RPGWatch Feature - Torment: Tides of Numenera Interview

Before the release of Torment: Tides of Numenera, we sent a bunch of questions from our RPGWatch members to InXile, after waiting patiently, we received them back after the release. So this is actually a pre-release interview, but we got to ask Brian Fargo three questions as well just after the release, which we received today. So here is the complete interview.

Pessimeister: The original Torment saw a much more literary and philosophical tinged narrative that arguably gave a new found depth compared to most western cRPGs that came before it. Could you speak generally about being conscious of this heritage and of the challenges to maintain and deepen this literary tradition?

Colin: Zeb Cook, the creator of the Planescape setting, described it as "philosophers with clubs." Given my own major in college, this naturally spoke to me, and I dove right in. Part of the reason this appealed to me is... well, in the Tractatus, Wittgenstein wrote, "Philosophy is not a body of doctrine, but an activity." Planescape was this quote made flesh, and Planescape: Torment was the opportunity to expand on it. Combine that with Chris Avellone's excellent and inventive story, and suddenly you've got a masterpiece.

When you're asked to develop a successor to something like that, it's a responsibility you take seriously. Obviously, whether we've succeeded or not is going to be a subjective matter, but what I can say is that we put a great deal of care into creating a thematically connected narrative, bringing the world to life with a host of NPCs and quests, and creating a rich tapestry of deep reactivity - we have gated a lot of content in this game in order make replays enjoyable and memorable. Part of our goal - my goal, at least - is to take philosophical influences that might be more abstruse and make them accessible through the medium of gameplay. We're hoping that our work here will spark inquiry and exploration in our players' minds, much as PST did 17 years ago.