Torment: Tides of Numenera
Disclaimer: I do NOT reccomend the game at its current pricing. Furthermore, after much thought, I do not reccomened it for what it claims to be. This is no Planescape: Torment and it is not a worthy successor. Nevertheless, there is something worth the time it takes to play, even if it is deeply flawed. Below is my first formal attempt at a review, which I have tried to do indepth and professionally as possible.
At the conclusion, there will be a numerical score with a breakdown for my reasoning behind it.
– Real player with 125.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Isometric RPG Games.
This is a long review, consider yourselves warned.
I think that the mixed feelings about the game in the steam community and in general express my own feelings about it as well. While there are some aspects that are wonderful, there is also a sense that something is missing or amiss. So, rather than being a extremely coherent essay-like review, this is more of a catalogue of my views on individual aspects of the game. Also, I wil be overtly comparing this game to Planescape: Torment and not treating it separately, because I cannot go back in time and unmake myself playing PS:T and not basing my expectations of this one based on that one. Also, this review is focused much more on the game’s content, philosophy etc rather than on more formal aspects such as combat or difficulty. So, being clear on that, strap yourselves in and we may begin.
– Real player with 122.3 hrs in game
BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION
For those of you who might be considering buying this as a Fallout-like game set in a post-apoc South Africa..don’t. While it may appear otherwise at first its entirely a point and click adventure game that while fun has little in common with Fallout. Combat is limited to a handful of incidents, always involves some sort of proxy, and outside of a single instance is purely optional. Something that can be missed if your not careful along with the bits it unlocks.
Now for the unpleasant bit.
! I really wanted to like this game, I really did. I found the setting charming, its NPCs well rounded, and the story had me hooked…right up until the literal last minutes of the game. When you finally talk with Darius after realizing (something I suspected since the start) that you were playing out a pre-written prophecy jotted down by an entity who does not see time as a straight line.
– Real player with 22.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Isometric Sci-fi Games.
Wakanda place is this?
Move aside Afrofuturism, District 9, Black Panther, Elysium, Chappie and all you other African takes on sci-fi, because one thing’s for sure… I can easily tell you that I’ve never seen anything quite like the world of Beautiful Desolation.
If you are South African like me, then you must already know that you’re gonna experience it in a slightly different way to the rest of the world and may get a kick out of various elements that feel familiar to home. Beautiful Desolation is without a doubt, a whole new bag of Simba chips. It launches you into a future so far ahead that the South Africa you might know (and the people who lived there) are completely unrecognisable. The more this story of crazy futures and prophecies unfolds, the more interesting it becomes.
– Real player with 22.1 hrs in game
Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition
What an experience! I recommend it to anyone who likes crpgs but hates combat.
– Real player with 149.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Isometric RPG Games.
Planescape Torment has a great story. The atmosphere of the game is really cool, and the soundtrack is really nice. The soundtrack for the city of Curst is my favorite. It is an old rpg, and a lot of the game is centered around dialogue options. I recommend it if you have the time to play a slower paced rpg. If you play it stat up Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence for expanded dialogue. It is not my favorite classic rpg in terms of combat and game play, but I’m glad I took the time to beat it and experience this classic. Great game that doesn’t just feed you the story, you have to pay attention and piece it together as you go or you might just miss the deeper meaning. What can change the nature of a man?
– Real player with 111.6 hrs in game
Siege of Avalon: Anthology
Really fun CRPG, as others have stated. Setting/Atmosphere is pretty on-point for representing a desperate band of defenders in an elongated siege, which only appears to be going further downhill. There are a lot of characters to speak with, most providing backstory or supplementary lore, with a few providing quests/offering to join your party after a certain point
IMO, you really have a good feel on your characters growth. Starting out as a complete amateur you have to take on what is essentially a suicide mission, which would have ended quickly had I not acquired the heal spell & prepared in advance, that sees your character fairly rapidly gain in proficiency in order to survive the coming perils. The AI companions have quirks (looking at you mage NPC that ran into a corner :P) but they do generally provide valuable assistance in engagements which would otherwise be extremely complicated, if not impossible
– Real player with 136.6 hrs in game
Imagine my emotion when i found this jewel in the Steam Store. Let me tell you it was a wonderful surprise. Even if the game has some issues about the combat pathfinding, let me remember to you all that this game has been released in the early 2000’s. I recomend this game to everyone who loves long epic adventures with a lot of interesting characters, and days and hours of fun. This game can be played with three different styles to choose, either you can be a warrior mastering the combat skills, or a scout and specialize in stealth and archer skills or a magician dominating all kind of spells. You will also find companions along the story that you can also equip and provide with items and armor and weapons and all sort of gadgets, they will be valuable partners in your adventure. Im very happy that i found this game again 20 years later after trying it’s demo version in the early 2000’s. I was starting to loose hope about finding it again. But now that i found it here, remastered and reforged i just cant’t stop playing it. it’s very similar to Diablo II, but let me tell you, this game is a masterpiece of is time, More dialogues, more stories, the characters and merchants you will find in this game are so numerous and complex, with stories to tell, gossips, and stuff. It’s very rich in every aspect. Please allow yourselves to play this game. It’s a rare wander.
– Real player with 61.3 hrs in game
Disco Elysium - The Final Cut
It is not a game, it is an experience. A very special one and totally unique. And it can be the best one you had in a lifetime of gaming.
