Castoff, ahoy

Torment: Tides of Numenera feels ripped from a different era. It’s a bookish game that deals i?n descriptive text and weighty, philosophical conversations. inExile Entertainment&rs??quo;s latest offering doesn’t dazzle with mind-blowing graphics or groundbreaking gameplay systems. Instead, it presents players with an open-ended story about absent gods and macabre characters, all wrapped up in the time-worn framework of an isometric RPG.

In Tides of Numenera, you play as a character known only as the Last Castoff. You are a body discarded by the Changing God, who uses hosts as a means of achieving im??mortality. Though there are countless other Castoffs in the Ninth World, your character represents the evolution of the Changing God’s pursuits. Each new Castoff is an improvement over the ones before it. And as such, your existence as the final child in a dysfunctional family of demigods means that you are powerful beyond measure.

Torment: Tides of Numenera&rsquo????;s greatest strength is that it encourages players to use the Last Castoff’s power however they see fit.

Torment: Tides of Numenera [PC (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One]
Developer: inExile Entertainment
Publisher: Techland Publishing
Released: February 28, 2017
MSRP: $44.99 

Though the Changing God created the Last Castoff in his image, Torment: Tides of Numenera is still a character-driven RPG. This means that above all else, players have a surprising amount of latitude when it comes t?o building an avatar. There are three main ‘classes’ within the game’s fiction: Jacks, Glaives, and Nanos, and while that may sound lacking compared to other entries in the genre, they function as a guideline more than anything.  

I found success with a Jack-based Castoff whose perception and conversational talents were so exceptional that he could talk the Devil into setting his pants on fire. I favored passive Willpower-based skills and abiliti??es, which made my journey through the Ninth World a silver-tongued jaunt of deception and nuanced speech checks. I could fight, but only if there was no other way out of a situation.

Skill checks are a big part of Torment: Tides of Numenera. Regardless of what kind of character your Last Castoff winds up becoming, it’s inevitable that you’re going to have to p??ull from your skill pools – either Might, Speed, or Willpower – to overcome challenges. You can smash a door open or intimidate an imposing enemy with enough Might as easily as you can tap into the latent memories of a long-dead hero with the right amount of Willpower. Time after time, I was surprised by the different choices and moments of opportunity that presented themselves during my quest. 

Even if you wind up in a combat encounter (or a Crisis as they’re called in-game), fighting is rarely (if ever) your only option. Throughout my twenty-some hour journey through Numenera, I never hit a point where I had slice through my foes just to make progress. Each Crisis is more of a turn-based puzzle than an outright melee. If you pay close attention to your environment, there’s a good chance that an alternate solution to the situation is hiding nearby. Even battles against the game’s ethereal Big Bad, a tendrilled creature called The Sorrow who hunts down the Changing God and his Castoffs with relentless fury, had multiple paths to completing the encounter. For those who prefer their brain over brawn, Torment excels at making multiple playstyles feel both ?viable and worthwhile.

Having the ability to avoid outright battles goes a long way because combat is where the game suffers the most. The turn-based system is functional, but even with a host of skills and companions to help pitch in, it still feels clunky. If you wind up raising your blade to an enemy, you’re likely to be surrounded and outnumbered within the first two turns. Even with a combat-oriented build, certain Crises wind up as more trouble than they’re worth, especially with the knowledge that you could just talk your way out of the sit??uati??on.

So, while I can’t recommend Tides of Numenera to anyone looking for satisfying combat, I can praise its world-building and narrative turns. The Ninth World stands upon the?? remnants of forgotten civilizations. It’s a vision of Earth one billion years in the future; a dreamy mix of fantastic architecture and geographic formations layered upon crumbled kingdoms and toppled cities. The locations that the Last Castoff and companions travel to are evocative, ranging from a hidden sanctuary that houses many of the world’s remaining Castoffs to a fleshy underworld, called The ?Bloom, that shifts and groans as it expands and devours anyone who runs afoul of its mysterious wishes. 

There’s a notable amount of care put into bringing each location, character, and one-off line of dialogue to life. inExile Entertainment has done a commendable job of brin??ging the Monte Cook’s tabletop setting to life through a dizzying amount of in-game writing. Rarely have I ever felt the need to wear my glasses while playing a game, but the constant drip-feed of strong writing and memorable encounters made me want to make sure I never missed a word. 

