The worlds(s) of Planescape
When any piece of fantasy fiction is compared to Dungeons & Dragons, it's rarely a positive thing. Despite the influence and popularity of this famous pen and paper RPG, if a setting is described as 'D&D-like', you can expect it to be a generic fantasy story with races borrowed from Tolkien, an assortment of evil beasts, a few evil overlords with magical powers and a society that superficially resembles medieval Europe. Despite the perceived lack of originality, one of the game's possible campaign settings is the strange and unique multiverse of Planescape.
Planescape could be described as a 'meta-setting': it combines all the other worlds of D&D (most - but not all - of them are different parts of the universe known as the Prime Material Plane), adds different universes for the Greek Pantheon, Valhalla, Christian demonology, the Divine Comedy, four classical elements and a few other things. The whole multiverse is a setting of conflict between order and chaos - its most extreme form is the eternal Blood War between two evil races: 'lawful evil' baatezu (devils) and 'chaotic evil' tanar'ri (demons). In the center of all this lies the neutral plane of Outlands, from which other universes can be accessed. In the center of Outlands stands an infinitely tall Spire, on the top of which floats the city of Sigil laid out on the inside of a torus. Sigil is the 'City of Doors': every door, window or arch is a portal leading to a different plane - as long as you have the right key. The city stays neutral in all major conflicts, but it is itself a battleground for different factions (inspired by those in Vampire: The Masquerade), closely watched by the mysterious Lady of Pain - both a ruler and a prisoner of Sigil.
[...]
Best cRPG ever?
Planescape: Torment is probably the best counterpoint against the claim that non-linear, branching narrative is inherently worse and somehow less 'artistic' than the more directed structure. Whether you play the game as a man seeking redemption, facing the consequences of his actions and accepting death, or as a cold and cruel egoist using everyone around him to reach his goal, Planescape: Torment is a great story. It's a perfect example of what branching, segmented narrative can achieve when placed in the hands of good writers and combined with a great engine and a memorable audiovisual style.
The game is not without weaknesses: The interface is not as good as it could be, the combat is tedious (especially in Curst) and some of the puzzles required to finish the game can be annoyingly vague - at a certain point, you need information that can be only extracted from a wizard, who doesn't want to talk to you unless you give him a piece of candy; while he clearly indicates that he wants candy, nothing in the game implies that you need to talk to him, he's in the area which can only be accessed by members of a specific faction and the particular candy can only be bought from one place in the whole game. But ultimately those flaws are pretty minor considering the game's great writing, fascinating story, memorable characters and high ammount of non-linearity.
Planescape: Torment deserves its place in the canon of the best cRPG games ever created. The game receives constant praise among the fans of the genre and none of it is undeserved. Its lasting appeal is a testament to the genre's immense potential and to the ambitious and creative nature of the late 1990s PC gaming scene. It's a game built on the idea of 'avant-garde fantasy', which doesn't shy away from difficult themes - and it does it while still being simply fun to play.
