RPGWatch Feature - Torment: Tides of Numenera Preview

Aubrielle played the beta of Torment: Tides of Numenera, entered its strange world and brings back a glimpse of what you can expect.

This Torment is set in a very different place than the smash RPG hit of 1999 that shares its name. Planescape: Torment, quite possibly the most acclaimed RPG of all time, was set in Sigil, an incomprehensibly large city that served as a hub joining all the planes of existence. Set in a Dungeons and Dragons universe, it used the AD&D ruleset as well (second edition Dungeons & Dragons), just like its cousin, Baldur's Gate. This new Torment takes place on Earth, a billion years in the future. The planet is unrecognizable. Countless civilizations have risen and fallen on our planet in that unimaginable span of time, and technologies beyond comprehension have been unleashed on its surface. What we might call nanotechnology is at the core of the game's magic system, though the "nano" mentioned in the game is a substance much like the fabled Dust of the Endless universe. Wielded by the right mage, its power is immense.

The game is still relatively early in development, so I won't bore you with descriptions of flaws or bugs, except to say that I'd only just gotten into the "real world" (the world outside of character creation) when the game's next steps didn't load. It had effectively died on me, and since I'd failed to save (go me!), I'd lost about two hours of progress and was in no mood to retrace my steps. But I'll tell you about what I saw, and what you're likely to see upon release.

More information.

Thanks Aubrielle for writing this down.

I was happy to. And more will be to come.

Thanks for the impressions!

I would just add that you may wish to rush through the intro and play from the Broken Dome onward (where it sounds like you got stuck unfortunately). We're monitoring feedback, especially on the opening stages of the game, but I for one would be curious how you feel about Sagus Cliffs later on.

Nice writeup Aubrielle. Thanks!

Sound good so far - I like walls of text if an interesting story is told.

What do you mean "relatively new in development"? I thought it was coming out this year?

Originally Posted by redman5427
What do you mean "relatively new in development"? I thought it was coming out this year?

No date has been announced yet, and based on how long the beta test lasted for Wasteland 2, I wouldn't say it will release this year at all. Though I hope it does.

How were the combat encounters? was every of them straightforward?

Even the first combat encounter wasnt straight forward.

Nice preview Aubrielle.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
No date has been announced yet, and based on how long the beta test lasted for Wasteland 2, I wouldn't say it will release this year at all. Though I hope it does.

Wasteland 2 was 9 months in beta (2013-12-12 to 2014-09-19), so this should release at the end of this year if they use a similar timeframe to fix stuff to a releasable state.

Originally Posted by Damian
Even the first combat encounter wasnt straight forward.

That's good to hear…. I went dumb from PoE's generic encounters…..

Thanks for the preview, Aubrielle, along with your other contributions to this site (I don't post much, so here's my general acknowledgement of your work).

As a backer I'm really looking forward to this, though admittedly I'm not as rabid a fan of Torment as many others here. I liked it when I played it many moons ago, but my story was cut short by game-stopping crashes/bugs, ultimately halting my progress entirely (no time or patience to revisit it now). But it was a game I remember fondly, and I enjoy whimsy along with the fantastic as I'm blessed with a vivid imagination.

While not in my top-3 most anticipated for next year, it's up there nonetheless and I look forward to diving in.

Thank you, everyone!

To answer Luj's question - if I understand you right - the combat is quite different from PoE. It's very turn-based, very tactical…you have to think ahead a lot more. It's not as…as you put it…"dumb". It's not as stressful, either, in that lightning-fast kind of stabby way. It forces you to plan ahead a lot more. Being that it's turn-based, it's also a lot more methodical than even the old Infinity Engine games.

Originally Posted by sea
Thanks for the impressions!

I would just add that you may wish to rush through the intro and play from the Broken Dome onward (where it sounds like you got stuck unfortunately). We're monitoring feedback, especially on the opening stages of the game, but I for one would be curious how you feel about Sagus Cliffs later on.

I wish I could have seen it in my playthrough! It was what I was looking forward to most, actually. Hopefully as more of the bugs are ironed out, I'll get my chance.

Originally Posted by redman5427
What do you mean "relatively new in development"? I thought it was coming out this year?

Well, early enough to still have game-breaking bugs, anyway. But at this stage, it's to be expected. And yeah, like Couch said, I hope it comes out this year too, but…my fear is that there's still a lot of beta testing to get through…

Fair enough
Great coverage as always Aubrielle

Great job. Wish it had co-op so I could play this with my dad, as it really sounds right up both of our alleys.

Sounds promising!

Sounds brilliant!

If the writing is as solid as you state, the walls of text don't scare me at all

Before I read, how heavy is the article on spoilers?

Great article, Aubrielle!

I believe companions were one of P:T strong points, so I ask you: how about them in TToN ? Did you play enough to establish some kind of connection ? Are they remarkable/forgettable ?