Torment: Tides of Numero Uno

[majestic]

How much it changes really... just depends on things only the team and inXile can know. Them also pushing an already semi-set release date from December 2015 to "some time" in 2016 either means the project is facing severe overruns (which just might trigger a lead change) or there's a perceived need to overhaul parts of the game, e.g. due to creative differences.

 

Like I said, the wording of Kevin's goodbye mail rubs me the wrong way. Specifically mentioning having no idea what he'll do next strongly implies (well, in my opinion anyway) that he got the boot for something.

 

 

 

With the major creative and production decisions now resolved, and the team charging full speed toward completing the game, inXile and I have decided it is time for me to depart from the studio. I am proud of the project that I'm leaving in capable hands, and while I do not know what I'll do next, I look forward to new challenges and opportunities. -- Kevin Saunders

[ShadySands]

[Cyseal]

It could become classic but still would like it would be RtwP.

[sorophx]

you all should be already playing the beta version. where are all the impressions?

[Nonek]

I'm playing the beta now and I have to say that the lack of character creation options is hampering my enjoyment, if the pre-defined character were as interesting and unusual as the Nameless One then this would not really be a problem, but the protagonist is so dull and uninteresting in design that I really can't distinguish him from the background. He is a real weak link in connecting to the Ninth world unfortunately, and somewhat alienating me from the game, because I expected a character who was a force of nature such as the Nameless One.

 

I wonder why this was not flagged earlier, anyone can see that the main character in Numenera suffers in comparison to Torments?

 

Edit: I'm really not sure whether I could endure a full playthrough with this non entity, hopefully some personality surfaces as we see the Nameless One exhibits rather organically in Torment.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Nonek

[melkathi]

What do you mean with lack of character creation options? The visuals? Then yes I agree, the current character looks boring. If you mean the skills/class creation, I quite enjoyed it. Especially encountering the Folk.

[Nonek]

What do you mean with lack of character creation options? The visuals? Then yes I agree, the current character looks boring.

 

Exactly, I agree about the "you are what you do" skill and attribute process, that is very good it is just a shame that the avatar is so utterly generic.

[Keyrock]

I love the look of the game.  I purposely skipped around and didn't let the video play for more than a minute at a time, because I'm avoiding spoilers like the plague until I get my grubby little fingers on the finished product, but I saw enough to appreciate the visuals.

[sorophx]

hmm, do you have acces to the beta version you don't want to touch not to spoil the game for you, by any chance? I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands :3 

[melkathi]

The little I saw so far, they are doing interesting things with visuals. It is the PC who is dull. I hope that they just haven't added that part yet

[Elerond]

Impression from beta and alpha

 

Story driven character creation tutorial is OK, but may become boring after multiple repeats, so it would be good if finished version will have option to skip it, especially when game offers you option to change your character to what ever you like after it anyway.

 

Main character's avatar isn't most fantastic, although later on items give you option to build your appearance at least somewhat (I have played only 5 hours and I have only found handful of items).

 

Beginning of story felt bit jumpy for me but it becomes more coherent soonish. 

 

First companions don't feel that great and I hope that their dialogs will get bit more love when game closes the finish line and they get VO for them.

 

Environmental interaction and consumable stat pool resources make crises much quite interesting puzzles, where optimal strategy depends also lot of what you want to do after the crisis. Like for example you nano can blast enemies with their spells in fight but then after battle they may suffer severe lack of int pool resource to help in persuasion, etc. check. And of course wise versa.

 

Game has at least some time quests that make resting bit less obvious choice.

 

Writing is readable and had not yet become sore in any point .

 

Game gives you at least in beginning good number of roleplaying choices.

 

Also I would not recommend beta to anybody that don't like to play non-finished product that lack polish in many places.

[Hurlshort]

Yeah, Wasteland 2 taught me to stay away from the betas.  The finished product was way better.  

