The best game. EVER.
it is a game that is completely fresh and original, and will astound and amaze you at every twist. It is a supreme work of imagination, and will actually manage to make you THINK and FEEL. Just the sheer originality and willingness to be thought-provoking make this game something you will never forget.
It has been likened to more of a 'work of art' then a game... but i think this falls short. To me, the game is more of an *experience* then anything else.
The reason why people love planescape torment so much is mainly because of it's fantastic story. The quality of the writing in this game is unmatched, and dialogue can often turn into heavy philosophical debates on things like death, order, chaos, and suffering. It is mainly very dark material here, but the game does have some great comic relief (mainly thanks to your floating skull-sidekick, Morte). Whereas the goal of most RPG's is to slay an evil boss or save the world, your only goals in PST are only to 1. find out who you are, and 2. to regain your lost mortality (in a way... to be able to truly die).
To start off, PST throws you, nameless and with no memory, in a the slums of a giant city called Sigil. Think of Sigil as huge, inter-dimensional crossroads; a place littered with portals to every place and plane in existence. Every bounded space in this city has the possibility to be the portal to another frame of mind, whether it be heaven, hell, or Louisiana. The setting is meant to be one of philosophical concepts given life through belief... forces of good, evil, order and chaos not only shape the world around you... they ARE the world.
The originality of PST doesn't end with the setting, however. The designers seemed to have looked for every 'convention' of traditional rpg's, and came up with a unique twist for it. For instance, rats, usually the classic annoyance of low-level players, now become deadly bosses, with groups of them casting brutal spells on you through their hive-mind. Instead of getting new swords and armor, you will instead get new tattoos, axes, and teeth. There is even a sequence that makes fun of the classic rpg dungeon, where a group of extra-planar beings creates an artifical dungeon for you, all for the purpose of finding out what the appeal of said dungeons are for adventurers.
The most brilliant design element in the game, however, is the handling of death. the twist here is that the protagonist of the game is immortal. Instead of having to hit the reload button, you will just awaken from a predesignated area, with all memories and experience points intact. You might think that this would make the game trite and easy... however it does not at all. Death is in fact one of the most important themes of the game, and dying is often the only way to solve puzzles and advance the plot.
The other part of the game which stands out to me the most, is the wildly imaginative NPC's you'll meet. Each one has a very clever and well-thought out backstory, and just the first character you meet, Morte, has more personality packed into him then just about all the characters in baldur's gate, combinded :P
I have to give a special nod to the developers here- not only are all the characters well thought out, but they aren't just a random group of people. They are all linked together by the fact that they are *tormented* souls. The way the game stages and implements this is brilliant, and you will get a chance find out what each character's torment is, and help them with it. I personally found this to be one of the most rewarding parts of the game.
As for the graphics, even though PST is going on 10 years old, it still gets high marks in this department. To be sure, it is very dated, but still looks good. This is ultimately because of the superb art direction. If you have ever played World of Warcraft, you probably know what i'm talking about-- even though it is technically simplistic, the use of a few well-thought out color pallets and carefully designed environments can make it still look great. Also, the spellcasting in this game is awesome. Spell effects all look very good, making the screen flash and shake as magic flies across the screen and explodes. Sometimes, the spells are of such power that they actually pull away to in-game movies in order to capture their full effect. And yes, there is a certain spell in this game, called 'Mechanus's Cannon' that has got to be the coolest spell in ANY game EVER :)
The sound- music and voice acting, are also top notch. The music blends perfectly well with the game, and can be quite haunting at times. The voice acting is a little to sparse in my opinion, but the little there is, is all very high quality.
To sum it all up- PST is not only the best game i have ever played, but it is a game that i think ever true gamer should play at least once before they die. It is a game that will not only effect you very deeply emotionally, but will ultimately change the way you *think* and *feel* about certain things. It is something that i personally will never forget, and has a lot of meaning to me.
So, if you're not afraid of questioning your own beliefs, then PST is a game that you should go and buy immediately if you you haven't yet, enjoy thoroughly, and savor till the very last last moment.