'm a fan of the original torment. i was excited for this. THANK GOD i didn't back it up.
   too much dialogues. everyno. no. no. no. NO!
   i'm a fan of the original torment. i was excited for this. THANK GOD i didn't back it up.
   too much dialogues. every character you meet as TONS of lines of dialogues. if someone told me this, i would have thought of it as a good thing... EXCEPT IT'S NOT. it's too much. you talk to a guy, you need to read a novel. You make 2 steps, talk to another guy: another nove. too much. too boring. And they're all SUPER SPECIAL!
   and there are almost no animations for things that happen in the game. say, for example, the game writes "the characters makes a polite bow when you approach him"... BUT IT'S ONLY WRITTEN, NOT SHOWN. that character doesn't actually bow, it's only in the description. all the game is like that. it's a damn text adventure with backgrounds.
   "tell don't show"
   or when the game tells you that a character is "incredibly fat" but its sprite is just slightly larger than the others.
   there also are NO portraits of the characters that you're talking to. not even the most important ones.
   the game want to feel special at all times. the skill system is weird and overly complicated. cyphers are a stupid idea. all the vocabulary of the game just DOESN'T WANT SO BADLY to be like the rest, and you have different terms for things you already know. also the way you solve stuff by investing point... yeah, go on, keep trying to be original AT ALL COST: you're also being NOT FUN.
   combat is super boring and buggy.
   you can lose a VERY important skill and a companion in the city if you actually HELP HER by giving her money. and there is no warning for this, and no second tries. It's infuriating.
   this is a complete slander of the name "torment"… Expand

   • 13 of 31 users found this helpful

See all 19 User Reviews