Planescape: Torment Retrospective Review

After proclaiming it the best RPG of all time, the folks at PC Gamer have republished their old review of the title to verify whether they felt the same way back at its original release point. The glowing review and the 93/100 score seem to confirm that 2000 PC Gamer’s staff loved the title about as much as 2014 PC Gamer does:

Just as in Baldur’s Gate, players can pause the game at any time, assign tasks to their party, and unpause. However, the modifications Black Isle Studios made to the original engine keep players in the game at all times instead of watching player interaction or combat statistics scroll by in a tiny text window at the bottom of the screen, messages float up from the characters in the game window. Longer dialogue, however, pops up on a window that is normally hidden during play. Right-clicking the mouse brings up a mini-menu, where players can instantly access spells, skills, items, weapons, as well as game options, inventory, the automap, and the journal. This ease of access means less time messing with windows and buttons in the interface, and more concentration on what’s going on in the game.

While the game foregoes the multiplayer aspects of Baldur’s Gate, this is no great loss. With so many different ways to get through the game, it’s likely that many players will go back through just to see the alternate solutions and discover some of the secrets they may have missed. When it comes right down to it, this game is a masterpiece of roleplaying the dialogue is some of the most well-written of any RPG, the environments are varied and downright enthralling, the spell effects are mindblowing, and the story contains some of the most inventive, unique characters players will ever have in a party. Whether or not you’re a hardcore fan of RPGs, this Torment is a must-have.