Torment: Tides of Numenera is an upcoming story-driven CRPG set in the world of Monte Cook’s Numenera. If you’re not sure what the game is about, or know very little, Torment: Tides of Numenera is a pseudo-spiritual successor to the fantastic Planescape: Torment.
I say pseudo in that various members of the team at inXile, the developers of Tides of Numenera and the Wasteland franchise, have worked on Planescape: Torment. This includes the Executive Producer, and founder of inXile, Kevin Saunders, Project Developer Colin McComb and many others. According to the Saunders, Torment: Tides of Numenera aims to “continue the thematic legacy of the critically acclaimed Planescape: Torment.”
In Torment: Tides of Numenera, you are what inXile is calling “The Last Castoff,” an individual who uses relics of an ancient civilization to: “cheat death and skip across the face of centuries in a succession of bodies.” However, skipping through time has its consequences, and you are going to pay for them. Your actions have brought forth an age-old enemy, the Angel of Entropy, who is going to hunt you down and bring forth justice.
Fighting against long dormant enemies is going be rough, so gathering companions is a good idea. Not only will you be able to recruit characters you come across, companions will also be able to track you down if you make a large enough name for yourself. However, companions in Torment: Tides of Numenera are quite different than most modern games. If you cause your companions to much pain, either emotionally or physically, they are likely to leave your cause and never return. Meanwhile, if you want to go at it alone, that is also an option. Companions are there to help, but you don’t necessarily need them if you like playing the lone wolf.
Torment: Tides of Numenra’s main driving force is the player’s story. Through words, choices and actions, you are going to be able to alter the world around you. These actions will change the course of the game and not all of them will be for the players benefit. This will seemingly add massive amounts of replayability. As inXile claims, “…we won’t tell you how to play. The best ending is the one you choose, flowing naturally from actions throughout the game.” This will allow for multiple playthroughs, each having a vastly different story each time.
Behind the scenes of Torment: Tides of Numenera is what inXile is calling “Torment’s Four Pillars:”
- A Deep, Thematically Satisfying Story.The philosophical underpinnings of Torment drive the game, both mechanically and narratively. Your words, choices, and actions will be your primary weapons.
- A World Unlike Any Other. The game has a fantastic, original setting, with awe-inspiring painterly visuals, imaginative locations, truly offbeat items, and massive feats of magic. In Numenera, however, “magic” is actually something surprisingly different.
- A Rich, Personal Narrative. The story is thoughtful and character-driven—epic in feel but a deeply personal narrative, with nontraditional characters and companions who have their own motivations and desires that drive them throughout the game.
- Reactivity, Choice, and Real Consequences. The game emphasizes replayability and reactivity, and your choices will make a real difference. You can play the game with a different approach and discover entirely new pathways.
Torment: Tides of Numenera is shaping up to be one of the most interesting RPG’s to come out in some time. It harkens back to the old-school roots of CRPG’s and that is what really separates this game from most other modern Role Playing Games. The fact that the Torment: Tides of Numenera is stemming from a tabletop game with rich lore and deep history also adds to the warming buildup that inXile continues to receive.
Be sure to check out the video below for the most recent gameplay footage:
For more information about the tabletop version of Numenera you can visit here
While the Torment: Tides of Numenera Tumblr page can be found here
