What will you miss the most from Planescape: Torment?

[Margaretha]

According to the fact that Project Eternity is the closest thing to a sequel to Planescape: Torment we'll ever see, what will you people miss the most from the ol'game? Maybe some of it is to return (slang ? complex architecture? amnesic he... no, wait), some will probably not.

 

I liked the D&D Planescape's settings. Portals that could be opened anywhere at anytime, mostly accidentaly: the world felt mysterious and insecure. I also liked gods being tangible and having bad temper.

 

Above all, I liked the alignment system. I know, I know, this is often despised, but in Planescape, it is so absurd (the whole universe is based on alignements) it is brilliant and offers the best dialogue trick I have ever seen in a videogame: the ability to lie, in a relevant way. You know, dialogue options where you could choose "1. [truth] I like you" or "2. [lie] I like you" etc. Dialogues shaped your alignment, and in Planescape, your alignement mattered (where in Forgotten Realms/Baldur's Gate it does not do anything).

 

I will miss that for I see no way to redo it without copying. What about you?

[C2B]

According to the fact that Project Eternity is the closest thing to a sequel to Planescape: Torment we'll ever see, what will you people miss the most from the ol'game? Maybe some of it is to return (slang ? complex architecture? amnesic he... no, wait), some will probably not.

 

Not really? I think Avellone still wants to do a specific PST spiritual sequel after.

[Seagloom]

It's difficult to say without knowing what Project Eternity will include. A reasonably safe bet would be the aesthetic. Planescape had a captivating style I did not see in any setting before or since. Tony DiTerlizzi did an amazing job, and Black Isle managed to capture the spirit Sigil excellently in Torment.

[BSoda]

Morte.

[Nonek]

Nothing, i'll just go back and play it again. Sam.

[Stun]

The Flavor. Which encompasses much of what you cited. (the lingo, the setting, the artwork, the musical score) PS:T was the ultimate case study in STYLE.

 

Aside from that, I'd be very *very* interested in seeing if Project Eternity emulates PS:T's wonderfully insane level of focus on Morality. Every single choice in PS:T was Morality based. I suppose it had to be that way since we were otherwise extremely limited in the choice department (Game locked you into playing a set protagonist with a set backstory and a set path to the end), but still, it went above and beyond where it needed to go to establish itself as the standard for Crpgs.

Edited September 16, 2012 by Stun

[himmy]

The Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon.

[Leferd]

Morte.

 

His litany of insults.

[Badmojo]

Um, EVERYTHING! Seriously, everything was fantastic, from the story, to the unique characters and protaganist, to the crazy setting, to the humor and seriousness, everything was great. I wish that PST would get an overhall with updated HD graphics and update a few of the mechancis, besides that its fine as is. I really doubt project eternity is the spiritual sequel. However, as mentioned, Avellone hopefully still does want to make one. Actually, I would love to see a full on sequel, even the option of using the same protag since the ending(s) left that option availible. One of the advantage of not having a voiced protag is that you can bring them back. Or it could be a new protag, does not matter, but the city/world itself was fantastic. Still a spiritual sequel will sufice I suppose. Do what fallout did by being a spiritual sequel to wasteland.

[Baudolino05]

I played Planescape (I mean, the p&p setting) for years. It's still my favorite fantasy setting, and, of course, there is a lot things I miss about it.

Here, however, I wanna talk about what I miss the most from the videogame Planescape: Torment, not from the setting.

In order

1) Quest design: complex, branching, interesting quests, with a delicious point and click adventure flavor

2) Dialogue system: lot of options, skill/stat checks, and - most important - no tags that help players to choice the "right" line.

3) Companion interaction and other mechanics that improve roleplay : Circle of Zerthimon. Do you need other samples?

Edited September 16, 2012 by Baudolino05

[Troller]

Man, first thing i thought when I finished Torment as a kid was, where is my sequel hahah

But you know, today I think there might not need a sequel, the game stands out nice, and is solid the way it is.

I would really like to see some similar themes on this game though, but they already said they will treat the gamers as adults, so I'm guessing we will be seeing lot of awesome things like in Torment

[Kira]

I played Planescape (I mean, the p&p setting) for years. It's still my favorite fantasy setting, and, of course, there is a lot things I miss about it.

Here, however, I wanna talk about what I miss the most from the videogame Planescape: Torment, not from the setting.

In order

1) Quest design: complex, branching, interesting quests, with a delicious point and click adventure flavor

2) Dialogue system: lot of options, skill/stat checks, and - most important - no tags that help players to choice the "right" line.

3) Companion interaction and other mechanics that improve roleplay : Circle of Zerthimon? Do you need other samples?

 

Exactly, what I loved most about PS:T was the dialog and interactions with your companions and how your relationship developed with them. The music score fits in perfectly, and listening to that today feels nostalgic. They brought this dialog system back in KOTOR 2, and I think they got every reason to bring it back here as well. Unique characters like Morte makes the game more interesting, the only complaint I really had with the game was that you couldn't outfit Morte with a skeleton body, and Namelessone couldn't wear any armour, instead he used tattoos.

