Torment: Tides of Numenera

Torment is far more than just a phenomenal role-playing game. It’s a challenge to restore the depth and nuance for which the genre was once known.

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?"

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.

A worthy Planescape: Torment Spiritual successor with such an enjoyable classic gameplay and well written story; but its slow pacing and constant dialogue may only make it appealing to a small crowd.

The rebirth of true role-playing in games. [Issue#105, p.84]

Readers, behold - this one's for you. Torment: Tides of Numenera is an engaging RPG with a lot of options and deep fighting mechanics. It's not completely brilliant - some technical issues and long loading times manage to annoy - but don't let that stop you.

Torment: Tides of Numenara is a text heavy CRPG with great writing. The world is surreal and interesting and the many characters are rich and varied. The huge amount of choices and interactions you make have consequences both big and small which help to enhance the feeling of a living world. The battles aren’t great and it doesn’t run perfectly on the PS4 with slight hitching and long load times but it’s certainly an adventure worth taking.

Torment: Tides of Numenera may not be for gamers that are accustomed to more fast-paced and action-heavy RPGs, but those who appreciate a well-developed world and characters will find a lot to enjoy here. It's overflowing with depth and personality, and the many ways that you can navigate through it make it truly feel alive. If you've been dreaming of RPGs returning to a time where depth and detail were the genre's blood and bones, then this is the game for you.

Torment: Tides of Numenera is a technically flawed game on PS4, but I loved my time with it in spite of those issues, and would still highly recommend it. As a cRPG it’s not for everyone, especially on a console where the genre is extremely rare, but those who decide to take the plunge are bound to have a phenomenal experience.

inXile Entertainment adapts Monte Cook's board game and brings some kind of spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, with all its selling points focused in its charm and elaborated, deep plot. Memorable characters are waiting for you in a not so appealing turn-based combat system, more enjoyable in PC tan in consoles. It is not a game for the masses and its focus on dialogue over action make it a whole different species among RPG, only aiming for those who are already sure that they're buying it.

The result? A flawed, beautiful contraption – which is appropriate, given how common those are in Tides’ Ninth World. [May 2017, p82]

An unusual assembly of parts, but captivatingly weird. [Apr 2017, p.94]

Torment: Tides of Numenera is fantastically written and incredibly deep in the narrative department, offering an engrossing main story, set of characters and tons of genuinely unique and rewarding choices and consequences to discover via its complex dialogue trees and gameplay interactions. It also has one of the best written, intriguing futuristic sci-fi worlds ever created. Unfortunately, its turn-based combat systems fail to impress, and many technical issues on console coupled with minor problems like a lack of character portraits and underwhelming animations bring down the overall experience somewhat.

The game reveals itself as a sympathetic view of an imperfect world without a clear road to peace.

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.

That Torment: Tides Of Numenera is still a thoroughly engrossing experience despite its issues speaks volumes, and we’ve no hesitation in describing it as a worthy sequel to the original. But even so, this does not seem the best vehicle for its story or gameplay ideas. And it’s ironic that a game set so far in the future is relying on technology and concepts that are clearly decades out of date.

A sci-fi marvel, Torment: Tides of Numenera lays a narrative path for what could be something major. The pristine storyline shines through for those willing to sift through the cumbersome issues.

It’s really surprising that a game could be configured so well from PC to console and yet fail in so many other areas under the hood. InXile has the controls, menus, and navigation down pat for console, but it needs more tweaking in its engine before this game can be recommended to anyone. I hate giving this score for Torment, especially knowing that it’s a patch or two away from being a shining cRPG example on the PS4.