Tides of Numenera’s story explores the nature of existence and the meaning of power. Every action and conversation has a consequence, which is represented by the ever-shifting Tides. Ostensibly the manifestation of natural forces, each of the five Tides reacts to your decisions, affecting both the world and those who you encounter. Whether subtle or far-reaching, the Last Castoff’s ability to alter and use the Tides for his own gain plays a large role in the overarching story, adding a sense of weight to virtually every choice that players make. From diving into a half-forgotten memory to stopping a slavery ring, the game never judges your actions. Instead, you make a choice and the Tid?es shift. The world goes on, but you have to live with the ramifications of each action.

Like the way that the Ninth World rises from the ashes of other civilizations, Torment: Tides of Numenera is a layered experience. For rol??e-players keen on experiencing a game of consequences and twisted fantasy, it&rsqu?o;s well worth the adventure.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Sometimes you just gotta fight it out

If there's one role-playing game I regret never having played, it's got to be Planescape: Torment. This PC RPG has gained a huge cult following over the years, and it's pretty easy to find people willing to sing its praises. From what I know about the game it sounds fascinating; dying merel??y sends your story down a different path since your character is an immortal being, and the setting requires you to travel between multiple dimensions to try and recover your lost memories.

Torment: Tides of Numenara is a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment that was successfully kickstarted in 2013. Although it's been delayed several times, it's nearing release and should be available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on February 28. Planescape: Torment is well known for solving problems through means other than combat, focusing more on dialogue and other means of solving problems. Set a billion years in Earth's future, Torment: Tides of Numenara looks to continue that tradition, but accedes that sometimes mixing it up? with bad guys is unavoidable. 

The trailer shows how you'll be able to deal with enemies when conversation fails you. Of particular note is the use of Cyphers, single use items with the power to turn the tide of battle. This power comes with a cost however, and hoarding Cyphers can literally blow?? up in your face if they react and explode in your inventory. Even holding too many will cause "Cypher Sickness," inflicting a stat penalty on a character with many Cyphers in their inventory. Fortunately, it appears as though the player will be able to devote skill points towards making sure this doesn't happen.

Up to three companions?? can join your party, and the player will have full control of them during combat. Each has their own unique abilities, and non-player characters will be able to use Cyphers too. Even if combat begins, you don't necessarily need to clear the map of enemies to proceed. Focusing on a leader might cause their underlings to cut and run, o?r you can try to talk enemies out of fighting midway through a battle.

Similar to Planescape: Torment, if you fall in co?mbat, that doesn't necessarily mean it's game over. Dying transports you to the Castoff's Labyrinth, an Escher-like maze inside your own mind. Successfully navigating it can unlock new story threads, and returns you to life more powerful than before.

I hadn't been following this game closely, but everything I've seen here looks intriguing. The developers are promising "thousands of meaningful decisions that will make every playthrough unique." After nearly four years of development, it looks like Tides of Numenara will be worth the wait. Maybe I can even get a run of Planescape in before Torment launches on February 28.

Torment: Tides of Numenara - A New Take on Combat [YouTube]

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Techland is publishing

While an isometric RPG like the Kickstarted Torment: Tides of Numenera is better served on PC, having it also available on consoles for those who don't mind playing with a gamepad is something I can get behind. That's the plan, with Techland (Dying Light) "handling re??tail distribution, marketing the game, and physical backer rewards come release," according to inXile's Chris Keenan. "This allows us to focus the vast majority of our resources on development of the game itself."

"After the critical and commercial success of Wasteland 2: Director's Cut on consoles, and with fans clamoring for it, it had been in our plans to bring Torment: Tides of Numenera to PlayStation 4 and Xbox On??e," noted CEO Brian Fargo.

With Techland helping out, inXile is working toward a simultane??????????????????????????ous PC and console launch in Q1 2017. That can be cause for concern, especially ?for a crowdfunded title. Let's hope everything goes smoothly.

Updated Our Journal (57): Techland Partnership [Kickstarter]

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Backers can get it first

Torment: Tides of Numenera has been taking its time, but the beta will be out before long.

All eligible crowdfunding backe?rs will gain access during the week of January 17, 2016 (exact date TBA). Then, on January 26, the beta will see a wider release via Steam ??Early Access.

InXile's Brian Fargo describes this upcoming build as "quite lengthy for an early beta," noting that it covers "the game's introductory sequence (some of which you may have already seen a portion of in the alpha??) as well as most of the first major location of the game, Sagus Cliffs."

For those of you who have kept up with Torment thro??ughout its production, are you still excited?

