Gaming Torment: Tides of Numenera Review

i don't get why 80% equals a top excellent rating. surely 90 or above should be excellent?

 

Fair enough

 

I haven't had the chance to play much yet but I like what I have seen so far:

Graphics wise the game feels very similar to the old Planescape. Dialogue options are good but Morte as the character introducing you to the first game is much funnier. Although I'll admit the terminal velocity option was funny.

I really like the change to a turn based combat though. The pausable real time combat system always feels tedious, in every game that uses it.

If anything the new game really shows just how good the original Planescape: Torment is. Appart from the low resolution and the odd button layout the game doesn't feel old even though it arguably founded the whole genre. All Tides does so far is aspiring to be as good as Planescape, a twenty year old game. Just compare that to the difference in feel between the two DOOM games.

If Planescape was released today in the new engine it would be showered in praise. Now that is an accomplishment.

 

The 80% image is still being called in the HTML and then having display set to none. display:none can produce weird effects and the solution would be just to not load the image at all...(!)

That said, good review. Wouldn't normally look at this kind of game but I think I'll check it out now.

 

i'm reading that this is not a 4mil game , the music and graphics are not that great, the characters are not interesting and generally the whole thing is an unfinished mess. I really want to buy the collector's edition but the reviews i've been reading (including bit-tech) are very controversial...it's either an excellent game or a shitty game , i'm so confused

 

It's a very mediocre game to be honest. Having to live up to such a legacy as Planescape: Torment isn't helping. The graphics are quite typical for an isometric RPG and one of the best aspects of the game. I'd say it's the only part of the game that lives up to its name. The music is alright: Fitting but not very memorable.

The characters are the real problem: For the most part they are bland and uninteresting. Most have interesting moments but most of the times they are simply boring. They speak a lot but don't have much to say. Planescape has you travelling alongside a flying skull and a demoness, this game has some random dudes.

Then there is the dialogue system: Sometimes the choices are frustratingly stupid: You know someone is obviously lying to you but there is no way to call them out on it. Usually there is also no way to escalate a situation into a fight, you can only end the conversation. Planescape on the other hand is praised for the fact that you can finish the whole game bar a single side-mission withouth fighting.

If this was a $25 oldschool isometric RPG everyone would be singing its praises. But Tides is a full-price release that is marketed as a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment so people are expecting it to be at least as good as Planescape. But Tides isn't one of the Great Games, it's not even very good. It's just mediocre.