[Wombat]

We are still in the dark but the soul system may add something to in-depth PC-NPC relationships. Letting the players build their customized stories through PC-NPC interactions was an interesting part of PS:T. I wished TNO had been allowed to have more variety of past incarnation personalities and their stories like ones written in his own tomb than the three major personalities represented by the morality slider, though. Then again, to be fair, probably the story must have worked well just with good/evil representations since the strongest story theme is about redemption, despite its well-intended pretence.

 

[Entering speculation mode]

I wonder if Eternity's soul system allows the protagonist to have access to the souls of the dead and their stories as well as living ones, making the chains of stories of the past and the present.

 

Additionally, it may be interesting if materials can be influenced by the desires and thoughts of their owners. In fact, some items in PST played important roles in the course of the story. Also, Holy Avenger in IWD was just a plain sword enhanced by pure faith. Through items or not, letting the players interweave stories rooted in the imaginary world into their own stories would be nice.

[samm]

The way it left me thinking after almost each session of playing. I loved the lingering thoughts, the lasting taste of meaningfulness.

 

I always had the idea that PS: T was less designed with the intent to "trigger emotions in our consumers" but rather with designing a genuinely interesting story, twisting fantasy convetions to the extreme and turning usual character relations around 180

[Ieo]

Um, EVERYTHING! Seriously, everything was fantastic, from the story, to the unique characters and protaganist, to the crazy setting, to the humor and seriousness, everything was great. I wish that PST would get an overhall with updated HD graphics and update a few of the mechancis, besides that its fine as is. I really doubt project eternity is the spiritual sequel. However, as mentioned, Avellone hopefully still does want to make one. Actually, I would love to see a full on sequel, even the option of using the same protag since the ending(s) left that option availible. One of the advantage of not having a voiced protag is that you can bring them back. Or it could be a new protag, does not matter, but the city/world itself was fantastic. Still a spiritual sequel will sufice I suppose. Do what fallout did by being a spiritual sequel to wasteland.

 

 

I'd have to agree with this.

 

 

I miss EVERYTHING about PS:T. Okay, not some of the initial corpse rooms at the very beginning of the game that actually made me a bit nauseous (srsly). The chant, the writing, the weird world and unique party members, the NPCs including the elderly lady who screamed at me for being a stupid adventurer, the flashbacky little quest things that required you to fill your mind with a creative reading of the text descriptions---okay, it's a game more for people who appreciate books than movies, but there's nothing wrong with that, man!

 

And the philosophy--tell me in what other computer game I can make giant loops of logic to talk another character out of existence. OMG.

 

I suspect PS:T isn't going to run very well on my new Win7 computer, though, if at all, which makes me all sorts of sad. Gonna cry now...

 

As for a sequel... That's tricky. Besides expensive IP licensing, there's the question of whether we'd play TNO with old/new companions or brand new people in the same setting with same writ content and style. Personally, an ideal and more practical scenario is to include all the stuff that was cut/intended, upgrade the graphics and engine (still 2D!), and extend the ending sequences to something that gives a better feeling of closure, like the way BGII did for old party members. (My friends were a bit perplexed by the sudden 'ending' until I explained what really happened with the video.)

 

A spiritual successor--to be honest, this phrase is a giant red flag for me. I did not consider DA:O the 'spiritual' successor to the BG series by a long shot, just too many things wrong with it. (I didn't bother with the DA sequels.) DA:O was just another talking-heads game for me, and I'd have been perfectly happy if they didn't market it heavily in relation to BG. But I digress.

 

The more "Tormenty" Eternity can be, the happier I would be.

 

^----Okay, that does NOT sound right. XD

Edited September 16, 2012 by Ieo

[Badmojo]

I agree that the term spiritual successor is used to often as PR spin for games that have NOTHING to do with the original games. So I am a bit weary, still if it can capture a bit of the magic of PST then I would be happy.

 

I did want to say, if they did release a remastered HD version of PST, besides what I mentioned, I would love to see some new dialog, a few more quests on your companions to learn more about them, maybe some (more) romance options for the female companions (been a long time, my memory is a big fuzzy) and a few more branching endings, something for closure on your companions, also, perhaps a few "happy" endings with you ending up with a companion, or escape your fate. If there is a sequel, I would like new and old companions. Either helping your old companions move on and going your seperate ways for closure, or taking them back on for a new adventure. I think I remember fall from grace saying she would go to hell to find the nameless one if he said her name, so that could be a start. I want the new companions to be original and unique like the first ones, perhaps have a decent amount.

 

Trust me, if they put a remastered with extra content and/or PST2, or even a spiritual sequel to PST on kickstarter, the site will probably crash from all the backers pouring money in. dang, getting excited...I NNNNEEED this game to be made!

[Gorth]

Annah's tail

[generic.hybridity]

Probably the setting. It was a really great setting to explore crazy ideas in. I wonder if Eternity's setting will be similar in its esoteric quality.

[Voltaire]

Reekwind !

[kabaliero]

That's.. the silliest question i've seen on this forum.

 

Srsly. What will you miss the most from one of your favorite books or movies? Duh.

Edited October 13, 2012 by kabaliero

[harhar!]

The writing, quests, companions, cities, music, setting, everything,...

 

I hope for much torment in eternity!