Introduction
Torment: Tides of Numenera is an upcoming role-playing game in development by inXile Entertainment. It’s a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, which was a big 1999 release. Good
news for Linux gamers, Tides of Numenera will get released on Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux.
In this game you’re basically in the world of Numenera, playing through a fantasy campaign setting developed with the Unity game engine. It’s more story-driven than the 1999 Planescape title, having more character development and interaction with the world. It sounds good, but since combat and item accumulation will be playing a secondary role in the gameplay, it’s unclear how good a greater emphasis on the story really is.
Tides of Numenera was revealed a few years ago when they launched a Kickstarter campaign on March 6, 2013 and received their funding goal within the first six hours. Pillars of Eternity used to be the most funded Kickstarter video game campaign, until Torment came through with $4,188,927. However, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has since broken that record.
A Game That’s Truly About the Story…
In Torment, you will play as the Last Castoff, who was once the human host to a more powerful being. At this point, the host has left and now he is somewhat stranded without any memory of the prior events. Numera is basically Earth, but one billion years in the future. This is what you’re faced with in the 2.5D RPG.
Expect a ton of storytelling and complex character interaction via the classic dialog tree system. You will have options as to what you can say each time you interact with a NPC, and the developer is putting an emphasis on these interactions to make them more dynamic than ever before.
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As a successor to PS:T, I do have rather high expectations for this one.