Don't let the box art fool you. This is perhaps the greatest RPG ever made. AND it has a flying talking skull.
User Rating: 9.9 | Planescape: Torment PC
Usually when a game has a weird title, is based on an obsolete Dungeons and Dragons rule system, has ugly box art, and is from the previous millennium, you don’t buy it. Especially when it isn’t even made anymore. This is why you may be a tad skeptical when I tell you to find the best copy of Planescape: Torment you can and start playing it. Torment is a role-playing game (RPG) which takes place in the now-defunct Planescape setting of D&D. Central to the Planescape setting is Sigil, the “City of Doors, a place with gates that lead anywhere in existence, provided you have the proper key.” This is a place where “the word is mightier than the sword, where thought defines reality, [and] where belief has the power to reshape worlds”. Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? And that’s not all: the main character is a tattooed, immortal, amnesiac called ‘The Nameless One’. After an extremely eerie introductory movie, the game starts with him waking up in a mortuary, as he has apparently just died…again. The game’s 100+ hours of game play will take you on a journey to discover The Nameless One’s past, and on a mission that may quite literally be suicide. Many choices you make (such as whether to lie, who to help, etc.) will affect the game’s ending, on which there are several variations. Player’s characters can also switch between various professions, so that you can experience the game in various ways. On my first play through I plowed through the game as a brutally strong fighter, but on my second (and trust me…you WILL be playing through again!) I played as an intelligent mage, and the story developed much more rapidly and extensively. Dialogue will also differ depending on what kind of character you are, so that intelligent mage, for example, will have many more (and more satisfying) choices as to what to say, and thus will uncover more in the game As in almost all RPG’s, several characters will join you on your quest. Notable among them: a dirty-talking, floating skull, a robot with a few screws loose, and a haunted suit of armor. The Nameless One will be able to learn skills from them, and also have conversations (I guarantee that you’ll never get enough of Morte, the talking skull). Although the Nameless One should be able to handle all the fights on his own near the game’s end, you’ll want to have your party members hang around just for the entertainment they provide. This game is not a typical RPG, but I think players will find it interesting. Di Lou, formerly of Computer Gaming World, called it “An RPG that respected the gamer’s intelligence.” Several Amazon.com reviewers praised its philosophic content, and one called it a blend of literature and gaming. All though it may be a tad strange for some, or perhaps a bit dated for others (these are Baldur's-Gate-esque Infinity Engine graphics, after all) I would highly recommend that you check this game out if you can find a copy anywhere.