Updated Our Journal (51): De-Cyphering t?he Beta Release Date [Kickstarter]

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Replaced by inXile vet

If this month's alpha showing inspired faith Torment: Tides of Numenera would hits is previously planned Q4 2015 release window, sorry, a bit longer to ??wait yet as the $5 million crowd-funded RPG has sett??led on a new 2016 release date. A beta is scheduled for this year, though.

Developer inXile made the announcement in a Kickstarter update wherein project manager Kevin Saunders announced his departure from inXile. Wasteland 2 lead and 12 year inXile vet Chris Keenan replaces Sa??unders dow??n the stretch.

"As a fresh set of eyes on the project I can tell you it's shaping up to be the awesome experience you all expect and deserve," Keenan wrote. "However, to maintain the quality standard we've set for ourselves, we can't rush through these final stages to get it out the door. Instead, we're going to take the time we need on Torment: Tides of Numenera, which means we are planning a 2016 release."

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Combat will be like Wasteland 2's

inXile asked Kickstarter backers what type of combat they would like to see in Torment: Tides of Numenera, and turn-based came out slightly in the lead. The votes were so close that inXile said it was basically a tie, but they have decided to implement the turn-based system despite half their backers voting for a real-time altern?ative??.

??inXile believes that turn-based combat is "better suited for the kind of tactical complexity we're looking for." They are hoping to be able to please fans who voted for real-time combat by addressing their concerns w??ith most real-time combat mechanics.

I am a little disappointed to see inXile make this decision, but I hope that the game will be amazing regardless. I like turn-based combat too, but I was hoping to see a system similar to the original Planescape Torment.

Updated our Journal (26): Decision [Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter via VG24/7]

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How do you want the combat?

Torment: Tides of Numenera developer inXile entertainment just put out a blog post with a Q&A video that has details on the game's alignment system, and they ask fans how?? they would like to see combat implemented.

The first option is to have real-time combat with pausing -- this is the classic system from Planescape: Torment and Baldur's Gate. All characters move and fight at the same time, and the player can pause at any point to issue orders. The other option would be to have turn-based combat, which would be similar to Fallout and XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Either system sounds good to me, but I think I would prefer the real-time with pausing. It would match how the older Black Isle games used to play, and that's one of the things I really want from Torment.

The blog post shared some details on Tides, which is Numenera's alignment system. Instead of good, evil, chaotic, and lawful, the Tides use colors to show a character's legacy. The goal of the Tides is to show how a character wil?l be remembered.

Tides don't take motives into account, and are only affected by actions. The chart above shows? the different colors, and their responses to some questions about life. It looks really interesting, and I can't wait to see how they implement this into the game.

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One minute of awesome

Just the other day we saw our first screenshot of Torment: Tides of Numenara, the spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, and now we have a quick gameplay video. While this doesn't show a whole lot, it gives us a good glimpse of?? what the game will actually look like.

It's pretty much what I was expecting to see: a nice, hand-painted backdrop with 3D models and lighting overlayed on the top. It's very well put together and I'm excited to see more footage. After all, Torment is my most anticipated game in develop?m?ent right now. I have high hopes for it.

The post First video glimpse of Torment: Tides of Numenara appeared first on Destructoid.

Also, drinking with Brian Fargo

Just before he left to go on a likely well-deserved holiday, I had the opportunity to pester Obsidian's Chris Avellone about his role in inXile's upcoming RPG, Torment: Tides of Numenera. 

Chris is a veteran of RPGs, particularly those inspired by tabletop games, designing Planescape: Torment and contributing to Neverwinter Nights 2, as well as being lead designer on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 and writing Fallout: New Vegas. 

Amid the excitement caused by the announcement of a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, there was some disappointment that Chris wouldn't be involved in the project beyond endorsing it, but if funding reaches $3.5 million, that disappointment should evaporate.

Despite exceeding its funding request by over $2 million, Torment continues to get more and more new backers every day. Chris doesn't think that his inclusion in the stretch goals is the main reason for that. "I’d argue that Pat Rothfuss and the other elements may have had more to do with the recent influx than me, especially since Name of the Wind is such a great book," he explained. I think he's being a bit too modest, though. Patrick Rothfuss may be a popu??lar author, but Chris Avellone is a name sy?nonymous with the thematic franchise. 

"Beyond that, though, Brian and Kevin have assembled an impressive narrative and design league for the project, and it’s amazing having all that talent focused on one project," Chris continued. "Between Colin McComb, Monte Cook, Tony Evans, Mur Lafferty, Brian Mitsoda, George Ziets, as well as Nathan Long, who I worked with on Wasteland 2 – all of them are a great writing crew to work with, and I&rs??quo;m happy that I at least get the chance to be a part of?? it, and I certainly hope it pans out."