[melkathi]

Story driven character creation tutorial is OK, but may become boring after multiple repeats, so it would be good if finished version will have option to skip it, especially when game offers you option to change your character to what ever you like after it anyway.

 

Very much agreed.

[Ganrich]

 

Story driven character creation tutorial is OK, but may become boring after multiple repeats, so it would be good if finished version will have option to skip it, especially when game offers you option to change your character to what ever you like after it anyway.

 

Very much agreed.

 

Haven't played yet (downloading now) because of work, but inclement weather will keep me from work tonight... sooo.  

 

Anyway, what I played of the Alpha... I agree.  My only "but" is if the decisions in that sequence has more than minor ramifications down the line in the main story (other than stats, descriptor, class, etc, and of course Tides).  If it does have those ramifications then I could see why InXile wouldn't have a generic character creation setup, but I still see it wearing itself thin like the Irenicus Dungeon, or any other opening dungeon in any RPG (OBLIVION being another major example).   An example of larger ramifications being:  that the memories you unlock based on decisions or even the outcomes of those decisions closing off or opening content later in the game.  

Edited January 22, 2016 by Ganrich

[Ganrich]

Got through the initial character creation, and the first map opened upside down.  Awesome... lol  

[Gromnir]

Got through the initial character creation, and the first map opened upside down.  Awesome... lol  

 

if it makes you feel better, the developers did a play-thru event with ign and your bug were encountered.  am suspecting such will be at top of their list o' things to fix. ("oh dear" moment at 1:04:55)

 

our most annoying bug so far is that when we transition (doorways, maps, etc.) we will (not often) become unable to interact with the game environment.  we can open menus, but we cannot move nor cick on interactable (ack) persons or objects.  sadly, our only solution thus far is to complete exit the game as a reload to a different save will result in the problem migrating to the recent opened game.  

 

initial overall impression is positive. am impressed. the choice and consequences advocates could learn lessons from the released portion o' torment.  instead o' punishing you with death or fail for making a wrong gameplay or character development choice, torment makes numerous viable choices available, and even the fails do not necessarily result in a practical game over.  now, admitted, this is intro portion o' the game, and is no place easier than start to do such stuff.  however, am impressed with the creativity and diligence o' the developers.  is easy to create many options, but only make one genuine choice per role.  am understanding why torment will be relatively "short" given the kinda depth we has seen thus far. am also gonna reiterate that punish a player for choosing "incorrect" character development choices is pretty much antithetical to our notion o' role-play, so good on inxile for not indulging in that particular pretension.

 

negatives? well, the two aspects that bother us most so far is unlikely to bother many other folks.  first, the game is too much a "spiritual successor" to ps:t.  as others have noted, there is no option to customize our avatar, as was the case in ps:t.  am not gonna spoil, but is already much plot and thematic similarity 'tween ps:t and torment... too much.  think force awakens similarity to episode iv, but more so.  torment is feeling much like ps:t, without the ubiquitous gray infused color palette... which we inexplicable miss. (minor aside: in spite o' having new engine and updated visuals, we preferred the ps:t aesthetic.  torment is a bit more eclectic than were ps:t, which ain't bad, but the art o' ps:t more effective enhanced mood.) second, the writing is a bit ponderous in places, but that were common in ps:t as well.  

 

am pleased with admitted very brief look at torment.  monte cook's rules is something we has only played very brief, and we had more than a few quibbles particularly with the emphasis on equipment v. character development as well as the predictable poor balanced combat.  as we played numenera contemporaneous with initial release, we expected aspects o' combat to be broken or unbalanced, so that weren't a big problem for us.  am not a fan o' rules that define a character most through equipment, so that issue felt more like a fatal flaw to us, but am gonna see how such plays out in torment.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited January 22, 2016 by Gromnir

[majestic]

I think I've come across every bug so far discovered: Hitched turns, characters (especially The Spectre) getting stuck after interacting with the environment, the upside-down screen problem and the wonderful one where starting combat results in the AI not doing anything at all until you completely quit the game and try again.

