Hello and welcome to ‘The Twelve Games of Christmas’, a highlight reel of some of my (Dann Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief) favourite games of 2017. As regular readers will know, we’re extremely eclectic in our tastes here at B3; hopefully these little suggestions, essentially recommendations, will match that. Enjoy!
Torment: Tides of Numenera was an intriguing entry into the burgeoning, rekindled isometric-style cRPG scene after its explosive rebirth in 2014 with Divinity: Original Sin, Wasteland 2, Shadowrun, Xulima and so much more, giving a major helping hand to the few outliers who had kept the genre alive since it fell nearly silent a decade earlier.
While most of the previously mentioned games, and those which came between then and now, definitely had defining characteristics, few managed to touch one of the highest regarded RPGs of all time, Planescape: Torment, and its heavy focus on morals, conversation and choices.
Along came Tides of Numenera then, a spiritual follow-on from the game which was set to capture the style of the original while bringing it to a new setting — Monty Cook’s fantastic Numenera, a fantastical Earth set so far in the future, and after so many societal collapses, that the unstable, ancient technology littered around its peoples isn’t just indistinguishable from magic, it basically is magic, replacing D&D’s magic, mana and mystics with unimaginable, and often uncontrollable, technology.
Interested in our review from earlier on in the year? You can find it here.
I doubt there’s ever going to be a day where audiences tire of vague post-apocalyptic, science-fiction and fantasy settings, but if they do then the future will be adorned with Numenera-esque worlds, and of tales which combine all three of those popular sub-genres. InXile had fun with it too, as is apparent from the exceptional writing and interesting tides system they added in to replace traditional morals. As I said, the writing was excellent and overwhelmingly in-depth — for one character I picked the mindreader ability thinking it would add an extra solution to certain conversation-based-puzzles, but in fact it added additional lines to almost every character interaction.
The pen and paper experience of Numenera is extremely freeform, although threads of danger from the unknown, the instability of the world and the fluidity and subjective nature of the its history are all trends which have dominated my time with it. This is all eased forward by the fact that players gain experience (and as such, levels) almost solely through solving problems — with violence one method.
This lack of reliance on combat is perfectly represented in Tides of Numenera’s conflicts; my first playthrough saw my first fifteen hours only featuring a dozen fights, with my avatar or team managing to talk our way out of any others. Each combat situation was unique and carefully designed to include environmental hazards. A few dragged on, as my team were ill suited to combat, but each was undoubtedly unique and that’s something which would, no doubt, be celebrated by those on a more violent path. Fans of Baldur’s Gate, Wasteland and the like, however, will definitely find the manipulating-of-objects, charming-people-up-something-good, and various other non-sword-whacking routes through the game great fun.
Due to the depth of writing and diverse character creation, a lot of effort has gone into the writing (and voicing) of companion characters. As regular readers will know, I’m a massive fan of when the context for us growing attached to a team member is from situations which arose, not necessarily scripted, due to our actions. As such, I’m always a little disheartened when a game’s companion count is single digit. Tides washed this away, most definitely due to the writing, but also due to the fact that the game has a loose class system and — as stated earlier — next to zero enforced combat situations. The companion is great, and the characters are memorable — I genuinely wanted to play through a second time not just to see the effect of different traits, but also to explore the histories and endings for each of the characters.
There are other noteworthy elements of the game, although the decision to scrap filler items and instead give every item a vague purpose or use is one of the things I talk most often about. When you’re short on money you need to weigh up on which of the carefully, yet in-a-way ludicrously named consumables you are going to sell off. In a genre when large blocks of text walk a thin line between essential plot and enjoyable lore, it’s a fascinating situation.
In this new age of cRPG it’s great to see games challenging things we came to expect from when they were a dominant genre. Torment: Tides of Numenera is definitely worth a play for those with halcyon memories of that first wave and those who enjoy it when a game presents smart, non-violent options to situations.
Torment: Tides of Numenera is available now on Xbox One, PS4 & PC.
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