Although Chris's potential involvement wasn't revealed until after the Kickstarter had smashed the initial goal, he was asked to join the team almost from the start. "Brian Fargo brought it up within a day or two of him acquiring the Torment name when I was in the office working on Wasteland 2. Working on Torment was an ongoing discussion, but between responsibilities to Wasteland 2 and [Project] Eternity, I couldn’t see how I?? could make it work, although I trusted Brian and inXile to do a good job."

Brian Fargo and Kevin Saunders were obviously dead set on trying to get Chris onboard, and eventually they managed to work something out. "Once my design work on Wasteland 2 finished up, however, Brian and Kevin approached Feargus [Urquhart] and I with a plan that seemed reasonable to Obsidian, Feargus and I discussed the workload, made sure it wouldn’t impact Eternity, and I get to, hopefully, be part of the Torment team. This discussion didn’t come about until a week before my announcement on the project, so it came together really fast -- kudos to Br?ian and ?Kevin for making it happen, I’m grateful they pushed for it, and I’m glad Feargus and Obsidian were open to the idea."

Last month, I spoke with Colin McComb and Kevin Saunders about the Torment Kickstarter, a mere 24 hours before it began, and Kevin described Chris as the "mastermind" behind making a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment a reality. It was Ch?ris who hooked up Colin and Brian Fargo, and last year he spoke ??at length about the possibility of a sequel to the story of the Nameless One, or at least a spiritual successor. Chris doesn't think he lives up to that, however.

"There’re people I’ve worked with who have really came through for projects in the past and have proven themselves, these people are my friends, and Kevin Saunders, Colin McComb, Tony Evans, and Adam Heine I’ve all worked with directly over the years and I feel they have a lot to add to Torment." It strikes me that Chris se?ems to be a bit more comfortable with talking about the work of his fr?iends and colleagues, and their accomplishments, rather than his own.

He continued, "Tony Evans, for example, I’ve told numerous times that if there was a Torment project, he’s a perfect designer for it based on his aesthetics and the fact he’s one of the most hard-working guys I know -- in terms of proving himself, he worked overtime of his own accord on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II even while his wife was pregnant, and I’ve never forgotten it to this day, so when it comes to a list of people I want to work with again, he’s on it -- even if I never want him to have to work those hours again. Monte I’ve worked with, too, although largely in the capacity of Planescape approvals and th?e many Hero Games submissions from me he rej?ected over the years, which I forgive him for, since he was right to reject them."

One of Chris's roles on Torment will be the creation of an eighth companion, who will join the Last Castoff. I asked if he had been working o?n any concepts for it yet. "Yes! As soon as I heard working on it was a possibility, I started writing out a series of companion concepts based on the material that the crew has been developing -- I did eight different concepts, starting from a theme and then building on each one with supporting details. I don&r?squo;t want to set any in stone just yet until I can swim around in the world a bit more and see how I can tie the characters to the plot and the theme more."

I wondered how far along the other seven characters were,  if any had been properly planned out, and if that meant there was some potential for overlap, limiting Chris's design freedom. Apparently some have been planned out, but there's a broad range of personalities and a bunch of character development, so Chris wasn't concerned about overlap. "The universe is liberating for exploring ideas. Even when doing the original Torment, doing all the NPCs and CNPCs in that game was barely scratching the surface of the character possibilities of that world, and Numenera is much the same way."

Character design won't be his only role, though, as he'll also have consulting responsibilities, which he explained. "Right now, my additional responsibilities include looking over the design documentation -- narrative, systems, themes, vision, and more -- and offering feedback, pointing out the positive design ties to the first Torment in case Kevin and Colin are being too modest, and suggesting iterations and reinforcing any other ideas that I think might make for a more compelling Torment experience. Based on the crew they’ve already assembled, including Tony Evans and George Ziets, I feel that a number of the designers already get what makes a great thematic and narrative experience based on their work on Neverwinter Nights: Mask of the Betrayer."

I think it's worth noting that Mask of the Betrayer is probably the closest thing to a thematic sequel to Planescape: Torment, at least until Torment: Tides of Numenera launches. The complex characters and plane-hopping shenanigans are two significant things the games share, but it also had an affecting narrative that, frankly, blew the original Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 out of the water. One of the most comp??elling companions in that title, Gann, was penned by Chris himself.

