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A good story tormented by disappointing gameplay I really wanted to like this game, based on all of the praise it has received and the fact that I really don't have the time to play simply mediocre games. After having played the Baldur's Gate series and thoroughly enjoying it, I thought that this would be more of the same immersive fantasy-based gaming. On some levels, this game is successful in creating an interesting world to explore with some fascinating people to meet and things to do. The story itself is quite intriguing and well-written. The problem is that the game is slowly paced for the first several hours and is tedious throughout. Gameplay: The controls are fairly simple and should be familiar to anyone who has played Baldur's Gate and similar RPG titles. Your character is an immortal amnesiac who must find out who he is and how to resolve his curse of immortality. The character creation options seem flexible at first, but they really aren't. While you can change classes during the game, you had best learn how to do one thing well, or there will likely be problems later. Also, your alignment (moral view) may change based on your actions, but many of the game's quests (including the main one) are scripted for "right" answers that might force your character to play out of character. Also, there are some unreasonable limits placed on combat. In 30 hours of gameplay, I didn't come across one projectile weapon, which meant that all fights were melee skirmishes. Moreover, you can't tell how wounded your opponents are until they actually kill over. Planescape: Torment is a very text-heavy game, which is both its strength and greatest weakness. Whoever wrote the dialogue and story is a talented writer, and this would have actually made a decent novel. However, much of the dialogue gets in the way of the gameplay in ways that are truly annoying. You'll find yourself running back and forth between people, going through their entire dialogue trees looking for clues (several times). Sometimes those clues will not be found unless you know exactly who to talk to, when, and about what topic. Even then you might not get what you are looking for. Some of the quests are very imaginative, but others are greatly hindered by this ask-everybody-everything-everytime approach. The dialogue issue would not be such a problem if it did not plague the main quest, but it does. I hate to consult walkthrough guides, but you will probably have to in order to get pass a few of the several places where you simply won't know what to do next, who to talk to, or what item you need. There is an in-game journal that can be useful, but even it won't point you in the right direction on some occasions (and "completed" quests are not always taken out of the "assigned quests" category). Actually, this is the first computer RPG that I have played that could not hold my interest until the end. This was largely due to the tedious nature of the gameplay. I knew that it was time to quit when I defeated the main boss, just to get a message afterward that said that, in effect, I had not chosen the correct specific dialogue options before defeating this enemy. What??? It was like finally meeting Diablo at the end of Diablo 2, or Dagoth Ur at the end of Morrowind, or Jon Irenicus at the end of Baldur's Gate 2 and winning the fight, just to learn that you had not been nice enough in your dialogue responses before the fight started and thus would have to redo the 30 minutes of dialogue that preceded the encounter. Very frustrating. Graphics: Visual representation is decent, even by today's standards. Character models look good, as do environments. The game does have a certain drabness about it, which is part of the storyline. But overall, the graphics are fine. Sound: Decent, but nothing memorable. The weather in the main city of Sigil is always the same, so there are no thunderstorms or other ambient noises. The voice acting is decent, but quite sparse. More of it would have made the story even more immersive and less text-driven. The music was okay, but again not memorable. Replayability/Value: I couldn't bear to get through one complete playing of the game, so I can't recommend it for repeat plays. If you insist upon playing this game, try to get it cheap ($10 or less). The story and quests seem too linear to warrant doing them a second time, especially since you are the same basic character during every game. There are a few interesting party members, such as Morte and Annah, but NPC interaction here does not measure up to the high standard set by the Baldur's Gate games. Overall, I cannot recommend this game to anyone except very patient and/or hardcore roleplaying gamers. For everyone else, there are many computer RPGs available now that are clearly superior to the gameplay, story line, and graphics of Planescape: Torment. If you want to play a truely excellent, classic RPG, check out Morrowind, the Baldur's Gate series, or even the Diablo series. Though it has a good story, my suspicion is that Planescape: Torment largely appeals to a specific niche of the computer roleplaying market, which does not mind its tedious dialogue system, linear questing, and bizarre story.