‘Torment: Tides of Numenera’ Arrived Today; Critical Acclaim Quickly Follows

While an early play option had existed for a few days, the full release of Torment: Tides of Numenera took place today and the accolades are piling up rather quickly. Fans of yesteryear’s classic games Balder’s Gate and Planescape: Torment have been eagerly anticipating the new title from Inxile Entertainment and Monte Cook Games. The reviews are already beginning to roll in and nearly unanimous in declaring Torment: Tides of Numenera an instant classic.

What really stands out about the current buzz is how the game appears to focus on world building and allowing the player to really dive into the setting. I’m especially pleased to see the pen and paper aspect of roleplaying games isn’t getting the short shrift, with Torment, in favor of a mouse driven action clickfest. This approach might not please video gamers everywhere but those of us who love PnP RPGs will probably be thrilled.

Sadly, since we don’t focus too strongly on video games here at TGG, I haven’t been provided with an advanced copy so we didn’t get in on the release day review fun. This certainly is a game I’ll be picking up in the very near future, since I played all the classics when they originally hit the scene, and Torment: Tides of Numenera’s style looks to be right up my alley!

About the game:

Thanks to its more than 90,000 backers, Torment: Tides of Numenera continues the thematic legacy of the critically acclaimed Planescape: Torment. Set in Monte Cook’s tabletop role-playing world, Numenera, the newest Torment asks: What does one life matter? We’re creating a rich experience that explores deep, personal themes.

The Setting

Numenera’s Ninth World is a fantastic vision of a world in which hyper-advanced civilizations have risen and fallen and left their inventions behind. Their achievements became part of the accumulated detritus of eons… and now this assortment of ancient power is there for the taking. The humans of the Ninth World take and use what they can. They call these artifacts the numenera.

The Story

One of these humans discovers a way to use the numenera to grow strong, to cheat death, to skip across the face of centuries in a succession of bodies. But he discovers an unexpected side effect: You.

Choices & Consequences

Torment is a game of deep reactivity and immersion into a new and strange vision. You will chart a course through bizarre landscapes, across the face of a vastly different world. You can earn companions along the way, who hold a mirror to your choices. You will face adversaries who harness incomprehensible powers, and who will ultimately force you to face yourself and answer the question: What does one life matter?

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Jeff McAleer

Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media, Jeff tackles any and all sorts of games but has a special fondness for strategy, conflict sims, and roleplaying games. Plus, he's certainly never at a loss for an opinion...

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