The challenge with making a spiritual successor is finding a way to connect it to its predecessor without the use of the same characters and universe. Torment is a thematic franchise, with a major similarity being the metaphysical and philosophical questions. Chris told me what jumped out at him, making inXile's Torment remind him of ??its forebearer. "A few things. A set character, a story focus, a focus on themes, strong, detailed companions, the brilliance and innovative nature of the setting and locations.

"The area design theme for the Bloom alone, for example, is a muse for all sorts of character ideas and adventure ideas: the fact it’s alive, it ?moves around, destroys/eats anyone that tries to quantify it, and has people and monsters living ther??e, and oh, it also opens up pathways to other dimensions depending on what you feed it -- all of that fits perfectly with the area designs for Torment. Just hearing the ??idea for that location immediately sparked my imagination for doing [companions] and NPCs."

With both Obsidian and inXile developing CRPGs considered successors to tabletop-inspired classics, there's a wee bit of friendly rivalry between the studios, which Kevin Saunders joked about in an earlier interview, but Chris noted that Project Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera have significant differences, such as the use of morality in the latter, and said that the studios made an effort to ensure that the??ir core concepts and themes didn't overlap.

If there is a friendly rivalry, the emphasis would undoubtedly be on the "friendly" part. Both studios are filled with staff who have worked together, and Obsidian is currently working with inXile on the development of Wasteland 2. I ask??ed Chris if this was a relationship we could expect to see continue. "We’re sharing techn?ology, design systems, area templates, and Brian and Feargus have a great working relationship, both personally and in their approaches to management.

"There’s also a lot we’ve shared between studios regarding Kickstarter approaches, sharing copies of our games to help promote each other’s Kickstarters, and also the pipeline structure of Kickstarter -- inXile was one of our first and strongest supporters for Eternity, and now we’d like to do the same with them and Torment. Also, on a selfish level, I like drinking with Brian Fargo and discussing design and Kickstarter ideas, so that’s my acid test for a successful? relationship right there." Further confirmation that drinking facilitates good working relationships.

On the subject of Kickstarters, I wondered what else Chris would like to see come out of the funding platform, and if there were any particular games he thought deserved a second life. "Well, seeing elements of King of Dragon Pass brought out in Unwritten: That Which Happened was one mark off the checklist, as was seeing Shadowrun Returns and Dreamfall Chapters up on Kickstarter. Also, I’d love if someone *cough* Ken Levine *cough* did a System Shock 3. Which I would want to work on. E??ven if it’s just getting him coffee."

You heard him, Ken Levine. Get to work!

Torment: Tides of Numenera is currently sitting at $3,365,759 with three days left to go. 

The post Chris Avellone on Torment and being a hu??man str?etch goal appeared first on Destructoid.

It certainly feels like I've been waiting this long

With the ridiculously speedy success of inXile's Kickstarter for Torment: Tides of Numenera, it's only a matter of time until we'll be diving into the role of the Last Cast-off, the title's protagonist. I got up to speed on what we can expect from the setting and the story when I spoke with inXile's Kevin Saunders and Colin McComb earlier this week, and you can see the full extent of the interview right now.

We chatted up quite the storm, so the rather intriguing premise and setting of the Ninth World may be a bit buried under a mountain of information. If you're just interested in what the hell Num?enera is all about, then I've got you covered here.

The Ninth World is Earth, a billion years in the future. Entire civilizations have built themselves up, crafting impossible technologies and great works, only to fa?ll and crumble as time slowly trundled along. 

??The current civilizations of the Ninth World are medieval in terms of technology and understanding. They exist as clusters of villages and settlements, not really aware of t??he billion years of history that led to them. 

Numenera creator, Dungeons & Dragons veteran, and Torment developer Monte Cook describes it as like living in 1000 AD. Societies are technologically limited, and most people lead fairly simple lives, yet hidden away is the detritus of ancient, incredibly advanced civ?ilizations, from technology that came from other worlds, to twisted, monstrosities, genetically altered by science.

Creative lead Colin McComb went into more detail. "You dig up dirt, and you find gears. You enter an old building, and you discover that it's some sort of ancient ruin that?? is being run by an AI that's perhaps insan??e after all these years, and you'd call it a demon."

The magic that exists in the Ninth World is simply long lost science, misunderstood. It's Clarke's third law in action. "Any sufficiently advanced technology?? is indistinguishable from magic."