 

Not to mention the excessive strain the game puts on the system, but that just might be a Unity 5 issue.

 

Still, I've already spent hours trying and retrying the character generation and I did laugh out when someone called my castoff Adahn. So far so good.

[melkathi]

In game I am a Clever Jack

This leads to:

Melkathi Numenera Humor:

 

If I was a character then I'd be:

A Clever Jack who Plays the Torment Beta

 

 

Following that logic,

 

Iggy Pop is :

A Nude and Rude Passenger who Rides and Rides and Rides

 

Tina Turner is:

A Ruthless Aunt who Doesn't Need Another Hero

 

Legolas is:

An Annoying Elf who Informs Us that the Hobbits are Being Taken to Isengard

 

Flash Gordon is:

 

Just a man with a man's courage who will save every one of us, every man, every woman, every child with a mighty flash

[Gromnir]

In game I am a Clever Jack

This leads to:

Melkathi Numenera Humor:

 

If I was a character then I'd be:

A Clever Jack who Plays the Torment Beta

 

 

actually, you would be "A Clever Jack (insert focus here)."

 

the foci is third major aspect o' character development and is quite diverse.

 

https://numenera-seeking-the-past.obsidianportal.com/wiki_pages/list-of-foci

 

from pnp... but gives a goodly notion of options.  thus, melkathi would actual be a clever jack who murders, or a clever jack who wears a sheen of ice, etc.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited January 22, 2016 by Gromnir

[melkathi]

I haven't gotten that far yet

[Gromnir]

I haven't gotten that far yet

well, be sure to let us know what foci you choose, but keep in mind that according to an initial info screen in beta, your foci will be chosen with a different method in the full-release game.  nevertheless, is some curious combinations available when all 3 aspects (descriptor + type/class + focus) are combined.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

ps am recalling only three focus choices for the beta, but you are informed more will be available in full game.  nevertheless, we dont wanna spoil too much if you aint at the specific dialogue encouter yet.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Gromnir

[samm]

Liked what I saw the IGN video and won't be playing the beta in order not to spoil the enjoyment I intend to draw from the final version - I know I'd try out all the options and savour all the text

Yeah, the looks of the protagonist are a bit of a letdown to me as well - it is a fixed character as it was in Planescape: Torment, so why not make him/her appear at least a bit unique?

[majestic]

Yeah, the looks of the protagonist are a bit of a letdown to me as well - it is a fixed character as it was in Planescape: Torment, so why not make him/her appear at least a bit unique?

 

 

Because if you were the Changing God and you'd be hunted by the Sorrow through space and time (and whatever else) the last thing you'd want is a body to inhabit that stands out like a sore thumb. Or, well, at least that is what my reasoning would be.

 

[Gromnir]

a clever writer should be able to take any game implementation choice and then craft a reason to fit.  scars. tattoos. numeneran plastic surgery.  whatever. make plausible because is your world and your story.  is never an excuse. never should a developer use story reasons as an excuse for failing to implement a good game idea.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Nonek]

Too much handholding, far too much. The game seems far too centred and focused on the protagonist, to the extent that he is being treated like a typical Bioware main character, there is none of the uncaring, harsh and exploitative elements of Sigil on display. I talk with a character and he opens up and gives me his life story and all the information I could want, to do this in Torment I would have to threaten or bribe the individual, if it didn't just devolve into fisticuffs. I am given tasks that only I can apparently do, and yet they are mundane and low skilled. The game is telling me a lot of things, but showing me very little whereas in Torment I experienced the opposite and was intrigued and curious about the little hints that were given away.

 

The Numenera is weird theme seems to be slapped on a little heavily as well.

 

Overall so far i'm really not impressed, and at the same time feel like booting up Torment again to see this done far better, so there's an upside I suppose.