An Introduction to Planescape Torment:

Planscape: Torment is a story devoted to presenting a vast philosophical concept: wisdom through contradiction. It has merit in gaming, indeed within storytelling and literature as arguably the best written game of all time, and by far the most alluring and fascinating aspect of Torment’s experience is the expansive Odyssey throughout memory, dimensional planes, and within the developing identity of one hero and those facing critical moments as companions pulled into their orbit.

Rather than warfare, emotion, politics, things which so often provide plot and characterisation within a great deal of fiction across all genres, Torment is a masterpiece of the role-playing enterprise, of D&D’s Plansescape as its mother setting, extending far into successive strategy games, inspiring developers who would go on to work in other large franchises such as Mass Effect, Fallout, and Star Wars. The alignment system, often a contested notion criticised as a limitation to storytelling is bent back on its head, as are the now classic interpretation of guilds, angels, and demons. A wiser and more uncommon fixation of depicting morality and life experience crystalises in places dedicated to sensations and the notion of holding a mirror to an individual’s actions causing psychological and emotional weight, not the more common cinematic and video game consensus of certain emotions alone justifying condemnation or moral righteousness.

To break or contradict something you need to know it, and I find it doubly useful to explore both a subversion and what it is subverting. There is the element of distinctiveness and character (Dak'kon becoming so popular he shaped a lot of Githzerai lore going forward just on his own), and you have the story of damage and recovery which has so much potential, the epitome of this being KOTOR II’s story I believe, if you want the best example of how a band of broken things away from the ‘war’ make a Star Wars story equal to any of the films in my eyes.

Is an odd piece of art ‘odd’ if it has a use and appeal? A work such as All Tomorrows, Damian Hurst’s displays, the study of human anatomy demonstrate the bizarre, fleshy, yet revealing nature of things. That truth is not a romantic ideal, nor to be met with a postmodern dismissal as non-existent.

That we make our reality, will be held to account for what we have done, and that each mind is capable of great endurance and will are timeless, simple lessons. That does not make them any less relevant, nor fantastic to show in such intriguing detail begging to be interpreted as within Planescape: Torment’s narrative.

To pursue answers in a completely alien setting, confusing, aged in many ways and baroque in others, the player finds themselves within a city, among companions at times difficult to find, books that some may miss even opening. I find this to be like life. Regret, forgetting, impatience, frustration. Games tie into and understand these things immensely, and the rare game that utilises them so well opens up a terrific cast of characters well worth discussion.

In the neutral City of Doors, the criminal pivot of the universe, sympathy is in short supply, the dead are worshiped by the living, and the lost are buried within their minds for ten thousand years and more. Emotions are stunted and sliced away, many left to contemplate in a half-existence for all eternity. But this series perhaps like no other invites the audience to sympathy where the setting and characters have not a shred of it, or only begin to do so for their closest kin or friends.

In a cruel world, and an unknown one gaming provides two ideas, one it subverts itself, the other it delights in. Fighting, and the tangible gain of Experience Points to better survive and mark life progress. And then there is the insight joked about to this day:

“Updated my journal”

Torment best provides the player with pleasure, entertainment and philosophy through conversation. Dialogue, observation, and memory all beamed through words into the minds of its audience lead to their own change, the experience offering the same insight for a person to contemplate themselves.

Disclaimer:

To make such a review I liberally took from the online novelisation of Planescape Torment, which can be found here. The freely accessible and readable nature of the narrative gives it a literary element, and is of particular use to me considering the format I use and the nature of the topic of discussion being character analysis and a literary critique. I would suggest playing the original game or a version with mods if you can; and if you want another critique of the series the following videos I highly enjoyed:

- Caldwell-Gervais, N. ‘Scars & Stories [Planescape: Torment vs. Torment: Tides of Numenera]’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_rHuBwaFdw [Accessed 06/06/24].

- Davis, C.’ Planescape: Torment Retrospective | A History of Isometric CRPGs (Episode 4)’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJnFHKU3FEA [Accessed 06/06/24].

- Smudboy. ‘Planescape: Torment Plot Analysis Foreword’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_iaBwVoZdU [Accessed 06/06/24].