In this realm exists a man, known as the Changing God, who discovered ancient tools which allowed him to escape the inevitability of death by casting his consciousness into other bodies. However, a side-effect that he was not aware of created a huge amount of sufferi?ng. When he left a shell for a new body, the shell would gain a new, fresh consciousness, but one that didn't know its place in the world. This new individual would attract suffering wherever it went.

This suffering awakens an age-old guardian, the Angel of Entropy, who starts hunting down the Changing God and his shells. Torment's protago?nist is one of these shells, the last one. It comes into existence seeing his creator stalked by the Angel, and then plummets to the Earth, free to find its own path in the world.

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"What does one life matter?"

Twelve years ago, Black Isle Studios crafted a plane-hopping, tragic adventure set in the Planescape Dungeons & Dragons setting. ?With a nameless, amnesiac protagonist who had been both a hero and a villain, the developer ex??plored the question, "What can change the nature of a man?"

Planescape: Torment remains one of the most intriguing and metaphysical role-playing games, and fans -- of which there are many -- have been clamouring for? some sort of sequel for about as long as the original has existed. Though Wizards of the Coast still hold on to the IP, clutching at it and refusing to let go, the themes and philosophies behind the game can not be held by any company.

Thus, a thematic sequel, Torment: Tides of Numenera, is being developed by a team of Planescape: Torment and Dungeons & Dragons veterans at inXile. The project's Kickstarter begins today, and I had a wee blether with designers Colin McComb and Kevin Saunders about the crowd-funding route while I tried to ferret out more information about Torment from them. 

Kevin and Colin are no strangers to Planescape: Torment, and both offer the new project years of experience. Colin, the creative lead, co-wrote and developed Planescape: Torment with Chris Avellone and spent five years working with TSR on the Planescape campaign setting which is where he met Monte Cook, the mind behind Numenera. 

Kevin, the project director, worked at Obsidian for more than five years alongside Chris Avellone, his first game at the studio being the fascinating, if unfinished, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II. Notably he was also the lead designer on Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, an expansion that, in my opinion, was a vast improvement on the core game and probably the closest thing we've had to a Planescape:Torment sequel up until now.

While the absence of Avellone may be felt by some fans, the team working on Torment, at least on paper, seems like the perfect group to be working on a spiritual successor to the Nameless One's tra??umatic journey, and includes members who worked on the art, writing, and even the music of the original game.

Kevin described it as ?"serendipity," with Avellone as the "mastermind" setting up the project, despite not being a part of it. It was he who hooked up Colin and Brian Fargo, and last year he talked up a storm about wanting to see a new story with the themes laid out in the first game. 

But for all its connections with the twelve year-old classic, Torment sounds like it will be very much its own game and exists within a brand new setting, Numenera, devised by D&D veteran Monte Cook. I wondered how much freedom this gave the team when it came to making their own mark on this world. "We are actually working very, very closely with Monte on this ... he is very happy to work with us, and provides us with guidance and direction when we need it." Colin explained, "We have a lot of freedom."

Kevin noted that Numenera has been designed to give GMs a lot of flexibility, and that this makes the setting a good fit, as it offers them this freedom as game develop?ers as well. Monte Cook actually has an official role on the project beyond just being the licensor -- he's also one of the developers.

Torment has been described as a thematic franchise rather than one that's stuck in any one setting, and in Torment, inXile wants to expand on the questions and themes raised in its predecessor. If Planescape was meant to answer "What can change the nature of a man?", Torment answers "What does one life matter?" It's up the? players to seek the answer thems??elves, however.

The question ties into the rest of Torment's themes: abandonment, mystery, all lying at the heart of the game. While the scope is vast and metaphysical, Kevin emphasized that it's still a focused game. "It's a very introspective, personal journey that we're talking about. It's going to be really epic in feel, much like [Planescape] was, but when you get down into it, what [Planescape] really was was a very personal story about a g??uy trying to discover who he actually is."

Set one billion years in the future, Torment shows us an Earth utterly changed and alien. Countless civilizations have risen and fallen, and humanity has now returned to an almost medieval level of technology and understanding. Magic played a large role in Planescape: Torment, and will do so again, but it's not divine or arcane magic -- this time the driving force behind ??it is long forgotten sci?ence. 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- Clarke's Third Law

Colin expanded on this. "Magic is basically just science that we don't understand yet. In this case it's one billion years of scientific advancement. Think about all the cool things that are happening with science now, I mean they just invented cranium rats (terrible pests from Planescape: Torment that, when grouped together, inc?reased in intelligence and even cast spells)."