I have finally reached a THOUSAND HOURS playing this game. So I guess it is time to review it. Every viable choice and path, probably saw all the dialogues, I dare to say. I really did everything possible, researched all the alternatives, even explored the most grim and absurd outcomes, just to see how far your freedom goes. I did it all. And it really gives you the most absurd amount of choices and risks to take. All the perfect choices, all the wrong ones on purpose. And usually, there is no wrong path to take. What kind of cop do you want to be?
– Real player with 1003.0 hrs in game
SUGGESTION [Moderate: Success?] — “The first time I played this game, it filled me with a sense of nostalgia, which is weird because it was my first time playing the game. The music, the art style, the amnesiac protagonist, all contribute to that feeling… which has now turned into real nostalgia.
A few times, I’ve remembered the theme of the city proper, and had literal tears well up in my eyes, and loved every second of it. That feeling has made me come back to the game three or four separate times now, to try new skillsets, thoughts, and world views. The Final Cut update makes this process even better, as the writing and voice acting are really fucking good; even uncovering tiny new bits of writing triggers substantial dopamine hits in my brain at this point.
– Real player with 111.2 hrs in game
Heroes of Shaola
this game needs to be played at least twice to find all hidden areas. great storyline with many questions and political overtures. the bestiary list is a great idea. what it does need is the ability to run without using key. Some parts are very dark esp in caves and hard to see the creatures, There are plenty of chests etc and other places to get items and gold and side quests to help. Overall all it is a great game and looking forward to the follow up in the series.
– Real player with 63.6 hrs in game
Fun game. Looking forward to the sequel.
– Real player with 14.1 hrs in game
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
This game is awesome! I am replaying it after a few months playing other games right now and giving the turn based system a try. it is great. the combat is different if you play turn based or real time with pause so you can experience two different game styles. i think that it would be a lot better if you had both in one play-through but then again by not having it they make different stats more important for different modes. like dex is more important in RTWP and is absolutely useless in turn based mode, unless you just want to go first every round.
– Real player with 460.1 hrs in game
One of my all time favorite games. A true modern rpg masterpiece.
– Real player with 233.6 hrs in game
Pillars of Eternity
I’ve always consider the progress of graphics and telling stories with well made CG instead of words are good things for game industry, I thought the stunning graphics could bring the game world closer to us than the classic literature did.
Yet I found myself totally immersed by Eroa ,in this game than I’ve ever been in other games before, the astunning details I read from these words,just makes me questioning if the game industry is on the right path consider all those games with great power of graphics but turn out to be a total nightmare.
– Real player with 94.0 hrs in game
The game is just inredibly boring for me, never played it more than couple of hours from the start. Comparing to old BG/IWD series and Planescape:Tormet the only advantage of PoI is the graphic.
Game mechanics like allowing to sleep only when you have camp wood or some enemy beetles opening a door you close a moment earlier to hide from it is just lame.
– Real player with 87.4 hrs in game
Tyranny
Oppression, whether as fiction or as reality, seems unavoidable no matter how Tyranny is associated as it is difficult to love this game despite how players (and possibly Obsidian) feel pressured to accept its rulings. It will remain a mystery whether Obsidian had set their ambitions too high, again, and they were forced to release the game early, or if Paradox’s meddlesome content updates and DLC “expansion” model soured its reputation. After a year of patches, DLCs—which claim to be expansions—and hundreds of hours to see what Tyranny has to offer, the overall value remains questionably excellent. As a result, I can only recommend Tyranny on a steep discount or in a GOTY bundle to get the definitive experience. This is an act of kindness towards its crimes that allows players to enjoy all that Tyranny’s reign has to offer while also avoiding to give it the axe.
– Real player with 118.6 hrs in game
i make it short. its a love/hate relation. if they would fix some combat elements i would write a glowing review for it. as you see i am nearly 100 hours into the games so i definitely love some aspect. the reason why i cant recommend it right now are some combat related flaws where it will depend entirely how much youre willing to take if this game will work for you or not.
the +
- story aspects. its obsidian. expect nothing more than a world living up to its lore where every decidion has an impact on the story. thats awesome. thats the main reason we are here.
– Real player with 108.7 hrs in game
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura… oh, this game…
In spite of my low ownership, I am more than familiar with this bizarre, wonderful masterpiece, a game I sometimes thought was a complete fever dream from the depths of my imagination, among a strange number of other games including an action game involving Skittles and a dark knight. I’m still not sure that one still exists, though.
Arcanum is NOT a fever dream, however, and does in fact exist and is a masterpiece of a forgotten era where computers had the ability to deal with the unique and antiquated graphical features on their own. Because Microsoft doesn’t know how to keep good features from previous operating systems, it is imperative that you look up a tutorial on how to play this game, and while on your way, pick up an unofficial patch and maybe a few mods; one of which being Virgil’s Debug Menu. You won’t regret it.
– Real player with 684.3 hrs in game
In my ongoing and likely futile effort to write a Steam review for every game in my library (#450 out of 612)… it’s time for Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magicka Obscura.
Arcanum is one of the finest CRPGs ever made, and arguably the most impressive product legendary (if somewhat infamous) developer Troika Games ever built. It’s a massive,, brilliantly open game in the vein of Fallout that offers players an unprecedented degree of freeom with regard to how they build their characters, how they play the game, and how they progress through the world. It’s difficult to overstate just how deeply engaging Arcanum can be—this one is a classic roleplaying game for very good reason.
– Real player with 124.4 hrs in game