According to Kevin, inXile is emphasizing the mystery of scien?ce, thus things will feel more like magic, more fantastical, even if their basis is in science. "For people looking for a fantasy game, that is what it will feel like to them." Monte Coo??k describes the setting of Numenera as being like 1000 AD, where you have a lot of ostensibly simple clusters of villages and lead a subsistence lifestyle, but are surrounded by the remains of ancient civilizations, their ruins, and the remnants of their technology.

The basic plot has already been worked out, and right now perfecting the narrative is the focus since, as Kevin stated, "it drives everything else." With that in mind, I picked their brains about the premise, not really expecting them to reveal much this early on??. I was delighted to be wrong.

Colin revealed the tale of the "Last Cast-off": "There is a man who didn't want to die. His motivations had been lost over the centuries, but at some point he discovered some ancient tools that allowed him to cast his consciousness into a new body, and he has used these tools to cast himself acr??oss a succession of bodies over the course of centuries, if not thousands of years.

"What he doesn't realize is that every time he leaves a body, it awakens with a new consciousness. And so he has left behind all of these cast off shells, and they are awake and alive, and they realize 'Oh my god, I've been abandoned by my father. What's my place in the world? What am I doing here?' And it turns out th??at they attract suffering. Eventually there is so much of this suffering that has been created by these shells, that an age-old guardian has been awakened and is now hunting [their] sire."

It's certainly a premise I couldn't have imagined, and it definitely has hints of Planescape: Torment about it, namely the refusal to die. Players will control the last of these living shells, and the first thing?? that they see as they are thrust into existence is ?the aforementioned guardian hunting their sire, and then they plummet to the Ninth World, taking over the cast off body. It sets up the story of self-discovery perfectly, and it's undoubtedly something of a tragedy, much like its predecessor. 

Numenera doesn't have the plethora of classes other role-playing games may boast, instead using a focus to allow players to customize and define their characters. Torment will be doing t??he same, though there may be additional foci created by inXile in conjunction with Monte Cook. Thes?e foci are essentially super-abilities that can be used by any of the three classes, the Glaive, Nano, or Jack (ostensibly the trinity of warrior, mage, and rogue).

Colin revealed some of the potential focus abilities that player could select. "You can speak with the dead, you can ride the lightning, you can control animals, you can master a weapon to an almost supernatural extent." Having such disparate abilities makes me think that this will be a title that will demand to be played multiple ??times. 

There is a synchronicity between the foci and the unique tide system, Torment's answer to the unyi??elding alignment system in Dungeons & Dragons. "Somehow, your character has been constructed in a way that manipulates these invisible forces," Colin explained, "so the choices that you make? will reflect your tides, and they change throughout the game and will have a visible effect on you and people will react to you based on the choices that you made."

Instead of their being good, or evil, or having deities and external judgements, these tides are families of concepts that help to define the player character. They are named after colors rather than literal ide?als, though there are ways of thinking, emotions, and concepts that are attached to these color-coded tides.

One example was the blue tide, which in part represents things like reason. Not only will actions align players more to that tide and have an effect on ??the people who interact with the protagonist, it also relates to certain foci that require a more logical mind and greater wisdom. Five tides exist in the Ninth World.

While Torment appears to have been set up with plenty of conflict, it is still primarily a narrative-driven experience. However, that does not mean inXile isn't making an effort on the combat side of things. Mechanics are still not being revealed, as the developer wants to get backers involved in deciding?? these things, but a more robust system is being promised.

Although combat will be featured, a lot, if not all encounters will be avoidable, according to Kevin, and the battles will have a narrative purpose. "We want it tied into the narrative, so there will be aspects of the sto?ryline that will have gameplay effects in combat, and we want it to be important from a strategic perspective, we want to concentrate on quality of combat encounters over quan?tity -- this won't be an action-RPG."

The weakest part of Planescape: Torment was its combat, as I see it, and the d?ungeon romp side of things was a? lot less compelling due to this. It was the story and dialogue that hooked me, but the Planes were filled with violence, so it was a shame that getting stuck into a good scrap was a bit boring.

That inXile is already asking for funding via Kickstarter while its previous Kickstarter project, Wasteland 2, is still in development has worried some people. I'm a fan of the concept of crowd-funding, but I still see it as somewhat unreliable and unte??sted, so I don't tend to dip my toes into those murky waters. 

Kevin believes, however, that there isn't a better time to start the Torment Kickstarter. "For a small developer, having multiple projects is very important. During different stages of production or game development, you need different people and a different-sized team. Right now, being in pre-production for Torment, we are able to have the design all established and the writing complete by the time Wasteland 2 ships in October. Then the producti??on team can take a well-deserved break, and come back and they know what they are making. 

"If we were to wait until later, either those people are idle or not being used as efficiently ... or th?e design of the game gets off track because it's being worked on by people who have less of an understanding of what the game is." By starting their Kickstarter campaign now, they are able to keep working on the game's foundations so that come October, things will be able to go into full production.

InXile is aware that it is asking backers to take a gamble, but that's also why the studio released the first gameplay videos of Wasteland 2 -- to show backers and potential consumers what they've been working on. According to Kevin, the response from backers was overwhelmingly positive, which has given them the confidence to go ahead with Torment, fee??ling that they've shown people they can live up to their promises.

It's also worth noting that, as they don't know how well the Kickstarter i??s going to go, if they do get more funding than they ask for, that will mean they can be more ambitious and add more features, as well as hiring even more writers while improving the visual aspects of the game. These are things they need to know sooner rather than later, and by October it might be too late to make these additions.

With one game alre??ady successfully funded, the setting of Numenera also funded via Kickstarter, and now their latest project, inXile are very much fans of the funding platform and crowd-funding in general. As Kevin said to me, it makes them closer to their players. "We love how Kickstarter makes us accountable to the players and creates this relationship of trust... so moving forward, at this time, Kickstarter will be a part of what we want to do with our products. It also gives the early backers ... in exchange for their faith in us they get a lower price point for the product and they help us shape it?." 

Obviously there are some restrictions when choosing the crowd-funding method, most notably the much smaller budget. The $3 million that Wasteland 2 secured may seem like a lot, but it's nothing when compared to the gross, bloated budgets normally found in, say, AAA titles. Due to the budget and the schedule, Torment will not be fully voice acted. It will, however, have voice acting for major NPCs and companions. These sorts of concessions make s??ense when working with less funding, and personally I'm happy that inXile is using its time to perfect the writing and mechanics rather than spending time recording hundreds of hour??s of dialogue.

The Torment Kickstarter began today at 6:00am, and at the time of writing this it has already reached $400,000 of ?its $900,000 goal; so I imagine it will be fully funded?? by the end of the day, certainly by the weekend. It's going to be released on PC and Mac, as well as possibly Linux.

The post InXile talks Torment, story details, and ???crowd-funding appeared first on Destructoid.

And I'm not in the least bit surprised

InXile's newest roleplaying game and spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, Torment: Tides of Numenera, has been seeking funding on Kickstarter for well under a day. After three hours, it had already secured half o?f its $900,000 goal. It's now fully backed. 

Sitting pretty at $935,000 at the time of writing this (and likely a whole lot more when you start reading), I think anyone wondering if people really care about Planescape: Torment any more have their answer. I suspect that the project won't struggle to reach its stretc?h goals either, meaning that the extr??a writers and art that inXile mentioned desiring will become a reality.

I spoke with Kevin Saunders and Colin McComb from inXile a day ago about the project and their experiences with Kickstarter, so keep an eye out for that later today. They were cautiously opti?mistic about the potential success of their latest crowd-funding attempt, and now they're probably feeling pretty damn good.

So, who has backed this thing already?

The post Torment reaches its Kic?kstarter goal in less than a day appeared first on Destructoid.

There's a website too!

Planescape: Torment is, for me, the pinnacle of videogame roleplaying experiences. It managed to make boring stats meaningful by putting them to use outside of combat constantly, its story and dialogue blow even Baldur's Gate out of the water, and it contains a wide array of colorful, intriguing characters who all bring something to the Name??less One's entourage. 

So when inXile announced that it would be crafting a spiritual successor late last year, I was beside myself with excitement and anticipation. Later it was revealed that the developer would be partnering with Monte Cook, the veteran Dungeons & Dragons scribe who had previously worked on several Planescape projects for TSR. Cook was working on a brand new tabletop setting, Numenera, which recently had an extremely successful Kickstarter, and it would be that realm where the tentatively named Torment would take place.

The match is something of a perfect one, what with Numenera sharing many of the themes found in Planescape, particularly the trappings of a medieval era merged with magic and strange technology. Now inXile has finally revealed the full title for the project, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and set up a website.?? It's still a bit barren at the moment, merely establishing the premise and hinting at things to come. A crowdfunding?? push will start at some point in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled.    

The post Planescape: Torment spir?itual successor gets a name appeared first on Destructoid.